Mediterranean Cruise - DIY Shore Excursions Advice

[TXspartan]

Starting the planning process for the first disney cruise in europe, definitely different shore excursions compared to the others we've taken. Was hoping to get some advice, after looking at the port adventures and some private companies it's crossed my mind to do some DIY, example taking the train to Nice/Monte Carlo from the port. but also possibly renting a car at some other spots. Wanted to see if anyone else has tried this before and any advice or challenges to look out for. Looking to do DIY with all the bucketlist things that we'd like to get to.

 

[Mommb]

Taking the train from Villefranche to Nice and/or Monaco is easy, since the train stations are walking distance from sites. Walking around Barcelona (or taking the Metro) is also easy.

Civitavecchia and Livorno/La Spezia are a long drive away from Rome and Florence. You could take a train, but you would run the risk of transportation delays keeping you from returning to the ship on time. Taking a Disney Rome/Florence on Your Own excursion would reduce that risk, but would be more expensive.

We have done Florence on Your Own twice. The historical area of Florence is compact and walkable, so we could see what the group tours saw without waiting for everyone in the group.

Rome is much bigger. If you know what you want to see, you could take a train from the port and then public transit within the city. We splurged on a private tour that picked us up at the port in a car, then drove us around the city and returned us to the port. Experienced tour companies monitor traffic and adjust itineraries if necessary to ensure guests are back onboard at the necessary time.

In Naples, I have heard it’s feasible to take a train to Pompeii, but we haven’t done that. We did a Disney tour to Herculaneum on one cruise, and a private tour on another cruise that included a limoncello factory, an olive oil factory, a pizzeria, and a tour of Pompeii, among other stops. I would not have wanted to drive on the twisty roads our guide used.

I highly recommend Rick Steve’s Mediterranean Cruise Ports guide. He gives specific recommendations for getting around each port and nearby area, as well as suggestions for what to see.

Happy planning!

 

[fredandkell]

Starting the planning process for the first disney cruise in europe, definitely different shore excursions compared to the others we've taken. Was hoping to get some advice, after looking at the port adventures and some private companies it's crossed my mind to do some DIY, example taking the train to Nice/Monte Carlo from the port. but also possibly renting a car at some other spots. Wanted to see if anyone else has tried this before and any advice or challenges to look out for. Looking to do DIY with all the bucketlist things that we'd like to get to.

We did Pisa on our own and it was fun and fairly easy. You can read it in my trip report in my signature below (if on phone turn sideways to see).

 

[aggiedog]

Cruisecritic is full of very detailed advice on how to DIY many European ports. We rarely DIY, but we definitely find our own tours/guides, and avoid ship sponsored tours like the plague. You can get recommendations for those on CC also. For us, I generally look around the internet for what sort of activities are available, contact several companies that have good reviews on TripAdvisor, then go with the one that has the best communication. We usually travel as a group of 8, so always get private tours, but many companies have set tours that you can plug yourself into.

I know for a fact the details for the trains to Rome and Pompeii are on CC.

I've done Florence on a land trip. The train there is easy from the coast, and the train station is just across the street from the main tourist area of the city.

 

[JaimeInParker]

when we went on this cruise we hired a private tour company "https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attract...483618-Reviews-RomeLimosTours-Rome_Lazio.html" these guys were SUPER PRO- we had a 4 door mercedes pick us up and give us an awesome day - there was a private tour guide waiting for us at the Vatican and at Pompeii ( She was a college student that was actively working on the digs in the area)

 

[tlprice]

My DD10 (at the time in 2018) and I did all of the ports on our own except Marseille because there was no way to do what we wanted on our own. I don't know what your specific ports are, but doing things on our own was definitely more enjoyable than the one day we did a DCL tour. We literally wasted 45 minutes waiting for everybody to go to the bathroom on our DCL tour. It was ridiculous!
I'm not sure about doing Rome on your own if it is just a one day cruise stop. Our cruise ended in Rome so we were able to spend several days there and do everything on our own. I would just figure out what you really want to do at each port and find the best way for you to do it.

 

[Disney_Fan_01]

We took this cruise last June. We did not do any cruise excursions. If you take cruise excursions, you will have to pay more, meet your group early in the morning at the theatre (I think before 7AM) so that you can get off the ship first, be dragged around in big groups and not have a whole lot of autonomy on your itinerary only to alleviate the fear of not missing your ship, which does not happen a lot, but can happen. I suggest you give yourself plenty of time to get back to the ship if you plan to do things on your own. We did the following:

1. Naples - hired a private car to transport us to Pompeii in the morning followed by Mt Versuvius and back to the ship around 2. I believe we paid around 300 euros. The Same would have cost us around 400 using cruise excursion.
2. Rome - we did a guided private full day tour and split the cost with another party of 4. Cost was 100 euros per person, so we paid 400. I highly suggest a private tour in Rome as you may not be able to hit the highlights on your own. We did coliseum from outside, pantheon, Trevi fountain, piazza Navarro, stopped at a great authentic place for an hour long lunch followed by private guided tour of the Vatican and Sistine chapel from 2-4. We were back by 5:00 PM.
3. Livorno - we did another private guided tour with another party of 4 and split cost 100 euros per person, still significantly cheaper than cruise excursions. We spent an hour at Pisa and then headed to Florence. At Florence, we went inside Academia, and hit some other highlights with a great lunch stop. We were back at the ship by 5.
4. Nice - this was our favorite day. We slept in. Enjoyed breakfast on ship deck with amazing view of French Riviera. Got off the ship around 8:30 and tendered a boat to town. Train station is a 10 minute walk and trains go to nice and Monaco. We wanted to see nice, so we took the train and it took around 15 minutes or so. We walked around nice and in 20 minutes we were near the flower market. Explored the market and walked around promenade de Anglais. Picked a great place for lunch outside with a wonderful view. After lunch, we walked some more and headed to the train station back to Villefranche. We let our kids swim for s little at the beautiful beach at Villefranche which was steps away from the train station and took the tender back to the ship. We made it by 4 right in time for our 4:30 spa appointment.

