European / mediterranean cruise: off ship excursions?

[CampbellzSoup]

Hey everyone I'm so excited to finally travel abroad to Europe it really is a dream come true and Europe seems to be like a fancy place for those who live in the United States.

However I must ask the question for those seasoned travelers do you guys book with the ship or do you go in port. to find an excursion.

I only asked because attractions such as the Colosseum or leaning Tower of Pisa seem to be almost $300 per person on ship I just wanted to know import was it a bit cheaper like how the Caribbean cruises have.

This board has been a plethora of information and good spirits thank you so much everyone

 

[KashasMom]

Always on our own! So much better - less crowded, you don't have to wait for people, etc., etc. I'd really suggest looking at cruise critic ports of call for specific recommendations. There is a lot of good info there and obviously so much more info than you'll find here (just because there are so many more cruisers over there). We like to do walking tours and every port has inexpensive walking tours that are always good (you can Google for those). We usually do those in smaller ports (like some of the Baltics, Norway) - not Rome. Have a wonderful cruise.

 

[cheermom2four]

we have planned DIY in Naples, Livorno, and Villefranche. Only one we arent doing ourselves is Civitavecchia/Rome due to the distance only and the fact we are leaving our youngest on the ship during that very long day. All it takes is a little research and time before the trip.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Thanks everyone it's just hard to find information about doing a tour once you get off the ship if they have anything in port available.

I'm also wondering if they take American dollars or is everything going to have to be in Euro

 

[aggiedog]

TripAdvisor and cruisecritic.com port section

Get to know them well. Loads of good info there. We are about to get on our med cruise (MSC) and we're doing all non-cruise excursions. We did 2 DCL excursions and 2 we planned on our own for our Baltic cruise. After that we decided never again for cruise sponsored excursions. Ours were smaller, personalized, made better use of the time we had in port, and were cheaper.

 

[Dznypal]

we are on the sept Med and I just booked all of our tours with DCL I seem to be in the minority on this and I realize you can get tours cheaper with smaller groups on your own but we like having everything set up for us-

as far as Livorono goes the tour we picked is a river cruise, going to the leaning tower and a trolley ride 4 1/2 to 5 hr tour and was $80PP

when is your cruise maybe were on the same one have a great cruise

 

[cheermom2four]

I'm also wondering if they take American dollars or is everything going to have to be in Euro

We are paying for things in euros (all our private tours set up require euros, eating while we are out require it too). Tips on the ship we still pay in dollars (room service stuff). I assume our one DCL excursion will be paid using US dollars since thats how we paid for the cruise.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

Thanks everyone it's just hard to find information about doing a tour once you get off the ship if they have anything in port available.

I'm also wondering if they take American dollars or is everything going to have to be in Euro

You won't be able to just pick up a tour at the port. If you want a driver/guide you will need to research and book before you leave. If you want to DIY get a copy of Rick Steve's Mediterranean Cruise guide and it will give you step-by-step information. As others have mentioned Cruise Critic ports of call board will have lots of information. Europe is wonderful but it takes a lot more work than just a beach Caribbean cruise.

No one will take your US dollars. Get Euro before you leave from your bank or from the ATM (best rates) once you arrive.

 

[Disneymadhouse]

We were on Magic in the med last year, and did two port adventures through DCL. We did imperial and renaissance Rome, which was a very long day out. I have heard of a company called your tour in Italy mentioned a few times but we preferred having the security of booking through DCL as the port is a long way from the city of Rome. We didn't want to run into any problems.
We also did Easy Pisa again through DCL as it was reasonably priced. It was just a morning out. It included a ride around on the land train and free time in Pisa, before getting back to the ship in time for lunch.
You will need Euros to use in the ports ( apologies if that's not what you meant by your question), but on the ship everything will still be in $.

Claire

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

We have always gone on our own. I do, however, see what excursions DCL is offering to get an idea of what to do in port. I also look on Tripadvisor and ask on here. We realize the boat will leave us, so we always cushion an hour or more before all-aboard time to be back just in case.

Traveling with kids, I just don't want to be stuck in a group. It's just not for us. We enjoy going off on our own. I will caveat with my husband and I (and my parents are usually with us) are seasoned travelers, so are very comfortable going at it alone.

I also find we are able to tour for a fraction of what DCL or other tour companies are offering.

 

[kiford]

Thanks everyone it's just hard to find information about doing a tour once you get off the ship if they have anything in port available.

Do you mean get off at the port and just see if there is anyone offering tours? Not only is it not terribly likely that you'd find something or know what you want, you have no idea of who they are, how reliable they are, how good they are or if they are even legitimate. You have no idea if they can get you back to the ship on time, how good their English is, etc. Be aware that many of the ports are 1-2 hours away from anything interesting to see so ensuring you can get back in time is very important.

