Finding port tours and private guides

Hi

We will be taking our first cruise to Greek Isles, Ephesus, Montenegro, Croatia and Venice next year.

How does one go about finding our own port tours and private guides (not excursions through ship)?

Anyone have any vendor names/recommendations?

Do we pay a deposit ahead and the remainder when the tour is done?

When we disembark is the tour operator is waiting for us on the dock?

What happens if we miss the sail time?

Thanks

Hi

We will be taking our first cruise to Greek Isles, Ephesus, Montenegro, Croatia and Venice next year.

How does one go about finding our own port tours and private guides (not excursions through ship)?

Anyone have any vendor names/recommendations?

Do we pay a deposit ahead and the remainder when the tour is done?

When we disembark is the tour operator is waiting for us on the dock?

 

Suggest that you join your Roll Call.

Go to Forum Jump -- Scroll to your Cruise Line; then find your Cruise[/b [b]What happens if we miss the sail time?[/b]Thanks

You will be on your own to get to the next Port.

Welcome to Cruise Critic

Try looking on the Ports of Call forum.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=5

You can also try looking on TripAdvisor. The top rated private tour operators will do all that is possible to make sure they get you back to the ship on time.

If you organise your own tour which I suggest in the cruise roll call and ports section of cc

Plus good google work

You will need to find out where they will meet you

Some will meet you in town as not permitted in dock areas so ask

Generally pay all at end but some want a deposit up front

Lots if searching

A lot if

Mine I just book a cab for the day

Works a treat

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A guidebook is the 1st thing to get and READ...tons of hints and suggestions! Many things don't require an excursion at all!

A reputable tour company will make sure you get back on time....you must have a watch (do NOT use your cell phone for the clock...it will show local time, which is not always "ship's time!) Set your watch to the ship's clocks BEFORE you leave the ship, and know what time you need to be onboard...it's usually 30 mins. prior to sail away.

TripAdvisor and Google searches would help. As one who has set up a bunch of private tours, it ends up being a lot of work.

DON

All of this advice is correct, but maybe a little too succinct. Here's what I do.

Sign up for your roll call group. People may already be organizing shore activities that you would like to join up with. These will always be less expensive and more flexible than ship excursions.

If no one on your roll call has organized something for a port you want to explore, the Ports section of CC is a fine resource for learning about excursions people have done, and they freely offer reviews of their experiences. If you post questions, many people will generously share their experiences and advice. You might then decide to organize a tour yourself, and then you can post your info on your roll call, inviting others to join your group. The roll call is a great place for this type of activity. People posting about the things they have organized and others joining up or organizing their own and asking others to join. The action heats up the closer the cruise gets. If you don't get any action, keep posting your tour - chances are someone will join the roll call, and see your idea, and contact you.

Another great resource is Trip Advisor website. Although the inhabitants can be a little snobby (they think cruisers are diletantes), they will always answer questions, and have given me some great advice. They really know these ports very well. On Trip Advisor, look near the top of the screen for the tab "More." Then choose "travel forums," then navigate your way to your place. This is where the real people talk about the real stuff. You can ask what the fare for the public bus is in Kotor, and you will get an answer, for example. And they will honestly tell you what they think of local tour organizers. So if you're organizing your own, that's a good place to go for specifics.

All reputable shore tour companies are available through the internet. Many have websites. They all use email. If you contact someone who blows you off or doesn't respond, that's your first warning - move on. Some ask for a modest pre-payment (like $25) when you book. Others ask nothing and just count on you to show up. I would never pay the full price in advance. Most will tell you exactly what to do (I will meet you and have a sign with your name. Meet me under the blue flag, or red sign, or front gate) when you disembark.

Forget the scare tactics of "you will miss the ship." The on-shore tour operators know what the ships' schedules are, and if they want to stay in business, they will get you back on time. It's the lone gypsy cab driver offering you a bargain rate as you get off the ship you have to be wary of. He will promise the world, but if a tire blows, he won't have a spare.

Good luck. You'll do fine. The Med is a great place to organize your own things. The shore organizations are very reliable and good. This is their business lifeline.

Post more questions if you have them!

Lindy

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

I see that you have signed up for your Roll Call which is the place to arrange private excursions. There is usually a couple of people on the Roll Call who have been to your ports before and can give suggestions.

Get a copy of Rick Steves' Mediterranean Cruise Ports. He tells you what there is to so/see in your ports, how to do it on your own. Ports not covered, he recommends Lonely Planet guides. On his website, Rick Steves has audio tours for mp3 and ipod, to download free. Also maps to print out to go along. Particularly for Venice. Check out Lonely Planet in your local bookstore or library. They allow you to purchase some chapters only for download, so you don't have to buy/carry the whole book. EM

Ephesus - we used Otti Tours and were very happy with our experience. More details are in my blog (linked in signature). We paid a deposit and then the balance at the end of the tour.

We used a company called Ephesus Deluxe, can't say enough good things. We did the full day tour, this was a hi-light of our 30 day cruise.

I would heartily agree with points made by others:

The reputable tour companies know the ships' schedules better than the cruise lines almost, and often even guarantee that they will get you back or get you to the next port at their expense. They know that they will get you back in time, and I have never heard of anyone's needing to cash in on the guarantee! They have often been doing these tours for many, many years.

Go to the Ports of Call section, as recommended, read posts about the ports, and you will get a sense of who the better operators are in a given port. Then ask specific questions about those that seem to stand out.

Using a private operator, with four or six people, will be far cheaper than a ship's tour, and will have much more flexibility to maneuver in traffic in a smaller vehicle, do extra stops that you discover in the Ports of Call section about that port, a Rick Steves book, etc. It has been a couple of added things that we have asked for over the years that have made some of the most memorable stops. You will also have the benefit of being in much closer contact and a more intimate setting with your guide, so you will learn more and enjoy more.

Another source for tours is shoretrips.com. They organize tours in most cruise ship ports around the world, and are very trustworthy and honest.

Use your roll call to get in with other people doing some tours you would like, or start to organize your own and put them out there to find others who might be interested.

We did a Med/Greek Isles cruise this summer.

For Ephesus, we used Ephesus Tours Best, and we visited Priene as well as Ephesus. I highly recommend Priene--it was our absolute favorite stop on our cruise (even better than Ephesus). Elgin, our tour guide, was an archaeology student, and really added a bunch to our tours. Our cost was $80 per adult, and $40 per child, which included lunch, and we all paid it at the end of the tour.

We did ALL private tours, and don't regret that one bit. All of them were pay-at-the-end-in-cash. Our largest group was 20 people; others were 15, 8, 7, and 6. Which meant that we could go anywhere we wanted, and even change plans on the fly. The small tour vehicles could zip around the crowded cities with ease. The tours were very much exactly what we wanted. And we got back to the ship in plenty of time in each port--their business relies on good word-of-mouth, and missing the ship would not be good for them, either!

I did mine on my own

Found a couple in port also took on spot

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