Ncl spirit, med excursions

[Deehitchen]

Hi 1st time cruiser and starting to look into excursions for our cruise (Venice to Barcelona) question is are the ports manageable on your own or is it worth the ridiculously priced ship excursions? Thanks 😀

[fabnfortysomething]

we are on the Spirit on Monday and will be doing a review when get back

We have booked private tours in most ports and sharing with fellow cruisers via our roll calls

 

We never do ships excursions as find them well overpriced and too many people in the group

 

Some ports can be done DIY if you prefer

 

head over to the ports of call forums subset Europe and there is loads of info on there

Edited July 13, 2016 by fabnfortysomething

[KeithJenner]

All of the ports can be done fairly easily on your own, but many of them do require train journeys etc so it depends a lot on how happy you are with that.

 

The only port where we used a tour of any sort when we did that cruise last year was Kusadasi (as you need transport to get to Ephesus), but I don't think you are going there are you?

 

There is lots of information on the ports of call areas, as mentioned above.

Edited July 13, 2016 by KeithJenner

[Deehitchen]

Thanks for the replys, the main ones are Naples where we want to go to sorrento and possibly Pompeii, and also getting from the ports to Rome/Florence and back

Venice

Dubrovnik

Athens

Santorini

Marseille and Barcelona don't seem to be too bad to work alone

[KeithJenner]

Naples - the train to Sorrento goes via Pompeii. An option is to go to Sorrento by train, stopping at Pompeii and the. Get a boat back. This is one which may be easier to use a tour of you want to visit a number of places. There are always lots of options at the port for tours or taxis who will take you around.

 

Rome - I think this is ideal for the train if you want to save some money as it is massively cheaper than any type of tour. However, you are likely not to be able to cover as much when you are there than you would with a tour. It depends on what your preferences are.

 

Florence - this is a fairly long train journey and if you also want to stop in Pisa then you really need a tour rather than doing it yourself. I've never gone into Florence, but I understand that it is quite doable by yourself and again can save some money.

 

Venice - really easy to do it yourself. There are water taxis, but we usually just take the people mover and then just walk. It's nice to experience the whole city rather than just go straight to the main areas.

 

Dubrovnik - get the shuttle to the centre and then walk round yourself. The walls are great but make sure you have lots of water as it gets hot. There are loads of places to get water nearby.

 

Athens - it's a bit of a walk to the train station, but once you get into the city then it's easy to get around. This is another one which is easy to do by yourself, but it does involve some walking and a train journey.

 

Santorini - if you just want to wander around the town where the tenders land then it's easy to do yourself. If you want to go to the other town, the name of which escapes me, then you will need a tour of some description or get really involved with buses.

 

Basically, they can all be done independently, but they do involve the use of public transport and, with Rome, Florence, Naples and Athens that can be more than many people would want. If this is likely to be the only time you ever go to these places then a tour may work better in order to fit more in.

 

A word of warning though. Yours everywhere can be extremely expensive on these itineraries. Also, it is extremely busy. I have seen people who are basically exhausted after a few days. It's worth prioritising in order to make sure that you do actually have time to enjoy yourself.

[Deehitchen]

Thanks for the helpful info 👍 We're a couple in our late 20s honeymooning so shouldn't mind the walking too much and I think il look at booking an independent excursion for the Naples port 😊

[fabnfortysomething]

as per Keiths advice you can DIY

 

our experience with the 3 Italy ports Livorno Civitiveccia and Naples we did private tours with Rome-car-tours in 7/8 seater vans.Total cost of van 550 euros but if you find tour mates from your roll call cuts the cost

 

Advantages are that Florence and Rome are about an hour from the port and you have the van to tour you around those cities and to get close to the main sites.You can also do side trips such as to Pisa

 

Naples a private tour along the Amalfi coast is great and you can combine with a trip to Pompeii

 

If you check the link at the bottom of my post to the 2012 Sprit review I describe the private tours we did then

[First cruise lady]

Agree that most of those ports can be done easily yourself. With regards to Athens, there is also the X80 express bus that leaves from just outside the port and drops you off about 10 minutes walk from the acropolis. Florence is really a day our in itself. I had a day there 2 years ago on a cruise and am planning on going back again, as I don't feel we saw everything. Hope that helps.

 

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[lambeek]

Agree that most of those ports can be done easily yourself. With regards to Athens, there is also the X80 express bus that leaves from just outside the port and drops you off about 10 minutes walk from the acropolis. Florence is really a day our in itself. I had a day there 2 years ago on a cruise and am planning on going back again, as I don't feel we saw everything. Hope that helps.

 

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This hop on hop off line stops right at the port and goes to the Acropolis too.

 

http://www.citysightseeing.gr/piraeus-line/

[Sauer-kraut]

Instead of Pompeii, consider Herculaneum (Ercolano) on the same train as to Pompeii. There is SHADE there, the mosaics and murals are very well preserved. This town was hit by the same volcano eruption as Pompeii, however, this town had more upscale villas and what remains is just spectacular. Its only a 10 minute walk from the station and I as I said this is a much more shady place to visit rather than out in the sun of Pompeii. It will also be a LOT less crowded there and you'll be able to see more in less time.

