Carnival Liberty Excursions - Europe

[jspirit]

First trip to Europe. We are a little nervous about booking private tours, although so many of you have been so happy with the recommended drivers. The question is: has anyone been happy booking the Carnival excursions on the Liberty Med.? We are only 2 people, so maybe the cost is not so different.

Anybody??

[PoohUnderstands]

Usually I would agree with you. I am a coward normally as far as tours go. Have been to the Caribbean 7 times and I finally tried a couple private tours in St. Lucia and St. Martin and they were great. Though I must admit that they were booked by my friend whom I first met on the meet and mingle thread!

 

Anyway, for Europe, I have booked all private drivers. I have a couple that are going with us on the cruise and I have found one more couple on these threads to go with us. This way there are only 6 of us(rather than 35-50 on a big bus) in a Mercedes van and we can go where we like. The cost in today's Euros is about $110 pp., not alot but less than the ship's 8-9 hour tours. We could have even gotten one more couple and then it would have been very inexpensive compared to the cruise lines' tours, but we wanted to keep it small.

 

So go for it - maybe if you go on your Carnival trip meet and mingle thread you will find someone who has already booked the known private drivers(I booked mine in May, 2005 for September, 2006!) and needs another couple to join them. I plan to ask my drivers to get back in plenty of time before the ship leaves so I don't have to worry about missing the ship!!

 

Whatever you decide, you will have a fantastic cruise.

 

Pooh

[Summertimescallingme]

Jspirit, I just posted a reply on the thread of "tour guides for France, Italy etc." I think we are on the same page. With our family of four, the private guides are going to be costly. It may not be worth it for us, unless it is a really long trip (9 hours) where I don't want to have to be on a bus schedule. We did that last summer in St. Petersburg, it was a wonderful tour, but incredibly long day on and off of the tour bus.

[jspirit]

Thanks for your quick responses!

Mathwiz, it is so funny that we are wondering the same things at the same times! You mentioned that you have done cruise tours on your other cruises. Did you find them too crowded? The busses probably only hold about 40 people. It's not like you are with 100 people. I am surprised , though, that for 4 people it would be more expensive on a private tour. Try the companies that the cc members are suggesting.

It seems like there is sooo much to see and do. The days will be very full. I know that we can't book with Carnival for about another month, so in the meantime, it gives us a chance to check out all these other guides.

It will be very interesting to see how it all comes together!

[darrenclarke]

Contact Silvia & Luciano Taxi & trips Company info@tuscany-trips.com

Drivers in Florence-Pisa-Siena-San gimignano-Lucca....

They can arranfge a Mercedes Van new full optional and so you can add more people even at the las minute.

[rdytocruz]

My husband and I were just two and did all Carnival tours. In Venice I would just walk around on my own providing that you have done your research before hand. The tours were all great.

[jspirit]

I was hoping someone in our situation would respond favourably to the ship excursions. Did you find them well organized and was an 8 or 9 hour day manageable? Did you make it back for the 6:15 dinner seating?

Hope you don't mind a few more questions. I really appreciate the help!

[Juliadlf]

We (husband,daughter and myself) booked tours with Carnival and also did some ports on our own.

I can't complain about the tours as they did meet our expectation. You are on buses with 40 - 50 people on each. Some tours have 3 or 4 buses going to the same place. Venice,Barcelona,Florence we did on our own and booked tours through Carnival for the rest. We were always back before the ship sailed. Only in extreme unusual cases, ie accidents, traffic delays, etc, were the tours late in coming back. 8-9 hour tours are more than manageable and you should take the opportunity to see as much as possible.

 

This was our first cruise experience, but not our first time to Europe, so we really wanted to see how the cruiseline tours would be.

 

We are doing the Baltics in August with Princess and are looking forward this time to share private tours in some ports and then do some on our our

own. Need to experience both sides:)

 

Enjoy the cruise. We did!

 

Julia

[jspirit]

It is so helpful to hear different perspectives. Thanks for sharing your experiences. Have fun in the Baltics!

Small question: how do they work washroom stops with so many people?

[Juliadlf]

Most of our tours were within 1-2 hour drive so no need to make the "pit stop" before reaching the destination.

If I recall correctly, the tour guide would accommodate those who needed to use a restroom prior to the tour beginning at the site. I didn't see everyone running to the restrooms so not an issue.

 

I believe when we were in St. Paul De Vence for a tour it was the only time that I thought that a large tour group was not a good idea. You are being led through some very narrow streets and the tour guide was some 30 persons ahead of us already stopping and explaining the significance of a site. Kind of a waste of time to have to keep asking her to repeat what she just said....oh well.

 

Just as an added fyi, we also did Dubrovnik on our own as well.

[jspirit]

I did not realize that when they say it is an 8 or 9 hour tour, you are never travelling for more than an hour or 2 at a time.

I appreciate everybody's input! Thanks again.

