Questions

[nrunnion]

Does anyone ever do the RCCL excursions? We are going in September and thought we had better stick with their excurions since we have never been to Europe. Are you all doing private tours because they are less? What if there are only two of you?

Thanks for any help.

NR

[Andee]

Although we have never sailed RCCL, on the other cruise lines we have sailed, we don't generally care for shore excursions, because we don't like waiting for 40 people to get on/off the bus, use the restroom, etc. Plus, their idea of how much time to spend at a particular place and ours don't seem to jive.

 

In many European cities, we find it easy to tour on our own with research from several guide books, which I love to do.

[sydney777]

Does anyone ever do the RCCL excursions? We are going in September and thought we had better stick with their excurions since we have never been to Europe. Are you all doing private tours because they are less? What if there are only two of you?

Thanks for any help.

NR

I'm going in June...doing all private tours...write me in July sydneyalice@aol.com and I will tell you how it went. Cruise RCCL Brillance from Barcelona.

[DEL67]

We used private tours when we were in the Mediterranean for several reasons. First, and most importantly, my husband is disabled so he can not board a bus. Secondly because it allows us the flexibility to go where we want and stay as long as we want as long as we get back to the ship on time. Finally, it gives us a chance to converse with the driver and find out more details about the country and life their.

 

Yes, it was more expensive, except for Naples where we were able to find other passengers to share the expense. However, we found that there was an additional benefit. Buses have to park in specific areas, often a distance from where you are going. Our driver was able to take us as close as possible to each sight. This allowed us to see more with less effort.

[Caninecursed]

Does anyone ever do the RCCL excursions? We are going in September and thought we had better stick with their excurions since we have never been to Europe. Are you all doing private tours because they are less? What if there are only two of you?

Thanks for any help.

NR

A group from our Meet & Mingle (Splendour of the Seas 9/17) are getting together and doing a few cities "on our Own" but a few of us are doing certain cities with RCCL. I am doing Rome & Florence with RCCL. There is too much to cover in a little bit of time so I thought it was best to go with ship.

 

What ship are you sailing on and what date?

[nrunnion]

I am sailing from Barcelona on September 21 on Brillance of the Seas. It is the venice version. I am traveling with six other people. I have never been to Europe so am very excited. However, I also have a lot of questions. Where to get Euros. The best rates. The tours, etc. I thought since it was the first time it would be best to take the RCCL tours. But I was concerned that I heard so little about them on the boards.

Any information would be great.

NR

[cberge]

I am sailing from Barcelona on September 21 on Brillance of the Seas. It is the venice version. I am traveling with six other people. I have never been to Europe so am very excited. However, I also have a lot of questions. Where to get Euros. The best rates. The tours, etc. I thought since it was the first time it would be best to take the RCCL tours. But I was concerned that I heard so little about them on the boards.

Any information would be great.

NR

A lot of people pooh pooh going on ship's tours for whatever reason,but I think for a first timer they are a great way to get a feel for a port/city/countryside,and if you would feel better doing them I certainly would.If you are not going to be with the 6 other people all the the time,the tours would be a great way to go.If you will all be together then maybe you could all share a van with driver,and gather info from this board as to what you may want to see in the ports you visit.A lot of poster's have done the ship's tours and I am sure they will post as well as info you can get from the RCCL website re your cruise.

As for Euro's you can get them at ATM's in the cities or you can get some before you leave through your bank...less expensive to get them at ATM's.You can also exchange money over there at a change booth although you will not get as good an exchange rate and there will be a fee.

Just continue to read the boards here as well as the RCCL boards and you will have a wealth of info before you go. Enjoy your first trip to Europe and your cruise.

[fmax]

Hi

 

This is my first time in Europe and like you was not sure what was best but having read the boards and read books etc I feel that those Cities furthest away from the ship you really need to do by either private tour and RCCL tour. There are pros and cons for both, the main concern is that unless you do RCCL tour if you don't get back on time then you have to get to the next port to catch up with the ship. Having said that, all the tour companies on the boards do this on a daily basis so unless major catastrophe (or road works etc) then shouldn't be a problem.