 

Unlike Pompeii, Ercolano is in the middle of a built up town, Ercolano. If you do not come on a tour bus its a 10 minute walk from the local railway station, Ercolano Scavi straight down the main street of the town.

 

There are not the queues as at Pompeii mid-morning and there is no tourist tat village outside the gates. The excavated town of Ercolano is well below the current level of the modern town, all the support structure of the site, ticket offices, gift shop, restaurants look down on the excavated city below.

 

Facilities within the complex are basic, one small restaurant/cafe, rest room facilities, a bookshop/gift shop and that's about it. The restaurant, cafe often doesn't even bother opening even when there are significant visitors.

Taken from https://www.rometoolkit.com/whattodo/pompeii_ercolano.html Edited July 13, 2016 by Sauer-kraut
added referenced URL

[pcur]

Check out these sites for independent touring:

 

For hop on/off (HOHO) buses:

http://www.city-sightseeing.com/info/cruise-port-information.htm

 

For shore excursions:

http://www.destinationcoupons.com

 

If you are a Costco member:

http://www.shoreexcursionsgroup.com (use COSTSHRX promo code for 10% off)

Edited July 13, 2016 by pcur

[pallasanila]

We arranged our own excursions for both of our Mediterranean cruises. The bicycle tour in Barcelona is highly recommended. http://www.fattiretours.com/barcelona/tours/barcelona-city-bike-tour Just be sure to make it to the meeting spot with time to spare or they will give your spots away!

 

Rome is easy to navigate using the trains and metro. We visited the Vatican, which was amazing. You can skip the giant line if you buy tickets in advance online.

 

A short cab ride gets you to the old city in Dubrovnik. I agree with the poster who mentioned that walking the wall gets hot, but it's totally worth it! There's a cafe up there where you can grab a cold beer and a bit of shade for a break.

 

We used the Hop on/hop off bus in Athens. You can buy tickets as you board the bus, and there's a stop not far from the port. Athens was HOT.

[Buckeye fans]

Hi 1st time cruiser and starting to look into excursions for our cruise (Venice to Barcelona) question is are the ports manageable on your own or is it worth the ridiculously priced ship excursions? Thanks 😀

 

Are you on the roll call for your trip? We have an active roll call for the Spirit Venice to Barcelona leaving 9/18. We are using this tour company for Florence and Rome. We booked a full day in Florence and Rome. In Rome, it is a mini van and includes major sights and for an additional charge the skip the line tickets at the Vatican. The reviews are excellent. 99 Euros.

 

http://www.ItalyTours.EU

[Deehitchen]

Cheers for the information guys, I'm new to this so il have to check out the roll calls, as for the heat a few mentioned we go end of April/start of May so I'm sure the med won't be too hot and sunny (hopefully I'm wrong)

[nolatravelgirl]

This thread is a few years old, but covers many of the ports on your itinerary where the poster did almost everything DIY with public transport and a good guide book.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1890431

 

If you are looking for a little bit more structure you may want to join your cruise roll call and look for others to do small group tour shares (usually 6-8 people) that you arrange privately. I did that last year on the Med. I cover most of the ports and what we did via private tours in my review here:

 

NCL Spirit - Grand Mediterranean - August 2015 - Review with Photos

[jingle5616]

On my last couple of European cruises and vaca's I've been some booking tours through local companies or internet tour providers such as SPB and Viator. They are much cheaper than the ships excursions, generally offer more for the money, are almost always much smaller groups, and are cognizant that you are on a ship and have a time deadline. The only way I book with the cruise line is if I can't get a particular tour any other way. Have fun!

[flapbreaker]

Don't pay the absurd prices of the cruise line. You might check out italytours.EU we are booked with them and they are highly rated on trip adv. Rome in limo is also popular.

[Helcar23]

My five cents worth... Just came back from our Spirit 12 day med cruise and we did excursions as follows:

Venice: Do it yourself. St marks, gondola Ride (80 euro set price for up to 5 people) can walk or take water bus.

Kotor: do it yourself. We took the hop on hop off bus. Did the old town ourselves.

Dubrovnik: took the shuttle to the old town. Walked around old town and took the Cable car up to the lookout. Too hot to walk around the walls.

Athens: Do it yourself. We were a family of four and we took a taxi for 5 hours in Athens. 20 euro per hour so 100euro. We went to the Akropolis, temple of Zeus, Olympic stadium, plaka, changing of the guard etc. The driver was fantastic and a great guide.

Mykonos: do it yourself. Walk around the town yourself. Took a bus to a family friendly beach Plaka Gialos i think it was called. Had a swim and lunched at a nice greek restaurant.

Naples: booked a tour of the Amalfi coast with Joe banana tours. Was fantastic, hands down best tour! Forget pompeii Amalfi was magic! Our guide Paulo was super..took us for a great lunch with fantastic view of the Amalfi coast. And lunch cost 4 euros! Best pizza ever!

