How do we book excursions on our own?

[2ndtimecruising]

My wife and I are about to cruise for the 2nd time. The first time was a 7 night cruise in the Caribbean where we booked all of our excursions through the cruise ship. We are about to go on a 12 night Mediterranean cruise. We've heard alot of people say book excursions on your own to save money. I'm wondering if anyone can give us any more information on how to do this? How do you know what excursions are available and how do you go about booking the excursions? Do you get off the boat at port and see what companies are standing at the dock or do you plan all of this ahead of time. If so owhere do you start? I really just have no idea how it all works if you don't book them through the cruise ship. Any help or information would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

[calberry]

My wife and I are about to cruise for the 2nd time. The first time was a 7 night cruise in the Caribbean where we booked all of our excursions through the cruise ship. We are about to go on a 12 night Mediterranean cruise. We've heard alot of people say book excursions on your own to save money. I'm wondering if anyone can give us any more information on how to do this? How do you know what excursions are available and how do you go about booking the excursions? Do you get off the boat at port and see what companies are standing at the dock or do you plan all of this ahead of time. If so owhere do you start? I really just have no idea how it all works if you don't book them through the cruise ship. Any help or information would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

 

We just got back from a 14 day Med cruise, and were on 5 tours that we arranged, or were arranged by other members from our cruise Roll Call forum.

 

We spent many hours going over the posts in the Cruise Critic. We used the threads for our cruise line, roll calls for other cruises with same destinations, and the European Ports threads. We also shared information with other people in our roll call.

 

As an example, for Athens, we would do a search on Athens w/in each of the threads mentioned above. And then scour the results to see which discussed tours taken, and their 'happiness' with the tour companies. We then made a list of all the companies, and it didn't take long for several names (for each location) to rise to the top.

 

All the companies we chose had their own website, so we could then see what was offered, and check pricing before ever contacting them.

 

We also then did an internet search on the company name and cross referenced other travel sites (e.g. TripAdivsor, Yahoo, etc.) see what other information was available out there (both positive and negative).

 

It took a lot of work (but we started the process 15 months before the cruise date, so we had lots of time) but in the end we were confident that the guides/drivers that we selected were reliable, reasonable, and reputtable...and we were right. All 5 were great.

 

In Dubrovnik we took the advise of other CC members and took one of the taxis at the port for a 1 hour 'scenic' tour before walking the walled city. Here though we figured the risk was minimal as we were only talking about one hour, and if we didn't like the driver we didn't have to take him. But that too worked out great.

 

Check the link below to our blog...and have fun planning.

 

Steve

[sea-explorer]

Hi,

Like you, we had taken one cruise in the past...about 10 years ago & used ship's excursions, until I magically blundered into the cruise critic board this August, about a week before we were due to sail on a second cruise.

 

What a blessing that was. I was able to book a tour in St. Petersburg, a country where you are only allowed off the ship if you have an independent visa, have booked a ship's shore excursion, or...you guessed it....have booked a tour with a private company.:)

 

Firstly, let me burst your bubble. It is not necessairly cheaper, it really depends on the size of your group. We are a family of four & we just about break even on this. If there are 2 of you it will cost you more, but I feel it is generally so worth it, I would still do it for two. I have certainly gone this route for a cruise we have booked next year & booked guides in a couple of ports. Maybe if there is a roll call for your ship, a few can gather together & this will bring the cost down.

 

The main advantage is there is just you, your driver & guide. You go where you want to go, (although the guides are experts & will advise you of itineraries before you go), stop when you want to stop to see certain sights more closely, move on when you are ready etc etc.

 

The cars will pick you up as near to the exit as is possible. If the dock is next to a road, the car will probably be there. In our case, the dock area was quite large, & the gates, (with guards :eek: ) a fair walking distance. However, our car was parked right by the ship's immigration exit. They needed special permission & our passport details to do this, but they were there, in front of all the excursion coaches.

 

I checked to see what time the first excursion group was leaving & made sure we were at the ship's exit 5 minutes before them. We were first off the ship, (the only ones to be doing a private tour) & out of the dock area before any of the other passengers had made a move.

