Eastern Med Tours We took:

[flames9]

Just back from The May 22nd sailing on Celebrity Silhouette and had a grteat time onboard and on excursions. We only did excursions that I arranged or that another CC member arranged. Thanks to a great site as CC, it is very easy to do, as many have posted thier experiences with tour companies. My 2 cents:

 

Arrived May 21st and stayed at the BEwst Western Hotel bologna in Mestre! Very easy to get thier from the airport on the ATVO Bus! The booth were you buy your 6 Euro ticket is just to the left when you come out of Arrivals. It takes you right to the Mestre Train Station...and the hotel was like a 2 min walk behind where they dropped you off! Very nice, modern hotel, close to small restaurants--If you turned LEFT when you walk outside the Rest...Goto the 2nd Indian Rest (first one you can actually sit down at) Food was inexpensive and awesome! We Taxied it to the cruise terminal at 40 Euro. The train is right there so I suppose we could have gone that route! And then use the people mover (1 Euro) to getto the ship. The People Mover is just a small "Train" that goes like 400 metres and drops you off at the cruise terminal!

 

Started in Venice on May 22nd. Ship did not leave until May 23rd

 

Koper: Arranged via another cc member: http://www.slovenia-transfers-tours.com a great tour of Ljubljana city centre, and then off to Bled! Helena was a great guide. Didn’t go up to the castle due to SNOW!! Yep may 24th and it was snowing! Instead we went for lunch at the place Helena recommended it was great! Huge portions, should have split it with my wife!! Great tour!!

 

Ravenna: I was sick with a cold, so stayed back on the ship and the wife explored on her own! The ship did offer a $$ shuttle. Can’t recall how much, I think $14 for a day’s use.

 

Split: The day started off bad, and ended that way! Was a Tendering port and the weather sucked! So they could only use the starboard side of the boat. We were on Tender #3 –that is AFTER all the Celebrity excursions have gone ashore----We waited and waited and around 0930 our # was called! I think there were some worried people that had set up private tours and now they were going to miss their arranged pick up point! The day was miserable, rainy and cold! We walked around for a few hours and then we were back on the boat around 1230—about the same time as they were calling the last assigned tenders—then it was open to anyone!! Lesson learned: On a tendering point you may not want to organize a private tour, OR ensure everyone gets down early and gets their tickets! They were allowing 1 person to pick up as many as they needed for a group.

 

Dubrovnik. A celebrity $$ shuttle was again available--$12. A very nice port, We walked around, did the cable car up to the top of a hill, then walked around the fort. We rented one of those walking stereos they put on Ipod like device—it was very good! It was 1 of the ones that had actual ear phones and was like $10 a person. The fort was very busy—I can’t imagine going there in the middle of the summer when it is super hot and super crowded—no thank you. I think it took just over an hour to do the whole walk.

 

Kotor: http://www.montenegro.com/oglasi/kotor/Miki_Travel_Excursion_Boats.html Again, arranged by the same CC member—another home run!! Went from 0900 to noon which was nice as it gave us time to do stuff back in Koter on our own! Nice boat ride to Lady of the Rocks (approx 45 min), then a short boat ride to Peaster and then back to the docking area! Sorry I do not know ther company, but the owners name was Mirko and he was awesome! To get the best view—get up on the foscle (front) of the boat and sit down and relax

 

Bari: toursofpuglia.com Was a tour I arranged. Very easy to do, they were great in replying to my emails. I had a group of 10, in a 14 passenger mini bus, very comfortable and the price was very reasonable as well. Gianna was our guide and she was superb!! Really knew her stuff! Only bad thing was that the microphone was not working (I emailed the company and they stated they would have it fixed) I believe another CC member used this same tour company, but their guide was terrible! She was from Dallas texas! But I can’t say for sure she was with this company! You just may want to make sure you request a “local” guide. We did their Alberobello/Turri tour. Everyone stated they really enjoyed it

 

May 30th—our 1 and only day at sea! We spent most of it in the Hideway lounge reading! Would have been happier with more sea days

 

Valletta Malta: Touringmalta.com Another tour I organized and was very easy to set up. Only 6 of us in an 8 passenger van. Our Guider Was Audbrey B and she was probably the most knowledgeable guide I have ever had! Simply awesome! I believe this company is rather large, so they have many guides and I think she is sort of a free agent and works for others. We did the Full day Valletta,Mdina, Haga Temples and Marsaxlokk tour. All went fairly well except some traffic issues, so where we had lunch, we just had lunch, did not get time to see the shops around the fishing village! Most of that was due to traffic (2 accidents and high construction) and partly due to very slow service at the restaurant!! But it was still a great tour.

