How do you book private tours when

Your roll call is kind of a dud, only 45 participants and no one seem interested. We're coming up fast on the sailing and most tour companies want you to have at least 6 people, if not 8.

Do you just suck it up and pay the ship prices?

Not sure where you are cruising. In Europe certain companies will create a group based on individuals on your ship.

We've booked where companies make up the group, i.e. Alaska

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toursbylocals I have been able to find tours for 2

Contact different tour companies and see what their standard tours are.

Our next cruise will actually be our first where we booked through something set up by our roll call. Everything else has always been set up by me directly with the different companies.

toursbylocals I have been able to find tours for 2

Yes, we've used this site in Canada and Ireland, as well as San Juan. Start there...they actually seem to prefer groups that can just fit in a car. It's a bit pricier than ship tour, BUT, you get full customization and will likely see twice as much.

Thanks, Im cruising Mediterranean, - barcelona, rome, naples, livorno, cannes and palma. I have been looking at a lot of companies, most want you to have 6, i contacted italytours and some others i;ve seen on here, but I've struck out with timing so far.

Anyone have experience with using Viator? Ill do a search on the CC board too.

We've traveled all over the world and rarely use ship tours, and used tripadvisor to find private operators. We usually request private groups since we have small children, and most tour companies have been quite happy to accommodate us. Private tours for just your family in the Med will be expensive, but its up to you if you want to travel independently or with a tour (you might want one at least in Rome, since you need to travel from the port and there's a lot to do in Rome in one day).

There's a website I've used my last two cruises. Not sure if I can post it here, but there wasn't a minimum. My friend and I booked separately. One time there were only two other picked up with us. Another it was us and our four friends.

So it's private in that it's not the ship, but it's possible other people could book it with you.

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There's a website I've used my last two cruises. Not sure if I can post it here, but there wasn't a minimum. My friend and I booked separately. One time there were only two other picked up with us. Another it was us and our four friends.

 

So it's private in that it's not the ship, but it's possible other people could book it with you.

 

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feel free to email me at point6seconds gmail

Thanks, Im cruising Mediterranean, - barcelona, rome, naples, livorno, cannes and palma. I have been looking at a lot of companies, most want you to have 6, i contacted italytours and some others i;ve seen on here, but I've struck out with timing so far.

 

Anyone have experience with using Viator? Ill do a search on the CC board too.

You can usually do private tours for 2, but the price is obviously much higher because you're not splitting it. Naples, Cannes and Palma you can do fairly easily on your own. Could try http://www.leisure-italy.com who have some Naples tours that aren't too different for the ships tour costs.

I've used Viator and had some good experiences (no bad ones), especially in Barcelona.

there are several tour companies which will allow you to buy on seat by seat basis where they co ordinate the group

try ItalyTours.eu

Joe Bananas

Rome in Limo

for Barcelona try Barcelona day tours

there are several tour companies which will allow you to buy on seat by seat basis where they co ordinate the group

 

try ItalyTours.eu

 

Joe Bananas

 

Rome in Limo

 

 

 

for Barcelona try Barcelona day tours

I’ve used both RIL & Barcelona Day tours-recommend them both

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I travel solo, so I run into this problem often... I sometimes just suck it up and pay double, or just head out on my own and find something to do once I'm in port.

We set up our tours for 2-4 often via Viator and have never had a problem. It's up to the tour operator to fill their vans. We've sometimes have ended up being by ourselves in a van but most often others have also booked by themselves and we share. Granted, most of our DIY tours have been done in Europe, Oz/NZ, and Asia. For Caribbean or Mexican cruises, we just grab a cab and hire a driver for the day. Am I missing something or do most folks prefer to tour only with others they already know or have met via the role calls?

We booked a tour in Jamaica and ended up being the only ones. Not only did we do the scheduled items, but we went shopping, had lunch, and got a driven tour of the city since we had time. That in addition to doing all the waterfalls at the Blue Hole twice skipping the lines.

We did the dive with dolphins at Chaknaab in Cozumel and were the only two people. Since it was DW's first time diving she ended up with a full on one on one with the dive master.

