Deb :
My daughter and I are going on a Medit. cruise. Rome, Florence, Portofino, Monte Carlo, Tunis, Bonifacio and Barcelona. Should we sign up for the shore excursions offered by cruise line or go on our own?
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My husband and I went on that cruise twice. Both time we signed up for the shore excursions. They were great. One shore escursion bus broke down and we were two hours late. Because the shore excursion was arranged through the ship they waited. The excursion from Florence was stuck in traffic and they waited. The ship will only wait for the excursions that are arranged through the ship.
We enjoyed them all. so check them out.
I suggest taking shore excursions for Rome and Florence, since the cities are actually quite far from the port. If you decide to do it on your own, and you’re late back, the ship wont wait.
But for Monte Carlo and Barcelona, you can do it on your own if you’re up to it. Since the cities are right on the coast, you can easily walk around and do your own thing. Monte Carlo is tiny anyways, my husband and I had no problem walking and seeing stuff on our own.
I can’t help with the other ports though, since my med cruise didn’t head that way. Hope I helped a bit.
Have a great cruise!
Sign up with the cruise ship. That way you will know that your tour guide speaks Good English and most important gets you back to the ship on time, guaranteed. Traffic can be terrible in Italy for one and a tour could get stuck in traffic. If you went with a tour not from the ship, you could easily miss the ship.
On our Med cruises we departed from Barcelona and had stops in only 3 of the ports you mentioned, Monte Carlo, Rome and Florence. There is not a whole lot to see in Barcelona, just a few attractions you may not want to miss, like Gaudie’s church. We did a tour of the city with an airport dropoff our first time there and that was plenty enough for us. You can also get a hop off-hop on bus to tour on your own if you are staying in the right location in the city before or after your tour. The tour buses run a set route and you get off and back on at whatever stops you want.
If your shore excursion funds are limited I suggest spending them on Rome and Florence, with Rome being a must see. Both of those cities are a good distance from the port (Rome is an hour away from the port by bus, car or train) and its best to have the ship’s tours so you do not get lost or delayed and miss your ship’s departure (they will leave you).
We took a ship’s tour in Monte Carlo that went to the casino, the palace in Monaco, and then to Nice. It was OK, but I suggest not doing a ship’s tour and just see what you can see near the port.