On average how much would you spend on excursions?

[btdmcg13]

As the title says...

 

We have picked (but not finalised) our 12 days of excursions with Sunshine. This is coming in roughly at $1100 :eek:

 

Is this a lot? Does most people spend around this... there are only the two of us by the way :)

 

Thanks

[Xina143]

As the title says...

 

We have picked (but not finalised) our 12 days of excursions with Sunshine. This is coming in roughly at $1100 :eek:

 

Is this a lot? Does most people spend around this... there are only the two of us by the way :)

 

Thanks

 

You said 12 days...is that a 12 day sailing or 12 port days?

 

If you are doing 12 excursions in 12 ports, I don't think $1100 is bad at all. IF that is what you are doing, I think you are going to be WORN OUT, and you will wish you hadn't spent so much, but that's just me.

[btdmcg13]

No we are doing 6 excursions. This is what we have planned:

 

Sunday Barcelona, Spain

Monday - Monaco - Walk, do it ourselves

Tuesday - Livorno (Florence/Pisa), Pisa and winery – ship excursion $99 (6 hours)

Wednesday - Rome (Civitavecchia), - ItalyRome at it’s best plus collusseum $175 (11 hours)

Thursday - Naples - ItalyRuins of Pompeii $90 (4 hours)

Friday Fun Day at Sea

Saturday - Dubrovnik, Croatia - Beach day with lunch – ship excursion $70 / person (5 hours)

Sunday - Venice, Italy - Gondola $100 private

Monday - Venice, Italy - Boat day

Tuesday Fun Day at Sea

Wednesday - Messina (Sicily) - mt entna $60

Thursday Fun Day at Sea

Friday Barcelona, Spain - home

 

What do you think? :)

[ibcnusoon]

Is this a med cruise? I heard the excursions are very expensive in Europe.

 

We did the 7-night Victory last year with 6 ports. I won't count San Juan, the home port, although we did stay here 2 days pre-cruise, so technically, the entire weekend was an "excursions" but...

 

Based on 6 people:

 

I spent $350 ($70 pp) for an excursion in St. John, St. Lucia and St. Kitts, spent $700 total for all on an excursion in Barbados, spent about $100 on an excursion for 3 people in St. Maarten (the rest of the family stayed on the ship at this point, I took my 2 older daughters to watch the planes land, so we spent money on taxi fares and food/drink/chairs/umbrella at the beach.

 

Total for 7 day cruise: $2900 in excursions for 6 people, about $500 per person on a 7 day cruise. You are at $550 for a 12-day cruise - not bad!

[panoramaofthepast]

When we did Pompeii, we hired a private guide to take us through the ruins. Since he was certified for the site, he was able to take us behind the scenes where the regular tours were not allowed to go. I would highly recommend doing that. Unfortunately, I can't help you out with a name because the arrangements were made by someone else.

 

Other than that, you seem to have a nice balance and reasonable cost.

[Xina143]

No we are doing 6 excursions. This is what we have planned:

 

Sunday

Barcelona, Spain

n/a

Monday

Monaco

Walk, do it ourselves

Tuesday

Livorno (Florence/Pisa), Italy

Pisa and winery – ship excursion $99 (6 hours)

Wednesday

Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy

Rome at it’s best plus collusseum $175 (11 hours)

Thursday

Naples, Italy

Ruins of Pompeii $90 (4 hours)

Friday

Fun Day at Sea

Sea

Saturday

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Beach day with lunch – ship excursion $70 / person (5 hours)

Sunday

Venice, Italy

Gondola $100 private

Monday

Venice, Italy

Boat day

Tuesday

Fun Day at Sea

Sea

Wednesday

Messina (Sicily), Italy

mt entna $60

Thursday

Fun Day at Sea

Sea

Friday

Barcelona, Spain

n/a

 

 

What do you think? :)

 

We've never done a European Cruise before. Been to Europe but not on a cruise.

 

The one I would wonder about was the "Rome at It's best" you said it's 11 hours? How much of that is travel time?

 

I would say if you are in Rome that long, honestly, I would save the $350 (use that for a decadent lunch and gift!) and do it myself. 11 hours....long time to be stuck with people you might not enjoy being around. But that's just us.

 

When we were in Europe, we had no problem playing it by ear. Granted we weren't worrying about missing the ship, but we would just stop locals on the street and ask questions. My husband would buy a map and off we went.

 

On our cruises, which were in the Bahamas and Caribbean, we did a few CArnival excursions, but for the most part we go it alone. I research what we want to do and see if it's feasible.

 

For instance-we have five boys, and we went to Grand Cayman last year. EVERYONE wanted to do the Stingray City excursion. Carnival it would have cost us almost $500, but by going with a private company we saved over $200 dollars. Still had a great time, still went to Stingray City, BUT, that was more money for fun stuff. We went out to lunch at Margaritaville, the kids got souvenirs, we bought pictures, etc, etc. I just think you can get more bang for your buck with a little research and going it alone.

[srlafleur]

We're spending $1900 on excursions for 2 of us on our 12-day Venice-Barcelona. An excursion in every port, excluding Venice (which we'll do on our own) and Barcelona (we've been previously and have no time on this trip). Could we have cheaped out and planned fewer? Sure. We could also have spent considerably more, had we chosen to.

I'm running under the assumption we will never repeat this itinerary, so we want to make the most of every minute. In addition, the older we get, the less likely it is that we'll be to be capable of doing as much, should we be lucky enough to revisit the same ports.

