Views/Advice Please

[bigfish5540]

Hi Ladies and Gentlemen, 

My wife and I are cruising on Jewel of the seas on the 29th May 2019 on the Greek island 9 day cruise. ( First time in the Greek islands, we have cruised previously in the middle east and the Caribbean with RC ).

I would like your views on wether we should use RC shore excursions or DIY.

Your views would be appreciated.

Kind Regards Bigfish

[lazydayz]

What are you interested in doing? If it is a nearby beach, probably no need to use Royal. If you want to travel further from the ship and are worried about time constraints, then go with Royal. Sorry I can’t be more helpful. If you post more details, others might respond. Either way, enjoy. 

[bearette]

Check out the port of call boards- there is a section for Greece.  Also list specific ports as there are several in Greece, don't assume we know your itinerary.

 

I always do it myself, depending  on what you do it can be easier and cheaper, but longer tours you get piece of mind with ship sponsored excursions, so I will use RCL for longer day excursions.

Edited April 28, 2019 by bearette

[grapau27]

2 hours ago, bigfish5540 said:

Hi Ladies and Gentlemen, 

My wife and I are cruising on Jewel of the seas on the 29th May 2019 on the Greek island 9 day cruise. ( First time in the Greek islands, we have cruised previously in the middle east and the Caribbean with RC ).

I would like your views on wether we should use RC shore excursions or DIY.

Your views would be appreciated.

Kind Regards Bigfish

Mykonos you can get the shuttle from the port and walk around on your own and see the pelican in the harbour as well as a number of small shops.

Santorini you could just get the tender into town and take the cable car to the top of the town where there are shops and bars and fantastic views.

Athens you can get a taxi to the centre or the Parthenon.

Naples you can take ships tours to

Capri, Pompeii or Sorrento or you could just walk around Naples which is a short walk from the terminal.

There are some nice leather shops in Naples cruise terminal for jackets and shoes etc.

Chania and Rhodes check out available tours or just get a taxi to the beach.

You have picked a lovely itinerary and the weather should be pleasant and not to hot and humid at the end of May.

Graham. 

Edited April 28, 2019 by grapau27

[lola2013]

Bigfish,

My group of 12 will be on that 5/29 sailing with you.  We are doing all independent tours.  We had one RCCL excursion booked to the beach in Crete, which was cancelled...and coincidentally, is now available again!  Too bad...we found a better beach on our own.

Have you taken a look at our sailing's roll call?  There are a lot of helpful ideas for what to do.  

Look forward to meeting you onboard...just 30 days and counting!

Susan

Edited April 29, 2019 by lola2013

[vacationlover_mn]

On our big Med cruise,  we took a combo of ship and independent tours.  The independent tours were with a couple we met online.  We very much regret “saving a few bucks” by going the independent route.  Two big reasons: 1) we ended up really not liking the couple.  Their horrible attitude put a damper on the excursions. 2) the guides they picked were highly recommended here on cc.  And... the guide we had in Florence couldn’t speak English 😞.  

 

Next time we do a big trip like this, unless we choose to just walk around a place (like santorini), we’ll do a ship excursion.

[Cru1s1ng2009]

my opinion, and a lot of people don't agree, is do the RC excursions.

 

I have anxiety and the thought of the ship leaving is always front of mind when I take a private tour. Especially one not in my country. So I always book the RC excursions because if we are late, they wont leave us.

[vacationlover_mn]

9 minutes ago, Cru1s1ng2009 said:

my opinion, and a lot of people don't agree, is do the RC excursions.

 

I have anxiety and the thought of the ship leaving is always front of mind when I take a private tour. Especially one not in my country. So I always book the RC excursions because if we are late, they wont leave us.

I completely feel the same way.  Even in the Carib, I get nervous when we did tours on our own.  Now, the only time we book our own, is in the Carib, when we want to go to a nearby beach- and, we always leave way early so that we don’t risk missing the boat.

[Cru1s1ng2009]

4 minutes ago, vacationlover_mn said:

I completely feel the same way.  Even in the Carib, I get nervous when we did tours on our own.  Now, the only time we book our own, is in the Carib, when we want to go to a nearby beach- and, we always leave way early so that we don’t risk missing the boat.

I am glad someone feels the same way. Watching you tube videos of people standing on the pier as the ship pulls away is surreal. I just cant enjoy myself anymore.

[vacationlover_mn]

27 minutes ago, Cru1s1ng2009 said:

I am glad someone feels the same way. Watching you tube videos of people standing on the pier as the ship pulls away is surreal. I just cant enjoy myself anymore.

We did a fantastic independent tour on st marteen, but I spent the last 2 hours all nervous about missing the ship 😞. 

[Merion_Mom]

21 hours ago, bigfish5540 said:

Hi Ladies and Gentlemen, 

My wife and I are cruising on Jewel of the seas on the 29th May 2019 on the Greek island 9 day cruise. ( First time in the Greek islands, we have cruised previously in the middle east and the Caribbean with RC ).

I would like your views on wether we should use RC shore excursions or DIY.

Your views would be appreciated.

Kind Regards Bigfish

 

I just got home from the Jewel.  Did 100% private excursions in the Med.

[bigfish5540]

9 hours ago, lola2013 said:

Bigfish,

My group of 12 will be on that 5/29 sailing with you.  We are doing all independent tours.  We had one RCCL excursion booked to the beach in Crete, which was cancelled...and coincidentally, is now available again!  Too bad...we found a better beach on our own.

