Need Advise on Mediterranean Tours

I'm going on a Mediterranean cruise on summer 2016 (the Norwegian Spirits). The cruise stops at the ports below. For which of these cities I should consider buying a tour? and Why? or Why not? Any advise is appreciated.

Barcelona, Spain

Provence (Toulon), France

Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Italy

Naples, Italy

Myconos, Greece

Istanbul, Turkey

Ephesus (Kusadasi), Turkey

Athens (Piraeus), Greece

Kotor, Montenegro

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Venice, Italy

Thanks,

Carmen

cmekhail, welcome to Cruise Critic! That looks like a wonderful itinerary, you will find lots of discussion on excursions at the Mediterranean Ports of Call forum: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=19. :)

Really depends on your interests. We have cruised most of the mediterranean, over the past 25+ years, did only a couple of tours, most ports you can do a lot on your own.

Get a copy of Rick Steves' Mediterranean Cruise Ports and read up on what there is to do in your ports, and how to do it on your own. From his website, you can download (free) audio tours (mp3, ipod) for some of the ports, and maps to go with them. Plan to arrive in your embarkation port at least one day early, and stay in Venice a couple of days after the cruise. there is sooo much to see in both Barcelona and Venice. EM

Besides going to the Med ports forums, you might want to pick up a copy of Rick Steves Mediterranean Ports Guide. It will greatly assist you in determining what you want to see in each port and how difficult it would be to do on your own.

Also, you might want to find your cruise's roll call. If you take a look at all the forum choices when enter Cruise Critic site, you will see a roll call section. Look for Norwegian, then the Spirit, then the date of your cruise. There you will find other cruisers booked on the same cruise and many will discuss what they are doing in each port. If you have trouble finding it just come back here, give us the cruise dates and someone will find the link for you.

Definitely study the posts in the Ports of Call section for the ports you will be visiting. As for Athens and Ephesus, you might benefit from seeing how my fellow cruisers and I discussed and arranged our own private tours for those ports in 2013. Examples are a great tool. We had a great experience. Here is the link for that roll call:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1738525

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

You have a bunch of great advice above, so I will not just repeat it. We almost never go on ship tours. We find they are crowded, slow and overpriced. You can do nearly all ports on your own or with a tour thru your Roll Call. The key is to determine what you want to do. I many ports there is so much to see, that you will have to miss some of the sights. Decide what is most important to you. Then plan how to get there.

Yes, visit the ports of call and your roll call for help on tours.

We have done some of those ports. We almost always do private tours, or go on our own.

Here's what we did. Barcelona, on our own. We walked all over the city (we like to walk)

Florence: took a tour with roll call members to Pisa and Florence.

Naples: took a tour with roll call members that drove the Amalfi coast, back to Naples by ferry from Sorrento. Also Pompeii. I think a tour is needed for the Amalfi drive, but wouldn't go on a big bus.

Mykonos: Very easy DIY day--we just walked around the charming town.

Athens: took a tour arranged on our roll call. Pretty easy to do on your own, but our tour was great and got us more efficiently to the major sights.

Istanbul: we were there overnight. Roll call tour the first day, second day we walked into the city to the markets.

Ephesus: roll call tour of the ruins--excellent

Haven't been to the other ports--did do a roll call tour of the Riviera from Villefranche that was great.

Dubrovnik and Kotor are very easy DIY. Kotor is just a walk off the ship into town. Dubrovnik is either a ship shuttle or taxi to town. Both are perfect bite size towns for a day in port.

I'm going on a Mediterranean cruise on summer 2016 (the Norwegian Spirits). The cruise stops at the ports below. For which of these cities I should consider buying a tour? and Why? or Why not? Any advise is appreciated.

 

 

Barcelona, Spain

Provence (Toulon), France

Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Italy

Naples, Italy

Myconos, Greece

Istanbul, Turkey

Ephesus (Kusadasi), Turkey

Athens (Piraeus), Greece

Kotor, Montenegro

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Venice, Italy

 

Thanks,

 

Carmen

Toulon- they do a great one to walled town in the country side.

Ephesus they have a great one to the ancient old city and the House of Mary.

Livirono- get the shuttle into town and go to the train station and get a return to Pisa and tour around on your own.

Thanks so much, for all the valuable information, very appreciated!!!!

Thanks, for your advice. However what is a roll call? I'm kind of new at this.

A roll call is where people who are going on the same cruise can talk to each other through their posts. Just scroll down to the Roll Calls section in these forums, click on your cruise line and cruise ship and, first, look to see if someone has already started a THREAD for your cruise. Look for the departure date of your ship. If no one has started one you can start one. Check out the roll call I mentioned in my earlier post by clicking on that link I provided. You will learn a lot about how this all works. Have a great cruise! :D

Thanks, for your advice. However what is a roll call? I'm kind of new at this.

A Roll Call is a place on Cruise Critic where you can meet others sailing with you. A Roll Call is for a cruise. There people talk about the cruise. Sometimes people plan a private tour and are looking for others to fill the group and keep the cost down. To join, go to the top of this page and move the cursor over "Community". Select Roll Calls from the drop down. Scroll to your cruise line and then Click on your ship. Finally, find the thread for your sailing.

Thanks you so much for offering your help!!!

Thank you!!!! so muchhhhhh.

Thanks for your advice, greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your input.

Provence, France

In 2013, we booked a day-trip with rout.designer@provence-travel.com

The owner is Catherine, and her email communication was prompt and friendly. On the day of our tour, she was booked, and sent Marjolaine instead. We had asked for a variety of options that did NOT include winery or a day of shopping.

Marjolaine met us at the pier, and we walked a block to her clean, modern van for 8. She narrated the countryside as we drove to Provence, and walked us through a couple of churches and monuments. At an outdoor market, she helped us buy fruit, cheese, bread and wine for lunch. We had 15 minutes to browse a street market (art, books, etc.) while she went back for the van.

We went next to an olive grove/press, where she described the operations and we tasted samples. She'd obviously been there often, as she walked right into the work area and described the machines.

Next to the ruins of a castle on a hilltop overlooking olive and citrus groves, where we enjoyed the picnic purchased earlier. She had a stocked picnic basket with bottled water, cups, utensils, etc. We got gelato there, poked our heads into a couple of shops, and then drove to a small art museum, saw candy being made in a pastille shop, and visited another old church. We got nuts and more treats from a local shop, and back to the ship.

We enjoyed every minute. It was inexpensive, flexible to meet our interests, and Marjolaine was funny, friendly and informative all day. We were never bored or rushed, but felt like we'd really 'seen' France.