[marshhawk]

I think that you are right in the ball park, the gondola may be more "romantic" than realistically priced, but what the hey, you aren't in Venice every day. We have done two 7 day cruise -4 ports, and it was a repeat, so on the first cruise, we spent about 650.00-a submarine ride in the Caymans, at 100.00 each, DH did Scuba in Cozumel, that was about 150.00, I did a great bus tour there for 50.00, we did Goff's Cay for 80.00 each and nothing the first time we went to Roatan. Travel back with a little more experience a few years later, with a little more curiousity and less fear-we spent 5.00 in Grand Cayman (DH rented flippers for snorkeling), we went to El Cid for 16.00 each, (can't wait to get back there) got to Mahogany Bay (finally) and spent nothing, snorkeled all day, and in Belize we went to the Art and History Museum. spent 5.00 each. If this is your first cruise or time in Europe, I would pay what they charge to see what I want to see, don't fret if you spend that much, you are making memories, and they are priceless.

[AXiDMonica]

For the med I think that amount is fine. You will enjoy all of your yours very much. I disagree with the poster who said you will be worn out and regret booking so many tours. I think when you book a 12 day med cruise you know that this wont exactly be a "relaxing" trip... You're there to see what the ports have to offer! The tour in Rome is an all day thing but it is VERY worth it because the trip from Civitavecchia is far and when you're booked on a CCL tour you have peace of mind that you wont miss the ship in case of traffic delays. The travel time into Rome is a bit lengthy but completely worth it. We saw and did so much on that same tour last summer that I wouldn't have changed a thing.

 

I think you'll be very happy with your choices. Enjoy yourself! :D

[btdmcg13]

Thanks everyone, you have all helped to put my mind at rest :)

 

Can't wait to go now... 6 weeks is far too long :(

[mikel24m]

No we are doing 6 excursions. This is what we have planned:

 

Sunday Barcelona, Spain

Monday - Monaco - Walk, do it ourselves

Tuesday - Livorno (Florence/Pisa), Pisa and winery – ship excursion $99 (6 hours)

Wednesday - Rome (Civitavecchia), - ItalyRome at it’s best plus collusseum $175 (11 hours)

Thursday - Naples - ItalyRuins of Pompeii $90 (4 hours)

Friday Fun Day at Sea

Saturday - Dubrovnik, Croatia - Beach day with lunch – ship excursion $70 / person (5 hours)

Sunday - Venice, Italy - Gondola $100 private

Monday - Venice, Italy - Boat day

Tuesday Fun Day at Sea

Wednesday - Messina (Sicily) - mt entna $60

Thursday Fun Day at Sea

Friday Barcelona, Spain - home

 

What do you think? :)

 

My inlaws friends just did a med cruise and they said the excursions were too long,like 8 hours.Thats too long in my opinion.You may want to check the ports of calls boards ,you may be able to get some great ideas and likely cheaper too.We have been on alot of cruises and maybe 2 or 3 times used the cruise line for excursions

[skittl1321]

Europe excursions are going to be expensive. There are ways to reduce the cost, but on the whole, it is going to be pricey.

 

The only one I question on your list is Dubrovnik- is it necessary to do a ship excursion for a beach day? (I haven't researched this port, so it might be. But I usually only do ship excursions for things that take me far from port.) A taxi might be a lot cheaper!

 

 

I do agree with the poster who will say you will be worn out- but Europe vacations aren't generally about relaxing. You can relax when you get home!

 

 

We have only done Carribean- we usually have one port that costs about $100pp and then we try to keep all the others at less than $20pp.

[crusinpsychRN]

Sounds like a lot but when you say what it's for, no so bad. I'll go with you!

[Tapi]

It's fine. My parents 12 day med cruise excursion tab was around $1,000 for 2 people, and they were trying to be conservative.

[cruizinisthebest]

Thanks everyone, you have all helped to put my mind at rest :)

 

Can't wait to go now... 6 weeks is far too long :(

 

Considering all you have planned and 12 days, the price seems fine. Sounds like you're about to enjoy a marvelous cruise. Have fun!!!

[srlafleur]

We LOOK for the longest excursions! If they include lunch, so much the better! I think our Angels & Demons tour in Rome is 11 hours! Yay!

I think our shortest tour is in Sicily - the Footsteps of the Godfather.

We usually end up sleeping on the way back to the ship, and occasionally, depending on how much food and wine was involved at lunch, even sleeping through dinner, or grabbing a bite at the buffet. This is one reason we like My Time Dining, too. No rushing around after a long excursion to be in the dining room at a set time, just strolling in anytime we're ready.

We don't even think about partying all night. If we never make it to a show, either, fine. If we do, we enjoy them, but not a priority (we live 2 1/2 hours from NYC/Broadway, so it's not like we can't see shows)

Now, this is for cruises like the Med., Alaska, Hawaii (we rented a motorcycle and explored on our own, there) or other more interesting places. The Caribbean is a whole different story and we'd likely focus more on relaxation, there.

[texasnana]

That price you have sounds right. I think I figured the average is about 99.00. For up our upcoming Alaska cruise we are doing 5 and the average is 99.00.

 

Have fun...

[bassmaster150]

If only $1100 in the Med, then you are doing good. We were on the Breeze last year and probably spent like $2k on excursions (bought and paid for before we left the states). Remember unless you go back, you are seeing some once in a lifetime sights, so we went after the excursions that would give us the most to look at in the time allotted.