Europe Excursions

[Kathy KAS]

Excuse my ignorance if I didn't do this correctly, it's my first post here.

 

Anyway, was wondering what other people were thinking about for excursions. We are sailing in August on the Vista (honeymoon ❤️❤️) and have booked some, but then I saw on roll calls (which I can't seem to find again) about people getting together as groups and going on their own. I'm kind of on the fence as to what we should do. Suggestions?

[trippingpara]

Excuse my ignorance if I didn't do this correctly, it's my first post here.

 

Anyway, was wondering what other people were thinking about for excursions. We are sailing in August on the Vista (honeymoon ❤️❤️) and have booked some, but then I saw on roll calls (which I can't seem to find again) about people getting together as groups and going on their own. I'm kind of on the fence as to what we should do. Suggestions?

 

Welcome and congrats on your nuptials! That's sort of a hard one to answer as its a personal choice. Many people book excursions solely through Carnival to ensure that the ship will not depart without them in case the excursion is late for some reason. Others (myself included) book almost exclusively with local tour providers. While others decide to DIY it themselves and either stroll around the city on their own or go and grab a taxi or Hop-On/Hop-Off buses.

 

Personally, I prefer booking with local vendors for the better pricing and smaller groups. On the inaugural roll call, we have a spreadsheet set up with all of the semi-private tours that have been started and open them up to other members on that roll call. It has been working great and how we booked the vast majority of our excursions.

 

By the way, you can find your roll call again by clicking on the link in the upper left heading titled "Find Your Roll Call". You then pick your cruise line, ship and date and it will pop up. I hope this helps you a little. Happy cruisin' and congrats again!

[riverside75]

Excuse my ignorance if I didn't do this correctly, it's my first post here.

 

Anyway, was wondering what other people were thinking about for excursions. We are sailing in August on the Vista (honeymoon ❤️❤️) and have booked some, but then I saw on roll calls (which I can't seem to find again) about people getting together as groups and going on their own. I'm kind of on the fence as to what we should do. Suggestions?

 

Kathy, Congratulations on your upcoming marriage! We're also sailing in August (on the 6th). Are you on this sailing too? If so, we have groups started in Naples and Livorno with spots open. Go to romeinlimotoursharing dot com to check them out. Otherwise, check your roll call by the directions already given. We love using local tour directors for our excursions. We make sure to research thoroughly and have never been late getting back to the ship. Hope you have a great honeymoon!

[BaseballMomof4]

Excuse my ignorance if I didn't do this correctly, it's my first post here.

 

Anyway, was wondering what other people were thinking about for excursions. We are sailing in August on the Vista (honeymoon ❤️❤️) and have booked some, but then I saw on roll calls (which I can't seem to find again) about people getting together as groups and going on their own. I'm kind of on the fence as to what we should do. Suggestions?

 

A lot of people do shared excursions in Europe. There are many excellent tour operators and you can get more information on your roll call or on the ports of call threads. We have used Rome in Limo in the past and they are wonderful! We will be using them again in May.

 

Congratulations and enjoy!

[Scratchrat]

Hello Kathy and big congratulations :D

 

I am going to be on the other side of the fence here.

 

I personally do not like booking private tours and will always book directly with Carnival or just go around on my own.

 

Yes, Carnival charge a bit more for their tours but you can trust that a) the ship will not leave without you if you're on a Carnival excursion and b) all Carnival Excursions have been tested by your Carnival Vista shore excursions team to make sure they are safe and suitable. (If you use Facebook, you can follow Matt Mitcham, cruise director of the Vista and see that he has been going all over the place on these excursions and has posted great pictures!

 

Some ports that I have either done before or that offer very little for me in terms of excursions I am happy to go off and explore by myself. This is because unlike with a local tour, if I am on my own, I am 100% responsible for my own timekeeping and as such I know I'll always err on the side of caution and get back on time.

 

I'm not saying one way is better than the other, but just giving you my 2 cents. I'm a "pay more, worry less" kind of guy.

 

You just need to decide if you're the same.

 

http://kascapades.wordpress.com is my blog if you want to check out some of my recommendations for things to do in Europe.

[CatlinSTJ]

We will be doing a mix. It all depends on your comfort level traveling abroad and in the specific ports. Carnival excursions are usually more expensive (not necessarily alway), but will guarantee that you won't lose money if the ship misses a port or miss the ship if something happens and the tour runs late, but they tend to be larger groups and less personal. Private excursions are often smaller groups and may give you a bit more flexibility, plus they usually cost less. If you're booking independently, definitely read reviews and make sure you won't be charged if the ship skips the stop and that they are responsible for covering the cost and hassle of getting you to the next port of something does happen. Companies such as Italy Tour Sharing and others are known for being very reliable.

 

 

Next cruise: Carnival Vista - July 2016

[KirkNC]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

[wdazew]

It appears both sides have been well explained above. My suggestion is to look at the higher cost (sometimes) of Carnival tours is that you are also purchasing a travel insurance policy. IE ship tours = boat waiting for your tour to return. You and your hubby need to decide what your comfort level is on doing private tours. How comfortable are you if time gets away from you, do you speak any of the languages if you do DIY (frankly that option scares the bejesus out of me for this trip but that is my opinion). Research, Research, Research use this forum (roll call, ports of call, this page, the place that may have a book and face in the name), check out trip advisor, use the Carnival forum, talk to each other then go for it.

 

Whatever you decide, go with the flow, be happy and happy honeymoon.

[BaseballMomof4]

I would say if you want to use private companies, research them well. Rome in Limo is highly regarded. I have never seen a post saying they did not get back to the ship on time when using Rome in Limo. In addition, we missed a port on our 2013 cruise and had pre-paid our tour for that port with Rome in Limo. One email to Jany and that money was back in my paypal the next day.

 

There are many very reputable companies out there to use that will afford you a smaller group with more flexibility at a better price, you just have to do the research.

[hbrote]

On our last trips to Europe we booked most tours off the ship with Rome in Limo and never had a problem. It is much easier to travel in a van for eight than it is in a bus with eighty folks. The private tours will be gone before the buses and in the case of some tourist sites you will beat the masses. You also get to know everyone on your tour and this makes for a wonderful day.

[Jenhep]

This is my first post so hope I'm doing it right!!

We are sailing on 9th July from Barcelona on the Vista. Been from this port before on the magic. We are planning to go to Capri from Naples ourselves on the local hydrofoil which goes every 30mins approx.€100 round trip approx. Will be back in plenty time for sailing. Hope that helps anyone who's not been to Europe or on this route. :)

[Cashya]

We will diy most of the ports.

For Naples we decided to take a ferry to Capri and take a stroll and afterwards take the ferry to sorrent and again a bit walking around and maybe lunch and the via train/bus or ferry back to the port.

 

In Livorno we will take the train to Lucca with a stop in Pisa.

 

I

 

 

If my memory serves me right, I'll never turn back time.