Shore Excursions - Are they worth it?

[Rick101, York (2)]

Hello,

Another newbie question. I did search and it seemed most here DIY thier day trips.

My available excursions have just come up this weekend on P&O's website. I knew they would be expensive but I'm a bit disappointed with the content. Most just seem to be going to a place of interest for a walk round and not much else. There is only one excursion i've seen which you could only do through the cruise line which was £85pp.

We are fairly young, fairly confident, speak enough European language to get by. Would you recommend going it alone?

One other question...Are the excursions sold through this website the same as those direct from P&O or is it a different trip.

Reason I ask is that there is nothing showing on this site yet however it does mention some discount may be achieved. I'm cautious of waiting too long as the trip I want is limited availability. Just waiting for a call back from my cruise consultant now.

Thanks.

[Taffy, Wales]

Most excursions that cruise lines offer can be done on a DIY basis far cheaper.
There has never been a shortage of Taxis at any port willing to take you on a tour ,and if you can make up your group to fill the taxi ,even better.
I have no Idea if the tour sold are from the same companies that the cruise lines use ,I would suspect not..Taffy

[carol, welwyn garden city]

I think the majority of trips are easily done on your own. Some are better than others, and I don't bother with the ones that drop you some-where and then you just walk around.
The thing I do find they have going for them is you do get a lot of information that you wouldn't necessarily get if you did it your self.
Sometimes it's the easier and lazier option to do the ships trip, but I do think you need to read about what's on offer quite care-fully.
The choice is yours .................................................. ..................................Carol

[annie, Glasgow]

Hello,

Another newbie question. I did search and it seemed most here DIY thier day trips.

My available excursions have just come up this weekend on P&O's website. I knew they would be expensive but I'm a bit disappointed with the content. Most just seem to be going to a place of interest for a walk round and not much else. There is only one excursion i've seen which you could only do through the cruise line which was £85pp.

We are fairly young, fairly confident, speak enough European language to get by. Would you recommend going it alone?

One other question...Are the excursions sold through this website the same as those direct from P&O or is it a different trip.

Reason I ask is that there is nothing showing on this site yet however it does mention some discount may be achieved. I'm cautious of waiting too long as the trip I want is limited availability. Just waiting for a call back from my cruise consultant now.

Thanks.

May I ask which ports??

I am a diyer but occasionally use external providers.

Annie

[Rick101, York (2)]

Vigo, Alicante, Barcelona, Monte Carlo, Genoa, Civitavecchia, Cartagena, Gibraltar.

[Topdeck, London]

It's all down to a bit of research.

Be careful when a cruise line says something often it will be misleading or sometime plain lies.

Which place tour do you think is ship only?

Which P&O trip are you on(number will do or ships date) people can offer ideas.

Start with the cruise line offerings and a site that cover the basics for the destinations.
Tripadvisor, cruise critic ports, and the official tourist sites will give a good initial indication of the highlights.

There are often non ship organised tours provided by local operators that offer equivalents or better with smaller groups usually cheaper with the same convenience of port pick up/drop off.

As has been said there are often Taxi/Mini bus options waiting at the port if you were unable to plan in advance.

Fully DIY comes down to walk/taxi/local bus/subway/train etc. this can be practical if you just want a wander round or have a specific thing to do in mind. Check were a ship docks, google maps is quite good for planning walking options.

Some like to use the HOHO(hop on hop off) for a first visit to get an overview and possibly fit in one or to stops.

We assume we will be back with most places so don't try to do too much in the day, often tours don't give adequate time at the stops and with big busses you an spend time waiting, some ship passengers are very slow and often a bit dozy.

[Rick101, York (2)]

I do like motor racing so had 'wishlisted' the formula 1 tour.

As you follow part of the road on foot, you can almost imagine Lewis Hamilton or Jenson Button racing past as they compete for that all important pole position

So a walk around Monaco.

Pay a visit to the Prince of Monaco’s Private Classic Car Collection, a personal collection of 105 vintage and veteran cars

And a visit to the car museum which I think is this...
Monaco - Exhibition of HSH The Prince of Monaco’s Vintage Car Collection / Museums / Places to visit / Site officiel de Monaco

6.5E so about a fiver. Tour cost £38

Yes, I think i'll DIY.

[Rick101, York (2)]

It's all down to a bit of research.

Be careful when a cruise line says something often it will be misleading or sometime plain lies.

Which place tour do you think is ship only?

Which P&O trip are you on(number will do or ships date) people can offer ideas.

Hi,

We're on Britannia in June, B510 I think.

The cruise is one of the 'Food Hero's' packages that P&O are offering. The ship only tour I refer to is a trip out with the celebrity chef.

