what happnes when you are in port?

[mckenzie]

We are looking at a cruise for the summer but dh has reservations about what happens when you are in port. He imagines we are ferried like cattle to the main attractions/town on a row of buses (like a package tour at the arrival airport) . And that if you sytay on the ship in port you'll just hear the cargo loading machines working and it won't be pleasant.

Neither of us have any experience of cruising but I have read so many good reports on here that i can't believe DH's views can be correct. Please advice.

TIA

Well the one we went on had an excursion list you could sign up for at teh start of the wee (best ones go fast) and then yu were met by buses, also though every port had loads of taxis that more experienced cruisers, and us as the week went one, used especially for ytours- cheaper and far better (the chap in Casablanca took us to his local for a pint ).

We didnt stay on the ship but it would have ben fine I am sure. Many people just got th taxi to a local town.

You can either go on the organised excursions, do your own thing eg walk off the ship or get a taxi or stay on the ship. Its not noisy if you stay on at all (well it wasnt where we were ) We relaxed around the pool, the kids went to the kids clubs etc. i recommend the cruise critic forum for loads of info (google it ) Go , bet you will love it !

thanks both of you. I'm going to show your comments to DH and then check out the Cruise Critic website.

If you go ashore when the ship docks you can either go it alone or take one of the organised excursions. Some crusie lines (Cunard) lay on free buses from the port to the city centre. Others (MSC) make you pay for this (about 5 Euros).
Going it alone has its advantages as you get to see what you want to see whereas on organised excursions you can end up being herded like cattle around the key attractions.

What is particularly galling is to pay for an excusrion (and they are not cheap at £25-95 paer person) only to find that a good part of the excursion is taken up with a visit to a Coral factory, Papyrus Institute (aka a tourist tat shop) or a jewellery shop when you'd rather have spent that extra hour at Pompeii, Giza etc.

Actually, staying onboard in the port when everyone else has got off for the day can be very relaxing - good views, plenty of interest, plenty of free sun loungers and nice and quiet.

My advice would be to choose your cruise line carefully - there are good and bad out there!

it depends on the exact port you are in

some ARE docks (normally with a cruise terminal though) and others you step out into a beutiful city...

in some ports you are anchored at sea and can then be queueing for HOURS to get off the ship so by the time you are off the ship you dont have time to seee the place

have done 4 cruises...

i conclude when anchored its best to book as excursion as then you have priority getting off the boat

when in a dock get the guides from the library (lonely planet etc) for where you happen to be

more often then not it is cheaper and easier to hop in a taxi (always loads waiting) and do exactly what you want to do in your own time...

but bear in mind if your tour is late the ship will wait for you, if your taxi breaks down etc the ship will leave without you!

om P&O you always get a map of each port etc in your cabin so you can see what you can walk to (and how to get there) and also where taxis wait etc