ship excursions in Europe

[Scrappytraveller]

I'm contemplating booking my first-ever cruise line excursion (a full-day transfer from Livorno to Florence) and have a few questions:

 

1) I'm assuming there will be more than one bus since there aren't very many excursions to chose from and Florence would be the obvious destination. Does Celebrity assign a bus time or is it first come first serve? I want to maximize my time there, not be stuck waiting for my turn on a bus.

2) If I book the excursion online now but later find a private excursion and want to cancel it, will they refund the charge or give me OBC?

3) Can I cancel right up to the last minute, say if I met people the night before who wanted to share a taxi instead?

 

I know a private tour is better, but at this point I'm not having luck with my roll call and would like to know I have something booked just in case I'm on my own.

[Lsimon]

For most common excursions of this type they can usually add as many buses as needed

 

You can cancel online up to a few days before your cruise (four days I think - the actual # is on their website) and if you cancel on line your credit card will be refunded although it could take a while (days or a couple weeks) for the refund to show up. After that you can cancel on the ship but you will receive a credit to your on board account. It will be refundable if you don't use it up by the end of the cruise.

 

On the ship you can cancel up to the ship's cut off time for excursions at that port. This time will be printed on the excursion list/order form distributed on the ship. If you can't find it then ask at the excursion desk. This is generally sometime in the afternoon or evening two days before your excursion date - for example a Wednesday excursion would have to be cancelled by a certain time on Monday. So you can cancel a couple days ahead of time but not the night before.

 

Private tours are not necessarily better! We usually take private excursions or tour on our own but we've taken some great ship's excursions which were the best options for us given the circumstances. In cities like Florence where the tourist area is an hour or more drive from the port in traffic that can be heavy at times the ship's excursions offer the benefit of not worrying about getting back in time as well. We've taken the ship's Florence on your own excursion (basically bus transportation to the city) a couple times and ship's excursions which included touring in Rome and certain other ports.

[4774Papa]

For most common excursions of this type they can usually add as many buses as needed

 

You can cancel online up to a few days before your cruise (four days I think - the actual # is on their website) and if you cancel on line your credit card will be refunded although it could take a while (days or a couple weeks) for the refund to show up. After that you can cancel on the ship but you will receive a credit to your on board account. It will be refundable if you don't use it up by the end of the cruise.

 

On the ship you can cancel up to the ship's cut off time for excursions at that port. This time will be printed on the excursion list/order form distributed on the ship. If you can't find it then ask at the excursion desk. This is generally sometime in the afternoon or evening two days before your excursion date - for example a Wednesday excursion would have to be cancelled by a certain time on Monday. So you can cancel a couple days ahead of time but not the night before.

 

Private tours are not necessarily better! We usually take private excursions or tour on our own but we've taken some great ship's excursions which were the best options for us given the circumstances. In cities like Florence where the tourist area is an hour or more drive from the port in traffic that can be heavy at times the ship's excursions offer the benefit of not worrying about getting back in time as well. We've taken the ship's Florence on your own excursion (basically bus transportation to the city) a couple times and ship's excursions which included touring in Rome and certain other ports.

I completely agree with Lsimon. On every cruise, I research the private tours (check cc for booking), consider do it yourself and compare to the Ship's excursions.

Sometimes you can do it yourself. This is especially true where access to the port city from the ship is easy and a walking tour is the best bet. Also, places like Athens or Rome have good subway or rail transport minimizing chances of being late to the ship.

Private tours sometimes are smaller and can be cheaper, not necessarily. One disadvantage of private tours is that you generally have to pay cash, which means you have to carry a lot of cash to pay them.

I especially like ship's tours where the distance is long from the port and chance of missing the ship is higher.

Rome in Limo has some good tours, you might check with them, but you will generally need to find others to go with you (usually from cc).

[Jade13]

I'm contemplating booking my first-ever cruise line excursion (a full-day transfer from Livorno to Florence) and have a few questions:

 

1) I'm assuming there will be more than one bus since there aren't very many excursions to chose from and Florence would be the obvious destination. Does Celebrity assign a bus time or is it first come first serve? I want to maximize my time there, not be stuck waiting for my turn on a bus.

2) If I book the excursion online now but later find a private excursion and want to cancel it, will they refund the charge or give me OBC?