[rdytocruz]

Jspirit, We had late seating dinner and only managed to get to the dining room twice and that was on sea days. I think 6:15 would usually be manageable. We usually just ate the buffet or pizza and did not make the effort to change for dinner. I an 59 and my husband is 63 and has had back surgery and he did fine. The days were long but were really well broken up. We had several nice lunches as a group and met some really nice folks. There were no additional charges on the Carnival tours. We did 5 days in Rome pre-cruise at the Nicolas Inn and it was wonderful. I felt like since my husband had done the big city/art thing that he would probably enjoy seeing some country side and we did. In Naples we did the Amalfi Drive and Pompeii which was beautiful scenery, good lunch and the awesome ruins for me. It was the longest day we had but very manageable. In Barcelona we took the ships tour of Montserrat and the Monestery. Again the scenery was unbelievable. I wish we had had another day because I could have done Barcelona too. In Dubrovnik we took the Best of Dubrovnik tour and saw the countryside with lunch in a little local place beside a stream. We tried the local food and wine and had plenty of time for Dubrovnik afterward. We had return tickets on the bus so just caught up with it when we were ready to go. In Liverno we did the Essence of Tuscany which was on a small mini bus. Again, we met some really nice folks and saw some beautiful countryside. It was a long day but very manageable. In Messina we did the Taormina and Mt. Etna tour. Taurmina is very beautiful and we saw the Greek Theater. I am sure we had lunch also included in this tour. In Cannes we did Georges du Loup, Gourdon and St Paul de Vence. There were two older couples in our group who could not make the walk into the town. It was hilly and so beautiful. The ship tours worked for us. I only speak Southern and felt safe with the group. In Rome we did fine with no Italian but we had some folks help along the way. One lady ordered for us in a small place where no one spoke English. If I can answer any more questions for you I will be glad to. I hope you have a wonderful cruise. I would be happy to go back next week if I could.

[rdytocruz]

Jspirit, We had late seating dinner and only managed to get to the dining room twice and that was on sea days. I think 6:15 would usually be manageable. We usually just ate the buffet or pizza and did not make the effort to change for dinner. I an 59 and my husband is 63 and has had back surgery and he did fine. The days were long but were really well broken up. We had several nice lunches as a group and met some really nice folks. There were no additional charges on the Carnival tours. We did 5 days in Rome pre-cruise at the Nicolas Inn and it was wonderful. I felt like since my husband had done the big city/art thing that he would probably enjoy seeing some country side and we did. In Naples we did the Amalfi Drive and Pompeii which was beautiful scenery, good lunch and the awesome ruins for me. It was the longest day we had but very manageable. In Barcelona we took the ships tour of Montserrat and the Monestery. Again the scenery was unbelievable. I wish we had had another day because I could have done Barcelona too. In Dubrovnik we took the Best of Dubrovnik tour and saw the countryside with lunch in a little local place beside a stream. We tried the local food and wine and had plenty of time for Dubrovnik afterward. We had return tickets on the bus so just caught up with it when we were ready to go. In Liverno we did the Essence of Tuscany which was on a small mini bus. Again, we met some really nice folks and saw some beautiful countryside. It was a long day but very manageable. In Messina we did the Taormina and Mt. Etna tour. Taurmina is very beautiful and we saw the Greek Theater. I am sure we had lunch also included in this tour. In Cannes we did Georges du Loup, Gourdon and St Paul de Vence. There were two older couples in our group who could not make the walk into the town. It was hilly and so beautiful. The ship tours worked for us. I only speak Southern and felt safe with the group. In Rome we did fine with no Italian but we had some folks help along the way. One lady ordered for us in a small place where no one spoke English. If I can answer any more questions for you I will be glad to. I hope you have a wonderful cruise. I would be happy to go back next week if I could.

[jspirit]

You only made it to the dining room twice for the late seating because:

1. you weren't back on time from the tours

2. you were too tired and didn't feel like dressing up for dinner

3.were hungry earlier and couldn't wait for the late seating

I just changed my seating last week from 8 pm to 6:15. It seemed like a good idea since we will have to be up and out so early for the long days of touring.

Am I on the right track? We enjoy eating in the dining room for dinners. I really don't want to miss that because we won't be back early enough. Your thoughts?

( thanks again for all your help!)

[rdytocruz]

Jspirit, Our late dining was supposed to be 8:00 but insted we were given the 6:00pm. We went to change it with the Maitre D' but I did not notice immediately that he gave us 8:45 which is entirely too late for us. On shore days when there were long tours that might be running close to the early dining time and they moved all dining times to about 15 to 30 minutes later to accomodate the early seatings. People were really complaining if they missed dinner but we were tired, hungry and just did not make the effort. My husband does not have the energy to go all day and all night too. Had the time been earlier I would have gone to the dining room. We always eat in the dining room for dinner on a regular cruise. This one was so port intensive and I was trying to get in every minute on shore that I could. It is really a different cruise experience than the Caribbean. Everyone was getting up early for tours. It really was wonderful and you will love it. It is a good way to experience the different cultures and maybe go back later for longer visits.

[jspirit]

So it sounds like the 6:15 seating would be just about right, and if on port days they extend it, it turns into 7 pm. That sounds very good.

You sound like you are "ready to cruise" again soon! I am happy to hear that you loved the Liberty Med. and hope you and your husband have the opportunity to do another soon.

Thanks again.

[Summertimescallingme]

I agree with rdytocruz. We have always selected the early seating and it has worked for us. We have never "missed" dinner. In my opinion everyone is so hungry after the day of touring, that we could not wait until after 8 pm to eat. We are also are ready to take a break after dinner. We have scheduled a 9 hour tour in Livorno beginning at 8 am, so even with that long tour, we should be back by 5 pm. Hope this helps.

[jspirit]

yes, your opinion certainly does help.

( now I wonder if everybody on this sailing will change to that seating, and we won't get it!) LOL!

I found that when we had the 8 pm seating, the shows were at 10:30 , and by the time we got to bed it was after midnight every night. That's ok for the Carribean, but I don't think I would be able to handle that with these early morning tour times.

Any other tips fora newbie in Europe?