Oosterdam 6/24 Excursions

[DrewM]

Hello all...first post.

 

Sailing Venice -->Barcelona via Oosterdam on 6/24. Second cruise (did 7-day Alaska on the Westerdam last June).

 

Starting to tackle the shore excursions gauntlet. Will definitely handle Venice, Rome, and Barcelona on my own...open on the rest. Found the ship excursions pricey...would love to hear of others' experiences or suggestions for Dubrovnik, the Greek stops, Naples, and Livorno.

 

And is there ample, efficient, and comfortable non-HAL transportation from Civitavecchia to Rome?

 

Looking forward to reading and chatting.

 

Drew

[rochelle_s]

Hi Drew,

 

I returned from the Oosterdam 24 day Med cruise Barcelona to Venice last week and managed to do all the ports on my own and I must say at a considerable savings in comparison to the ship's shore excursions. My itinerary was different and you have a few different ports but I will try and tell you what I did as far as public transportation and sightseeing. Note that I was travelling solo and therefore public transportation was the most cost effective method for me, but if you are travelling with others a taxi might work out to about the same if only slightly more.

 

VENICE--

 

This was mid cruise for me with two nights and three days. The ship advertised the water taxis and a direct vaparetto to San Marco both for €6.50 each way. I took the short walk (10-15 minutes) to Piazza Roma and purchased a 24 hr pass which allowed me access on all land and water (vapretto) busses for 24 hours after my first validation stamp. You can use this to go to the outer islands (Murano etc.) They do run 24 hours and are quite frequent (at least every 20 minutes during the day). I did the most distant sightseeing the first afternoon, evening and the next morning till my pass expired and then I just walked the rest of the time to explore the areas closer by. The cost of the 24 hour pass was €16. They also have passes for 36, 48 and 72 hours.

 

The ship returned to Venice where I was disembarking. My plan had been to once again walk to Piazza Roma ( this is the main bus and water taxi station by the way...and is also next to the rail station) and then catch a blue bus to the airport...cost €3. In the end I shared a cab from the pier to Piazza Roma with two of my tablemates (€15 including all our bags) and then we took the bus from there. A taxi from the airport to the ship is €50. Also to note if you are taking the train to get to Piazzo Roma there are quite a few stairs, which could prove difficult with bags etc. Personally I would buy a ticket and take the vapretto the one stop just to avoid this....but again I was traveling solo, so possibly not as difficult if travelling with another.

 

It is very easy to walk most of Venice and there are great web sites out there that provide plenty of information.

 

DUBROVNIK--

 

The ship advertised shuttle tickets to Pile Square (Old Town) for $16 US return or $9 US one way. Very expensive!! You could get a taxi for the cost of €10 and I believe they could take at least 4 passangers. A cheaper alternative is to take the local bus for the cost of 10 Kuna (about €1.3) each way. The bus stop is right outside the terminal to the right and is clearly marked and drops you right at the Pile Gate. You could also walk (about 2 miles--more scenic and better for taking pictures) just keep the sea on your right hand side and you will arrive there. Just outside the terminal is a currency exchange--where I changed €20 and received 154 Kuna--this was enough money for me for transportation, the fee to walk the walls (50 Kuna), a little souvenior, postcards and three large beers! :) For meals or larger souveniers credit cards were readily acceptable..but I would ask first.

 

CORFU--

 

The ship was again charging $16 US roundtrip and $9 US one way for shuttle transportation to Old Town. I did not pay for any transportation here I just walked and it was very easy and scenic. The ship provides a map which was good for getting around and seeing the sights. I walked into town first and on my way back to the ship I kept the sea on my right and had no problem finding my way.

 

SANTORINI--

 

This is a tender port. Ships tours disembark first and go to a seperate area were buses come down to pick up passengers. After that the tenders take you to an area where you can take a cable car up to the top €4 or a donkey €5 or walk by sharing the donkey path. There can be long lines for the cable car so I opted for the donkey. They will have your picture on the donkey available at the top for a cost of another €5, but use your own camera and get a few picks if you opt for this mode of transportation. If going up in the morning I would not advise walking as there are lots of donkeys going up and down the steps and they all seem to like to leave little mementos for you to manoveur around on the way. Once at the top it is very easy to walk around. There are taxis available to go off to other places and I did hear you could rent a car for about €35 for the day. I opted to take the local bus €1.40 each way to Oia where the majority of the pictures you see of Greece are taken. I got some beautiful pictures with the famous blue domed roof. If you go here and plan to return by taxi I would pre-arrange the return trip as I did not see many taxis in Oia. When I returned I walked down the donkey path, at this time of day it was rare to see even one donkey going up or down and thankfully they had cleaned the steps by then, making for a fairly pleasant and scenic stroll back to the tender.

