My sister and I (50ish years of age) are going on a Western European Cruise. Ports are Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Belgium and Oslo. Is it cheaper to take the cruise ship tours or try and do on our own? WE are interested in museums, and cultural events/activities of these cities. Any suggestions, or would it be easier, safer and just as economical to go with cruise tours.

My guess is it would be much cheaper on your own and I would guess that the tours will not spend alot of time in museums. But if you want to see ALL the sights in the city you might want to consider the tours as they will probably be more efficient time wise. If you are going to do it on your own I would suggest you research the public transportation ahead of time. And by the way what is the port for Paris???

I've taken private tours in Hawaii, Aculpoco and Aruba. In Hawaii, operators will give you half off if you can come the next day; if you can't they figure you're on a ship and charge you about the same. The other tours were more extensive than a ship's, but we were in a mad rush to make it back on time (going up the ramp 1 minute before it closed) and would have been fully responsible for missing the ship. It's more expensive and secure to use the ship-related tours but more personally interesting (and accidentaly exciting/dangerous) on your own.

I would agree with doing research about the public transport possibilities in advance. You can usually do it cheaper on your own BUT you have to factor in the time/possible hassle of GETTING from the ship to that public transportation point (whereas the ship's arrangement will undoubtedly pick you up and drop you off dockside).

It will be easiest to do the ship-arranged tours but not necessarily any safer and almost undoubtedly not as economical on a purely cost-comparison basis.

If you do research ahead of time to find specific places you wish to see and calendars of local events, you can most likely hire taxis for a private 1/2 day or full day service. I have friends who recently did this with great success on a cruise of Greece and Mediterranean ports.

I'm taking a guess that going with the cruise arrangements would be the easiest. Safety factors would be equal. Not sure about the price. The friends I mentioned above specifically wanted to go on their own, away from the cruise people and structure, and in one instance had a fabulous day by taking the recommendations of the taxi driver himself (for buying local cheese and wine at their source).