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Does MSC add more excursions as it gets closer to the sail date?


cparker01
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Looking at our booking in the Mediterranean on Bellissima and it doesn’t seem like a big variety of excursions to book. Do they add more right before the date of sailing? And is it really cheaper to book before online? Lastly is there away to search for tour guides that guarantee to get you back to your ship on time? I know we can’t name the actual company name just want to know how to find them.

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Hello!!! I am booked on the Bellissima on 3/15!!! I cannot wait. I booked last year and during that time, I found initially there were few excursions however, about 4-5 months out, many more were added. I think it depends on the route and when your going on too. We are going leaving Barcelona and going to Naples, Marseilla, Genoa, Messina and Malta. I am usually a book off the cruise line person, because usually it is a lot cheaper, BUT I researched and researched and found that most ports are comparative to cruise line prices, if not cheaper. I did book off ship in Naples with a very popular independent tour company that was reasonably priced and much smaller groups (which I always prefer). I did have a hard time finding independent tours online in many of the ports that were not private (i.e. a lot per person). In Genoa and Malta, we have decided that we will DIY it.

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4 hours ago, cparker01 said:

Looking at our booking in the Mediterranean on Bellissima and it doesn’t seem like a big variety of excursions to book. Do they add more right before the date of sailing? And is it really cheaper to book before online? Lastly is there away to search for tour guides that guarantee to get you back to your ship on time? I know we can’t name the actual company name just want to know how to find them.

 

Actually you can.  It's only Travel Agents who cannot be named [even if your TA isn't Voldemort :classic_ohmy:]  And a recent change in the Guidelines allows tour recommendations before being asked, as long as you have actually gone on the tour.

 

Trip Advisor [which owns Cruise Critic...] is a useful source – but the Cruise Critic Port of Call forums are even better!  I got great advice in figuring out what to do in Palma de Mallorca:  a local resident expert clued me in that my plan wouldn't work timewise and recommended a local car rental agency that parks the car for you right at the pier.

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Keep in mind that MSC is a European cruise line with many of its passengers coming from European counties.  Unlike many folks in North America, Europeans do not feel a pressing need to book overpriced cruise excursions at most ports.  Will MSC add more excursions?  Probably not.  The excursions are actually subcontracted to local tour providers and it is what it is!

 

I suggest you go on the CC Ports of Call boards (for each of your ports) and research some of the options for those ports.  There are likely some ports where you might want to join with others on a private tour and you can often do that if you become active on your CC Roll Call (specific for your cruise).  Many of us are also willing to help (with lots of details) if you decide you might want to simply do some ports on your own.   Consider that a cruise ship tour that might cost you $150 per person for a few hours can often be duplicated on your own for a fraction of that cost.

 

Hank

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12 hours ago, CruzLover80 said:

Hello!!! I am booked on the Bellissima on 3/15!!! I cannot wait. I booked last year and during that time, I found initially there were few excursions however, about 4-5 months out, many more were added. I think it depends on the route and when your going on too. We are going leaving Barcelona and going to Naples, Marseilla, Genoa, Messina and Malta. I am usually a book off the cruise line person, because usually it is a lot cheaper, BUT I researched and researched and found that most ports are comparative to cruise line prices, if not cheaper. I did book off ship in Naples with a very popular independent tour company that was reasonably priced and much smaller groups (which I always prefer). I did have a hard time finding independent tours online in many of the ports that were not private (i.e. a lot per person). In Genoa and Malta, we have decided that we will DIY it.

We have the same itenerery but we embark from Genoa. Please post a review after your trip. I will be interested would you decided to do off ship. I bet you are ready for a fun trip. We also booked a year and a half ago, can’t believe it’s now so close. We leave May 26th.

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11 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

Actually you can.  It's only Travel Agents who cannot be named [even if your TA isn't Voldemort :classic_ohmy:]  And a recent change in the Guidelines allows tour recommendations before being asked, as long as you have actually gone on the tour.

 

Trip Advisor [which owns Cruise Critic...] is a useful source – but the Cruise Critic Port of Call forums are even better!  I got great advice in figuring out what to do in Palma de Mallorca:  a local resident expert clued me in that my plan wouldn't work timewise and recommended a local car rental agency that parks the car for you right at the pier.