 

I decided along with my sister that Livorne and Rome we would do by private tour and like yourselves there are 2 of us but we met 4 people on the boards who were also doing this so have joined their group (making it less expensive). The private tours are definitly less expensive and more flexible and by posting the dates and tours you are looking for, you may find other people to join.

 

Hope you enjoy you cruise no matter which way you decide to go. I know I can't wait to get there and see everything. Decided to do Villefranche and Marseilles on our own so that should be interesting.

 

Owenette sailing Splendour 24 September 2005

[nrunnion]

So Spendour is also in September? What ports does it go to?

NR

[navel1ring]

We did Splendour last October & took ship excursions in all ports except villefranche which was an easy on your own port. I did a detailed report on this board called splendour october 23. It covers all of the ships excursions that we took. We were VERY happy with our decisions. As a matter of fact a group of about 15-20 got left behind in Livorno because of a storm that shut down the trains. Whatever you decide it will be a fabulous trip.

 

Wendy

[ehogan]

Just finished back to back Brilliance of the Seas cruises in the Med with 7 days in the middle in Rome. I am in the middle of preparing a detailed trip report which I will post in the next few days.

 

Had a great time, learned lots, a couple of bad experiences but all in all a wonderful trip. more detail later.

[2forthesea]

We've been on the Splendour's 7 day Med cruise, and it was our first time to Europe, too. Fabulous cruise, andwe're going back for 12 days on the Brilliance this October.

 

The first time we did a mix of ship's tours and one private in Rome with 4 other cruise passengers. Of all the ports, I think Rome is one you would want to try a private tour, since there's so much to see, and the buses can't get into the narrow streets, so there's a lot of walking back and forth.

 

We did the ship's tour in Florence that included time on our own, too. Also, the ship's tour in Pompeii and St. Paul de Vence that also included time on our own.

 

For a first time where we wanted to see as much as possible, our tours seemed a good match to our needs: guided where there was a lot of info to absorb, but some time to roam around, too.

 

This October we're going to take the trains, but haven't ruled out a private car for the Amalfi coast.

 

Wonderful itinerary; you should love it!!

[Lovingtravel]

Hi Ron,

 

We are sailing on the Splendour on 10/15/05 and would appreciate receiving your report. You can email me at gwright66@cinci.rr.com.

 

Thanks,

Kathy

[fmax]

The Splendour goes from Barcelona and does Marseille, Villefranche, Civaetchii (?Spelling but it's the port for Rome) Livorno and Naples although I don't think in the order I've mentioned here. We're going Sept 24th.

 

 

 

Owenette

[nrunnion]

Ron: Would you also mail me your report at nrunnion@alltel.net. Thanks a lot.

nancy

[Bruin Steve]

We did the Mediterranean on the Millennium in August 2003...

We did Celebrity's Shore Excursions in EVERY port (Celebrity Shore Excursions are identical to Royal Caribbean's Shore Excursions)...mostly for the sake of convenience (we didn't want to have to locate other passengers to share the costs or to take some of the risks involved with committing to third parties)...but, also, having done both many shore excursions and many private tours on other cruises, we've found that the shore excursions are not only not as bad as some folks on here would have you think, at times they EXCEED what you can hire privately...

 

On the whole, we were actually quite pleased with what we got in the Mediterranean...

 

We didn't seem to ever have "40 people on a bus"...

Our Rome excursion had precisely ELEVEN passengers and two guides and was an excellent value...

Our Livorno excursion to Volterra and San Gim had NINETEEN passengers...

Even when we had the 30 or so passengers on a bus, the excursions hardly came across as unmanagable and the "waiting time" was never really that unbearable...

 

The Naples excursion we took to Pompei, Sorrento and Capri fit in all three places rather nicely, something a private guide I had contacted said he couldn't logistically do...