3) Can I cancel right up to the last minute, say if I met people the night before who wanted to share a taxi instead?

 

I know a private tour is better, but at this point I'm not having luck with my roll call and would like to know I have something booked just in case I'm on my own.

 

Hi there. Yes, you can cancel right on-line and monies will be refunded right back to your credit card. As far as canceling on the ship there is usually a 24 or 48 hour cancelation period for a full refund on this type of excursion. If this is on the first day I suggest you reconfirm with Celebrity.

 

As far as the roll call, I think you should give it more time. I think many people are not making plans this early for December, plus there are probably tons of people who will join the roll call after final payment.

[Essiesmom]

The full day transfers never sell out. They just add more buses. No need to book ahead, you can do it on the ship (unless you want all the charges paid up front and out of the way). Rick Steves has lots of suggestions in his book Mediterranean Cruise Ports about doing Florence on your own. He has free audio tours you can download to your ipod or mp3 on his website, plus maps to go with them. EM

[d4m]

We took the ship's transportation excursion to Florence but I wish we had something else available to us. In other ports we had scheduled private tours with others.

 

Although I understand that Florence is far from the port and there's always the chance you won't make it back on time, I did not like the fact that we waited forever to fill the bus. I also did not like having to walk in a herd the several blocks with the guide? so that she could show everyone where we were to meet. What really ticked me off is that she told us we had to follow her into a building if we wanted a place to use the bathroom during the day and it ended up being a huge sales pitch. Was smart enough to walk away but it left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

The problem I found with this cruise excursion was that others who scheduled private tours paid less and saw far more and had much more time than we did. The buses left late and then we left Florence early. If the only way to go, then go for it. Otherwise I hope that someone on your roll call organizes something. Good Luck

[suec12]

there is a website / agency "share a shore excursion in Italy" that matches groups from different ships for small group excursions - check it out and see if they can get a group for you.

[Bruin Steve]

Just a note here...

 

We typically have a preference for private small group tours...HOWEVER, as LSimon noted, those private tours are not necessarily better than the ship's shore excursions...

 

There are some specific ports and specific reasons where we've found this to be true...And Italy is, indeed, one of the places where Shore Excursions have some advantages. By law in Italy, a tour guide needs a special license to escort tours through most sites--churches, museums, archaeological sites, monuments...So, most of the private tour guides you see recommended can only provide limited commentary in the car or van, then only drop you off to see each sight on your own. If you have arranged a tour to see, for example, the Vatican or Pompeii, and if you want some expert commentary, you need to hire an additional licensed guide at each site.

 

The ship's excursions (with the exception of the "on your own" tours) almost always provide the licensed guide for a more in-depth tour of these sites...

 

That said, interesting that you bring up Florence in this context. In 2003, while on Millenium, we had pre-booked a Florence shore excursion...and decided at the last moment NOT to go see Florence--rather to visit San Gimignano and Volterra...We inquired at the Shore Excursions desk THAT MORNING and they let us switch excursions. I am sure part of it was that we weren't just canceling...and that the excursion we wanted to switch to had lots of room on it...

 

As it turned out, our shore excursion was great...only 18 passengers and a great guide...Lunch was in a cellar at a local winery in San Gimignano...

 

Our Rome Shore Excursion was even better--11 passengers and two guides--beat most private tours...they put us in a minibus rather than a big bus and we were able to skirt traffic using local roads and get to and from Rome quicker! And the guides took it on themselves to add stuiff to the planned tour since we made up so much extra time...

 

As to the Livorno stop, there actually is a lot more to see in the region than Florence...but, of course, Florence is the big attraction especially for first time visitors...

 

As I noted, we toured San Gimignano and Volterra one cruise...Last cruise, we used our Livorno stop to tour "Puccini, Pisa and Lucca" on a shore excursion...The Cinque Terre is another popular destination from Livorno....

[Scrappytraveller]

Thank you for all your input and suggestions, I will look into everything and as Jade said, keep my fingers crossed that more people join the roll call as the trip nears.

 

This is a great reference, thanks:

 

there is a website / agency "share a shore excursion in Italy" that matches groups from different ships for small group excursions - check it out and see if they can get a group for you.

