European Cruises 2017 - What have you heard?

[Ofinn]

We are going on the Norwegian Iceland Fjords cruise in July. First time going on a Disney Cruise. Do you have suggestions regarding the shore excursions? Do you do any from Disney, or did you explore on your own? I am now in the process of figuring out what there is to do and see at each port. We have 2 kids, ages 6 and 10 at the time of the cruise. Would love to hear your experience!

I havent done Iceland yet, but we explore on our own. Were doing the med this. No excursions no tours. I hate the cattle call tours. I really like exploring on our own, and public transportation is cheap and easy in Europe. It just takes a lot of research but the savings are worth it.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

I havent done Iceland yet, but we explore on our own. Were doing the med this. No excursions no tours. I hate the cattle call tours. I really like exploring on our own, and public transportation is cheap and easy in Europe. It just takes a lot of research but the savings are worth it.

For what it's worth, we're using italytoursharing.com for the Mediterranean in June. They run 8 passenger vans with a tour guide relatively inexpensive. You can log on their website and find tours currently booked at each stop. We booked for a Vatican tour for the 8 of us including tickets into the Vatican for only 85 euros/person. Just thought I'd share in case you're interested.

 

[Ofinn]

For what it's worth, we're using italytoursharing.com for the Mediterranean in June. They run 8 passenger vans with a tour guide relatively inexpensive. You can log on their website and find tours currently booked at each stop. We booked for a Vatican tour for the 8 of us including tickets into the Vatican for only 85 euros/person. Just thought I'd share in case you're interested.

Thanks were planning on just using the trains and winging it. I really hate tours. I have good guide book to use. The trains are usually less than 2 euros per person. Taxis are cheap in Italy and Greece. My biggest concern is the pick pockets. I will be buying money belts before this trip. I have spent a lot of time on cc and it seems like most people tour on their own without problems.

 

[RedSox68]

My thought on this, and is just my thoughts as I have no direct connection with the DCL people, is by waiting until everyone else releases prices DCL can see what others are charging, let their actuator's work their pricing magic and figure out how much they can charge us before we decide it's no longer worth it.

Too funny. If that's their thought process, then I sure wish they'd at least TRY to come into the price range of other cruise lines and not deliberately double up LOL

 

[Danni75]

I know a lot of people hate the "cattle tours" however I must say I went onto a few disney excursions and I had that feeling only once - and still my view was that apart from the bus it was a grand day, extremely well organised. We would not have been able to do as much on our own as we would have lost time finding out way, etc.

For areas we know or where we speak the language we generally do on our own.

 

[scgustafson]

I know a lot of people hate the "cattle tours" however I must say I went onto a few disney excursions and I had that feeling only once - and still my view was that apart from the bus it was a grand day, extremely well organised. We would not have been able to do as much on our own as we would have lost time finding out way, etc.

For areas we know or where we speak the language we generally do on our own.

The only reason my DCL PAs seem like cattle tours is because of the destinations like the Vatican, where it will be a cattle tour for anyone that isn't a Cardinal or above.

 

[Danni75]

Ah ah indeed ! We avoid Rome each time and take less popular choices - very nice and not crowded at all !
After that we live in Europe so it is easier for us to go to places just for a few days.

 

[Ofinn]

Paying 300 to 600 a day on excursions a day for a family of four seems ridiculous when busses and trains are less than 5 dollars.

 

[pillow]

We did the Med in 2007 and regretted doing the ship tours. They cost an arm and a leg for our family of 4, and we did indeed feel "herded." On our Rome day, we spent 2 hours eating lunch in a so-so restaurant. It was our only day in Rome, and I was sad to waste it that way. I wouldn't do an organized tour again.

However, we hired a private driver/guide and split the cost with another family the day we docked in Marseille. I would do that again in a heartbeat! That might be an in between option for those folks who don't want to be on their own but who are overwhelmed by the ship tours.

 

[kaseyC]

We did the Med in 2007 and regretted doing the ship tours. They cost an arm and a leg for our family of 4, and we did indeed feel "herded." On our Rome day, we spent 2 hours eating lunch in a so-so restaurant. It was our only day in Rome, and I was sad to waste it that way. I wouldn't do an organized tour again.

However, we hired a private driver/guide and split the cost with another family the day we docked in Marseille. I would do that again in a heartbeat! That might be an in between option for those folks who don't want to be on their own but who are overwhelmed by the ship tours.

That's what we do. We are a family of 5 and it's less expensive for us to hire a private driver/guide for each port than the cruise line excursions. We don't want a totally DIY but with the driver and hiring certified guide for specific sites we've been able to tailor our day to fit the interests of our family.

 

[luckylady131]

Thanks for the responses! On the trips we have been to so far, I've hired private tour guides for Paris, and that was awesome, and we did our own exploring in Barcelona, and that was also great. I think I prefer the private or small tours better just to gain that much more knowledge about a place. I'm already the one totally booking this trip from our airfare to the hotels, to the excursions we do at each port. So I kind of dread having to do just THAT MUCH MORE research on excursions. I will probably do private or small groups tours through 3rd party companies. I have a 6 year old, so it sometimes limits what kind of excursions we can do anyway.

 

[fitnessmouse]

I am really missing all the speculation about where the Magic is going. Other than the oopsie from PTA about her being in Amsterdam and maybe norway and civitavecchia. It seems previous years there was way more sleuthing

 

[clareyfairymouse]

There can't be long to wait, surely????

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

I am really missing all the speculation about where the Magic is going. Other than the oopsie from PTA about her being in Amsterdam and maybe norway and civitavecchia. It seems previous years there was way more sleuthing

Right?! Either "we" are not being as good at sleuthing, or Disney is being much better at keeping its ports a secret! In the past folks found evidence of Gibraltar, Barcelona... Doesn't ANYONE have ANY new finds? Or are we REALLY going to have to wait 'til the itineraries are released?!!

 

[Ofinn]

I wouldn't even know where to look. Maybe people were so put off by this years prices they're not excited about next year. I'm hoping for a decent price on the first European cruise or the Panama.

 

[Danni75]

I think the prices have put a lot of people off. I will myself have a look just in case but I already suspect I will be priced out.
The fact that this summer cruises prices have not increased does probably tells something... We will see I guess