Rome: booked tour with Joe banana Tours. Tour was ok. Guide was contracted not employed by Joe bananas. Rome was crazy busy but fortunately not hot. Went to colleseum, trevi fountain, spanish steps, Panthéon, st Peters basillica, vatican. Not enough time for sistine Chapel( have been before so not bothered but otherwise need to allow time for that). Nice pasta lunch. wifi on minibus was a bonus.

Florence: tour of Pisa and Florence with Joe banana tours. Nice tour but long drive to florence. Saw the David ( both the real one, the copy plus a black David Done out of respect for the french victims in Nice)went in the Duomo, lots of walking and shopping time. Took nice photos at the viewpoint overlooking Florence. Good gelato there.

Toulon: did our own thing. Walked around the markets and the harbour. Took a swim.

Edited July 23, 2016 by Helcar23

[Shawnino]

Hi 1st time cruiser and starting to look into excursions for our cruise (Venice to Barcelona) question is are the ports manageable on your own or is it worth the ridiculously priced ship excursions? Thanks 😀

 

Go private.

For each port, go to CC's sister site, TripAdvisor.

Start working at the top of the tours list for each city, work your way down til you find something interesting. Inquire, book direct.

 

Expect to pay EUR 350-600 for a driver-guide with minivan carrying up to 8 passengers. West of Rome (N. Italy/Sardinia, Spain, France) will be more expensive that East of Rome (S. Italy/Sicily, Greece, Turkey if they still do Turkey).

[Lucinarei]

We did that cruise last year and loved it!! You will have so much fun!! We did half and half between tours and DIY and were very happy with our choices. Ultimately, it comes down to what you want to see/do and how comfortable you are getting around each city to see and do what you want.

 

I would recommend taking a look at Tom's Port Guides- very helpful! Also, make sure you join your Roll Call. We shared some tours with our cruisemates and it was great!

 

Our cruise was a little bit different than yours, but I'll write down what we did in each port, to give you an idea of what we did and how we did it. :)

 

Pre-cruise: We did three days in Rome and then took the high speed train up to Venice.

 

Venice: DIY- very, very easy to do on your own! Give yourself plenty of time, so that you can walk around and get lost! :)

 

Kusadasi: (Do you still stop here?) Private tour through Ephesus Shuttle Great tour and lots of time to see everything!

 

Istanbul: I don't think you stop here anymore, which is probably a good thing with so much going on in Turkey, but it's a shame, as it was a beautiful city to see. We did this as a DIY port and loved it.

 

Mykonos: We shared a tour through Mykonos Kayak with people from our roll call and it was amazing. Very easy port to DIY, though. :)

 

Athens: We did this DIY as well. Took the x80 bus (VERY easy!) into town and saw the sights. Easy to get back on and back to port. Make sure you stop at the Keg & Crew pub (across from the bus stop). This was a great place to grab a drink! And you can see where we signed the wall (over by the bathroom!). :)

 

Naples: We shared a tour of Sorrento, Positano, and Pompeii with some Roll Call people from CC. We used Joe Banana and were very happy.

 

Civitavecchia: Since we had already done Rome, we did a ship excursion to the Hilltop Towns and loved it.

 

Livorno: We shared a tour through Rome in Limo and did Pisa and Florence. Not enough time- Florence was so beautiful that we had to go back this past April to do it justice. Loved this stop!

 

Toulon: This was a very easy DIY town, if you don't want to go into Provence. We went to the beach and walked around town. Delightful! :)

 

Barcelona: We stayed here three days after the cruise ended, so we did a lot. We started off with a tour through Barcelona Day Tours and shared it with some people from our Roll Call. This was a great way to get our bearings before we explored it on our own for the next few days.

 

It's not quite the same trip as the current one, but several stops are the same. Loved this cruise so much- and I know you will enjoy it! :D

[flapbreaker]

Took the x80 bus (VERY easy!)

 

I've been trying to find out just where this x80 bus stops but can't really find any solid information. I know it's seasonal but were going mid summer and really just need to get back to port from the plaka area. I've got it figured out by using the metro but was curious where one might catch the x80 bus.

[Lucinarei]

I've been trying to find out just where this x80 bus stops but can't really find any solid information. I know it's seasonal but were going mid summer and really just need to get back to port from the plaka area. I've got it figured out by using the metro but was curious where one might catch the x80 bus.

 

To get into Athens, there is a bus stop just a short walk away from the terminal (here are the step-by-step directions that I took with me). It drops you off at a couple of places- we took it to the Acropolis stop and then picked it back up in Syntagma Square to head back to Piraeus. I was a little worried that it would be difficult to find, but the directions made plenty of sense (and the pictures helped!). :) There's also a step-by-step with pictures on this thread. Here is a map with all of the stops marked. I hope that helps!

Edited July 24, 2016 by Lucinarei

[flapbreaker]

To get into Athens, there is a bus stop just a short walk away from the terminal (here are the step-by-step directions that I took with me). It drops you off at a couple of places- we took it to the Acropolis stop and then picked it back up in Syntagma Square to head back to Piraeus. I was a little worried that it would be difficult to find, but the directions made plenty of sense (and the pictures helped!). :) There's also a step-by-step with pictures on this thread. Here is a map with all of the stops marked. I hope that helps!

 

Fantastic, thanks so much. Just what I needed.