 

I've already got the Rick Steves app, actually listened to the Florence walk while I was walking my dog. :o

 

Florence is the first day of our cruise, so I will definately make sure to make my final decision on this before leaving home if I want to cancel. But at least I know I can book something for Toulon and still keep my options open.

 

In 2003, while on Millenium, we had pre-booked a Florence shore excursion...and decided at the last moment NOT to go see Florence--rather to visit San Gimignano and Volterra...We inquired at the Shore Excursions desk THAT MORNING and they let us switch excursions. I am sure part of it was that we weren't just canceling...and that the excursion we wanted to switch to had lots of room on it...

As it turned out, our shore excursion was great...only 18 passengers and a great guide...Lunch was in a cellar at a local winery in San Gimignano...

 

I would absolutely love to do something like this, or San Gimi with Siena, but the ship doesn't offer anything like it. I'll be on the lookout for a private group that I could join.

[Lsimon]

...Although I understand that Florence is far from the port and there's always the chance you won't make it back on time, I did not like the fact that we waited forever to fill the bus. I also did not like having to walk in a herd the several blocks with the guide? so that she could show everyone where we were to meet. What really ticked me off is that she told us we had to follow her into a building if we wanted a place to use the bathroom during the day and it ended up being a huge sales pitch. Was smart enough to walk away but it left a bad taste in my mouth. ....

 

Too bad you had a bad experience. We've done the Florence on your own transportation twice. The first time they stopped for about 40 min at a leather factory with sky high prices (think 1,000 Euros starting point for a jacket). I complained bitterly. I heard they stopped this practice so we took another chance on our second trip to Florence. Second trip there was no sales pitch other than someone on the bus along the way suggesting a shop near the meeting point in Florence. We had no delays. Since we'd been to Florence before we headed out on our own immediately on getting off the bus and learning the meeting spot (usually a landmark near Basilica di Santa Croce). For better or worse, if you are not familiar with Florence it is necessary to head into town as a group so they can point out the meeting spot as all the buses park several blocks from there. Also, it is NOT necessary to go into a specific spot to use the restroom. As you enter the city you'll find lots of cafe's here and there - great spots to have a cappuccino and and pastry and use the restroom. There are other restrooms you can find at major attractions (churches, museums) and at all of the multitude of restaurants and cafe's around town.

 

Firenze (Florence) is a delightful city to just walk around the town and enjoy the sites and the architecture. While there are great museums they take enough time that it is debatable if it is worth spending time in them if you only have a good portion of one day to spend there. We've been there twice and never had quite enough time just to walk through the area let alone get into the museums.

 

On the general ship vs. private tour issue: I was going to bring up another point but Bruin Steve beat me to the punch. But it bears repeating. Most of the private tours into the major cities are really just elaborate private transportation with a nice, and sometimes knowledgeable driver, who drops you off at the key attractions but does not accompany you in. Ship excursions provide a true licensed tour guide at key attractions and usually in between as well. At some attractions the tour guides can make a huge difference.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Florence isn't a day trip IMO. If you want to be part of a zoo of people that's fine but I wouldn't go there. We did the Cinque Terre and it was unforgettable. My Dad and I still talk about it. We were on Celebrity and did their tour which was well worth it. It was informative, stunningly beautiful and something we couldn't have orchestrated on our own. I would never try to do it on your own too many thing could go wrong and we made it back to the ship with minutes to spare but it was a ship tour so we weren't worried that they would leave without us.

 

Also it is easy to get to Florence from Rome or Venice but the Cinque Terre is not really near a metropolitan area and it would be harder to do again. I think while in Livorno people should take advantage this golden opportunity!

[4774Papa]

We did Lucca and Pisa and it was a great tour.

[2theship]

Julie, I'm on your cruise and we did the same itinerary last year. The down sides of a ship excursion to Florence are that it will leave later than you could leave on your own and the giant bus cannot stop in the Central Florence area - you have to spend a lot of time walking to the areas of interest. Last year I arranged some vans that picked us up early in the morning, dropped us right at Accademia then met us at another area in Central Florence in the afternoon. We were back at the ship two hours before sailing time. There was no guide involved, it was just transportation but it was great - my husband and I used the Rick Steves audio tours everywhere we went. If no one on the roll call is offering a tour you're interested in, how about creating your own? Set something up and offer it to the roll call and see who's interested.

