Cruise Excursions vs Find your Own?

[jagajak]

I have cruised many times in North America and we are to the point where we just seem to find our own taxis, tours, etc from the ports and have had pretty good luck...We are going to Europe in 08 and I was looking for opinion if its a good idea to just grab a van and a guide at the ports...seems to work well in Mexico and Carribbean and Alaska but I am wondering if its the smart thing to do in Europe. There seems to always be "safe" taxi;s, etc in the port area but I am wondering what people have done with this? Maybe the Carnival pricing is more reasonable for excursions in Europe but they seemed pretty high for what you get in North America..

 

(Carnival Freedom, June 08, 12 Day Med.)

 

Thanks!

[carlmm]

Doing the excursions in Europe on you own is a a very good idea, trying to get a guide at the port is not.

In Europe the infrastucture is much better than in the Caribbean and in most places public transportation is easily available. Thus you can leave the ship, explore the port town by foot, metro or bus or get a train to your destination without needing a guide or driver.

Consequently normally no tour operators are waiting at the dock for customers. You will only find in some ports taxi drivers who want to take you on a tour.

If you want really a private guide it is best to arrange a tour before but be aware that prices a very high.

[abc2007]

How do you recommend to find tour excursions?

Thanks

[alinehu]

The prices are high for 2 or 3 persons but if you have a group at least 6 you may get a better price than ship tours.Check this boards for recomendations.

When I went to Europe we took private tours and we love them.Doing it again this year:o

[Angiebear]

ABC2007

Check out the roll call (hopefully there is one, if not why not start one?) for your cruise. Usually in a roll call people may have suggestions or offer to share tours, etc. Or you can do a search on your port on the boards and I'm sure you will come up with a ton of info.

Good Luck and Have a great cruise.

Angie

[LILynn]

When I was on the Grand Princess this past September we did a couple of ship tours. We were very happy with everyone that we took. In Livorno we did a shipt tour that spent the AM in FLorence then the afternoon in Greve in Chianti. We had lunch at a very old castle where the views were amazing and the food was fantastic. We also did a ship tour in Athens - Historic Athens. Again this tour was great. Our guide was so knowledgable. again we went to a restaurant in the Plaka that was really authentic and the food great. In Santorini we did a tour - Santorini in a Nutshell. We saw so much of the island - much more than most of the people that we talked to on the ship that wound up going to Fira and walking around. In Katakolon we did a 1/2 day tour to Olympia - again the guide was quite knowledgable and she made the tour really fun and interesting.

 

In Rome, Naples, and Kusadasi we hired drivers with people that we met on our roll call. In the other ports we did them on our own using public transportation or renting a car.

 

We had the most amazing trip. I was very hestitant about what to expect from the ship tours as many people on this board never seem to recommend them but in the ports we did ship tours they were great and I am glad we went that route.

 

I think it really depends on the port and whether or not you have an active roll. Since there were just the 2 of us it made more sense financially to do a ship tour if no one was available to share a driver. But in the long term it worked out great and I would not change anything I did.

 

Hope this helps....

 

Lynn

[carlmm]

How do you recommend to find tour excursions?

 

Search this board for your specific destination and probably some people have already recommended their tour operators. Otherwise you can post a specific question yourself.

Some tourist offices will also provide lists with local guides. You can find an official side of almost every city somewhere in the net.