Have you taken a look at our sailing's roll call?  There are a lot of helpful ideas for what to do.  

Look forward to meeting you onboard...just 30 days and counting!

Susan

Hi Susan, thanks for the heads up, and yes, it would be good to see you

[bigfish5540]

On 4/28/2019 at 5:29 PM, lazydayz said:

What are you interested in doing? If it is a nearby beach, probably no need to use Royal. If you want to travel further from the ship and are worried about time constraints, then go with Royal. Sorry I can’t be more helpful. If you post more details, others might respond. Either way, enjoy. 

Hi, thanks for your reply. I am an easy going guy, but prefer to be checking out whats going on onboard on sea days whilst my wife gets the rays. Lets just go with it. Kind regards

[dwhe]

30 minutes ago, bigfish5540 said:

... but prefer to be checking out whats going on onboard on sea days whilst my wife gets the rays ...

lol you haven't got a choice in that, you can't get off.

 

I thought you were talking about when you got off the boat, we found some lovely bars just getting off the ship and walking when docked on the islands

[dwhe]

8 hours ago, Cru1s1ng2009 said:

my opinion, and a lot of people don't agree, is do the RC excursions...

 

 

I found a very well priced St Petersburg excursion (1.5 days) with my RCI sale so I would always check.

Generally the longer the trip the safer I feel with the cruise operator.

Edited April 29, 2019 by dwhe

[Cru1s1ng2009]

9 hours ago, vacationlover_mn said:

We did a fantastic independent tour on st marteen, but I spent the last 2 hours all nervous about missing the ship 😞. 

see, this is me every single time.  you get it.  

in st Kitts I took my last private tour. I was stressed out the entire time and we were running down the pier to make the ship.  I'm not doing it again.  

[Sancho_proudfoot]

In the early days of our cruising we always did ship's tours.

 

Following a disgraceful scene where they had overbooked and had to leave a family of 4 on the quay we looked at private tours.

 

Now we are virtually 100% private. Never been even close to being late back.

[little britain]

It really depends what you want to do in port?  Are you a sit in the bar and watch the world go by kind of person?  Do you want to see every archaeological site?

 

^^ ditto what Graham says but I would add that there is a bus that goes from Pireus port into Athens (pic below of timetable from 2017 so you may need to check it is still valid), or you could DIY and get to the metro station and catch the train.

 

Rhodes is a short walk from the ship, through the city walls into town. Lots of cute shops and restaurants and cold beer! Pic of Jewel in Rhodes.

 

 

[grapau27]

20 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

I just got home from the Jewel.  Did 100% private excursions in the Med.

Rome is the big Mediterranean attraction and also potentially the biggest problem.

In June 2017 we were on Freedom and over 200 people were late getting back to the ship and some people reported massive delays on the train back to Civitavechia too.

The ship waited for around 1 hour after sail time for ships tours.

We witnessed several people arriving late in taxis from our balcony after the ship had set sail.

[little britain]

I believe OP boards and disembarks in Rome so the day trip into the city would not be an issue for him. 

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, little britain said:

I believe OP boards and disembarks in Rome so the day trip into the city would not be an issue for him. 

Yes the Jewel does leave and return to Rome on this cruise.

This is an easy cruise to do tours on with only Naples and the boat across to Capri being a potential problem as the ship sails at 6pm.

The mention of Rome's tour problems is for advice only for people doing tours when arriving during a cruise.

[bigfish5540]

On 4/29/2019 at 10:25 PM, dwhe said:

 

I found a very well priced St Petersburg excursion (1.5 days) with my RCI sale so I would always check.

Generally the longer the trip the safer I feel with the cruise operator.

THANKS FOR YOUR FEEDBACK

[bigfish5540]

On 4/30/2019 at 11:18 AM, little britain said:

It really depends what you want to do in port?  Are you a sit in the bar and watch the world go by kind of person?  Do you want to see every archaeological site?

 

^^ ditto what Graham says but I would add that there is a bus that goes from Pireus port into Athens (pic below of timetable from 2017 so you may need to check it is still valid), or you could DIY and get to the metro station and catch the train.

 

Rhodes is a short walk from the ship, through the city walls into town. Lots of cute shops and restaurants and cold beer! Pic of Jewel in Rhodes.

 

 

CHEERS MATE

[bigfish5540]

On 4/30/2019 at 11:37 AM, grapau27 said:

Rome is the big Mediterranean attraction and also potentially the biggest problem.

In June 2017 we were on Freedom and over 200 people were late getting back to the ship and some people reported massive delays on the train back to Civitavechia too.

The ship waited for around 1 hour after sail time for ships tours.

We witnessed several people arriving late in taxis from our balcony after the ship had set sail.

APPRECIATE THE FEEDBACK. THAT'S ALWAYS SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

[grapau27]

30 minutes ago, bigfish5540 said:

APPRECIATE THE FEEDBACK. THAT'S ALWAYS SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

Your welcome.

Rome is where imo a ships tour is essential although I believe you sail from Rome so a day or two precruise in Rome would be ideal.

It is a good 1 hour from Rome to Civitavechia so give yourself plenty of time to get to the ship.

People were telling us there was 2 hour delays on the trains and Rome city centre as always was gridlocked when we were last there.

Edited May 16, 2019 by grapau27