 

We are choosing to do something else this year but I'd be happy to share info about my provider from last year - just contact me at the email in my signature.

[Debathome]

Florence is not to be missed. We did the Pisa/Florence tour and although I usually find and book private tours, we did not want to chance it in Florence. Another reason besides those mentioned here is that if you are running late and have to take a cab back to port, not only do they charge you the trip cost there, they also charge you the same for their return trip back. Something you do not want to run into.

 

Our ship excursion was worth the money. The guides were knowledgeable, funny and courteous. They gave us the history and points of interest and then we were left on our own to explore at whim. There was a lot of walking involved but if you don't mind the walking, it is really the best way to see the city.

[CathyCruises]

The last ship excursion we ever did, and will ever do, was one to Florence about 5 years ago. I can't tell you how much we disliked it. First of all, we walked for 4.5 hours without a break--not my idea of fun. DH and I love to walk, sightsee, stop for a coffee, take a stroll down an interesting street, etc. This I considered a forced march. We saw the 'real' David and then the 'fake' David. We saw the Duomo, etc. etc. We moved at the pace of the slowest person in the group. When we finally stopped for lunch, we were taken to a restaurant with a lot of charm and they served us ROAST BEEF AND MASHED POTATOES!!!! We stopped at a leather factory. I was miserable. We paid over $100/pp for this.

 

Bottom line: never again. We do our research ahead of time, figure out what we want to see, with lots of help from these boards, and figure out how to get there, and have wonderful times and great memories. Plus we see things at street level, not from behind the windows of a huge bus. We go at our own pace and stop when we want. We save a lot of money.

 

I know there are many who love the ship excursions or who are too uncomfortable to strike out on their own--for them, the excursions are great. For us, not so much. Just my $.02 worth.

[mrpacker03]

One thing to keep in mind: If you go a a cruise ship sponsored excursion, if it is late getting back to the port, they will hold the ship for you. If you do a private excursion and are late getting back to the port, you'll get some great pictures of the ship leaving without you.

It happens very rarely, but it does happen.

[cruise kitty]

The last ship excursion we ever did, and will ever do, was one to Florence about 5 years ago. I can't tell you how much we disliked it. First of all, we walked for 4.5 hours without a break--not my idea of fun. DH and I love to walk, sightsee, stop for a coffee, take a stroll down an interesting street, etc. This I considered a forced march. We saw the 'real' David and then the 'fake' David. We saw the Duomo, etc. etc. We moved at the pace of the slowest person in the group. When we finally stopped for lunch, we were taken to a restaurant with a lot of charm and they served us ROAST BEEF AND MASHED POTATOES!!!! We stopped at a leather factory. I was miserable. We paid over $100/pp for this.

 

Bottom line: never again. We do our research ahead of time, figure out what we want to see, with lots of help from these boards, and figure out how to get there, and have wonderful times and great memories. Plus we see things at street level, not from behind the windows of a huge bus. We go at our own pace and stop when we want. We save a lot of money.

 

I know there are many who love the ship excursions or who are too uncomfortable to strike out on their own--for them, the excursions are great. For us, not so much. Just my $.02 worth.

 

Oh, why is there not a like button?? Florence is so doable on your own & perhaps combined with a Rick Steves Audio Guide (free) or do a private tour, just doing a search on the ports board will show how much earlier you can arrive by taking the train ( or private tour.. if you wish to spend the $) We are headed back to Florence on the Sil. ourselves, & we'll DIY, with a bit of research you can have such a great adventure, if you are up to it!! I have some notes from our '09 trip, I would be so happy to share if you would like.

[Scrappytraveller]

I'm not opposed to (or afraid of) the train - I'll be doing it from FCO to Civi. But when I read on these boards that a taxi from Livorno port to the train station is extorted at 30Euros, I'm put off. Since it's the first day of our cruise, I won't have had much time to make connections with my fellow passengers, so I have to look at worst case scenario. The ship transfer (no way I'd do the one with the tour) is $80 CDN, 2 taxis on my own would be the same price, plus I'd still have the train portion. If I don't take a taxi, I'm not convinced I'd make it to Florence before the ship's bus.

