Pearl Travel

Cruise and Ports

February 3, 2010 on 3:06 pm | In Pearl of Wisdom for Travel, travel hints | No Comments

Shore Excursions while in port are an important part of a  cruise but a little advance preparation before your cruise  can save time and money while allowing you to see all you want to see.  Don’t wait until you are on the ship to decide what excursions you want to take or what you want to do in any given port.  Advance preparation, checking out the port on line through local tourist boards, english language newspapers for special event listings when you are in town, museum web sites, local tour agencies web sites or web sites of companies specializing in day trips (like Shore Trips) are the most important part once you’ve booked your cruise.  Make sure you know the distance to where you want to go for example Livorno Italy is the stop for Florence but if you want to see Michaelangelo’s ’David’ Florence is 90 miles away and you need to prebook a scheduled time to avoid a long line during high season, on the other hand Barcelona port is right down town so everything is close.  Is there a port you are really interested in, perhaps you want to spend more time in a particular location, book a cruise that departs from that port.  If you are in a port and you know everybody is going to the same ’sight’ or landmark this is the time to splurge and book a private car and driver/guide.  You will get there faster and see more than on the ships excursions.  don’t forget to check about local holidays when you will be in town, some things are limited or closed if there is a holiday.  Remember do your research for a more enhanced stop at any port.