Celebrity excursions worth it or Not??

[fleckle]

You always have to weigh the pros and cons others have mentioned, but I do have a story.

We took the St Lucia Railway Excursion offered by X. Half way through the ride, first car derailed. We were stuck in the middle of a sugar plantation for nearly two hours watching the crew try to re-rail the car. We arrived two hours after the scheduled sail away. The Silhouette was still waiting with open gangplank.

 

All during our "adventure" the railroad crew assured us that the X crew knew of our dilemma. The crew of the railway could not have been more hospitable and accommodating. The waitress in our car even used a manila folder to fan the guests. (note to anyone caught in a hot railway car, in the sun, Ice and Altoids taken together are very cooling).

 

In making a decision, please remember to factor in traffic, soccer matches, and acts of God.

So my concerns about that sugar train were not unfounded after all.

When we rode it, I seemed to be the only one worried about the way the car directly behind ours was rattling and rocking back and forth from side to side. Fortunately, nothing bad happened the day we rode it.

 

But you reminded me of a good point. Someone who knows that the ship has an excursion booked on a train could book the same train independently with reasonable assurance that the ship would wait if the train should be late.

 

We have done something similar in waiting to ride the last return ferry of the day from Haines to Skagway when we went over to Haines independently because we knew that a ship excursion was booked to return on that same ferry.

 

On the South America cruises, people will book independent excursions over to Magdalena Island to see the penguins with the confidence of knowing that a cruise ship excursion is booked on the same ferry.

 

 

Thanks for sharing the tip about ice and Altoids. Did not know that.

[happy cruzer]

So we did one cruise line tour, in Toulon. The dock area is not walkable, you must do a shuttle. Then you must take get some kind of connection to train or rent car to see Marsielle or other parts of Provence. Whereas if you do a cruise tour, walk off ship to bus and go. Additionally as it turned out it rained hard for 4 hours in the morning, so alot of walking would have been a mistake. We did not see as much as DIY or private tour but much quicker and easier off the ship.

 

So for us if it very difficult to get to a private tour or self arranged transport we will do the cruise lines or better yet maybe not even do that itinarary. I used to just check if the port was tender or docked. Now have added to research details of the actual docking site.

[cruisemom42]

No one has mentioned the fact that with the Cruise Line excursion you bypass the long lines of tourists waiting on line to get in. This is critical in popular tourist cities such as Rome, Venice, etc. If you only have 4 or 5 hours to tour, you will not want to spend an hour on a long line of tourists.

 

I will just point out, for any potential do-it-yourselfers, that there is absolutely NO reason to wait in a long line for admissions at most places. You can pre-reserve a timed entry ticket for the Vatican museums/Sistine chapel (one of the longest of lines!) and breeze right in on your own. You can also pre-reserve tickets for any or all of the following: Colosseum in Rome, Accademia and Uffizi galleries in Florence, and St. Marks in Venice. This does not require being on a tour -- any individual can do it.

[hcat]

we have had great luck with Celeb tours on both E & W Medit cruises..

 

they sent a ship employee along on each bus and also had great guides..no waiting on lines, very nice places to eat & did not feel rushed..

 

for our first time in these ports it worked out fine....some of the cities are far from the actual port

[Kellie Poodle]

We've done both.

 

The worst excursions we have had were ship sponsored. One, in particular in Florence, was so terrible that my DH became very ill. The step-on guide, a tall, thin fellow of middle age, originally from The Netherlands (if your group has him , immediately request another group) refused to slow down for the older people in the group. The representative from the tour company was inept and though we requested her to find us a taxi that we would pay for to take us back to the ship, she refuse, insisting that we had to keep up and even screaming at us the three times the group lost us.

 

We have met other people who had the misfortune of having this guide in Florence who related similar experiences, yet the tour company under contract to the cruise lines continues to hire him.

 

We have only had one unhappy experience with a private tour company due to a miscommunication with the driver and the guide did everything in his power to take care of it.