 

In Italy, the "private guides" for the most part are not allowed to give tours at national monuments or similar places...So, for the Vatican or for Pompei (among others) they can only drive you there and drop you off...The Shore Excursion folks provided excellent LICENSED tour guides who gave actual tours with insightful narrative at Pompei and at the Vatican and elsewhere...

 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking the ship's excursions...

In fact, I recommend them...

 

And, I am one who on prior trips to Europe have done cities on my own and have used private tours as well...

 

BTW, I have also found that there's not THAT much money to be saved doing private tours--unless you find a van with large capacity and lots of others to defray the cost...If you have only 2 or 4, you will likely spend quite a bit more when all is said and done...Consider, as well, that the ship's tours usually include lunch and all admissions fees...those private tours do not...

[lucyjohnz]

For our RCL Splendour cruise, we did two ship's tours, 1 private tour and 2 on-our-own tours and I'd say there were pros and cons for each kind of tour. Both our ship's tours (Marseilles Nostradamus $45/pp 5-hour tour and Rome's Eternal City $189/pp 10-hour tour) were full - 40-45 people on each bus. We didn't enjoy the Marseilles Nostradamus tour - just not that much to see and it was pretty boring. However, the Rome tour, while expensive, really included a lot - a private guide who took us through both the Vatican and the Coliseum using radio headsets so that we all could trail along behind her and still hear her guided tour. She was very good. The tour also included all admission fees and a very nice lunch. Was it worth almost $200/pp? I don't know but I don't think I would ever have been able to do the Vatican on my own with the crowds and without a guide to show us around.

 

Our private tour included 8 of us so it cost 75 Euros each. However, since we were in a large minivan/minibus, our driver really couldn't speak to all of us and be heard. He did take us to a beautiful overlook of Florence and then walked us past the lines straight into the Accademia (an additional 11 Euros each). He then drove us to the center of Florence and picked us up 3 hours later. We enjoyed the time on our own and then drove back to Pisa where we only had 40 minutes (our driver thought the ship left at 6pm instead of the correct time of 7pm) because the driver wanted to get us back by 5:15. I wish we'd had longer in Pisa as it was lovely and we wanted to climb to the top of the tower. While I wouldn't rave about this tour, it was certainly well worth the equivalent $100/pp compared to much more expensive ship's tours.

 

On our two "do on your own" tours, we lost a lot of time waiting for trains in Villefrance, Nice and Monte Carlo. We spent an additional 2-3 hours waiting in train stations that was time that could have been spent better. It's my own fault for not getting the train schedules ahead of time and for missing one of the return trains, but still, it was a lot of wasted time. In Naples, we were the last people on the 10:35 hydrofoil to Capri and the last boat to the Blue Grotto, so we didn't waste any time there. It did take almost 2 hours to get to the Blue Grotto, get in a row boat, see it and get back to the pier. And, we did miss the 2:30 hydrofoil back and waited another hour for the 3:35 hydrofoil. However, we did waste far less time that day doing what we wanted, but just by luck. Had we not gotten on the 11am boat to the Blue Grotto, we would have had to wait until 3pm to do try again.

 

We enjoyed the Rome ship's tour because we wanted to not think about anything and were willing to be led from place to place. However, you pay a real premium for that convenience and it's your decision as to whether it's worth it to you.

[lucyjohnz]

For our RCL Splendour cruise, we did two ship's tours, 1 private tour and 2 on-our-own tours and I'd say there were pros and cons for each kind of tour. Both our ship's tours (Marseilles Nostradamus $45/pp 5-hour tour and Rome's Eternal City $189/pp 10-hour tour) were full - 40-45 people on each bus. We didn't enjoy the Marseilles Nostradamus tour - just not that much to see and it was pretty boring. However, the Rome tour, while expensive, really included a lot - a private guide who took us through both the Vatican and the Coliseum using radio headsets so that we all could trail along behind her and still hear her guided tour. She was very good. The tour also included all admission fees and a very nice lunch. Was it worth almost $200/pp? I don't know but I don't think I would ever have been able to do the Vatican on my own with the crowds and without a guide to show us around.