 

I'll keep trying to find a group to share a tour or taxi/transfer with (2theship, you've got mail!), but I'll likely book the ship transfer as a backup to get me there and back if I'm on my own. This is why I'm most looking forward to Barcelona! :rolleyes: :D:D

[CathyCruises]

I'm not opposed to (or afraid of) the train - I'll be doing it from FCO to Civi. But when I read on these boards that a taxi from Livorno port to the train station is extorted at 30Euros, I'm put off. Since it's the first day of our cruise, I won't have had much time to make connections with my fellow passengers, so I have to look at worst case scenario. The ship transfer (no way I'd do the one with the tour) is $80 CDN, 2 taxis on my own would be the same price, plus I'd still have the train portion. If I don't take a taxi, I'm not convinced I'd make it to Florence before the ship's bus.

 

I'll keep trying to find a group to share a tour or taxi/transfer with (2theship, you've got mail!), but I'll likely book the ship transfer as a backup to get me there and back if I'm on my own. This is why I'm most looking forward to Barcelona! :rolleyes: :D:D

 

Keep in mind that even if you don't hook up on your roll call, there will be people getting off the ship who want to goto the train station--there was lots of opportunity when we got off in November. The 'taxi master' even tries to group people together--just a thought.

[Knolmom]

Did the ship excursion to Florence from the Solstice last fall. I use a walker and this all day tour was great for me. Although the large bus was not able to get very close to the places we had to go, the walk was not bad for me. First we went to the overlook for a panorama photo op and a nice opportunity to purchase low end souveniers. Then we went to Santa Croce square, where We saw Santa Croce Church, shopped a little in the leather shops and stalls there and had a nice walk to Signorele Square and saw the statue there. Then had a wonderful lunch in some sort of an old villa dining room nearby. I did not walk to the Ponte Vecchio with the rest of the crowd but relaxed on a bench in front of the Rape of the Sabines Sculpture and the outdoor David until they returned about a half hour later.

After lunch, we walked over to the Duomo and spent a fair amount of time in and around there, at the doors and also the Baptistery. We then went to the Accademia a few blocks away for a walk through and had plenty of time to observe David and spend time in the gift shop. We had a short walk back to the bus, and had a nice photo op at a picturesque square while waiting.

I thought it was well worth the price, especially for someone who is physically challenged or just short on energy. There were at least 7 buses from our ship doing the same itinerary and many young people and families were aboard.

[snorklinbarb]

Just a note here...

 

We typically have a preference for private small group tours...HOWEVER, as LSimon noted, those private tours are not necessarily better than the ship's shore excursions...

 

There are some specific ports and specific reasons where we've found this to be true...And Italy is, indeed, one of the places where Shore Excursions have some advantages. By law in Italy, a tour guide needs a special license to escort tours through most sites--churches, museums, archaeological sites, monuments...So, most of the private tour guides you see recommended can only provide limited commentary in the car or van, then only drop you off to see each sight on your own. If you have arranged a tour to see, for example, the Vatican or Pompeii, and if you want some expert commentary, you need to hire an additional licensed guide at each site.

 

The ship's excursions (with the exception of the "on your own" tours) almost always provide the licensed guide for a more in-depth tour of these sites...

 

That said, interesting that you bring up Florence in this context. In 2003, while on Millenium, we had pre-booked a Florence shore excursion...and decided at the last moment NOT to go see Florence--rather to visit San Gimignano and Volterra...We inquired at the Shore Excursions desk THAT MORNING and they let us switch excursions. I am sure part of it was that we weren't just canceling...and that the excursion we wanted to switch to had lots of room on it...

 

As it turned out, our shore excursion was great...only 18 passengers and a great guide...Lunch was in a cellar at a local winery in San Gimignano...

 

Our Rome Shore Excursion was even better--11 passengers and two guides--beat most private tours...they put us in a minibus rather than a big bus and we were able to skirt traffic using local roads and get to and from Rome quicker! And the guides took it on themselves to add stuiff to the planned tour since we made up so much extra time...

 

As to the Livorno stop, there actually is a lot more to see in the region than Florence...but, of course, Florence is the big attraction especially for first time visitors...

 

As I noted, we toured San Gimignano and Volterra one cruise...Last cruise, we used our Livorno stop to tour "Puccini, Pisa and Lucca" on a shore excursion...The Cinque Terre is another popular destination from Livorno....