Thanks for the tip. I’ll head over to the port of call forum Now!

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8 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Keep in mind that MSC is a European cruise line with many of its passengers coming from European counties.  Unlike many folks in North America, Europeans do not feel a pressing need to book overpriced cruise excursions at most ports.  Will MSC add more excursions?  Probably not.  The excursions are actually subcontracted to local tour providers and it is what it is!

 

I suggest you go on the CC Ports of Call boards (for each of your ports) and research some of the options for those ports.  There are likely some ports where you might want to join with others on a private tour and you can often do that if you become active on your CC Roll Call (specific for your cruise).  Many of us are also willing to help (with lots of details) if you decide you might want to simply do some ports on your own.   Consider that a cruise ship tour that might cost you $150 per person for a few hours can often be duplicated on your own for a fraction of that cost.

 

Hank

There is only one other person signed up in our roll call. A lot different than when we sailed Seaside. I do want to go the less expensive route. So many I’ve looked at don’t pick you up in port or drop you off. I think I’m worried about missing the boat. 😩

Edited by cparker01
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1 hour ago, cparker01 said:

There is only one other person signed up in our roll call. A lot different than when we sailed Seaside. I do want to go the less expensive route. So many I’ve looked at don’t pick you up in port or drop you off. I think I’m worried about missing the boat. 😩

ARGH!  Don't you hate it when nobody signs up for Roll  Calls.  MSC is has a very international passenger mix (Europeans seem to make up a majority of their customers) and my suspicion is that many of them do not post or even read CC because English is not their first language.  We met a group of Germans when we were recently on the Divina and mentioned CC in a group conversation.  We got a few strange looks until one of our German friends said that he had heard about CC but never even looked at the site.

 

We strongly recommend taking some time to read the relevant posts on the various CC Ports of Call boards (you can use the Search Function to find specific topics/ports) where you can also get lots of excellent help/advice by posting specific questions and concerns.  Over the years we have helped many who wanted advice on how to do certain ports on their own.  But when folks express lots of concern about missing the ship it can be difficult to help them overcome that fear.  Knowledge if power and the best advice is to learn a lot about your ports so you know the various options..including how to get back to your ship :).  For what its worth, DW and I have been doing our own thing at European (and Asian) ports for decades and have never missed the "boat."  Can it happen?  Sure.  Does it happen?  Very rare.   In the unlikely event it did happen, it is usually not too difficult to catch-up to the ship at the following port....when cruising in Europe.  We call that "Plan B" and always have the options in the back of our minds.  Fortunately, the only time we have missed the ship it was planned (some cruisers will actually plan to spend a night ashore on some European itineraries).

 

Hank

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You also have to check the MSC Roll Call forum carefully.  My cruise has several roll calls because of the different starting points, and because of the European vs. US style of writing dates...

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I also look at the CC port boards and have found some amazing options from it.  In Europe, I have also been very pleased by "Tours By Locals".  You actually get to read reviews of the tour and the guide.  You can also communicated directly with the guide via e-mail.  They tend to be very reasonable and can tailor a tour to your needs.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 3/6/2019 at 12:53 PM, cparker01 said:

We have the same itenerery but we embark from Genoa. Please post a review after your trip. I will be interested would you decided to do off ship. I bet you are ready for a fun trip. We also booked a year and a half ago, can’t believe it’s now so close. We leave May 26th.

Review started today

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Our 12 day Mediterranean cruise doesn't have much and nothing for Israel.  I called and they said that we might expect MSC to post excursions maybe 90 days before the cruise.  For a major trip like this one, that isn't enough time to plan. Much better to do private tours anyway.

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On 3/5/2019 at 3:50 PM, 2013cruiser2013 said:

I noticed that some of the excursions listed for our Seaview in April are now gone. Not sure if they are full or they are not being offered any more.  Can't imagine they would be full already. 

We sail on Seaview in June and pre-booked a ship excursion which had since disappeared from the list. I am wondering what this means as well, since I would like to know if I need to find another tour.

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