 

Sicily: http://sicilylife.com My last tour I organized and we all had a great time. Again very easy to set up. Our guide was great, 6 of us in an 8 passenger van. We did the Unknown Sicily around Etna & the highlites of Taormina! A great tour, and our guide drove us all around the Taormina area, then dropped us off! We were gald he drove us all around it as the main area of Taormina is truly just a tourist trap filled with shops and shops and shops and restaurants. Again, everyone stated they had a great tour

 

Naples: http://www.aldolimos.com/ organized by another CC member and was awesome! We actually had the owner—Aldo—as our driver and guide. Simply an awesome gentlemen who made sure we had a great tour. We did their Pompeii, Positano and Sorrento tour! We went as far as we could first and then worked our way back to the ship! Probably the best way to do it because of traffic!! Yes the road is VERY windy! But he took it easy and no one felt car sick! We had the option of finding our own place to eat or for 25 Euro he would take us to a place he would take his family, and it was pretty much all you could eat and drink,lol More importantly is was extremely good! And 99.99% of tourists would never find it. Another great tour in the books!

 

Used http://www.fattoricarservice.com/ to go from Civitavecchia to Rome. Where we stayed at another Best western, Hotel Canada. As a canuck, just had to stay there! Was close to the Termini Train station, 10 min walk, and we actually walked back from the Colosseum, maybe 30-40 min! (I'm 40 yrs old, wife younger)

 

Very happy we did private excursions, as the groups were small, guides were super and cost less than what the ship charged.

 

Ensure you get contact Info from people who want to join your tour, room #'s. Our Roll Call was very organized by 2 individuals so we had a spreadsheet, photographs of many, an actual web page, Facebook page!!

 

I sent out an email just prior to the ship to remind people on my tour.

 

I know 1 lady went around a few days before the tour on the ship and left a type written note with all the info

 

I never handled the $$$, I just had people pay thier share to the driver.

 

And I made sure from square 1--that if they agreed to the tour and backed out, and could not fill thier spot with someone esle they would be held accountable for their share--No 1 had a problem with that and no 1 backed out----Usually just had more and more people wanting to join

 

Keep in mind vehicles in Europe are smaller than in N.America! I kept my group sizes small. If the tour company had a 10 passenger van, I would max out at 8. I know in Bari I had a 14 passenger mini- bus and limited to 8 originally, but agreed to 10---asked the others first if they were ok to maxing out at 10.

 

Tours are easy to organize and I think it is very slim that people back out at the last minute, but of course it happens and you have to make up the difference! Cheers

[kathynorth]

Thanks for your trip summary. The information is very helpful! :)

[flames9]

No problem!

 

We were Tendered in Kotor--but the area is much more protected and They were taking people off on both sides of the ship--very fast and smooth process--totally opposite of Split.

[love_the_sea]

Just back from The May 22nd sailing on Celebrity Silhouette and had a grteat time onboard and on excursions. We only did excursions that I arranged or that another CC member arranged. Thanks to a great site as CC, it is very easy to do, as many have posted thier experiences with tour companies. My 2 cents:

 

Arrived May 21st and stayed at the BEwst Western Hotel bologna in Mestre! Very easy to get thier from the airport on the ATVO Bus! The booth were you buy your 6 Euro ticket is just to the left when you come out of Arrivals. It takes you right to the Mestre Train Station...and the hotel was like a 2 min walk behind where they dropped you off! Very nice, modern hotel, close to small restaurants--If you turned LEFT when you walk outside the Rest...Goto the 2nd Indian Rest (first one you can actually sit down at) Food was inexpensive and awesome! We Taxied it to the cruise terminal at 40 Euro. The train is right there so I suppose we could have gone that route! And then use the people mover (1 Euro) to getto the ship. The People Mover is just a small "Train" that goes like 400 metres and drops you off at the cruise terminal!

 

Started in Venice on May 22nd. Ship did not leave until May 23rd

 

Koper: Arranged via another cc member: www.slovenia-transfers-tours.com a great tour of Ljubljana city centre, and then off to Bled! Helena was a great guide. Didn’t go up to the castle due to SNOW!! Yep may 24th and it was snowing! Instead we went for lunch at the place Helena recommended it was great! Huge portions, should have split it with my wife!! Great tour!!

 

Ravenna: I was sick with a cold, so stayed back on the ship and the wife explored on her own! The ship did offer a $$ shuttle. Can’t recall how much, I think $14 for a day’s use.

 

Split: The day started off bad, and ended that way! Was a Tendering port and the weather sucked! So they could only use the starboard side of the boat. We were on Tender #3 –that is AFTER all the Celebrity excursions have gone ashore----We waited and waited and around 0930 our # was called! I think there were some worried people that had set up private tours and now they were going to miss their arranged pick up point! The day was miserable, rainy and cold! We walked around for a few hours and then we were back on the boat around 1230—about the same time as they were calling the last assigned tenders—then it was open to anyone!! Lesson learned: On a tendering point you may not want to organize a private tour, OR ensure everyone gets down early and gets their tickets! They were allowing 1 person to pick up as many as they needed for a group.

 

Dubrovnik. A celebrity $$ shuttle was again available--$12. A very nice port, We walked around, did the cable car up to the top of a hill, then walked around the fort. We rented one of those walking stereos they put on Ipod like device—it was very good! It was 1 of the ones that had actual ear phones and was like $10 a person. The fort was very busy—I can’t imagine going there in the middle of the summer when it is super hot and super crowded—no thank you. I think it took just over an hour to do the whole walk.

