I hope this is not a dumb question

I'm not new to cruising, but this will be our first European Cruise. My dumb question is; Are any of the ports similar to the Caribbean as far as tours? We are looking to go to Rome, Naples and La Spezia. We have a group of six, but no one at this point wants to commit to a specific tour. What I want to know is, when we get off in Naples, will there be drivers who will take us to Positano (reasonably)? Will there be someone in LaSpezia that will take us to Cinque Terre and so on? I know there are several companies to hire drivers, but like I said no one can make up there flippin mind, so I'm hoping we can be spontaneous. Also, if this is possible, will the cost be outrageous since it is last minute?

The only "dumb" question is the one not asked! :). The generalized answer to your question is that cruising in Europe (and the Med) is completely different from cruising in the Caribbean. As a rule there will be no tour guides waiting at most ports....and the few you might see are generally not the best.....or are simply taxi drivers who are not professional guides...and often do not speak much English. And you cannot even count on finding a decent taxi driver....as you might find yourself in a port with no waiting taxis.

So, you have 3 options. The first is to simply book the cruise line excursions. This is certainly the easiest option, but most tours are overpriced and you will be stuck in a large group (often 50+) with fellow cruisers.

The 2nd option is to book private excursions....which should be done in advance of your cruise (usually online). There is a lot of good advice and recommendations here in the Ports of Call Boards...and there are plenty of us willing to spend the time to answer very specific questions. With a group of 6, you could simply book your own private tours....or perhaps look for some more folks by posting on your Cruise Critic Roll Call Board.

The 3rd option is to simply go off on your own and do independent touring. DW and I have been doing this for over forty years and love just being by ourselves (or with a small circle of friends) and doing what we want, when we want, with whom we want. Depending on your port, independent travel can vary from very easy to quite difficult. The key to independent travel is doing your pre trip homework and knowing your options. You can get around using your feet, local/regional buses, trains, taxis or rental cars. Independent travel is not for everyone....but is great for those with "travel sense" who prefer to avoid the entire "group thing."

Being spontaneous is best left to those of us comfortable doing on own thing. Even a first time visitor can be independent...but you will need to do lots of research (homework). Rick Steves has some pretty good books for do it yourselfers....such as his Rick Steves Mediterranean Cruise Ports. There is also a wealth of info right here on these boards...which you can find by using the Search option or a lot of scrolling :).

Depending on your ports you may want to use a combination of the options.

I do want to specifically talk about "waiting for the last minute." This is fine for independent travel (we often go on long cruises with dozens of ports...without a clue what we will do in many places). If you plan to use cruise line excursions, the most popular ones can (and do) sell out....so keep this in mind. As to private tours, the best tour operators/guides will often be booked far in advance. If you do wait until the last minute...you may get lucky....or you might be left scratching your head and wondering what to do next.

Hank

Agree with Hank, and mention a 4th option. No rule says everyone has to do the same thing. People can do different things.

If you look down the board, all the ports are discussed extensively. For example, in La Speza, virtually no one suggests a drive to the Cinque Terre. Rather most suggest walking to the train station and taking the train, or possibly taking the ferry. Given that the Cinque Terre is mostly car-less, a driver there doesn't make a lot of sense.

Questions are fine. Reading on the board isn't a bad idea either.

I'm not new to cruising, but this will be our first European Cruise. My dumb question is; Are any of the ports similar to the Caribbean as far as tours? We are looking to go to Rome, Naples and La Spezia. We have a group of six, but no one at this point wants to commit to a specific tour. What I want to know is, when we get off in Naples, will there be drivers who will take us to Positano (reasonably)? Will there be someone in LaSpezia that will take us to Cinque Terre and so on? I know there are several companies to hire drivers, but like I said no one can make up there flippin mind, so I'm hoping we can be spontaneous. Also, if this is possible, will the cost be outrageous since it is last minute?

short answer is no it is completely different to the Caribbean-there will not be tour companies touting for business at the port

there will be taxis at each port who will take you to various places but will not be a tour as such , language may be a problem and depending on when you get off the ship the taxis may have been taken

so spontaneity not a good idea

however with a pre formed group of 6 you are in an ideal position to book one of the recommended Italian tour companies who will have 7-8 seater vans and arrange a tour according to your wishes for around500-600 euros for a full day tour[cost per van]

Hank,

Thank you so much for such are detailed reply. It is greatly appreciated. We are not going until next Sept so we do have some time. My DW and I are much more adventurous where as the rest of our group will be content finding a bar and sitting in it for four hours. That's fine in the Caribbean, but I doubt we will ever have a chance to get back to Europe, so I really want to make the best of it. I will definitely keep researching.

