Mediterranean Cruise - Excursions on your own

[dthogue]

For those that have done the RT Barcelona cruise and booked excursions outside of Disney, can you share what tour operator you used and your experiences?

 

[fredandkell]

We used Tuscany Bus for our half day to Pisa and were pleased. Read full details in my trip report in my signature.

 

[Kellycanada]

Hi. In Rome we booked with Rome in Limo and they took us around various sites including the Coliseum. Then we went to Gladiator school. Our kids had a fantastic time there. Highly recommend Rome in Limo. We didn’t go to Florence as we felt that we would spend more time driving then touring. We took the train to a village in Cirque de Terre and spent the day on a boat touring along the coast with fabulous views of the 5 villages. We had swim breaks and docked in one of the villages and had a delicious meal. The tour was called Angelos and it’s a day the kids still talk about. I can’t remember the name of the tour company, but in France we went up into the mountains and went river rafting. When driving, we did a quick tour of Nice and we saw some mountain villages. The rafting was fun, but pretty tame. If traveling with kids, we found that breaking up museums, etc., with activities made the trip really memorable for them. We were on a 12 cruise. Have lots of fun!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

We used a few different private tour operators on our Med cruise in Marseilles (Provence Connections), Villefranche (Driver in Rome), Genoa (Prestige Rent), Naples (Driver in Rome) and Mallorca (Mallorca Private Tours), and Barcelona (Barcelona Day Tours) last year. All were wonderful and I would highly recommend them. You can check out the tour info in my trip report below.

 

[Mommb]

My family of 4 has done 3 cruises on the Disney Magic in the Mediterranean. We had wonderful experiences on all of our private shore excursions, and wouldn't hesitate to recommend any of the companies we used. Note that in Italy, drivers are just that -- they can transport you from place to place and provide lots of information, but they can't go into sites with you. For help within attractions, you need a private guide (which we booked through the tour companies we used for the Vatican and Pompeii).

Civitaveccia/Rome
On the cruise that had a port stop in Rome, we did a private Rome Highlights tour with Rome in Limo that included stops at many sites (including but not limited to the Coliseum, Piazza Venezio, Panthenon, and Trevi Fountain) and a guided tour of the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica.

On the cruise that finished in Rome, we did the TIvoli Gardens tour with Joe Banana that picked us up at the port, stopped at Villa Adrian (ancient) and Villa d'Este (Renaissance), then dropped us off at our hotel near the Rome airport. (At our driver's suggestion, we stopped by the hotel first to drop off our luggage since it was nearly on the way to Tivoli.) Our driver recommended a restaurant to us that was our favorite of our entire 2-week trip, in a building adjacent to an ancient church. This tour is also offered as a shore excursion.

Naples/Salerno
We did the private Gastronomic Tour with Pompeii with Joe Banana. We visted a limoncello factory (with tastings of 3 kinds), an olive oil orchard (with tastings of at least 20 different kinds), a restaurant up in the hills (where we selected fresh toppings and made our own pizzas), and Pompeii (where we had a private guide arranged by Joe Banana).

Marseille
We did a private tour with Provence Explorer that visited Avignon (where we toured the Pope's Palace on our own with an audio guide) and Chateau du Pape (where we had a private tasting of 6 different wines).

Barcelona
On the two cruises that ended in Barcelona, we used Barcelona Day Tours. On one, we did a private half-day Girona tour that dropped us off at our hotel in Barcelona. We enjoyed Girona, but in retrospect, I wish we had done the full-day tour that also included the Dali museum in Figueres.

On the other cruise that ended in Barcelona, we did a small-group half-day tour that stopped in Monjuic and Parc Guell, along with the outside of Sagrada Familia, and dropped each group off at or near their hotel. This was fine for the price, but due to the need to wait for everyone to regroup at each stop, we didn't see as much as on a private tour.

 

[TestingH2O]

For Barcelona we used https://realbarcelonatours.com/ and had a great experience seeing a range of Gaudi sites.

For Rome we did Rome in Limo and had an amazing day.

In Pompeii we used https://italytoursforkids.com/. Roberta was excellent and really engaged DD who was 6 at the time.

