I have rated all shore excursions with a “1” being my favorite. I would really like to go on the side trips with you all or, at least, some of you all. Perhaps we can get together by Internet before signing up and coordinate our efforts. All this is negotiable! I’m always up for suggestions.
I do think we need to get our trips booked ASAP to ensure we get the ones we want.
Rome, since I’ve already been there, I don’t want to go into the city. So I have just ranked one trip there. I really liked Dan Brown’s (he wrote the “Da Vinci Code”) book “Angels and Demons” but the tour is too expensive. I recommend reading the book before going on the cruise however. It’s better than “Da Vinci Code.”
Athens, my limited mobility negates climbing the Acropolis on a ship’s tour. The only things I want to do in Athens are to go to the top of the Acropolis and shop. There is an elevator of sorts on the back of the Acropolis. I plan to take a cab there and go up on that elevated platform. I’m not going to pay for a side trip as I’m sure they all climb the front part and it is very steep.
Venice, since I’ve been there before and will have been there for two days before boarding the ship, I don’t plan to take any ship side trips.
Florence, all I want to do is see David, see the Leaning Tower and shop for leather. The only tour that promises both David and the Tower is $345. Others show only a copy of David in an outside setting. I want the real thing; even if he is spectacularly under-endowed (I want to see for myself). So, I think on this “do-it-yourself tour I can accomplish everything. It’s 9 hours long but provides transportation to both Pisa and Florence (where David is). We would be in Florence for 4 hours. Lunch is not included on the tour so we would probably eat in Florence. Then we would get on the bus and go to Pisa in the afternoon. We would only be in Pisa about 1 hour. That would be composed of 15 minutes (each way) of walking to and from the bus parking thus allowing 30 minutes for photos.
Nice, I really want to go to the Grand Casino in Monaco. But, while I’m there I’d also like to see Nice itself, which is why I probably prefer VF08 which is the only one that includes Nice. On that tour we would have to get to the casino ourselves, while VF06 actually includes the casino.
Venice - No Celebrity side trips
Dubrovnik - DU23 (1) or DU02 (2)
Santorini - SO01 (1) or SO02 - (2)
Athens - No Celebrity side trips
Naples - NP03
Rome - CV25
Florence - LV31
Nice - VF08 (1) or VF06 (1) or VF11 (2)
Barcelona - No Celebrity side trips
Let me know what you all think!!
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2 comments:
Everyone - one of the nice things that RCCL had was a chart of everyone in your party and what each had picked for activities for any given day. I am assuming that Celebrity might have something similar since they are "related." I am also doing an abbreviated cheat sheet of the side trips. I will try to get into the system tonight to see if I can find out what times each trip is scheduled to take place. If you decide on 2 short tours, you might be able to do 2 in one day if one is a morning tour and one is an afternoon tour. Also, based on what you did the day before (or you want to do the day after), you can pick an afternoon tour or morning tour to best fit your schedule. My doing the cheat sheet is also a good way for me to really review each tour. I hope it will be helpful to all of you also.
FYI - Bernie said that Celebrity charges you charge card when you BOOK the side trip. So, if you book them now, you can have the all paid for BEFORE you go on the cruise. I prefer it this way! Also, if you want to "spread" your charges around onto different cards, this means you can book your side trips on whatever card (or cards)and use a different one for ship charges. Just a thought.
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