Hank,

 

Thank you so much for such are detailed reply. It is greatly appreciated. We are not going until next Sept so we do have some time. My DW and I are much more adventurous where as the rest of our group will be content finding a bar and sitting in it for four hours. That's fine in the Caribbean, but I doubt we will ever have a chance to get back to Europe, so I really want to make the best of it. I will definitely keep researching.

We actually had dinner (on a cruise) with a couple who were in tears some days because they found their trip being ruined by their traveling mates (who did not eat in the MDR) never wanting to do anything...but insisting in doing nothing with their friends :(. As another poster mentioned, there is no law or rule that says one must always stay with their group...even if its family. We once traveled with another couple (very close long time friends) and agreed (pre-cruise) that we would spend a lot of time together on the ship...but would go our own ways ashore. It worked perfectly...and we always had good dinner chats about what we all did that day. (and yes, they are still our good friends).

Hank

Your posts say volumes- you want to experience Europe whereas your friends may well be content keeping to the same routine they have on Caribbean cruises.

Please continue your research, decide what you want to do in each port, inform your friends of your plans and offer to include them. If you are thinking that a private tour is the way to go, give your friends a deadline to commit to joining you. Speaking of joining, join your sailing's roll call- perhaps you can participate in a tour being organized by a roll call member.

I am the main planner for all our trips. It is selfish on my part, but after reading travel guides and this forum, I decide what I want to see in each port, research the options, and ask our traveling companions if they'd like to join us. If it's a private tour, and our friends aren't interested, then I invite roll call members to complete the group.

Hank, Bruce and fabforty have provided excellent advice. Enjoy your planning and please do post back regarding how it all plays out!

I would do exactly what TMLAalum suggests. Make a plan for what you want to do, invite your travel mates, if they are not interested go ahead and invite other cruisers to join (if it is a tour for a certain # of people). We did this, and had no problem filling in the spots for tours.

A free walking guided tour would be your best bet! I have done this before and it is a great, organized walk. The guide is well informed with plenty of answers if needed. Tipping is also expected, but well worth the small donation.

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mvh, The other posters have provided great information. I wanted to share my experience as well. I cruise a lot with friends and family to the Caribbean and Europe. The biggest difference is planning. You MUST plan each port and have a budget. Excursions in Europe are expensive and I highly recommend you decide before arriving in the port what you will be doing. Europe is not the Caribbean. The Caribbean will take dollars in Europe you will need Euro or local currency. Get some Euro at your bank before leaving home.

Assign your traveling companions research topics. Since they are interested in going they may want to know a few things. I traveled with friends this summer on our first River Cruise and having them do some research on a couple of port stops really made them interested after their initial shock of excursion costs. But, some of us are just more interested in planning than others!!

Have a great holiday.

Hank,

 

Thank you so much for such are detailed reply. It is greatly appreciated. We are not going until next Sept so we do have some time. My DW and I are much more adventurous where as the rest of our group will be content finding a bar and sitting in it for four hours. That's fine in the Caribbean, but I doubt we will ever have a chance to get back to Europe, so I really want to make the best of it. I will definitely keep researching.

I agree with the others - cruising in the Caribbean is COMPLETELY different than cruising in the Med. We've done several of both and, at least to us, a Caribbean cruise is about finding a nice beach and relaxing/hanging at the local beach bars, which is very easily done by hopping on a taxi at the port. In the Med, to us, it's about seeing the sights and experiencing the culture. It's actually exhausting sometimes as we tend to get up on the early side, spend all day in port, do dinner and stay up late doing fun stuff at night and then do it all again the next day! As others have said, doing lots of homework is key so, even if you want to do the DIY thing in any given port, you go in with a plan. If you don't, you end up wasting precious port time trying to figure it out on the fly. That's not to say that you have to have a detailed plan for every port, but at least a general idea of what's around is helpful. There have certainly been Med ports where we didn't have a specific plan, but knew enough of a general idea to have a good day.

