Has Anyone used Shore Excursions Group or ShoreExcursioneer?

[NewCruiser51912]

I've booked tours with these 2 groups for our Western Mediterranean out of Barcelona on June 3-10, 2018 on the NCL Epic (first cruise ever for both hubby and I and my first time in Europe). I've been chatting with people in my Roll Call and looking through the forums and as far as I can tell, no one has used them. I picked them because they seem reputable and actually had tours that I wanted to go on. Has anyone else used either of them and does anyone have any reviews?

 

For reference, we booked:

 

Naples: Pompeii and Herculaneum through ShoreExcursioneer

Rome: Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour through Shore Excursions Group

Florence: Florence At Your Leisure through Shore Excursion Group

[CruiserBruce]

A quick look around the board would find many threads on the two providers. The key is they are brokers- like Viator, they don't actually provide the tour. They take your money and find a local vendor. As discussed in many of the threads you will find, this frequently means very attractive pricing, but sometimes presents problems when there is changes or customer service problems.

 

Many people (like us) here will say we would rather just deal direct with the provider, rather than through a third party.

 

By the way, more reading here would see MANY negative comments about using the Hop-on Hop-off bus in Rome. It really isn't the best way to see Rome. The streets are too narrow for the buses to get close to many sites, and the buses can be hard to use on a tighter schedule.

[NewCruiser51912]

A quick look around the board would find many threads on the two providers. The key is they are brokers- like Viator, they don't actually provide the tour. They take your money and find a local vendor. As discussed in many of the threads you will find, this frequently means very attractive pricing, but sometimes presents problems when there is changes or customer service problems.

 

Many people (like us) here will say we would rather just deal direct with the provider, rather than through a third party.

 

By the way, more reading here would see MANY negative comments about using the Hop-on Hop-off bus in Rome. It really isn't the best way to see Rome. The streets are too narrow for the buses to get close to many sites, and the buses can be hard to use on a tighter schedule.

 

Thanks for the advice. I think on future cruises I'll end up going with more local tours. As far as Rome, we mostly plan to use the HOHO bus because none of the other tours offered what we wanted. We have no interest in the Vatican and want to spend most of our time around the Colosseum, Roman Forum, etc. We plan to mostly just use the HOHO as a means to get from the port to Rome and occasionally place to place without walking between the sites that are far apart.

[CruiserBruce]

Thanks for the advice. I think on future cruises I'll end up going with more local tours. As far as Rome, we mostly plan to use the HOHO bus because none of the other tours offered what we wanted. We have no interest in the Vatican and want to spend most of our time around the Colosseum, Roman Forum, etc. We plan to mostly just use the HOHO as a means to get from the port to Rome and occasionally place to place without walking between the sites that are far apart.

 

I think what you have here is a transfer from the port to a stop on the established Ho-Ho bus routes. Then you get on (if they aren't jammed) the next Ho Ho bus that comes along. As commonly discussed here, Rome is very walkable, and the main sites aren't really very far apart, particularly if you take the Vatican out of the mix. Is mobility an issue?

 

In Florence you also seem to have a standard transfer to a certain location, where you will be on your own to walk around, coming back to the pick up spot by a set time.

 

In both cases, I am willing to bet there are options that will do the same, some for more, some for less. The key may also be that your "tour" may drive you, where a train will do the same for less, and possibly faster.

[Keith1010]

You may wish to see if you can find reviews on these vendors on Trip Advisor.

 

Keith

[ecallaghan]

Thanks for the advice. I think on future cruises I'll end up going with more local tours. As far as Rome, we mostly plan to use the HOHO bus because none of the other tours offered what we wanted. We have no interest in the Vatican and want to spend most of our time around the Colosseum, Roman Forum, etc. We plan to mostly just use the HOHO as a means to get from the port to Rome and occasionally place to place without walking between the sites that are far apart.

 

 

Last time we went, my daughter and I grabbed a train to Rome central and then the tube to coliseum and walked all around the sites there ending up at the Trevi fountains and then got the nearest tube back to central and train back to the boat. Super easy and super cheap!