 

Kotor: http://www.montenegro.com/oglasi/kotor/Miki_Travel_Excursion_Boats.html Again, arranged by the same CC member—another home run!! Went from 0900 to noon which was nice as it gave us time to do stuff back in Koter on our own! Nice boat ride to Lady of the Rocks (approx 45 min), then a short boat ride to Peaster and then back to the docking area! Sorry I do not know ther company, but the owners name was Mirko and he was awesome! To get the best view—get up on the foscle (front) of the boat and sit down and relax

 

Bari: toursofpuglia.com Was a tour I arranged. Very easy to do, they were great in replying to my emails. I had a group of 10, in a 14 passenger mini bus, very comfortable and the price was very reasonable as well. Gianna was our guide and she was superb!! Really knew her stuff! Only bad thing was that the microphone was not working (I emailed the company and they stated they would have it fixed) I believe another CC member used this same tour company, but their guide was terrible! She was from Dallas texas! But I can’t say for sure she was with this company! You just may want to make sure you request a “local” guide. We did their Alberobello/Turri tour. Everyone stated they really enjoyed it

 

May 30th—our 1 and only day at sea! We spent most of it in the Hideway lounge reading! Would have been happier with more sea days

 

Valletta Malta: Touringmalta.com Another tour I organized and was very easy to set up. Only 6 of us in an 8 passenger van. Our Guider Was Audbrey B and she was probably the most knowledgeable guide I have ever had! Simply awesome! I believe this company is rather large, so they have many guides and I think she is sort of a free agent and works for others. We did the Full day Valletta,Mdina, Haga Temples and Marsaxlokk tour. All went fairly well except some traffic issues, so where we had lunch, we just had lunch, did not get time to see the shops around the fishing village! Most of that was due to traffic (2 accidents and high construction) and partly due to very slow service at the restaurant!! But it was still a great tour.

 

Sicily: http://sicilylife.com My last tour I organized and we all had a great time. Again very easy to set up. Our guide was great, 6 of us in an 8 passenger van. We did the Unknown Sicily around Etna & the highlites of Taormina! A great tour, and our guide drove us all around the Taormina area, then dropped us off! We were gald he drove us all around it as the main area of Taormina is truly just a tourist trap filled with shops and shops and shops and restaurants. Again, everyone stated they had a great tour

 

Naples: http://www.aldolimos.com/ organized by another CC member and was awesome! We actually had the owner—Aldo—as our driver and guide. Simply an awesome gentlemen who made sure we had a great tour. We did their Pompeii, Positano and Sorrento tour! We went as far as we could first and then worked our way back to the ship! Probably the best way to do it because of traffic!! Yes the road is VERY windy! But he took it easy and no one felt car sick! We had the option of finding our own place to eat or for 25 Euro he would take us to a place he would take his family, and it was pretty much all you could eat and drink,lol More importantly is was extremely good! And 99.99% of tourists would never find it. Another great tour in the books!

 

Used http://www.fattoricarservice.com/ to go from Civitavecchia to Rome. Where we stayed at another Best western, Hotel Canada. As a canuck, just had to stay there! Was close to the Termini Train station, 10 min walk, and we actually walked back from the Colosseum, maybe 30-40 min! (I'm 40 yrs old, wife younger)

 

Very happy we did private excursions, as the groups were small, guides were super and cost less than what the ship charged.

 

Ensure you get contact Info from people who want to join your tour, room #'s. Our Roll Call was very organized by 2 individuals so we had a spreadsheet, photographs of many, an actual web page, Facebook page!!

 

I sent out an email just prior to the ship to remind people on my tour.

 

I know 1 lady went around a few days before the tour on the ship and left a type written note with all the info

 

I never handled the $$$, I just had people pay thier share to the driver.

 

And I made sure from square 1--that if they agreed to the tour and backed out, and could not fill thier spot with someone esle they would be held accountable for their share--No 1 had a problem with that and no 1 backed out----Usually just had more and more people wanting to join

 

Keep in mind vehicles in Europe are smaller than in N.America! I kept my group sizes small. If the tour company had a 10 passenger van, I would max out at 8. I know in Bari I had a 14 passenger mini- bus and limited to 8 originally, but agreed to 10---asked the others first if they were ok to maxing out at 10.

 

Tours are easy to organize and I think it is very slim that people back out at the last minute, but of course it happens and you have to make up the difference! Cheers

 

Good info about the ports....I will be doing some of these in the fall, but also appreciated the information on arranging the private tours. Our Roll Call is almost empty, but it is early yet so hope we can get some groups together.

[flames9]

We had a very busy roll call, almost 5000 posts. 1 CC member had a special web page and a facebook page. People sent in Pictures of themselves and he made a nice document form that--another will people email and room # Another had special CC pins made up! Was very well done!

 

1 thing I would ask for when arranging private tours--a local guide! I think it was in Bari--1 group had a guide from Dallas TX--and had actually never been to 1 area in the tour. Cheers