 

Our private tour included 8 of us so it cost 75 Euros each. However, since we were in a large minivan/minibus, our driver really couldn't speak to all of us and be heard. He did take us to a beautiful overlook of Florence and then walked us past the lines straight into the Accademia (an additional 11 Euros each). He then drove us to the center of Florence and picked us up 3 hours later. We enjoyed the time on our own and then drove back to Pisa where we only had 40 minutes (our driver thought the ship left at 6pm instead of the correct time of 7pm) because the driver wanted to get us back by 5:15. I wish we'd had longer in Pisa as it was lovely and we wanted to climb to the top of the tower. While I wouldn't rave about this tour, it was certainly well worth the equivalent $100/pp compared to much more expensive ship's tours.

 

On our two "do on your own" tours, we lost a lot of time waiting for trains in Villefrance, Nice and Monte Carlo. We spent an additional 2-3 hours waiting in train stations that was time that could have been spent better. It's my own fault for not getting the train schedules ahead of time and for missing one of the return trains, but still, it was a lot of wasted time. In Naples, we were the last people on the 10:35 hydrofoil to Capri and the last boat to the Blue Grotto, so we didn't waste any time there. It did take almost 2 hours to get to the Blue Grotto, get in a row boat, see it and get back to the pier. And, we did miss the 2:30 hydrofoil back and waited another hour for the 3:35 hydrofoil. However, we did waste far less time that day doing what we wanted, but just by luck. Had we not gotten on the 11am boat to the Blue Grotto, we would have had to wait until 3pm to do try again.

 

We enjoyed the Rome ship's tour because we wanted to not think about anything and were willing to be led from place to place. However, you pay a real premium for that convenience and it's your decision as to whether it's worth it to you.

 

Good luck with your trip!

[VickiVSN]

Cannes (optional port to Villefrance) - Did train on our own to Monte Carlo.

Off the ship at 11:00a. This worked well and was easy to figure out. Monte Carlo is kind of a confusing town to figure out but not that big. We walked to the Castle, stopping often to make sure we were headed in the right direction. We then walked down to the Aquarium to take the tourist train. Got off at the Casino and spent sometime there and had lunch near by. We got back on the tourist train (the casino is the only place you can jump off and back on) and landed back at the Aquarium. If I had to do it over, I'd probaby to straight to the Aquarium as the tour on the train through the castle was adequate for a quick view.

 

Livorno - Train on own to Pisa

Off the ship about 10:00a. In theory we could have also done Florence but didn't want to push it and it sounded like there is too much to do in Florence. I also wanted to keep the early mornings down to a minimum. A private tour might be good to fit both in. We walked to the tower from the train station. Quite a walk but doable. Spent a bit of time in the area and shopping with the vendors. Walked back to train slowly stopping often to shop. We had planned on lunching in Pisa, but skipped to make sure we caught the 3:04p train to make sure we had cushy room to get back to ship.

 

Rome - Private tour with CC group (driverinrome)

Met group at 7:30a, and off ship just as soon as cleared which was late closer to 9:00 then 8:00. An excellent way to go. The guide asked if we'd want a Vatican guide at the beginning of the tour and the group voted yes so he arranged this from his cell phone. Saw the forum, Colisium from the outside, had pizza at a local Pizzeria a great value has the charged by the kilo at locals prices, went to the Trevi Fountain, two hour tour through Vatican City, then for Gelato at another locals favorite spot. (see full review by olliekl at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=193170)

 

Mykonos - Town on own

Off the ship about 10:00. Took ship transfer $4pp each way. Loved the town, my favorite port. Probably could have found a better lunch spot, but oh well. Hubby wanted to do a beach but I felt crunched on time given uncertainty of bus service. In hindsight, we could have easily taken the bus to the beach that is on near the port. This was my favorite port for wandering on own.

