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Cost of courtesy shuttle from port to destination city in on Mediterranean cruise?


Jackie

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I am going on the 12 night Mediterranean cruise in May and I noticed that many of the ports are not in the destination city (including Rome, Athens, and Ephesus for example).  The Royal Caribbean website only says there is a nominal fee charged for a courtesy shuttle to and from the port and destination city, but I cannot find an example of the cost anywhere?  Has anyone done the Mediterrean cruise?  Do you remember about how much it cost for the shuttle?  I know it will probably vary from port to port, but I don't know whether I am looking at like $10 or like $50 per person and I am trying to narrow it down somewhat. 

Thanks in advance!! :D

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Last year on Serenade OTS, but did RCI tours in all the major ports. Try Google (port name to City Name) Rome returns www.Viator.com & shows cost from port to City Center $32. Am sure if you look around in Google you will find multiple services in all ports. Be careful with tour on your own. In both Rome & Florence our tour was very late getting back to port due to traffic delays / accidents-last ones back in both ports, ship waiting for us past embarkation time. If you are not on RCI tour they may not wait? Our ports were; Barcelona, Villefrance, Florence, Rome, Naples, Sicily, Malta, Palma de Mallorca. Glad to answer any questions. If your 1st trip be prepared to be wowed -- incredible experience.

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Awesome! Thank you!  This is my first cruise (and I'm a little terrified of the ship, so I guess I'll figure out how I feel about that) but I am very excited for the land parts.  I am going with my dad (also his first cruise) and he's a bigger guy, so he can't walk really far and has to take breaks often because walking for more than 10 minutes hurts his back.  We were looking at the excursions that Royal Caribbean offers but they're really expensive and could easily add another $1000 to the trip for the two of us, plus we are worried that he might not be able to keep up with the rest of the group with the walking parts of the tour.  So we were thinking about maybe taking the courtesy shuttle that Royal Caribbean offers to and from the port, that way it's covered if it's late, but also so that we we can explore at our own pace and my dad can take breaks as often as he needs. 

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I would likely opt for the cruise shuttle over doing it on your own. We had dinner with a couple while just on the Jewel who had done Rome on their own and nearly missed the ship as the hey couldn't get a taxi to take them. Fortunately, they were added by a police officer who found them a taxi and ordered the taxi to take them to the port. Otherwise, they said they would have missed the ship.

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IMO Cruising the Mediterranean needs it's own thread if not entire blog. There are a lot of genuine GOOD questions. In many ways cruising with RCL in the Mediterranean is the same as a Caribbean (i.e. yes, the food on the ship is the same). On the other hand, there are a couple important/notable differences (i.e. dress codes for many destinations). In short, there is lots to know. Good news is you've got plenty of time for research and to ask questions. 

 

It may help to back up one step. Let me say this: There is no more cheaper, comfortable, or efficient way to see Europe than on a cruise ship. Yes, it even beats out Youth Hostels and a EurRail Pass. It might take a day or two but once you get familiar with the boat and feel comfortable where things are at and all the things that are going on; add another day or two and you will LOVE your floating hotel. Guaranteed. 

 

Where does your journey start?

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IMO Cruising the Mediterranean needs it's own thread if not entire blog. There are a lot of genuine GOOD questions. In many ways cruising with RCL in the Mediterranean is the same as a Caribbean (i.e. yes, the food on the ship is the same). On the other hand, there are a couple important/notable differences (i.e. dress codes for many destinations). In short, there is lots to know. Good news is you've got plenty of time for research and to ask questions. 

 

It may help to back up one step. Let me say this: There is no more cheaper, comfortable, or efficient way to see Europe than on a cruise ship. Yes, it even beats out Youth Hostels and a EurRail Pass. It might take a day or two but once you get familiar with the boat and feel comfortable where things are at and all the things that are going on; add another day or two and you will LOVE your floating hotel. Guaranteed. 

 

Where does your journey start?

I agree European cruises have their own nuances, needs and strategies that you would not run into planning a cruise from North America.  I think you bring up some really good points!

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Totally agree. I took two within the past 6 months and they were very different from the 11 other cruises I had taken before that.. The thing that gave the most shell shock was the addition of VAT (value added tax) to everything on the ship! There was no duty free and in addition to the service on the drinks you paid the VAT. (VAT amount differs depending on where the ship begins its journey, i think it was something like 11-15% for the one out of spain and 22% for the cruise out of italy). 

 

As far as courtesy shuttles I honestly don't remember what we paid. 

 

I will say that for some of the ports, the "courtesy shuttle" wont get you into the "city" you are visiting. I.E the shuttle in Rome will take you out of the port and into the city of Civitavecchia where you can take the train here into Rome. 

 

The hardest thing that I have found about cruising Europe (We've visited: Barcelona,Marseille,Nice,Livorno(Florence/Pisa), Naples, Rome, Santorini,Ephesus, Athens, Kataklon,Crete) is that for the most part when you pull into port you are in the little port city and not the actual city worth seeing. We paid a lot of money for excursions and I'm glad we did, in the end I think we got the most out of our trip. 

 

Let me know if you have specific questions.. I'm happy to help.

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I agree European cruises have their own nuances, needs and strategies that you would not run into planning a cruise from North America.  I think you bring up some really good points!

I think it would greatly benefit this site and receive a lot of views, if someone were to author an article aimed at those who have cruised RCL in the Caribbean and now might be going across the pond this summer. There is a lot of advice to be heeded.

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I think it would greatly benefit this site and receive a lot of views, if someone were to author an article aimed at those who have cruised RCL in the Caribbean and now might be going across the pond this summer. There is a lot of advice to be heeded.

I agree, that's a great idea for a blog post.  Thanks!

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Thank you all for the suggestions!  I found a really good review of the cruise in the last two years that included some details on Cruise Critic and it even had all of the cruise compasses so it gives me an idea of what to expect.  I knew about the VAT, so we were anticipating that.  My dad and I are kind of wanderers so I really don't think an excursion with a tour guide is for us, since we would probably get bored real quickly listening to them talk all the time. 

 

We've travelled to Europe before so we are completely comfortable going off by ourselves, this is just our first time doing so in the form of a cruise. 

Thanks again!

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I have a similar issue in London getting to and from Harwich. While it's easy to get to the port by train if you're there precruise, it's harder post cruise if you aren't staying. As a result you can either take the cruise bus to the airport or a private transfer. With the exchange rate, ROYAL's transfer runs the same as the private transfer and I don't have to worry about Royal not showing up.

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