 

Hi Bruin Steve,

I'm also on the same cruise as ScrappyTraveller. There are a few excursions being arranged by the roll call members but they are to Florence and/or Pisa. Someone has organized Pisa & San Gimignano but it's full.

 

I'm not interested in Florence or Pisa this time. The ship does have the San Gimi and Volterra excursion (quite pricey but includes lunch). Could you tell us a little more about what you did? Was the lunch a local Italian one and how was it? (sure don't want roast beef & potatoes!) Did it include a winery tour or wine tasting? I'm not interested in a lot of shopping time but wouldn't mind bringing some wine back.;)

 

Julie, you might enjoy Cinque Terre if you see that either through the ship or privately although I went pre-flood with a CC group through RomeinLimo. We had a great day there. It actually worked out slightly more expensive to do our private tour but there were only 8 of us. We had a driver & guide so learned a lot along the way.

 

I'd also be open to going to Lucca for the day. At this point I'm organizing other things on the ship so don't want to be the lead on a tour but I'm keeping my options open.

 

BruinSteve, would love to hear more about your San Gimi-Volterra day. Thanks.:D

[Scrappytraveller]

The ship does have the San Gimi and Volterra excursion (quite pricey but includes lunch).

 

I swear this wasn't there a few days ago! Or I'm losing my mind...

This is an interesting alternative, I hope to hear more as well.

 

I wouldn't do Cinque Terra as a ship excursion. I have every intention of visiting that region someday soon on land, when i can give it the time it deserves.

 

As for Lucca, I'd consider that by train or private transfer. I'd have to look into it more. Most of the tours seem to combine it with Pisa, which is not where I want to be.

 

Cathycruises - nice to hear there's a taxi organizer at the port, that may influence my final decision about using the train. Thanks!

[Bruin Steve]

Hi Bruin Steve' date='

I'm also on the same cruise as ScrappyTraveller. There are a few excursions being arranged by the roll call members but they are to Florence and/or Pisa. Someone has organized Pisa & San Gimignano but it's full.

 

I'm not interested in Florence or Pisa this time. The ship does have the San Gimi and Volterra excursion (quite pricey but includes lunch). Could you tell us a little more about what you did? Was the lunch a local Italian one and how was it? (sure don't want roast beef & potatoes!) Did it include a winery tour or wine tasting? I'm not interested in a lot of shopping time but wouldn't mind bringing some wine back.;)

 

Julie, you might enjoy Cinque Terre if you see that either through the ship or privately although I went pre-flood with a CC group through RomeinLimo. We had a great day there. It actually worked out slightly more expensive to do our private tour but there were only 8 of us. We had a driver & guide so learned a lot along the way.

 

I'd also be open to going to Lucca for the day. At this point I'm organizing other things on the ship so don't want to be the lead on a tour but I'm keeping my options open.

 

BruinSteve, would love to hear more about your San Gimi-Volterra day. Thanks.:D[/quote']

 

It was a few years ago now...so it may have changed, but, the tour consisted of walking tours with the guide through the two towns and great narration about the history (the story behind all of the towers in San Gim is fascinating)...

Lunch was one of the most memorable we've ever had in Europe...It was at the Fattoria San Donato just outside of San Gimignano--where we also did a wine tasting--right in the wine cellar amidst the barrels...

 

http://www.sandonato.it/english/agriturismo.html

 

Rather than some standard "roast beef and potatoes", they sat us at a big table and brought out tray after tray of Olives and Peppers and Cheeses and Salami and other cold cuts and Marinated Mushrooms and bread and wine and more wine and more wine...Simply wonderful...

 

I actually still have a few bottles of wine from San Donato at home ...not from this excursion--but from a few years later when my parents visited...

[snorklinbarb]

Many thanks, Bruin Steve! Nice website - they have a page of the animals they've rescued and invite guests to bring along their dogs and cats.;)

 

The sample pics of menu items highlight what you described.

 

I have visited San Gim but it was so many yrs ago that it would be worth going again. I do remember the medieval towers.

 

What was Volterra like?

 

Did they have any white wine for sale at the farmhouse.

 

One thing I do like is the ship is responsible for us if anything delays the nearly 10 hr tour.:)

[billrco90278]

Does anybody know the drop-off location of Celebrity's "Rome on Your Own" shore excursion?