 

As for the possibility of missing a private tour because of ship problems, I always add enough coverage to my travel insurance to compensate me for monetary losses in such circumstances.

 

As a general rule, the further away the city from the port, the more likely we are to contract with the ship's sponsored tour than with a private tour.

[TLCOhio]

Hello, i'll be sailing on the Celebrity Solstice on august 3rd for a Med. Cruise, leaving from Barcelona. I am wondering if the excursions offered by the Shipping Company are overpriced or worth the money ?? we mainly like to stroll along and take in what comes our way and naturally be back on board by the required time any ideas ???

 

Last June, we did several of these ports on our cruise with Celebrity. You can see more details below from my live/blog, including more about these wonderful Solstice-class ships, their food, facilities, entertainment, etc.

 

We did a combination of on-our-own, ship tours and private. It depends all and so much on your personal interests/needs, the wide variations in each different port, etc. Tell us more on your specific interests, travel style, budget flexibility, etc. How much are you interesting in history, culture, art, architecture, nature, shopping, wine, etc., etc.?? Overall, the Med is far different from the Carib. Just getting off of the ship in many ports does NOT get you to the key, best attractions. Ship tour are mostly not cheap, but it is far MORE COSTLY to miss a chance to see some world-class sites, attractions and locations.

 

In the Naples area, a private tour through RomeInLimo was an awesome highlight of the cruise. Glad you have the overnight in Venice. Don't miss the sail-in and sail-out there. Many options are in southern France as you will be near Provence. Barcelona is so super wonderful. Hopefully, you have added time there, either before or after your cruise.

 

Don't be shy!! The only "dumb" question is the one you don't ask. Keep researching and planning. It will be very helpful for when you do your actual trip and that experience.

 

Super loved Dubrovnik!!! See more details and lots of great visual samples/examples at this link. Have had over 7,000 views on this posting and appreciate those who have tuned-in and dropped by.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1439227

 

Since Venice is one of your key stops, you might look at this earlier posting that I did on the Italy board that shows many options and visual potentials for this city that is so great for "walking around", personally sampling the great history and architecture. This posting has now had over 11,000 views and I appreciate those who have dropped by and tuned in. Don’t be shy in sharing any questions or comments.

Venice: Loving It & Why??!!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1278226

 

To get you excited about your upcoming trip, below are a few of my preview pictures. More on the above postings, etc.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 91,415 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

 

As we sailed into Venice, here is a tighter shot of the main square and the crowds that were there around 1 pm on June 14. Love Venice so, so much! Don’t miss this great sail-in and sail-out from the top deck of the ship!:

 

 

 

At night in Venice it is a totally different and more magical city. Here were are ready to enter San Marco Piazza at sunset. You see the Campanile tower, St. Mark’s Cathedral and people. The bands on this square are playing. So wonderful and charming!:

 

 

 

Overlooking Positano along the Amalfi Coast, this is the view as we dined, family-style for lunch, at La Tagliata during our private tour for our small group through RomeInLimo. The views here were super and the sun came out in strong force as we enjoyed our three-course lunch with local wine and drinks. Their website is http://www.latagliata.com.:

 

 

 

When the sun was setting as the Celebrity Solstice sailed from Rome to Naples, here was the visual on the back lawn on the ship’s top, back level. Dramatic and beautiful!!:

 

 

 

We started in Dubrovnik with a local cab driver who gave us a “panoramic tour”, including crossing their unique bridge near the main cruise ship docking area. He called this bridge their “Golden Gate” like in San Francisco. It is nine years old. Then we drove up and up through narrow twisting roads to the high point overlooking Dubrovnik and near the cable car high station. From this point, we could also see part of Bosnia and and Montenegro. The “super star” view was down below with this angle of the harbor and walled city. Beautiful!!! The rest of the day was on our own in this super interesting city.:

 

 

 

This is a view of the historic Dubrovnik wall at an upward and outward point built on top of the rocks and where it overlooks the Adriatic Sea. Walking this wall is a wonderful and unique way to sample and see up close and personal what makes this city so special.: