Excursions -

[Bog114]

Hi, we, 6 people as three couples are cruise virgins.

 

We are going on Thomson Dream in May on the Aegean Mezes cruise, is it better to get the ship offered excursions, pre book something on line, or take a chance and get something as we get off the ship in the ports.

 

Thanks

 

Mike

 

:confused:

[Lionesss]

Dear new cruise virgins.

 

Since you are inexperienced it would probably be best to book some of your excursions through the ship.

 

This way someone will be able to guide you on your first encounter;p

 

And as you develop the love and grow more into cruising, you can experiment on your own and try new and exciting resources.

 

Enjoy, we do.

[jocap]

Hi.. it looks a lovely cruise...go back to the index page; go down to the ports page and press Europe, and then press Greece, to see what other people have done. When you dock in Piraeus, there will be hop on/off buses, or you can walk about 15 mins to the railway station, for a cheap ride into the centre of Athens. Watch your bags, though...

I've only wandered around the streets in Mykonos, but I wish I'd taken the excursion to Shirley Valentine's beach... that might be one if you enjoy beach days.

Have a wonderful time! :)

[Essiesmom]

Get a copy of Rick Steves' Mediterranean Cruise Ports and see what you can do on your own. I believe that he covers all of your ports except Crete. He will tell you what there is to do in port and how much you can do in the time you have, and how to do it from gangway to gangway. And yes, that is a lovely itinerary. I fact, you could string together the next two itineraries of Dream and not repeat any port but Corfu and Piraeus. EM

[cb at sea]

Exactly...if you aren't going to book something....LEARN about your ports! Rarely do you NEED excursions, but you MUST know about the places you'll visit! Get a guidebook, and then decide if you need a guide!!!

[rmurray847]

Get a copy of Rick Steves' Mediterranean Cruise Ports and see what you can do on your own. I believe that he covers all of your ports except Crete. He will tell you what there is to do in port and how much you can do in the time you have, and how to do it from gangway to gangway. And yes, that is a lovely itinerary. I fact, you could string together the next two itineraries of Dream and not repeat any port but Corfu and Piraeus. EM

I agree with this. Our first cruise was 6 years ago, Eastern Med. We did only one ship excursion, in Alexandria. Everything else was on our own, and went smoothly. The Rick Steves' book is quite helpful, and made doing Athens alone a breeze. We got private excursions for other stops, and those went great as well. Tripadvisor helped us screen the wheat from the chaff.

[bbwex]

IMHO I would merge much of the advice given so far, and then arrange mostly private tours. I do like Rick Steve's books, though they can make the trip seem even more daunting if you are looking at a country generally and not just a port visit. He does offer some great walking tours so you can avoid a tour altogether. You need to "scope out" the ports a bit to decide. What I have found most useful is going to the Ports of Call section, and then reading through as many of the posts as you can. This will give you ideas as to what you want to do, and often you will find some tidbits that really make your visit unique and memorable. I also use this section to see what tour operators get the best reviews, and to do this you really need to read them over in depth to get the real feeling for who is good and who isn't -- don't just go by one or two people. I then arrange private tours, and go on the cruise's roll call and see if you can find others to join you. (Sometimes you want to find others first so you aren't along -- private tours are usually cheaper if you get at least four or six people.) Private tours can be customized if you found something on the Ports of Call section that someone mentioned and you want to add. They are also faster, so you can get more done, and they are small so you can interact more with the guide. Another source of tours is Shore Trips (shoretrips.com) which operates just about everywhere -- they seek out and check out good tour guides and stand behind them if anything goes wrong.

[flowers12155]

Excursions offered by the ship guarantee they won't leave with out you a travel agent is your friend they would help you with these options anyway if you have not made your decision by debark time they usually offer in the theater a presentation on what's available it will help you to know how much time is needed to get back to the ship from certain excursions in case you do book independent or take a taxi

 

 

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[John Bull]

Different options - ship's excursion, private excursion or DIY - suit different people, different ports and different sights.

So we need to know your ports.

 

OK, Piraeus has been mentioned.

No need for a tour to Athens, You can take the X80 express bus into Athens for just a few euros, then cover most of the sights on foot. Or use the hop-on bus - it has a route from the port to the city and a city route. The city route isn't particularly interesting as an overview, but is welcome transportation here and there, especially on hot days.

Visit the Acropolis first. You'll avoid the worst of the crowds & the worst of the heat, and in extreme heat the Acropolis is sometimes CLOSED in the afternoons. Then the Acropolis museum if that's your scene (it's on your way back from the Acropolis to town), then mebbe Plaka (sights, bars & shops) & finishing off with the Arch of Hadrian, various ruined temples and the ancient Olympic stadium if you have the time & energy.

 

And Mykonos is very easy to DIY if you simply want to wander the harbourside, meet the pelicans, explore the very attractive winding little alleyways and see the iconic windmills beyond. A beer overlooking the water at Little Venice would be a welcome break. That'd be a laid-back day.

If your ship moors off-shore, the tenders take you to the harbour - no need for transportation.

If your ship berths at the cruise pier you need a ship's shuttle or taxi I don't know if there's a local bus) for the approx. 1.5 miles to the town.

 

Ships' excursions are over-priced, though Thomson's prices (same tours & same tour operators as other cruise lines) tend to be cheaper than the others.

 

BTW don't buy Thomson's drinks package at full price (around £260 pppw). It's poor value, there's a supplement for all but the most basic drinks, and Thomson bar prices are in any case much more reasonable than most cruise lines - about the same as provincial pubs & no service charge. The package is sometimes offered at half-price or less or even free, to encourage cruise bookings. If you've got one of those deals, that's great. If not, skip the package.

 

And Thomson charge the commission for paying your on-board account by credit card. So pay by debit card.

 

JB :)

[Sixtytwo]

As it was mentioned in one post, the big thing for you to consider is that the ship doesn't wait on anyone if they are late getting back for departure! If you do, and we would surely do these ports "on our own", you on thing, just keep in mind two things: What time does the ship's clock have? This is the time that everything on board and on shore is based on. Next, have a watch or some device that DOES NOT reset the time to account for time zone changes! It would be a real not fun thing to be standing on the dock, watching your ship sailing happily away for it's next port! :o

[TNcruising02]

I would recommend first time cruisers book the tours through the ship. You will have tickets delivered to your room with the time you need to meet, along with the location (either inside of the ship or out on the pier). Some of the cruise lines have reviews for the excursions, which I always find helpful. You don't have to worry about making it back to the ship on time when you book an excursion through the ship.

 

It makes for a less stressful first time, in my opinion.

[MicCanberra]

I would recommend first time cruisers book the tours through the ship. You will have tickets delivered to your room with the time you need to meet, along with the location (either inside of the ship or out on the pier). Some of the cruise lines have reviews for the excursions, which I always find helpful. You don't have to worry about making it back to the ship on time when you book an excursion through the ship.

 

It makes for a less stressful first time, in my opinion.

I agree, less stressful is better, if on one port there isn't an excursion that interests you, then just go ashore and have a wander around.