 

ROME--

 

I am not sure what the ship was charging for transportation to Rome, but on previous med cruises I have found it always to be extremely expensive. There is a free shuttle that will take you from the ship to the port gate. Once there exit to the right and keep the sea on your right and walk for about 10 minutes and then you will see the train station on the left hand side of the street. Here you can purchase a Birg ticket for €9. This provides you with transportation to and from Rome on a regional train as well as unlimited bus and subway transportation in Rome. The ship does not provide a map of Rome so you might want to print one from the net beforehand. I took the train and got off at the San Pietro station, this is the stop for the Vatican. Our port day was a Wednesday and their was an audience with the Pope, which I had pre-arranged from home beforehand free of charge---very expensive through the ship.....after which I just walked my way through Rome taking in many sights along the way and worked my way to the Termini (main train station) and caught a train back to Civitavecchia. Really inexpensive day given all I saw and did. The trip from the port to Rome is just over an hour. Note- if you are purchasing a Birg ticket you will find that the train station is very busy with people lined up to purchase tickets either through the machines or with an attendent. You can skip this line entirely by going one door past the main entance to the tobacco shop. You can buy the exact same Birg ticket here with absolutely no line. ;)

 

LIVORNO--

 

As I understood it, if you were not on a ships tour then you must buy the transportation shuttle provided on the pier to get out of the port. The cost was €5 roundtrip and is payable on the bus. This bus takes you from the ship to Piazza Grande. When you exit the shuttle bus here there is a kiosk directly in front of you that sells bus tickets. They are €1 each. They will provide you with a map and point you in the right direction to catch the bus to the train station. The train station is a short ride away. Once there you can purchase tickets to where ever it is you would like to go. I opted to visit Pisa this trip and the cost of the ticket was €3.60 return. Once I arrived in Pisa it was an easy walk to the tower and other sights. The same train and others will also take you to Florence as well as other destinations. It is possible to get a quick overview of Florence and Pisa in the same day but I would recommend heading to Florence first as it is the most distant destination and then stop in Pisa on the return. The train to Pisa is about 20 minutes.

 

BARCELONA--

 

This cruise started for me in Barcelona. I had gotten off a Princess ship that morning in England and flew to Barcelona that afternoon to board the Oosterdam so this was essentially a travel day for me. A taxi between the airport and the ship is about €20 and they do charge extra for each suitcase. You can take the metro and a train for €2.50 between the airport and the downtown area. There is also a bus available. This was an overnight port so I still had the next day. The port shuttle from the ship to the Christopher Columbus Statue (downtown) is €3 return or €2 one way.

 

 

I cannot help you out with the other ports as I did not visit them but there is a current live thread here on CC of someone who is doing the exact itinerary as you and I believe for the most part they are doing it on their own as well f so you should check that out.

 

A couple of tips I can give about doing the ports on your own...number one and most importantly....never leave your return transportation to the last minute....I always make sure there is at least one other train, bus (whatever) after the one I am planning on taking ...just to be on the safe side.

 

Also if you are in a port that has a hop-on hop-off bus and you see it or anywhere that sells tickets for it pick up their brochure. They have maps on one side which show you where all the sights are and are great for guiding you along the way and help in showing you which order to see things in. They also often have great walking directions for some walking segments. If you opt to take one of these tours I would suggest riding the bus the entire route first (usually an hour or so), you will get the commentary and an overview on ALL the sights and then on the second loop you can start doing the hopping on and off at the sights you would most like to see.

 

Also do your research before you leave home and have a good idea of what it is you would like to see...there are some great and free resources here on the net. One in particular is the Rick Steves website. I downloaded his guided walking tour of St Marks to my ipod and it was excellent!! My own private tour guide in my ear. Photography and talking is not allowed in the church so this was truly invaluable.

 

Well this is plenty long now. Hope it is useful. If I can answer any other questions just ask or drop me a line at rochelleshott@hotmail.com I would be happy to help where I can.

 

Have a fantastic cruise......I sure did. :):):)

 

Rochelle

[AZjohn]

Hi Drew and welcome to CC,

There is a great site here on CC that members discuss all kinds of DIY and ship excursions in the Mediterranean. Just follow this link and have fun studying.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=234

John

[DrewM]

Thanks for the responses...what an outstanding resource this is.

 

Drew

[Eileen G]

Hi Drew welcome to cruise critic. We just returned from the same itenerary. Make sure you read my "live on board the Oosterdam May 19 Med" thread. We did everything on our own and it will give you a good idea of what to expect. I'd be happy to answer any questions.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

[DrewM]

Hi Drew welcome to cruise critic. We just returned from the same itenerary. Make sure you read my "live on board the Oosterdam May 19 Med" thread. We did everything on our own and it will give you a good idea of what to expect. I'd be happy to answer any questions.

 

Thanks...will look for your thread.

 

Drew

[DrewM]

Regarding the trains in Italy...

 

Is there any advantage at all to booking trains online (via raileurope.com) before I leave, or are they open enough to just show up on the day? Are prices the same either way?

 

Also...I'll be taking a couple train trips once I arrive in Barcelona...any pass deals that could combine all the train transportation for a better price? Not seeing that it's cost effective on RailEurope...anywhere else to look?

 

Thanks.

[Eileen G]

Drew, I don't think there is any advantage of grtting tickets ahead of time. There are usually plenty of seats. There are automated machines at most stations that are not hard to use. All the ones we used had an English button. In Barcelona there were many options for using the metro and trains. For the metro we bought the 10 ride pass which we both used. We did not use the train. I don't think you save any money bying on line.