excursions

Hi, we are going on our first cruise with our 10 yr old child. We are going on July 15 Independence of the seas on Med beach for 14 nights. We are stopping in Gibraltar, Nice, Toulon, Malaga and Cadiz and i was wondering does anyone have any suggestions for the day in these ports. We would like to do excursions but not sure if we should book with Royal Carribean as they seem to charge a lot and was wondering if people had any ideas to do it cheaper. We also stop in Barcelona and Palma but we have been to these places before so won't be doing an excursion. Thanks for your help. Regards John

John,

You will find a lot of information on your ports of call and how to avoid the high costs of the cruise line ShorEx right here on Cruise Critic!!

Drop down to the PORTS OF CALL forum and look for the EUROPE sub-forum then look for the areas where your ship will be visiting.

Also join your Roll Call where your fellow passenger may also be arranging shared private excursions for cheaper individual expense.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Forums mobile app

Before you book anything, read a guidebook on your ports. So many things are easy to DIY...you might find what interests you requires nothing but a cab or bus ride.....if that! Do some research before you start paying big bucks to be entertained!

My adult son and I visited Gibraltar in October 2015 on a Croisieres de France cruise. We LOVED this port of call. It was very easy to do without an excursion. It's so small and we just walked everywhere we wanted to go. If you wanted to go further, I'm sure cabs, etc. would be easy enough. Depends on how much time you have in port. The highlight was taking the cable car to the top of The Rock. The views were stunning and the Barbary macaques were very entertaining.

Gib- it depends how much time you have there, as ships returning to Southampton often use it for a non-EU break of half a day, because it then takes 2 1/2 days back to S'ton. Plenty of taxis /shared mini buses going up the rock; you can walk into town and catch a bus to the cable car. Handy for shopping, but be aware that drink and tobacco are limited for duty free, instead of the larger amount of duty paid from Spain.

Cadiz is lovely, and there's marked walkways round the ancient streets. There's also beaches, and a HoHo bus at the dock gates.

Malaga- the new terminal is just a walk away from the town beach. The town is beautiful, but a shuttle ride away from the dock.

The big ships moor at the far end of Palma, near the naval yard so it's either a shuttle or walk into town, but you probably know that...:)

Have a wonderful time!

Hi, we are going on our first cruise with our 10 yr old child. We are going on July 15 Independence of the seas on Med beach for 14 nights. We are stopping in Gibraltar, Nice, Toulon, Malaga and Cadiz and i was wondering does anyone have any suggestions for the day in these ports. We would like to do excursions but not sure if we should book with Royal Carribean as they seem to charge a lot and was wondering if people had any ideas to do it cheaper. We also stop in Barcelona and Palma but we have been to these places before so won't be doing an excursion. Thanks for your help. Regards John

Try welovemalaga.com. They have several tours and are very reasonable. We did the Gourmet Tapas Tour, which included wine at every stop, but with a child you might want to check out the Malaga Walk and Taste Tour. It's 3 hrs and $35 per person. It's owned by 2 brothers and they were great. We had a wonderful time. They have several other tours too, all reasonable.

Keeping in mind your son's age, I have these suggestions that I think all of you would really enjoy:

For Gibraltar, take a taxi to the Rock and tour the fort and see the Barbary apes (they are everywhere - your son will love it!)

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187510-d232389-Reviews-The_Rock_of_Gibraltar-Gibraltar.html

For Nice (Villafranche) I would suggest this as Eze is very interesting and there is an aquarium in Monaco and a museum of dolls and automatons as well as the Palace and Cathedral:

https://www.viator.com/tours/Nice/Villefranche-Shore-Excursion-Private-Day-Trip-to-Monaco-Eze-and-Nice/d478-2356VILLEFRANCHE2

http://tripfreakz.com/offthebeatenpath/automatons-and-dolls-of-yesteryear-in-monaco

For Toulon: I recommend going to Cassis and taking a boat trip there to the Calanques - it's just fabulous and very adventurous - kind of like going to the Grand Canyon except with water and luxury boats. Here are DIY options on how to get there:

https://www.rome2rio.com/s/Toulon/Cassis

detailed info about Cassis:

http://www.marvellous-provence.com/other-places/towns/cassis/town-guide

Malaga: Nerja Caves - which has the tallest stalagmite in the world.

Cadiz; Royal Andalusian Horse show in Jerez:

http://www.cadizandbeyond.com/jereztours/royalhorseshow/tabid/133/default.aspx