Need Help With European Excursions

I'm not even sure how to word this question. We are leaving on a Royal Caribbean cruise that stops at Belgium, Le Havre, and Netherlands. I am trying to decide what to do at each stop and how to get around from each port. Is there a train, bus, etc at each port to get you into town or do we NEED to do excursions with Royal? I am not too jazzed with the Royal options for the most part. We have cruised quite a bit in the Caribbean but Europe is new and VERY scary to me. Looking for someone with experience to help give me some guidance.

The port of call forum has a wealth of info: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=233

Get a copy of Rick Steves' Northern European Cruise Ports. He tells you what there is to do in each port, how much you can do in the time you have, and how to do it yourself, from the time you leave the ship until you return. EM

We did 2 of these ports last summer. I have a lot of info in my cruise report, it's in my signature. But there are a lot of options. We did a private tour in Le Havre, to Normandy, and it was amazing!!! It's the same company the cruise lines use, but at a fraction of the cost and only 8 people in our group. And in Bruges we caught a bus (they had charter buses at the dock that you could get R/T tickets for), went into Bruges and just walked on our own. We had researched/read a little before we went, and I had a little Bruges guidebook I got at the used bookstore. It's easy to walk around. We went to some churches, did a canal boat ride, went to the torture museum (fun and quirky!), ate Belgian waffles, bought chocolate, and did the chocolate factory tour ( wouldn't recommend that!). I haven't been to Amsterdam in about 30 years, but friends who have been recently also say it's easy to get around there.

I've not sailed into Amsterdam for a few years, but there used to be a tram stop just to the left of the terminal building, which took you past the first canal boats and on into Dam Square. If you turn right instead, you can see the main station about 5 or 10 mins walk away, and the canals start soon after that, if you want to do a boat tour round the city.

Have you joined your ROLL CALL?? Many times there are people who have booked private tours and wish to share seats in a van so you still have a really small group and you won't spend as much as a ship's tour.

You can totally do your own thing, IF you do your research! You can't expect to know nothing about your ports, and go it on your own. Get a guidebook! Research is key...and a HUGE money-saver!

Visit sites such as:

http://www.tripadvisor.com

http://www.frommers.com

and the ports of call board for starters.

Keith

I'm not even sure how to word this question. We are leaving on a Royal Caribbean cruise that stops at Belgium, Le Havre, and Netherlands. I am trying to decide what to do at each stop and how to get around from each port. Is there a train, bus, etc at each port to get you into town or do we NEED to do excursions with Royal? I am not too jazzed with the Royal options for the most part. We have cruised quite a bit in the Caribbean but Europe is new and VERY scary to me. Looking for someone with experience to help give me some guidance.

I've also found tripadvisor.com very helpful.