Shore excursions vs private tours :)

[Seas_Please]

Hi Everyone, First time Oceania cruiser here. My wife and I will be on the October 2013 Riveria Cruise going Rome to Venice. We've never been to Italy but have cruised to Bermuda from Boston and taken an Alaskan Cruise several years ago. We'll be in Rome three days staying in a hotel near the Spanish Steps pre-cruise and Venice two days post-cruise.

 

Can anyone give me advice on the shore excursions? They seem quite pricey. Is it better to try and pre-arrange our own tours at the ports or go with the ships offerings? If you don't have a tour set up, will there be anything worth doing at the ports?

 

Thanks:)

[TERRIER1]

Sores excursion through Oceania are extremely expensive. Many Oceania cruisers make their own arrangements with private tour operators or with other Oceania cruisers. You can see if anyone has arranged private tours and are looking for others to share by going to your roll call.

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1618963

[TKS]

First of all, welcome to Cruise Critic. The roll calls for the cruises are one of the main "perks" of your membership. They offer you an opportunity to meet others from your upcoming cruise, and most threads include a few folks organizing private shore excursions in many of your ports of call. The advantage of those private excursions is price, often substantially below the cruise line's tours, and they are often a much smaller group, giving you a more intimate look at your chosen excursion site. The dis-advantage is that you are truly "on your own", so if there are problems the cruise line will not assist you, and if you miss the ship it is your responsibility to get yourself to your next port to rejoin the cruise.

 

If you haven't already found it, check out Trip Advisor, Cruise Critic's sister website which helps you find things to do in different ports and offers reviews of various sites and tour operators in those sites by those who have been there. I've successfully used a number of the tour operators from Trip Advisor during my cruises.

 

Only you can make the decision if it's worth it or not. But definitely visit the Roll Call for your cruise and read through it to find your options before going any further with your tour planning.

[LHT28]

It is a personal choice but I would pre book private tours in Europe it is not like in the Caribbean where people are waiting to take your money at every turn

Venice you can DIY with some research

As mentioned join the roll call for your cruise & see what others have planned

 

Enjoy

 

Lyn

[Twocoasts]

Definitely book your Rome tours before you get there, especially if you want to see the Vatican or Colleseum. The Rome forum on www.tripadvisor.com has great recommendations for guides. If the Vatican is on your list, I highly recommend the Pristine Sistine tour. It's not cheap but you get into the Sistine Chapel before it's open to the massive crowds. Well worth it!

 

You do not need a guide for things like the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, etc. Just walk around--if your hotel is near the Spanish Steps you're in a great location.

 

For Venice, you don't really need a guide--things are quite compact. A tour you might consider is the Murano Glass Factory. And of course, a gondola!

[JimandStan]

It's very easy to be Penny-wise and Pound-foolish when it comes to Shore Excursions in Europe because just about anybody can transport you physically to the Sites.

 

The key is in finding a Guide who will offer an overview and insight into what you are viewing on a level which you are comfortable with.

 

Touring the Vatican with an Art History Expert, for example, will be a completely different experience than the same time spent with a Guide who comes at things from a Military History perspective.

 

Unless YOU have the time, stamina and initiative to do the reading and the research beforehand, it is much more important to find a Guide who will tailor the tour to your level of interest, than be shepherded from site to site without knowing what you are looking at.

[Paulchili]

Looking at your itinerary, most of your ports are easily explored on your own - unless you want to go afield (like go to Pompeii from Sorrento).

Otherwise your ports are worth exploring and easily doable on your own (with some research ahead of time).

[ChatKat in Ca.]

Buy a good travel guide. We like Rick Steves books and Fodors. Then look at what you want to see. Rick has some ipod audio guides although make sure they are recent. One we had for the Louve was painfully out of date.

 

We like using Hop On Hop Off (hoho) for an overview. They are inexpensive and you can tour at your own pace. We also like private guides and use the roll call to partner with others. You can see what you want to see vs what others want your to see on a private tour. Like no shopping stops where the guide gets commission.

[TERRIER1]

Have never been to Zaykynthos but we have been to all the othe ports on your itinerary. As Paulchili stated, these are all doable on your own. Rick Steves offers very good walking tours for Rome and Dubrovonik. I would also have backup plans for Amalfi/Positiano since the ship isn't always able to tender here due to wind and weather. We tendered in Sorrento for two nights due to wind.

 

If you are very active and mobile then I would suggest taking breathtaking hikes in Amalfi to Ravello. Take the bus from the center of Amalfi to Ravello. There are beautiful gardens (Villa Cimbrone) to be visited in Ravello. We then walked (hiked) back down (operable word here) from Ravello to Amalfi through the lemon and grape arbors having lunch on the way in Atrani.

