Private guide vs. ship tours
 

Would a private guide be better for us than ship excursions? We are taking Oceania Insignia to Turkey, Greek Islands in May, 2009

wordsmith - We took the Nautica and did the Istanbul to Venice route. Private guides (depending on your port) are the way to go. One of the few criticisms of Oceania is the quality of their shore excursions. I've posted info on the private guides we used on past threads so you could click on my user name and find the threads. You're also welcome to e-mail me and I'll send you our trip report. Any specific ports you have a question about?

We've taken several Oceania cruises, including the one you are one. IMHO. private guides are better and, if you can get just one other couple to join you, substantially less costly.

We selected our guides from those recommended on the Europe board. We were never disappointed.

If you are not traveling with anyone with whom you can share the cost of a private guide, you may be able to find fellow cruisers on the roll call section of CruiseCritic.com.

For some of the islands, e.g. Santorini (unless the architectural dig has reopened) you can do all your touring by local taxi or bus.

On our trip, it would have been better to sit at the ship's pool all day than have taken the ship's tour on Rhodes. We, and several other bitter complainers, were given a partial refund.

Other essentials on that trip are hats and your own water bottles.

We prefer taking self-guided walking tours of cities and hiring private guides when there a larger area we want to see. I just don't like feeling that I'm being herded around with a crowd, wasting time wating for everyone to get off/on the bus, use the restroom, etc. Plus, it seems like the amount of time I want at a particular spot is never the time alloted by the tour.

I agree with the recommendation of checking our cruisecritic--and the poerts of call section has lots of information about private guides.

If you list your ports here, we mnay be able to make some suggestions. I confess that I'm too lazty to go to the Oceania website to look up your ports.

If you love Oceania as much as we do, you'll have a fabulous time. One of the things we especially like is that at every port, someone from the local Tourist Office boards first thing, and you can get maps and brochures, ask a last minute quesion.

Thanks for your good info. Honestly, I do not need a guide unless there is alot of history I want to learn about---like maybe Athens or Ephesus. I certainly don't care about a guide for Greek Islands. Our itinerary is as follows: Monte Carlo, Florence, Amalfi Coast, Kusadasi (Ephesus), Greek Islands, Athens, Istanbul. (not in that order)

We are spending 2.5 days in Istanbul and would want a guide for part of that time. Do we need one for Amalfi, Sardinia, and Positano?

Have been to Florence and Monaco so don't need one there.

Any other suggestions about Oceania since it is our first time?

For the Amlafi Coast, we hired Giovanni from www.tourofitaly.com. We stopped at Amalfi, Sorrento, Positanbo, and Ravello, and had a wonderful day.

Regarding Oceania,

Specialty restaurant reservations may be made on the day you board, usually at the desk in the terraces restaurant, where the buffet will be available on boarding day from 11:00 to 3:00. We have found that it is best to avoid the specialty restaurants on embarkation day and the last evening on board because the menus in the Dining Room are more extensive than usual those evenings.

BTW, there is often a brunch available in the main dining room on sea days, regardless of the day of the week. We usually check at the desk on deck 4 for the days of the onward cruise presentations and the captain's party. Those days are very good for relatively early reservations in the specialty restaurants as many passengers will arrive late from the events.

The only time we tipped in cash was for room service. It is not required or expected. We found $2.00 or a 2 Euro coin is much appreciated.

In Monte Carlo, we took a taxi to the train station (it, along with almost everything else in Monte Carlo, is uphill from the harbor) bought return tickets to Nice, and toured the coast with unlimited on and off. Had we not been so familiar with the area, we likely would have arranged for a rental car at the port and gone to St. Paul or some other inland village.

Check the Europe Board for guides in Istanbul; there is a lot of good information there.

I will be taking my 4th Oceania cruise this January and concur with all the comments posted here by O passengers. The only ship's tour we took with them was in Cartagena, Columbia. Yes, it was a little pricy, but we had an excellent guide and the tour was very well organized and truly comprehensive.
Re: your itinerary, I would really suggest you book a tour of some sort for Ephesus. It's an amazing site - we've been twice and would go again - but for a first visit, the commentary is quite wonderful. (Don't forget hats and water.)

You do not need a guide for Amalfi or Positano. Just wander around. Don't miss the Cathedral in Amalfi. There's a fee for their Museum, but it's very interesing.

Have a wonderful time!

Hi Mimi: Why don't we need a guide for Positano? Is it important to see the views and different cities? If not that would be nice since it is quoted as about 300 eu for the day.

Are Positano and Amalfi as well as Ravello close enough that we can see them in a day off the cruise? Would a taxi suffice?

I'm guessing that the reason your quoted tour was so high is because they plan to drive you along the Amalfi coast -- a wonderful experience. If you decide to do that, you should try to hook up with others on your cruise (through CruiseCritic Roll Calls) to mitigate the cost which is per car load, not per person. We did the Amalfi drive from Sorrento.

Our cruise docked at Amalfi. We tendered in, then booked a local ferry (on the same dock) to take us to Positano. We had allowed ourselves a couple of hours in Amalfi first before embarcation, and set off on foot to explore, returning to the dock for the ferry ride.

When we arrived in Positano, we just meandered, had a leisurely lunch on the waterfront, then took the ferry back to Amalfi.

Others on our ship took the local bus from Amalfi to Positano -- less expensive than the ferry (sorry, I can't remember the prices) though I believe they may have had to walk uphill to get the bus. The bus route is "high" above the cities along the coast. The ferry gives you wonderful opportunities to photo Possitano as you approach by sea.

We have never been to Ravello.

We were supposed to tender in Amalfi, but docked in Naples instead. Giovanni was there to meet us, and we did the Amalfi drive, making several photo stops, and spent time in Amalfi, Sorrento, Positano, and Ravello. We enjoyed each town. In 2004, the cost was 300 Euro (including tip) for six of us. We thought that 50 Euro per person for a full day was quite a bargain!

It seems like you can see the cities on your own but would need a guide because of the heights and the views?