Thanks

[Topdeck, London]

James Martin...

Bit crafty they don't make the port times obvious on the itinerary page, important for DIY planning.
this is what another site says

Sat Jun 13 London (Southampton), England 5:00pm
Sun Jun 14 At Sea
Mon Jun 15 Vigo, Spain 9:00am 5:00pm
Tue Jun 16 At Sea
Wed Jun 17 Alicante, Spain Noon 6:00pm
Thu Jun 18 Barcelona, Spain 9:00am 4:00pm
Fri Jun 19 Monte Carlo, Monaco 8:00am 5:00pm
Sat Jun 20 Genoa, Italy 8:00am 6:00pm
Sun Jun 21 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 7:00am 7:00pm
Mon Jun 22 At Sea
Tue Jun 23 Cartagena, Spain 8:00am 5:00pm
Wed Jun 24 Gibraltar, UK Territory 9:00am 2:00pm
Thu Jun 25 At Sea
Fri Jun 26 At Sea
Sat Jun 27 London (Southampton), England 6:00am


Short days in BCN and Gib.

I will kick off with Gib.

A starting link
Visit Gibraltar - The Official Gibraltar Tourist Board Website


Standard are the Taxi tours readily available at the port.

It is worth a read of the tourist sites(there are loads and cannot all be done in the time some only need 10-20mins others longer) and decide what you want to do.

The cave and siege tunnels are worth a look.
Also popular is the walk to the cable car and do that but can get busy and it is a good walk from the ship to the town.

[Mitchell Derby, Derby]

Here's my favourite starter point for DIY research: Your cruise guide to 1200 cruise ports of call

If you want to visit Rome that's the only day I'd consider taking the ship's tour, purely because of the distances involved, the size of the city and the time issues - otherwise I'd definitely go DIY for the others

Then again I'm probably the wrong person to ask, as I loathe being chivvied around and corralled ...

Cheers,
Lynn

[Delboy, Essex]

Vigo, Alicante, Barcelona, Monte Carlo, Genoa, Civitavecchia, Cartagena, Gibraltar.

Other than Vigo, Genoa, and Catagena which we have not been to, the rest of the ports we have done on our own, including the journey from Civitaveccia to Rome by train, all very easy to do with a little bit of planning.

https://www.cruise.co.uk/forum/1255-...-your-own.html

I have also done a number of ships cruise excursions, including an all day P&O ships excursion to Rome, which included lunch, this included the Vatican plus all the places I visited, when I did a DIY trip. It's was very tiring but worth the £100 pp it cost us.

Personally I have never been disappointed with any ships excursion I have been on, we could probably have done them cheaper if we arranged them via an independent company.

I have separate photo sets of all the ships excursions I have been on, which can be viewed by clicking on my Flik'r link below.

I would also point out that P&O do not show port leaving times, which does not help when arranging your own excursions prior to the cruise, plus if you are late back ship will not wait for you. My DIY to Rome was on an RCI cruise


Sent from my iPad

[Smee, Burntwood]

There are huge differences between cheaper trips booked with local outfits and booking through the cruise company. The first one is that you are fully insured while on the trip, then you always know the ship will not leave without you. Just two very important things to think about there are more which I will post when I have more time...

[jan lowden, sunderland (2)]

Whilst in Monte Carlo,take a short taxi,or bus ride along the coast to Menton,Such a wonderful little seaside town,A beautiful beach,if thats your thing, And just beyond the beach is the town itself.Its a wonderful way to spend a few hours,so peaceful and pretty. Jan.

[Bradbury, Coventry]

If you want to DIY ROme -this link has some train schedules:
http://www.cruise.co.uk/forum/1254-r...tml#post306748

[Wilba]

Rick, your question "Are they worth it?" unfortunately is a little ambiguous.

Worth it in what sense? Cost, value for money, enjoyment, educational?

I have ported on cruise ships hundreds of times and I wouldn't do a ships tour if it were free, but that's just me. I detest being herded around, get impatient when I've seen enough and don't necessarily want to listen to the world history of every single artifact and structure on the tour.

I am more than happy with a private tour, be that a tour company in a minibus or a knowledgeable taxi driver who I can tell to move on if a particular stop does not appeal.

Bear in mind every taxi driver knows the ships tours by heart, can get you to the tour stops ahead of the ships tours, and most importantly to the 'will the ship go without me worriers', have you back at the ship well before the tour coaches.

I can honestly say hand on heart, the hundreds of times I have ported, I have never got even close to being late back at the ship. A good dose of common sense is all that's required..........Wilba



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