We have also booked just the two of us and had a bus full from other ships.

Places like Viator are only the booking agent and not a tour operator. They are OK, but they only book you with a local tour where ,if you do a bit of research, you can book the same thing, only cheaper right with that tour company.

Companies like SpainDay Tours are very good and very reasonable in Europe. You should either go to the port of call boards of the ports you are visiting and ask for recommendations. Almost every port, people have their favorites and will recommend them to you. Or else, go to Trip Advisor and look at the cities and find the things to do link, then tours. They will list all the tour operators and their rankings among all the people who have used them.

And don't worry if your roll call is weak. Many companies will pair you with people from other ships, or just anyone who signs up. We just did a walking tour in. Charleston SC. We asked on our roll call but no one was interested. We booked it anyway and when we got to the meeting point, there were almost 20 people on the tour.

Private tours are the best way to see any destination.

Cheers

Len

Thanks, Im cruising Mediterranean, - barcelona, rome, naples, livorno, cannes and palma. I have been looking at a lot of companies, most want you to have 6, i contacted italytours and some others i;ve seen on here, but I've struck out with timing so far.

 

Anyone have experience with using Viator? Ill do a search on the CC board too.

We are cruising the same cities NCL Epic in September 2018 [19-26] How does one check for others on a specific cruise to get a group together?? We have used Viator before and had no issues...

We are cruising the same cities NCL Epic in September 2018 [19-26] How does one check for others on a specific cruise to get a group together?? We have used Viator before and had no issues...

Ask in your roll call.

Your roll call is kind of a dud, only 45 participants and no one seem interested. We're coming up fast on the sailing and most tour companies want you to have at least 6 people, if not 8.

 

Do you just suck it up and pay the ship prices?

Aren't you on the April 22 Epic Med cruise? There are 79 listed on the roll call (not 45). Looking at the spreadsheet for our cruise, there are several group excursions that are full, but I do see openings for Naples (Joe Bananas), Rome (Italy Tours and Joe Bananas) and Livorno/Florence (Rome in Limo). Don't you want to join any of these shared tours? Certainly you can go with shore excursioneers or viator as have been suggested here.

Check for your sailing on the face page! I've had roll calls there that were quite active. Also, a reach out on Reddit may work too, though it's not as popular.

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Aren't you on the April 22 Epic Med cruise? There are 79 listed on the roll call (not 45). Looking at the spreadsheet for our cruise, there are several group excursions that are full, but I do see openings for Naples (Joe Bananas), Rome (Italy Tours and Joe Bananas) and Livorno/Florence (Rome in Limo). Don't you want to join any of these shared tours? Certainly you can go with shore excursioneers or viator as have been suggested here.

those tours are all doing things we've done before, I tried to get some more unique tours, but no one was interested. I contacted the above listed tour groups, but if the max number is not reached, they won't do the tour, or it will cost more than booking through viator. Also, of the 79 people in there, about 20 are just the canned response "hi i'm on your cruise, nice to meet you", and about 15 are introduction and out type of people. There are a number of tours listed on the spreadsheet, but again, they aren't unique enough and most are already closed. Thanks for your response, appreciate the help.

Thanks to all your responses, since the most people I've ever had on a roll call (in 20 or so cruises) has been like 100, and generally, all those people on the roll call are looking for travel excursion partners, I am truly interested in what the other 3000 or so people who are on the ship do for excursions.

The last time i went to the Med we did only ship tours, but mostly spent time waiting for people who were late back to the bus. With such a port intensive cruise, such little time and places i have already seen major sites in, I really have specific sites and needs in mind. I have decided to try Viatour as it seems you can tweak some tours they have listed, they can't really cancel them and they mostly guarantee that you get back to your ship on time.

Check for your sailing on the face page! I've had roll calls there that were quite active. Also, a reach out on Reddit may work too, though it's not as popular.

 

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i hadn't thought of reddit - thank you!

Italy tours.eu pull groups together

Cruisingexcursions.com you join groups already set up

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