 

Kusadasi - Ship tour of Ephesus AM, PM on our own

Met at meeting location at 7:30. First experience with the cattle call. Getting settled on our tour was a bit of a hassle, but once on board was okay. There was probably close to 40 on the bus. Went to Ephesus and had a good tour through. Upon returning to Kusadasi, where hearded into a carpet store to hear their sales pitch, but it was very low key so I was okay with that. This was about lunch time so we walked around town dodging merchants best we could. Had an excellent lunch at a good price on the far back end of town. Shopped. Pushy merchants. Most of the time as long as you looked they left you alone, but hubby had one experience of the merchant throwing stuff in a bag, showing him the price, and expecting him to walk away. We bought hubby a new wedding band at Christ's, a ship recommended store. Low pressure there and very happy with the ring. Walked to Pigeon Island for some beach time but no real beach there. Once pebble beach near the spit, with the island and rocks and decking. Decided instead to take a cab to Ladies Beach and arrange for cab driver to pick us up later to go back to ship. Worked out well.

 

Athens - Beach on own in AM/Ship tour in PM

Hubby had taken a cab to the beach in the AM. Make sure the driver turns on the meter. He was ripped off by betting charged 30 euro for a trip that should have been 6,50 based on his ride back. The ship information materials makes note to ensure cab drivers turn on meter, but hubby hadn't read that before he left.

 

Took the afternoon Acroprolis, Plaka, and Shopping with ship. We were not very happy with this tour. In part our own fault as I missed the part of the description that said it only stopped at the base of the Acropolis and did not provide time to go in. Spent most of the tour trying to take pictures from the bus window. Only stopped at the stadium for 10 minutes and base of the Acropolis for 30 minutes. For the Plaka, bus stopped about a 10 minute walk away and was only given an hour. We barely had time for lunch and ended up spending too much for appetizers, water, and beer and had to hurry the waiter so we'd meet our group on time. Managed to buy a couple of souvenirs. I would probably recommend either taking public transportation or a cab (with meter turned on) to visit Acropolis and Plaka.

 

Santorini - Toured town on own

Off the ship about 11:00a. Used ship transfer for cable car at ~$4pp per way. I think their cost was in line with the private cost as you can easily by tickets from the cable car operator. You can also hire a donkey or walk up the 500 stairs to get into town. Had an excellent yet slight pricey lunch at a taverna. Did a lot of shopping. We could have taken a bus to a beach, but they were on the other side of the island and I talked hubby out of it.

 

Naples - Private tour with CC group (driverinrome)

Meet group at 7:30a off ship by 8:00. The bus that they had planned for us had broken down that morning so we had a 14 passenger van for our group of 14 which left no room for the guide. We made due by taking turns standing, sitting on laps, etc. Guide was more than happy to stand the entire time, but he wasn't feeling well so we made adjustments. Drove to the top of mountain, stopped for pictures, down the other side for the Amalfi coast. Stopped at some town for pictures and "whistle stop" (toilets). Stopped at a grand hotel and spent about 30 minutes touring it for 1 Euro tip apiece for the door man. Drove some more, had an excellent but very expensive lunch at a great stop with view. Then on to Pompeii. Again, we opted to let Remo arrange a guide at Pompeii. Had 90 minutes. A site guide is the way to go when time is limited, but if you were to down Pompeii on your own or with more than 3 hours, probably no need for a guide. Then back to ship. (see full review by olliekl at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=193170)

 

Bottom line

I'd recommend doing things on your own when the sites are easily accessible either at the port or via train. Private tours (with referral and in a group to share expense) when there is a lot to see so you don't have to waste timing figuring out where to go. And avoid ship tours as they were crowded, organizing was a cattle call, and the tour may not be up to what you are looking for.