We personally always use DCL tours. I'm just not interested in spending lots of time finding and booking third party tours, checking out cancellation policies, reviewing their reliability and quality, worrying about getting back on time, etc. However, I do second picking up some material by Rick Steves. Even though we use DCL excursions, he has a huge amount of valuable information whether you are on your own or with a privately booked tour or with a cruise-booked tour.

Also, yes, you will need Euros. Pretty much only banks will take American dollars for exchange. If you book with private tours in advance you'll probably be able to either pay USD as some will advertise in that currency for the US market or pay by credit card which will charge for the exchange. But definitely carry some Euros with you. There are lots of ATM machines where you can get Euros as well. We never carry much with us and usually just go to an ATM to get more if necessary.

 

[oufpat]

This is our first time to Europe , sailing Sept 9, and have booked all our tours through DCL. Yes, it is much more expensive, but giving my husband peace of mind is priceless!

 

[cruiser21]

There will be tour company's at the ports offering tours. You will see this all over Europe. Many of them are the same company's the ships use. The ports have visitor centers that sell tours in addition to private tour guides. Yes you need Euros if your paying cash. Cc are widely excepted.

In Naples we took a cab to Pompeii it was 50 Euros round trip. He waited for us at the ruins.

Livorno we took the train to Pisa and walked through town had a nice lunch. My son found some rare ambios at a game stop there. We spent about 100. euros that day including lunch. You can also take the train to Florence. The trains in Europe are nice like Amtrak. It's not like a metro or subway.

Rome We took the train to St Peters Walked to Vatican. All kinds of tours there. We took a bus to Trevi fountain had lunch then metro to colleseum and then got on train back to port. I can't remember how much we spent that day probably less then 150 dollars.

I'm not sure what other ports you're visiting. I have been to few more. I recommend Steve Ricks med port guideIts very helpful.

I wouldn't take DCL excursions unless you've got cash to burn through. I prefer saving money. We cruise 2 to 4 times a year so I've learned to budget carefully.

The economy is Italy is bad. It's pretty easy to negotiate with the tour operators and taxi drivers. We did book a couple private tours in Greece. Booked right at port with nice limos. I have to disagree with some people on this.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

There will be tour company's at the ports offering tours. You will see this all over Europe. Many of them are the same company's the ships use. The ports have visitor centers that sell tours in addition to private tour guides. Yes you need Euros if your paying cash. Cc are widely excepted.

In Naples we took a cab to Pompeii it was 50 Euros round trip. He waited for us at the ruins.

Livorno we took the train to Pisa and walked through town had a nice lunch. My son found some rare ambios at a game stop there. We spent about 100. euros that day including lunch. You can also take the train to Florence. The trains in Europe are nice like Amtrak. It's not like a metro or subway.

Rome We took the train to St Peters Walked to Vatican. All kinds of tours there. We took a bus to Trevi fountain had lunch then metro to colleseum and then got on train back to port. I can't remember how much we spent that day probably less then 150 dollars.

I'm not sure what other ports you're visiting. I have been to few more. I recommend Steve Ricks med port guideIts very helpful.

I wouldn't take DCL excursions unless you've got cash to burn through. I prefer saving money. We cruise 2 to 4 times a year so I've learned to budget carefully.

The economy is Italy is bad. It's pretty easy to negotiate with the tour operators and taxi drivers. We did book a couple private tours in Greece. Booked right at port with nice limos. I have to disagree with some people on this.

You ROCK as well as everyone else. I just wanna gauge the response as this is my first time in Europe as I usually get excursions off the ship I did t know if it would be the same as the carribean!

 

[cruiser21]

You ROCK as well as everyone else. I just wanna gauge the response as this is my first time in Europe as I usually get excursions off the ship I did t know if it would be the same as the carribean!

If you plan on using the trains. I highly recommend Steve Ricks book. There will be lots of ships in ports and a lot of people doing the same thing you are doing. Don't feel like you will be alone. We kind of followed the herd to the train station. The trains coming back were a little confusing, but there were a lot of cruisers and Americans at the train stations so we figured it out together. I will warn you Italy is worse then the Caribbean when it comes to be hounded by taxi drivers and tour guides.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

If you plan on using the trains. I highly recommend Steve Ricks book. There will be lots of ships in ports and a lot of people doing the same thing you are doing. Don't feel like you will be alone. We kind of followed the herd to the train station. The trains coming back were a little confusing, but there were a lot of cruisers and Americans at the train stations so we figured it out together. I will warn you Italy is worse then the Caribbean when it comes to be hounded by taxi drivers and tour guides.

Thanks!

 

[Dug720]

Thanks!

Just so it's easier to find, the author is Rick Steves. It's easy to get confused with a last name that could be a first name.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Just so it's easier to find, the author is Rick Steves. It's easy to get confused with a last name that could be a first name.

Thanks

 

[longboard55]

we are going in two weeks and signed up for outside tours for two of the ports. They were still expensive but maybe half the price for a private car tour