As for the friends who are less adventurous, we also have done most of our cruising with good friends, and our number one rule is that "there are no rules." While most of us generally enjoy doing the same things during the day, if there are some who don't want to join in, they don't and we all meet up for dinner and evening fun. The difference, however, in the Med is that for many of the ports you may want to line up a guide in advance, and the price will be determined by how many people are in your group. You do have some time, but it's never too early to research and get quotes/ideas. Throw your ideas out to your group and if they don't want to confirm, you can always post the tours on your roll call so as to find some others to join in and share the cost.

There will be some ports where you can simply find a taxi, but I wouldn't rely on that for the entire trip. We actually had one of our best port days in Dubrovnik a few years ago. The taxi driver who took us from the port to the town's gates also did tours and gave us his card. Later, when some of our friends went back to the ship ("no rules"), a few of us called him, and we spent the next four hours with him going to some fabulous places outside of Dubrovnik, and having some great local food. He spoke perfect English and really knew so much about the area. It can work, but again, I wouldn't rely on that. On the flip side of that, however, was one time in Bari, Italy where we actually had to fire the guide we had hired (LONG STORY). I had to conjure up my best Italian to find two taxis at the last minute to take our group of eight to the places we had really wanted to see and negotiate a good price for the day. Neither of the drivers spoke much English, and my Italian is not that great, but we made it work and ended up having a really nice day.

Happy planning!

We just got back last month from our second Europe cruise ( have done about 50 Caribbean cruises) the biggest difference is Europe at least for us was not that relaxing, many long days and loads of walking. I would look at private tours for 6 people like we did with Rome in Limo. But best day we ever had was on previous cruise we just got a Taxi and had him drive us around Naples then to Pompeii then back to Naples and asked for a really good restaurant or pizza place and we had a perfect day. Not all drivers speak English.

You have gotten great advice! I agree with Softball but will take it a step further. For at least three of our cruises with friends, we divy up the ports. I typically prepare a spreadsheet with the itinerary and the times we are scheduled to be in each port. Then if someone has a particular interest in a particular port, they request it and then we spread the rest out. We all do some research and then get back together (sometimes in person if we can arrange it but we have also used free online web meeting and/or skype to do it when we can't make a trip to each other work out) and share the possibilities we have identified for each port. The group then decides if there is one thing we all want to do or if we are going to split up. Once a decision is made, if its a group activity that port's person, puts together the plan be it a walking tour, lunch reservations, a driver, whatever.

This has worked well for us - it gets everyone involved, but doesn't overwhelm one single person with all the responsibility...which given we are all here on this board discussing would probably be one of us!:eek::D;)

This has worked well for us - it gets everyone involved, but doesn't overwhelm one single person with all the responsibility...which given we are all here on this board discussing would probably be one of us!:eek::D;)

Yep - that would be me :)

If the friends think they are going to find a bar to sit and drink in all day they are in for a rude awakening, bars as such simply don't exist. Even hotels that have bars that look like ones North Americans are used to often don't open them until the evening.

Not all drivers speak English.

Erm......why would that be a surprise???:)

We will disagree with Euro Cruiser (this happens perhaps once a year) about bars :). We have a very good Australian friend who spends much of the year cruising all over the world (mostly on HAL). He has a big following of friends (on darn near any cruise) for several reasons. But one of his claims to fame is that he somehow knows where to find the "proper" pub or bar in every port :). And that bar will very likely have Guinness :).

Hank

We've never had any problem finding watering holes. It might be a cafe or wine bar or pub or whatever, but there are always places in the various ports where one can sit and enjoy a libation.

Erm......why would that be a surprise???:)

Reason that I mention the English is our 1st Europe cruise to Italy and Greece we were told English was spoken almost everywhere, had no problem in Greece, but Sicily almost none of the taxi driver spoke English and in Naples most did not, we did wind up with a great driver with a great sense of humor

Recommend you find out where at each port you will be docking, some ports may be walkable and some may be industrial. Walkable ports will probably also have bars nearby. Some times when we get back from an excursion, if the port is walkable, we will then find a bar for a drink or two and watch people. But other ports will have nothing to do near the ship.