Shore Excursions on your own in W. Med?

[Psoque]

Have any of you looked into touring any of the ports of call either on your own or hiring a independent tour company/guide? We are going on a 10 night W. Med cruise on Celebrity Century on Nov. 21, roundtrip from Barcelona. Our ports of call are: Marceilles, Villefranche, Livorno, Civitavecchia, Naples, Valletta, and Tunis.

 

I'm looking at the prices of shore excursions on Celebrity website, and some of them (especially those in Livorno and Civitavecchia) are a bit pricey. Obviously this is because we are not visting third world countries (which is a good thing, I think).

 

Anyways, is there a tour operator/website you recommend for us to look into to get a better (less people = more time to tour?) tour for less $$$?

 

Thanks.

 

Naoyuki

[sharonmae]

Have you considered joining the Roll Call for your cruise, and then joining or starting an independent tour. Our Roll Call members have many independent tours booked on our Med cruise in October. The prices are cheaper, groups are smaller, and the buses (or vans) are often able to go places the large buses are not allowed. Also you don't spend a goodly portion of the day waiting on others who lost track of the time.

[Psoque]

Have you considered joining the Roll Call for your cruise, and then joining or starting an independent tour. Our Roll Call members have many independent tours booked on our Med cruise in October. The prices are cheaper, groups are smaller, and the buses (or vans) are often able to go places the large buses are not allowed. Also you don't spend a goodly portion of the day waiting on others who lost track of the time.

 

Yes, I have been on the Roll Call for this particular cruise for a few months now. And I actually posted a similar question on that board as well. I was hoping that by posting this question here (and casting a bigger net), I might find a more specific, first hand recommendations from someone who has done a shore excursion in relevant ports of call independent from the ship's offerings.

[nparmelee]

If you do a search on this board for each of the port names individually you'll get tons of info. Livorno and Civitavecchia ship excursions tend to be more money as they are typically 8-11 hour excursions and the ports are over an hour away from Rome and Florence which are the most common cities people go to from those ports. As you find the info you then need to weigh how far from the port you are and your comfort level with getting back to the ship before sail away. We're big on doing our own thing and it can be done from all the ports you list, just do the research for what you want to do and weigh the pros and cons. It would be easier to tackle each port individually rather than trying to do them all in one post.