In conclusion, the cruise will give you a great sample of what is around the different ports, but you will end up wanting to go back for more. We are already planning to go back in a year or two. Next time, we will do a land vacation with a few days in Rome, followed by nice and Paris. From Rome, we plan to take a day trip to Florence by fast train, which takes an hour and a half. Nice was our favorite destination and we would like to spend a few days so that we can do other things around the area as well as visit eze and Monaco or some other province. Paris has been calling us back, which will be the main reason we go back to Europe. Enjoy the trip and make many memories!

 

[remlap]

Starting the planning process for the first disney cruise in europe, definitely different shore excursions compared to the others we've taken. Was hoping to get some advice, after looking at the port adventures and some private companies it's crossed my mind to do some DIY, example taking the train to Nice/Monte Carlo from the port. but also possibly renting a car at some other spots. Wanted to see if anyone else has tried this before and any advice or challenges to look out for. Looking to do DIY with all the bucketlist things that we'd like to get to.

We did Naples, Rome, Florence/Pisa on our own. Easy. Buy the Rick Steve's Mediterranean Cruise book. We had a plan where we each picked our favorite in each stop and then anything else was bonus. For example, Rome was Vatican Scavi Tour and Colosseum Underground tour.

 

[pjacobi]

If you have a bucket list of things to see in Europe, it is much easier to do this from land-based stay instead of a cruise. A Med cruise offers only a short taste of Europe from only the accessible port cities. Make sure a Med cruise is the right choice for European travel goals.

-Paul

 

[Kravitzam]

We took this cruise last June. We did not do any cruise excursions. If you take cruise excursions, you will have to pay more, meet your group early in the morning at the theatre (I think before 7AM) so that you can get off the ship first, be dragged around in big groups and not have a whole lot of autonomy on your itinerary only to alleviate the fear of not missing your ship, which does not happen a lot, but can happen. I suggest you give yourself plenty of time to get back to the ship if you plan to do things on your own. We did the following:

1. Naples - hired a private car to transport us to Pompeii in the morning followed by Mt Versuvius and back to the ship around 2. I believe we paid around 300 euros. The Same would have cost us around 400 using cruise excursion.
2. Rome - we did a guided private full day tour and split the cost with another party of 4. Cost was 100 euros per person, so we paid 400. I highly suggest a private tour in Rome as you may not be able to hit the highlights on your own. We did coliseum from outside, pantheon, Trevi fountain, piazza Navarro, stopped at a great authentic place for an hour long lunch followed by private guided tour of the Vatican and Sistine chapel from 2-4. We were back by 5:00 PM.
3. Livorno - we did another private guided tour with another party of 4 and split cost 100 euros per person, still significantly cheaper than cruise excursions. We spent an hour at Pisa and then headed to Florence. At Florence, we went inside Academia, and hit some other highlights with a great lunch stop. We were back at the ship by 5.
4. Nice - this was our favorite day. We slept in. Enjoyed breakfast on ship deck with amazing view of French Riviera. Got off the ship around 8:30 and tendered a boat to town. Train station is a 10 minute walk and trains go to nice and Monaco. We wanted to see nice, so we took the train and it took around 15 minutes or so. We walked around nice and in 20 minutes we were near the flower market. Explored the market and walked around promenade de Anglais. Picked a great place for lunch outside with a wonderful view. After lunch, we walked some more and headed to the train station back to Villefranche. We let our kids swim for s little at the beautiful beach at Villefranche which was steps away from the train station and took the tender back to the ship. We made it by 4 right in time for our 4:30 spa appointment.

In conclusion, the cruise will give you a great sample of what is around the different ports, but you will end up wanting to go back for more. We are already planning to go back in a year or two. Next time, we will do a land vacation with a few days in Rome, followed by nice and Paris. From Rome, we plan to take a day trip to Florence by fast train, which takes an hour and a half. Nice was our favorite destination and we would like to spend a few days so that we can do other things around the area as well as visit eze and Monaco or some other province. Paris has been calling us back, which will be the main reason we go back to Europe. Enjoy the trip and make many memories!

Great info. What private tour company did you use and how did you find them? We’re taking this cruise in June and I’d prefer to not use the cruise excursions for our port days.

 

[DCLCrazy64622]

Italy Day tours were phenomenal for us. We used them in Pompeii, Rome, and Florence.

 

[aggiedog]

When I'm looking for excursions, I check out Cruisecritic and TripAdvisor, contact several companies, then pick the one that seems the most responsive. We haven't had a bad tour yet.

 

[Disney_Fan_01]

Great info. What private tour company did you use and how did you find them? We’re taking this cruise in June and I’d prefer to not use the cruise excursions for our port days.

I just googled companies and booked Positano Limo for our family for Naples. For Rome, We went with another party of 4 to split the cost and used Rome in a Limo. For Florence, we went with another family to split the cost and went with Costco travels. All were good experiences. You can find others looking to split the cost on your cruise facebook page.