 

Positano: we took the bus from Sorrento to Positano. The bus ride is spectacular as long as you are not afraid of heights. This is Italy's version of Space Mountain.

 

Corfu is all walkable unless you want to go to the north coast to the beach.

 

We docked at Sanbasilio in Venice since we were on a "R" ship which is smaller than the Riviera. Great spot for just walking to the sites.

 

We were in Taomina on a Sunday and there was no public transportation to speak of. You needed to take a cab or arranged for a private tour or ship tour to get to Taomina. We tendered at Giada Naxos.

 

These are lovely ports and you will have a great time. The scenery is spectacular.

[wripro]

May I suggest you go to the Ports of Call board here in Cruise Critic, click on the Europe board, then Italy, There you will find many threads on your ports and lots of suggestions for ways to explore them either on your won or with private guides. I agree a private tour is always better than ship's excursions.

[ORV]

It's very easy to be Penny-wise and Pound-foolish when it comes to Shore Excursions in Europe because just about anybody can transport you physically to the Sites.

 

The key is in finding a Guide who will offer an overview and insight into what you are viewing on a level which you are comfortable with.

 

Touring the Vatican with an Art History Expert, for example, will be a completely different experience than the same time spent with a Guide who comes at things from a Military History perspective.

 

Unless YOU have the time, stamina and initiative to do the reading and the research beforehand, it is much more important to find a Guide who will tailor the tour to your level of interest, than be shepherded from site to site without knowing what you are looking at.

 

Just an addition to this, most drivers are not guides, and not all of the guides are tour drivers. A driver might point out certain things to you and be knowledgeable, but guides in Italy are licensed. Many times you will find that you will need to hire both.

 

As an example, while on a tour of Rome with a highly recommended tour company we hired an additional guide for the Vatican. The driver is not allowed by law to take you through the museum etc.

[Travelcat2]

On our first Oceania cruise (May, 2013 mostly in Italy), we did both Oceania and private excursions. The culinary excursions offered by Oceania are the best we have ever encountered - worth every penny (yes -- they are expensive).

 

We only do things on our own when we have been in the city before. On and off buses do not work for us as we end up spending too much time looking for the sites - sometimes getting lost. Then you have to find your way to a bus stop. We tried it twice (not on our last cruise) and would not do it again.

 

You may try Googling "small group tours in (name of city)". There are some reputable companies that are not that expensive and do a great job. When we were in Livorno we shared a private tour with 3 other couples from the ship. We went through Tuscany and had a marvelous time - visiting spots that no one else on the ship visited. Private tours are expensive but when you divide it by 6 or 8 people, it isn't bad at all.

[cbb]

We usually do independent touring and while I read the travel books beforehand, I've decided I don't like carrying them around so I create my own travel notebook.

 

My favorite online source for walking tours lately is Frommers.com. If you do a search st the Frommers website all of these ports will pop up. Each of them have walking tours with corresponding maps as well as a brief narrative of what you're seeing. We think they are well done, and also like Fodors and have used Rick Steves some.

 

I create a document for each port including maps. He downloads the maps into a hand held gps and I have the printed ones. I print everything and put it in a 3 ring binder and at each port, I take out the pages for that port and stick it into my bag and we're off.

 

Just to give you an idea, 1st url is Rome tour 1; 2 url is the map for that Rome tour. There are others.

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/rome/0064020033.html

http://www.frommers.com/images/destinations/maps/jpg-2006/64_walkingtour:romeofthecaesars.jpg

 

btw....zayknthos is totally doable on your own. Walk the walls as soon as you get into Dubrovnik.

 

What a great trip and welcome to this place--it is wonderful!

[Seas_Please]

Thank you all for this great input! I feel like I've stumbled on a treasure trove of wonderful advice. I have posted a couple of questions on my roll call forum but have received no responses as of yet. maybe it's not very active at this point.

 

Thanks again! :):)

[candbgirl]

We have done both private and cruise line tours. Oceania tours are expensive but they are wonderful. We had nothing planned at one of our stops in the Azores and we decided at the last minute to hop on an Oceania tour. And are we glad we did. It was spectacular and worth every penny. So don't write the Oceania tours off entirely. Look at the carefully and see what else is available and then decide.

[Paulchili]

We have done both private and cruise line tours. Oceania tours are expensive but they are wonderful. We had nothing planned at one of our stops in the Azores and we decided at the last minute to hop on an Oceania tour. And are we glad we did. It was spectacular and worth every penny. So don't write the Oceania tours off entirely. Look at the carefully and see what else is available and then decide.

 

Which tour did you do in the Azores? We will be there and have OBC to spend on shore excursions.

TIA