Shore Excursion Suggestions-Venice to Lisbon

[RetiredinPrescott]

We will be on the Insignia Nov. 11-Venice to Lisbon with ports of Ancona, Dubrovnik, Civitavecchia, Florence, Portofino, Monte Carlo,Marseille,Barcelona, Seville. All will be first time ports for us.

Question: Would we be better off booking tours via Oceania or should we look for an individual tour in each port after leaving the ship? Will language be a problem (we speak only a few basic words of Italian, Spanish)? Have any of you got experiences to report here or suggestions?

We are retired, in our 50s with about 10 cruises under our belts but mostly to Alaska, Mexico, Carribean and Great Britain. The Mediterranean is new ground for us.

Much appreciated

[lcand1923]

Some folks prefer ship sponsored shore excursions, some folks prefer booking their own ahead of time. If you decide to book your own, I wouldn't advise waiting until you are in port. These ports are popular and the best private guides get booked early, from what I can gather reading the boards.

 

We were in some of the ports on our Western Med cruise and took ship-sponsored shore excursions which we found quite satisfactory.

 

Language should not be a problem if you stick with ship sponsored shore excursions or book your private tour ahead of time. It can be a bit of a problem if you tour on your own since a lot of shop keepers, ticket sellers, etc. only know a few words of English.

[HiFi43]

We have taken a number of Mediterrean cruises (and have another sheduled on Oceania this fall). We have come to the point of prefering to arrange our own excursions after having too many bus rides. At most of the ports you list it is easy to negotiate private tours at the port and it is also easy to do as you have done and ask for suggestions from others who have visited the ports and have taken private tours to give their suggestions. Searching through past posts on Cruise Critic will also help you find recommended private tour possibilites. There is no reason to being afraid of arranging your own tours. You can even find other travelers on this site who will be on your ship you can share with if you want to cut the costs. We did this on our South American cruise last month and it worked great (and we found some new friends)

 

One source I would highly recommend for Rome is Claudio Caponera (his email is claudio@limoinrome.com and his web site is www.limoinrome.com . We used him last year after reading web recommendations of others and were very glad we did because none of the ship's tours were able to get into the Vatican because of the crowds but with Claudio arranging a private quide for us for the Vatican we had no problems. Claudio speaks wonderful English and is very personable.

[TravelingAnn]

Does anyone know where I might find a summary of shore excursions with the actual times? Friends of ours want to go to Italy with us, because we've been several times. We believe a cruise is the best way to travel to see a lot in little time. But she is hesitant because she fears it would be too regimented.

 

We've cruised Renaissance -- Rome to Barcelona, and Rome to Athens -- and found it very flexible and the shore excursions fine. We've tried to convince her, but she's worried that she can't get ready in time, etc., and will miss the boat or the bus.

 

A number recommend private tours. That would indeed make it more accommodating.

 

I've seen on other cruise posts that some people have actually scanned the ship's daily newsletters so we can see the times the trips are scheduled, etc. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

[ClaudiaF]

Check the ship website for times when the ship is expected to dock in each port ( or anchor for tendering if that is the case).

Http://www.oceaniacruises.com

 

if it says 8am Civitavecchia ( as an example)...you can most likely expect to be able to get off the ship 8:30 or 9..if it is overnight in port at your leisure.....

[TravelingAnn]

Thanks, Claudia, but I'm looking for specific times for the excursion; e.g., 9 a.m. or 1 p.m.

 

I know their web site lists what excursions are available in which port, and sometimes how long the excursion is. But not specifically when it is departing. This is the info that you would get in the daily newsletters.

[Andee]

Ancona: we did a self-guided historical walking tour provided by the TI rep who got on the ship as soon as we docked.

 

Dubrovnik: we walked the city walls (with the audio guide) and walked around the old city, stopping at museums and churches I had read about it guide books

 

Barcelona:we spent three days there pre-cruise. With only one day, I would focus on the Gaudi sites: La Sagrada Familia, Casa Batllo, Casa Mila, Guell Park.