Full reviews of all tours are in my trip report linked in my signature.

 

[mama&me]

DM(75), and I (52), did this cruise this year, no kids (well, we're big kids).
For Barcelona we booked Barcelona Day Tours for Montserrat, and Explore Catalunya(through Viator) for the Game of Thrones/Girona tour. Both were great. We did La Sagrada Familia on our own, which we loved! We did not get to see the other Gaudi sites.

In Rome we did Rome in Limo. This was our favorite excursion! We did all the big sites: Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Pantheon, etc, but our fantastic driver also took us to places we requested like the Scala Santa, which was very important to DM, the Mouth of Truth, from the movie Roman Holiday, and the Disney Store, which is a must for Disney fans in Rome. We did book the private guide for the Vatican and I highly recommend one if you haven't been there before.

In Villefranche, we booked a Monte Carlo, Eze, and La Turbie tour through Costco's Shore Excursions and enjoyed that as well.

In Naples and Livorno, we did Disney tours.

Enjoy your cruise!!

 

[longboard55]

we did private vans, I think it was about $600 for 4 of us, which was around the same as a disney tour on a big bus. We liked it, he went where we asked and no sitting around waiting for people. Book early they sell out

 

[aggiedog]

We were just in Barcelona for a land trip. We did a Steel Donkey bike tour of the city and had a really nice time. Great way to see the city and the riding was very easy.

 

[bearette]

My Europe cruises weren't on Disney, but visited I some of the same ports, though I didn't do tours on the same ports you are visiting. I recommend cruise critic as a place to review options, operators, and ways to do it yourself. I know it isn't what you asked,but I couldn't afford the pricey guided tours everywhere so we took trains and buses to some of the same sites. If you are adventurous, you can try public transport to the same museums and sites and use audio guides to save some money. By blending a combo of tours and do it yourself you can slow down,take in the ambience, have a coffee (or other beverage of choice) and see more for less (though sometimes waiting for public transport can slow you down, you will see a lot still). If you have kids,they ride for free or discounted on most public transit options, too. I have seven year old twins and they got excited to ride the bus and trains (choo choo) during our trips.

Naples:We took the train to Pompei, used Rick Steve's audioguide on our phone (download before you leave remember to take earbuds) to tour, then we took the train to Sorrento and had lunch and walked around. Then we took the train back to Naples.

Rome: We embarked and disembarked here, but we took the train in and out of town. In Rome the hop on buses go so far out they are not worth it. Take a tour to see a lot or get the day pass with your train ticket (around 10ish I believe) and pick some items close together. I recommend the Colosseum and Roman Forum/Palatine Hill which are all on the same ticket. Buy it in advance online or the day of at the forum and did it it first, as the line will be shorter and they are a block apart. There are special guided tours online on their official website, which may be better then other tours because they go into special areas not included with general admission at the Colosseum. We were here for three days so my particular plans won't be helpful for you.

Barcelona: Also our Embarkation and disembarkation point (we had our arrival and one day only due to work schedules).On our arrival day, we took a bus to town, stored luggage, then walked Las Ramblas. we went into the gothic church and saw the outside of some of Gaudis ' buildings. We were jetted lagged and the kids were exhausted (first transatlantic so I was more interested in keeping them quiet and happy). The hot chocolate,coffee, and churros hit the spot. On our Embarkation day:We took the train/ bus to LA Sagrada Famalia, I got tickets online in advance, again we used a Rick Steve's audio guide to tour on our phones. We were here at winter so other items won't be relevant in Summer (we looked at Xmas markets) ,took the the train to Martime museum, then took the Funicular to Montjuic and the cable car up to the castle. (With kids there is a nice park in the area). There is a cable car to this area from the port which may be a better option for you.

Happy planning!

 

[babyruth]

Barcelona & Rome we used With Locals

Genoa we used Do Eat Better Tours

Cannes and Livorno we did on our own

I’ll be back and edit when I check who we used for Pompeii

 

[sunmoon620]

We used a company Called "Rome in Limo", they were fantastic! Best day in Rome ever. They are not limited to just Rome, they are available in many of the Med. Ports. Not really a Limo either, we were in a Mercedes MiniVan. Awesome!