NCL Epic Excursions

[DXBCat]

We have booked up on NCL Epic from Barcelona this summer. For some ports like Palma and Cannes I am thinking not to go on organised excursion but just explore ourselves. However some of the Italian ports are a bit away from the sights. For anyone who has done this cruise or this mediterranean route, do you have any tips or recommendations for onshore trips. We want to see some sights but don't fancy long time on a coach etc...

Most of them you can do by yourself. The ships excursions can be pretty expensive so we normally go it alone. Some ports it may be worth looking into private tours - you can do these with others on your cruise.

Have a look at the forums on Cruise Critic. There are sections for the ports with suggestions of tours or easy ways to see places.
Such as when we stopped at Naples, we got the ferry across to Capri. We found out where to go to get the tickets and that we should get the return tickets as soon as we arrived in Capri, to ensure we could get a place on one of the ferries with no issues (different companies run them so easier to buy singles rather than return. No difference in price but if you leave it unto you want to go back you can't guarantee being able to get a ticket)

You can also register and join the roll call for your cruise. Other cruisers may suggest private tours they are looking into and ask if anyone wants to join them. That way you may do a tour with only 6-8 of you rather than a whole busload. And they are generally cheaper as well.

We're doing the same cruise as you in May! Never cruised before but I've been reading up on Cruise Critic forums and TripAdvisor and figured out that most of them can be done without booking an organised excursion. I was horrified at the cost of the ships excursions

In cannes we plan on just getting the train to Monte carlo and Monaco. Livorno i have booked a transfer with Tuscany bus to Florence and Pisa (not an organised tour, but pick up and drop off) for about £30pp. Rome - trains are frequent and a day ticket is €12pp for unlimited travel in Rome on metro etc. In Naples we are getting a ferry to Sorrento for a few hours, or maybe Capri. Hopefully it all works out

I did the same cruise last July and booked my tours on Viator. They have an option for cruises where they guarantee returning you to the ship in time or making sure that they get you to the next port if you did miss the ship leaving. We did very similar tours to those offered by the cruise line for a much better price.