So all you B2B'ers, tomorrow is the day for those going on the full 14 day back to back to book shore excursions. WOW can't believe that!!! What is everyone booking? We have our list, now we just need to book it. We B2B'ers also need to get this topic going, its only 4 months away, lots of things to talk about - so come on, lets get this topic going. :app:

Well, since you have asked US, JoAnn, what is on YOUR list! I have been to so many of the ports already, and just can't decide what I want to do! I think I may do some independent things in Venice, since my Joanna and I are hooking up with her beau who joins us there. I've always wanted to go to Mt. Etna. It poured buckets last time I was in Corful.

Here is our list.

Mykonos - Delos
Napflion - Ancient Corinth and Navigation of Canal
Corfu - TBD
Dubrovnik - TBD - on our own
Koper - Slovenia's Capital
Venice - Inside Venice Walking Tours
Korcula - On our own
Sarande - Girokastra World Heritage Site
Taormina - On our own - probably climb hill behind city
Sorrento - Ancient Pompeii
Rome - Angels and Demons

edited to drop the Ulysses cruise in Corfu; too expensive. :(

I also saw that the transfer to Taormina is now $30 per person. :eek:

Since when does Regent charge for a port shuttle? :ohmy:

WOW! Mark, you are certainly on top of it all! I am still trying to figure out what to do next week on ICE, and on CAMEL!

For Europe, I like to get a mix of ship's tours and private guides, but just haven't had the time to look into it. May do the "cab" thing in some ports to see the same things, as there are 3 of us on the 2nd week.

Have not looked at one excursion and I need to do it - did rent van for day trip into Rome pick up at 7 am and told him wanted to be back by 4 PM can't do many all day tours get too tired - many ports repeats for us so may grab local cabs - not sure - I will try and concentrate on Venice at some point -

Well we have several picked out, but I need to look at them today and price them, also want to see if anything new has come up.

We have a private tour in Rome, and I found a Canal boat tour in Venice that I think we are going to do. We plan to do a lot on our own, we love just going into the towns and walking around and enjoying the atmosphere.

Well we booked the following tours:

Mykonos - Mykonos and Monastery

Nafplion - Ancient Corinth and Navigation of the
Canal

Corfu - on our own

Dubrovnik - on our own

Koper - Koper Walking Tour and then on our own

Venice - Evening gondola seranade
Islands of Murano and Burano
We plan to book a private Canal Boat
trip with two other couples
And a lot of wandering on our own

Korcula - Private Family Visit at Lumbarda Vlg

Sarande - on our own

Taormina- Ship transfer and on our own

Sorrento - Scenic Riviera & Taste of Sorrento

Rome - We have a private tour booked

WOW Olivia - you have two cruises before this one, you are a busy lady. Hope you don't wear yourself out before B2B!

:eek:

Having spent 4 days in Napflion, I looked at the tours offered. If I had to choose one (and you can quite pleasantly hang around town if you like instead), Mycenae would be at the top, with a close second of Epidavros. But we didn't go up to Corinth. It's definitely further away, although the distances aren't that long overall. We didn't make it to any of the forts either--there are two, one in Napflion, and one off-shore. Both of these could be done on your own, with a cab or a boat, respectively.

The Corinth/Mycenae combo looks attractive, if you're up for a long day.

Must be me - I cannot see $$$ for excursions B2B?

Mykonos and Monastery
Duration: 3½ Hours. Walking. Pricing for this tour has not yet been determined.

I spent about 4 days in Mykonos on a land trip with gal pals many years ago. Just going to walk around in that port. We had a car and went out to a beach each day (some there {older} were totally nude. It was really off season, in late September, but a beach restaurant was still serving lunch right on the beach. I think I will just walk around in town there.

OLDER nude??? Tony will be disappointed -

Joanna - you need to go to "my cruises" and then click the shore excursion link. All the excursions will come up for every port, along with the cost. You just indicate the number of tickets you want for the excursions you want, then it will total them and you submit and will get a confirmation of your request back. They remind you that you are only requesting and confirmation will come onboard - although we have never not gotten our requested excursions.

Thanks JoAnn: Forgot about "my cruises" to get there!!

With regard to Taormina, in 2005 a taxi was Euro 20 from Naxos to Taormina - shared was a little more than $5 pp given the exchange at that time. I would think a taxi would be cheaper than the Regent transfer.
David

Joanna,
To see the prices you actually have to sign in as if you were going to book an excursion to see the prices. (You don't have to actually reserve, you just need to be on the correct page.
David

Thanks David - I have booked excursions on Regent and just had a "senior moment" :D

Just a note to add, we did the Naxos-Taormina transfer through Regent, and there were so many of us, the bus got full (we stay out of the elbowing and jockeying that goes on)...so Regent put us on a smaller van for the ride...the guy drops us off at a certain point and we ask him, "Is this where we take the return?" And he says "yes" - not true! When we tried to return, we about panicked when the bus was not showing up...we had to find the "right place" on our own. We were not pleased with this.

So I would just take a taxi - I think the price is comparable!

I have never seen Regent charge for a "shuttle" bus in port. Why is Taormina different? This is ridiculous!!!!

We were not charged for shuttle in Taormina in April when we were there on WC??

I agree...ridiculous! We've never been charged for any Regent shuttle. It is a short taxi ride though.

Marcie/Kristin - do you know how easy it is to get cabs into Taromina and back? We may just opt to cancel our "transfer" tickets and do a cab.
Kristin - your story makes me nervous about the bus.
I agree I don't understand why they would charge for a shuttle. The only other time we paid for a "transfer" was in Florence, and we just bought the "transfer into and back" and did Florence on our own - but it was an hour and a half from Livorno to Florence.

JoAnn, when we were there in April the taxis at the port were plentiful so no problem there. We returned on the ship's free shuttle but I saw taxis near by for the return as well. It shouldn't be any problem.

Sounds like a taxi is the way to go, JoAnn! That's what we will do if we are ever lucky enough to return. I LOVED Taormina!

Thanks Marcie and Kristin, think we will just cancel our transfers as soon as we get them in our cabin and just do cabs.
Please, Marcie and Kristin tell us more about what to do if we are just wandering on our own. Is it easy to get to the Roman Theater? Is the town fun to just roam around, eat lunch, do some shopping?

We paid for a shuttle from Regent in Oct, 2006. I think it was 10-20 dollars per person but I can't remember. Hated it as we only had approx. 3 hours in the town. They left late and came back early. The next time I was there I noticed that cabs were plentiful. The cabs drop you at the entrance of the main street and it is a 5-10 min walk to the Roman Theater. Lots of ceramics and gourmet food shops around. Bam Bar makes the best granita. It is a lovely port.

I agree. Yes, there is plenty of shopping and lots of trattorias. We just loved to wander around the narrow streets and marvel at the vines & flowers that grew up the sides of the quaint buildings.

I think the Roman theatre you are talking about is the Teatro Greco Romano? It is not far to walk to, as I remember, and offered beautiful views. We got a great shot of the Navigator from there!

Thanks Tina and Kristin - I think that is exactly what we will do. Yes, it was the Greco Roman Theater I meant.