Titi

I am going on a European cruise in July, and I'm in the process of looking up tours/sightseeing activities on Viator. The problem is that the tours start at the time the boat docks. Are there any other sites, besides Viator, that offer similar tours, day excursions?

Sassafrass

Look up your cruise on cruisecritic. Join the roll call for your ship. You will find tons of tours plus independent tours put together by your fellow passengers. They are often looking for people to join them or to create groups. These are fun. I have also often found them to be the cheapest and best way to go.

Post your cruise ports here on the Europe forum and people can make specific recs for each place.
Post your cruise and the itinerary on the cruise forum and cruisers can make recs specific to your ports.

bvlenci

Viator is not a tour operator, they're a reseller of tours operated by other agencies. One problem with that is you don't know who is actually doing the tour, so you can't get reviews. I would google "city tour xxx" or something of the sort to see what you can find. Once you've found something, you can try to see if Viator is selling the same tour at a lower price. Sometimes they do.

china_cat

Cruise critic is a great place to look for recommended shore excursions. Also trip advisor will have them listed under "things to do " in a location. There are lots of local companies, and you can find them.

I'm currently booking excursions for a med cruise. If you post some of your ports, I'd be happy to share any of my research if they match.

nytraveler

You need to be careful since so many ports are not really that near the cities they "serve" - so you may have to allow at least an hour on each end just to get to and fro the port.

Agree that looking for tours strictly for your cruise is a good place to start.