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Shore excursions, never again.
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<blockquote data-quote="BruinSteve" data-source="post: 1514803" data-attributes="member: 658"><p>Not necessarily typical...</p><p></p><p>When we visited Santorini on Celebrity Millennium a few years back, we took a shore excursion...</p><p></p><p>NO WAY we had to wake up at 6:00 am...of course, you always need to look at your itinerary and what hours you are in port...Then, when choosing a shore excursion, pay attention to what time you leave...pick one thast fits with your desired timing. Also, when a shore excursion leaves early, we will often do our breakfast by room service.</p><p></p><p>Next, as to tenders, in Santorini, everybody on board, shorex or not, must go by tender...</p><p></p><p>And the bus? That is the ONLY road up the mountain...the other options are the cable car, walking or donkeys...Getting to the top of Santorini is an adventure for everyone...Personally, I don't think the road is that bad at all...It is actually fairly painless...Next time you go to Santorini, I suggest you rent a car as we did on our last visit and take the road to Ancient Fira...Now THERE'S a road worth complaining about--one lane with cars going in both directions and dozens of hairpin turns! As to the bus "speeding" on the Road to Oia, we went to Oia on a public bus...and we've also driven the road in that rental car...YOU DON'T really have much of a choice on the speed...it is the only road and, should you decide to slow the traffic, you will have lots of angry people mad at you...So, the bus just goes at the standard speed...</p><p></p><p>Oia IS a lovely town...but, there are lots of nicer places to go in Santorini...or, at least just as nice...AND there are other shore excursions that go to those places as well...Some guides are better, some are worse...We did a shore excusion that went to a winery, the archaeological museum and other places around the island...</p><p></p><p>Yes, like all shorexes, you are in a bus with 30-40 people...It really is not as bad as some people make it out to be...We've had some excellent shorexes and some I'd like to forget...But we also do a lot of private, small group tours...and with those, you take your chances as well...We had a terrible guide in Warnemunde/Berlin last summer on a private tour...We've seen things go wrong with these as well...We also know a lot of people who've tried to do ports "on their own" and end up getting lost, missing trains or buses, not finding what they are looking for...</p><p></p><p>Some ports lend themselves to "on your own"...Santorini is actually one of these...the island is not that big and many people opt to just take the cable car up and down and stay in Thira...or renting a car is an easy way to get around--and see the back side of the island, the black sand beaches, and Oia on one's own schedule...Taxis can be difficult to get in Thira (trust me, we tried before giving up and taking the bus one visit)...</p><p></p><p>But many ports in Europe really require a tour of some kind...distances are long between port and sights at many stops, lots to see and little time, so hard to organize the logistics properly on one's own...and many people prefer a guide and narration of some sort...</p><p></p><p>Always great to organize a private tour with a small group--just to avoid the "big bus"...but this is not always practical at all ports or for all people...Sometimes a shore excursion is just the best available option...and we have had some VERY GOOD shore excursions...We had one in Rome one year with only 11 people and two guides on a minibus...another to San Gimignano and Volterra from Livorno that also numbered in the teens...</p><p></p><p>For a lot of people, shore excursions show them "just enough" of the port...and the ease and lack of stress of having the cruise line organize everything is a big plus...</p><p></p><p>On our upcoming Europe cruise next month, we have 14 ports...We have organized private tours in 6 of them (Saint-Malo, Bordeaux, La Coruna, Cadiz, Casablanca and Monte Carlo), we are planning to do 5 of them "on our own" (Honfleur, Pont Aven, Biarritz, Bilbao, and Barcelona) and we WILL take Shore Excursions in three ports: La Rochelle, Oporto and Livorno...</p><p></p><p>The key is to do your research, know your ports...and match up your choices to your own capabilities and desires...</p><p></p><p>There is NO hard and fast rule as to how to tour ANY port for EVERY person...</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="BruinSteve, post: 1514803, member: 658"] Not necessarily typical... When we visited Santorini on Celebrity Millennium a few years back, we took a shore excursion... NO WAY we had to wake up at 6:00 am...of course, you always need to look at your itinerary and what hours you are in port...Then, when choosing a shore excursion, pay attention to what time you leave...pick one thast fits with your desired timing. Also, when a shore excursion leaves early, we will often do our breakfast by room service. Next, as to tenders, in Santorini, everybody on board, shorex or not, must go by tender... And the bus? That is the ONLY road up the mountain...the other options are the cable car, walking or donkeys...Getting to the top of Santorini is an adventure for everyone...Personally, I don't think the road is that bad at all...It is actually fairly painless...Next time you go to Santorini, I suggest you rent a car as we did on our last visit and take the road to Ancient Fira...Now THERE'S a road worth complaining about--one lane with cars going in both directions and dozens of hairpin turns! As to the bus "speeding" on the Road to Oia, we went to Oia on a public bus...and we've also driven the road in that rental car...YOU DON'T really have much of a choice on the speed...it is the only road and, should you decide to slow the traffic, you will have lots of angry people mad at you...So, the bus just goes at the standard speed... Oia IS a lovely town...but, there are lots of nicer places to go in Santorini...or, at least just as nice...AND there are other shore excursions that go to those places as well...Some guides are better, some are worse...We did a shore excusion that went to a winery, the archaeological museum and other places around the island... Yes, like all shorexes, you are in a bus with 30-40 people...It really is not as bad as some people make it out to be...We've had some excellent shorexes and some I'd like to forget...But we also do a lot of private, small group tours...and with those, you take your chances as well...We had a terrible guide in Warnemunde/Berlin last summer on a private tour...We've seen things go wrong with these as well...We also know a lot of people who've tried to do ports "on their own" and end up getting lost, missing trains or buses, not finding what they are looking for... Some ports lend themselves to "on your own"...Santorini is actually one of these...the island is not that big and many people opt to just take the cable car up and down and stay in Thira...or renting a car is an easy way to get around--and see the back side of the island, the black sand beaches, and Oia on one's own schedule...Taxis can be difficult to get in Thira (trust me, we tried before giving up and taking the bus one visit)... But many ports in Europe really require a tour of some kind...distances are long between port and sights at many stops, lots to see and little time, so hard to organize the logistics properly on one's own...and many people prefer a guide and narration of some sort... Always great to organize a private tour with a small group--just to avoid the "big bus"...but this is not always practical at all ports or for all people...Sometimes a shore excursion is just the best available option...and we have had some VERY GOOD shore excursions...We had one in Rome one year with only 11 people and two guides on a minibus...another to San Gimignano and Volterra from Livorno that also numbered in the teens... For a lot of people, shore excursions show them "just enough" of the port...and the ease and lack of stress of having the cruise line organize everything is a big plus... On our upcoming Europe cruise next month, we have 14 ports...We have organized private tours in 6 of them (Saint-Malo, Bordeaux, La Coruna, Cadiz, Casablanca and Monte Carlo), we are planning to do 5 of them "on our own" (Honfleur, Pont Aven, Biarritz, Bilbao, and Barcelona) and we WILL take Shore Excursions in three ports: La Rochelle, Oporto and Livorno... The key is to do your research, know your ports...and match up your choices to your own capabilities and desires... There is NO hard and fast rule as to how to tour ANY port for EVERY person... [/QUOTE]
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Shore excursions, never again.
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