Charleston excursion -December 3

[jerseygirl226]

DH and I will be stopping in Charleston on the Enchantment of the Seas on December 3. Would love to take a tour of the city and maybe a ferry over to fort Sumter.  The excursions through RCCL are outrageously expensive.  Anyone have any experience with local tour companies they can Recommend?  Do they pickup at cruise port or do we need to get transport into town.  We’ve been on 20+ cruises but this is first time to Charleston.  It’s refreshing to do something different.  Thanks so much all. 

[Dive Master]

The ship will dock in the middle of Historic Charleston. The Market area is only a block or two away. You can shop, eat, and book tours there. Hare and buggy tours are a great way to see Charleston. Even better is to just stroll the historic streets . Meeting St, Church Street, East Bay St all end up at the Battery—-about a mile walk. Broad St intersects each of them. You can tour churches, three historic homes,and the Exchange Building. Locals are very friendly. Waterfront Park is lovely and close to the ship.

 

I really enjoy a walking tour with Charleston Pirate Tours. My friend Eric gives a great tour——about a one mile walk—-leaves from the Powder Magazine on Cumberland St. the tour ends at the Exchange Building —-which is a very reasonable add on and  well worth your time.Of course there are lots of other walking tours too.

 

You will never be far from the ship and the area is very safe. Locals will help with directions.

 

I hope this helps you plan your day.

[Rubyfisch]

I'm on the same cruise over Christmas and booked a walking tour through Walks of Charleston. We are in port in Christmas Day, some I'm not expecting much of anything to be open.

[gloobella]

I am on the same cruise in November,  It looks like there is a free bus called DASH that goes all around.  You might look into that. 

 

I booked a Fort Sumter tour directly through the National Park System.  It looks like the departing dock for the ferry is within walking distance of the cruise terminal.  

[BND]

Just an FYI for anyone looking for info as this thread is over a year old.  We've been to Charleston several times and never taken a ship's tour.  We've done our own walking one on one trip.  We also walked over to the Ft Sumter ferry and bought tickets and went on the first ferry of the day which means we were there for the flag raising.  We're stopping in Charleston again in April (2024) and plan to walk to the aquarium and tour it.  We've also done the market a couple of times and we always eat somewhere in town in one of the many good restaurants there.

[In Toronto]

Thank you BND for updating this.