 

We had a full day & saw as much as two ship excursions rolled into one. Everywhere we went we were dropped right by the entrance, the driver waiting by the exit, (even in no parking areas:cool: )as we left. No long walks to coach parks, no waiting for delayed passengers etc etc. No queueing anywhere, eating in a quiet restaurant with locals and not a large tour party, the guide finding a loo for my youngest just when he needed one & just generally having a guide & her expert knowledge to ourselves.

 

As the poster above says, begin by putting your port names in a search on these boards and you will find recommendations, often an email address or website is given too. You can also google..shore excursions in Athens etc, see what you find, & pop the names into searches here too, as well as google.

 

In some ports there will be taxis waiting at the dock, but not tour companies as these are pre-booked. You can also pre-book taxis.(Use google). In some areas, eg: The Colosseum in Rome, there may be tour guides you can book at the entrances.

 

If you give your ports, some people may be able to give recommendations here for you too.

 

Good luck.

[torty]

Below are extracts from a message I erroneously placed in the Princess Board section rather than Europe - Ports of Call and have now copied to this section.

"We have recently returned from the Sea Princess Mediterranean Adventurer cruise where we hired our own Guide/ Drivers in Cannes, Rome & Naples. I had hoped to sing their praises but have discovered this is not allowed unless information has been requested so if anyone is interested I would be more than happy to oblige. All three of them were excellent, I can't praise them highly enough, they made the days spent with them very special. So if anyone wants details, I'd be more than happy to provide them.

Mediterranean Adventurer Shore Excursions

For the benefit of webegone and any other interested parties, below are details of the driver/guides we used on our recent Mediterranean cruise. We used their services because I am a wheelchair user (although not confined to a wheelchair, can walk a bit and "do" stairs) so obviously going with the "pack" on organised excursions is not the best way to explore places of interest where we're usually at the back of a crowd, unable to hear what's being said. And I have to say, we have found hiring our own highly recommended guide/drivers has worked out wonderfully. (We first did so very successfully in St Petersburg 2 years ago which convinced us that in future this was the way for us to do shore excursions). Each time the guides have made our visits really special with their personalised itineraries, courteous manner and very informative commentaries expressed with a sense of humour which, along with the very comfortable vehicles and excellent driving skills, made all our experiences perfect. Also, being locals, they seem able to get you into tourist attractions without joining sometimes very lengthy queues. Because of the wheelchair, our personalised itinerary might not suit able bodied people so well so we hired the guides just for us which obviously worked out quite expensive but the price is based on hiring the vehicle, so if 4 or 6 people join together this reduces the cost considerably. You're getting your own personalised service for probably a lot less than you would pay for the Cruise Lines official excursions. For example our guide in Naples knowing that Pompeii was not an option for us because of the wheelchair took us on a wonderful drive along the Amalfi coast and took us up in the mountains to a wonderful restaurant used by the locals for lunch away from the touristy spots. He also dropped us off in a lovely little town to spend time on our own. Something that wouldn't have happened on the official Princess tours. As I said, we just left them to devise a suitable itinerary for us but they fit in with your requirements so if you have any special requests they're more than happy to oblige.

The guides confirmed that if we'd arrived on the day with more people that would have been OK. They don't need an advance deposit, you pay at the end of the tour. I think it advisable to book way ahead of your cruise as they get booked well in advance but once booked, if you feel like sharing to reduce the cost, you can always check out on the Cruise Critics message board if there are others wanting to share, or even once on board you might find other interested parties. In Cannes and Rome we were in a people carrier which could have taken other passengers but in Naples we had a wonderful immaculate Mercedes car for just the 2 of us but I think the company also provides vehicles suitable for 4/6 people.

So as a guide,

 

in Cannes we used

 

ALAIN DREAM TOURS

infos@dream-tours.com

at a cost of 480 Euros

-------------------------

In Naples we used

 

Drive Amalfi

driveamalfi@gmail.com

 

at a cost of 450 Euros

-----------------------

 

and in Rome we used

 

ROMECABS

romecabs@yahoo.com

at a cost of 420 Euros"

 

As mentioned earlier, If you are interested in any of these companies, I would suggest you book well in advance of your cruise as they do get booked up.

Hope this has been helpful.