Not booking shore excursions

[WASUP]

We are going to do the following cities:

 

Rome

Villefrance

Marsielles (Sunday)

Malaga

Canary Islands

 

What are the thoughts on the nOT prebooking for tours, whether they be private or a ship shore excursion and waiting till we got on board the ship.

 

Are there private tours that we could pickup on the day we arrive at the ports?

 

Celebrity wishes final payment of the excursion at time of booking and we are just not ready to make the commitment right now. The bookings close 10 days prior to sailing and we would have to wait till we get on board. we are thinking to research the various cities and then make a decision on what time of tour or on our own

 

Thanks

[goldenprincess53]

We are visiting 5 ports of call. Doing Nice and Marseille on our own using local train bus. Have booked the ship's bus for transportation only to Florence and Rome; and a private driver in Naples.

 

In answer to your question, we pre-booked the ships bus and paid for it but it can be cancelled any time up until the day before the excursion while the shore excursion office is open. That is my understanding anyways, someone correct me if I am wrong.

 

I did this because these two ports are a distance away (over an hr from the ship) and I want to make sure (paranoid to be exact) I get back to the port before sailing. It also give me flexibility to change my plans should we meet people looking for others to join their tour. This way at least I have transportation and am not left in the cold, dependent on local transportation to these two particular ports.

[Andym]

On our recent Millennium cruise, most of the tours were completely sold out. A lot of them were sold out when we boarded the ship.

[corkpopr]

we have cruised 16 times and on the first 6 took ship provided tours. good but not great. then we started booking our own on the docks. let everyone off with the mad rush then talk to the drivers. pick one that speaks english well enough so you can enjoy what you see, ask questions, receive recomendations, etc. you do tend to get directed to his brothers restaurant or his sister in laws shop but you can control that as well.

we like the commentary from the locals and to be taken to a conbination of the primary attractions (like on the ships tours) and to areas that visitors do not normally see.

it has been our experience that all the drivers/guides know exactly when the ship is leaving and how traffic is and if we are moving too slow they will tell us about an hour and a half before sailing that we need to start moving back towards the ship.

did i mention that the cost is usually half or less!

[Susan-M]

I printed bus and train schedules for Villefranche, Florence and Rome and after quite a bit of research, know what we want to see in those places, so feel that doing it on our own will be fairly easy. However, I discovered two weeks ago that a train strike is scheduled for our Florence day, so have booked Celebrity's Florence on Your Own bus.

 

If you book shore excursions with Celebrity and then change your mind, I believe you can cancel it on the ship & get a refund, up to the point when they close off sales for that excursion. After doing some research, you will have a better idea 15-20 days in advance of the cruise which shore excursions might interest you. The only one that I've seen that is sold out in advance of our cruise is the Florence & Accademia tour - there may be others...just haven't come across them.

[pcur]

Here's the Italian train strike scheule web site:

 

http://www.seekitaly.com/news/from_roma.html

 

I would book Rome in advance or get a private limo. I agree that it may be too late for the private, but do check your roll call thread.

 

We did Malaga and the Canary Islands on our own. We enjoyed walking around, and the above advice about finding your own driver the day the ship docks is good. I just wouldn't take a chance on Rome. Cancel after you get on board if you change your mind.

[DonLou]

We usually do the pre-booked tours for those places we absolutely want to see. For the others, we usually play it by ear. We've never done the private or adhoc by-the-pier tours because we're just not adventurous in that respect.

[Bruin Steve]

Not ALL cruise ports are alike...

You get off the ship in Ketchikan, Alaska and there are booths and tables dockside and a Chamber of Commerce Building next to the pier where you can book last minute tours and excursions to your heart's delight...

In Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta, there are dozens of taxis waiting for you as you get off the ship, all of whom will hire themselves to you for the day...

And so on...

 

BUT...DO NOT be so sure that the same opportunities exist when you get off the ship in Europe...

 

In Rome...well, actually, you are not in Rome...You are in Civitavecchia...It is a commercial port about 50 miles out of Rome...You MAY find a cab...and that cab driver will charge you a hefty price just to drive you into Rome...BUT, also beware, all you've hired is a DRIVER, not a guide...By Italian law, all they can do is drive you to your desired points of interest and let you go on your own...You need a special license to give a tour...Even most of the private "tours" people book on their own are merely hired rides...The driver will only drop you at the Vatican...at Pompei...at wherever...they cannot go in with you and show you around...

 

So, my recommendation for Rome is to book a ship's excursion or, if you hire a private guide, make sure he/she is a LICENSED tour guide and will give you a complete tour...

 

For Villefranche, most of the sites most folks want to see are pretty far afield in the region...St. Paul de Vence, Eze, Monte Carlo/Monaco, Nice and Cannes will take some driving around...and chances are you have time only to visit 2 or 3...There is a train station not far from the port and you can easilly enough get a train to Monte Carlo...Other sites might be a little more difficult...Again, I would pre-book either a Shore Excursion...or contact Alain at Dream Tours:

 

http://www.dream-tours.com/layout.php?page=106&lang=us

 

But I would not wait until I got there and hope for the best...

 

Like has been mentioned before, Celebrity will let you cancel and get a refund up to the day before...

We actually changed one tour for another about a half an hour prior to the time we were supposed to leave when we were in Florence--no problem...

 

And yes, some tours DO sell out...

[Turtle Derf]

From hard earned experience plan in advance on either a private car and driver OR the ship tours! Leaving things to chance and waiting until you end up standing on a dock in a foreign country is a mess. With out a plan you waste a lot of time wandering around trying to figure out what to do and how to do it and you will miss a lot!

[pcur]

I agree, Turtle.

 

I've been researching our second Med cruise like crazy for months now. We want to do the repeat ports from our first cruise on our own, since we've been there and know a llittle more. But, the new and "must see" ports I've booked a ship's tour.

 

First time in Rome was a private driver with two other couples, but if I hadn't done that, I would have paid for the ship's tour.