shore excursions

[IShallWearMidnight]

I've [gulp] just booked our first cruise (Carnival to Scandinavia and the Baltic) and am at the prices of excursions. But, I can't find anything in the FAQs about shuttle buses to the city centres so we can mooch around ourselves, rather than doing official tours.

Do most companies run their own shuttles, or are they generic port shuttles; and if so, do we pay separately for them (I'm assuming so as Carnival is cheap n cheerful), or do I budget for taxis?

We'll do St Petersburg as an arranged tour otherwise we need to sort our own visas, but Copenhagen, Tallin, Amsterdam etc all seem doable on our own rather than $80 per person for a four hour bus journey round the sights.

Or am I deluded, and need to work a load of extra hours to pay $$$ for excursions?

most cruise lines run bus to main town which r free . arrange your own trips si much cheaper

thanks TG - there's a huge price difference between the ships excursions and other companies as well, so I've managed to cut some costs on the St P days.

Hope you don't mind me asking but who did you book with for your Russian excursions as I'm also going on the Carnival Baltic cruise.

we're going to go with SPB tours, although Alla Tours have also been recommended.

We've done the Baltics, and yes Copenhagen and Tallinn are very doable DIY. Tallinn is gorgeous, one of my favourite places, and all self-contained in the old town. I've never sailed with Carnival so I don't know if their shuttles are chargeable but they will run them. I think the tour companies in St Petersburg are all pretty good, as they live off their reputation on the cruise boards. You'll have a great time.

Look on the cruise critic forum, loads of info.
We did a day out that cost us £100 the ship wanted £600 for the same trip!
Make sure you have £100 and the port and berth you have docked at incase you get lost and need a taxi etc to get back.