Private Tours

Please help. I'm beginning to panic. I want to make the most of our cruise, but don't want to pay ship prices for 2 adults and 2 children but don't know to go about arranging private excursions. I've picked up a few names for our Western European itineraries but don't know how to go about meeting others to cut the price. Can I ask for suggestions please as we head 13th July?:confused:

The best info you are going to find is on the Port Of Call board. You will find many knowledgeable people there who can point you in the right direction for private tours.

Also, have you joined your roll call? That is the place that you might find others on your cruise who are willing to join in an excursion with you.

Thanks for your reply. I have joined the roll call but it is a very quiet one! When I quickly perused the Port of call section I only found a few suggestions, so anymore greatfully accepted.

Get a good guide book about your ports--most times, they will list excursions and things that are popular and worthwhile doing. It may be that some of the things you want to do are easy to do on your own, without an excursion! If so, that would save a bundle! But you have to know something about the area you'll be in! Research!!!

Please help. I'm beginning to panic. I want to make the most of our cruise, but don't want to pay ship prices for 2 adults and 2 children but don't know to go about arranging private excursions. I've picked up a few names for our Western European itineraries but don't know how to go about meeting others to cut the price. Can I ask for suggestions please as we head 13th July?:confused:

You still have time - don't panic! Depending on where you're going to, you may want to seek out a local tour company once you're in port. You may even come across other people in your same situation who want to just do a shorter tour with less people. When we want to go to the beach, we'll hang out at the gangway with our towels in hand and when I see other people doing the same, I ask them where they're headed and if they'd like to share the ride. Chances are, they'll want to stay for maybe 2-3 hours because by then, we all have to be pack on the ship at the same time anyway!

We've booked all our tours with people from the CC board going to the Med. The best part was that I didn't have to do the searching! They confirmed it and then just asked who would like to join in and said "we have 8 spots left for a van holding 12 people." Sure helps save a few $$!

Laurie

boredmum

We are a family of 4 & I book private excursions just for the 4 of us. It invariably works out cheaper than the ships tours.

Some-one on your roll call has just asked for 2 or 4 people to share in Rome..if you're interested, be quick & there is your start. :)

You might find some pointers in this thread useful.

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=794229

Come over to the Med boards..you will find a wealth of information on how to 'do' ports on your own or recommendations for private tours. Ask a few questions there too & I'm sure you'll be feeling happier about it all soon. Here's the link to the Med board. Good luck. :)

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=234

Thanks for all yur help. I do feel abit silly, but I've made a start....

I see that you will dock in Villefranche, which is between Nice and Monaco. I was there last year (not by ship) and I bumped into numbers of folks from a cruise ship that was docked. They were all over the place in both Nice and Monaco.

This is a good place to go it on your own. You can walk up to the road from the cruise ship and get on a bus to go west into Nice or east in to Monaco. There is also a train that does the same.

I found Monaco to be very upscale and modern - it reeked of money. The day I was there it was beastly hot. I ended up going to the cactus garden, which actually had some shade and had a fascinating cave that you could go down with a tour guide.

Nice on the other hand was more typically French. It has a big promenade walkway that goes forwever along the water. There is a cute tram ride that takes you through the old town and then up to a park where you can get off and explore and take the next tram back. Beware of the beach in Nice - it is all stones. Absolutely no sand.

I highly recommend the bus ride along the coast - a really cheap sightseeing tour. Just be sure to leave enough time to get back to the ship because traffic can get really bad.