P, E, O, P, L, E - LET'S CONTINUE WITH PREPARATION-
PRE & POST CRUISE TRANSPORT & CITY TOURS
BOOKING PRE/POST CRUISE TRANSPORT & CITY TOURS
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As part of your trip preparation, you will want to think through transport between your home and home city airport for both your departure and arrival. Sometimes, this is as easy as driving yourself to and from the airport or having another family member, neighbor or other friend who will drive you.
Often this is not possible, so another option is to secure the services of a transportation company. In most cities/towns there are transportation companies that are either local, regional or national. They offer a variety of vehicles from sedans, to SUV's and Vans, to stretch limousines. Think through carefully your requirements including the amount of luggage you will have in-hand to be sure that you get the right size vehicle that will accommodate all of your needs.
Another alternative is some sort of shuttle service where you are taken to and from the airport with others. The benefit of this is that if it is one or two people than often this is a cheaper option compared to a private vehicle but the down-side is that it often takes longer as others are either being picked up or dropped off along the way.
Also, be sure to think through any other transpiration requirements between airport/cruise ship terminal, airport/hotel and hotel/cruise ship terminal for your pre and/or post cruise stay.
Certainly, another option is a taxi but depending on the distance it can be more economical and certainly more comfortable to take other forms of transportation such as a private vehicle.
As part of your preparation, you will also want to think through your plans for touring in the pre and/or post cruise cities that you will be visiting. There are so many possibilities that we can't go through all of them.
If it is a city that you have been to before or easy to tour on your own and you have no mobility issues, then with careful planning you can tour on your own. For us, examples of this might include London, New York City, San Francisco, and Paris just to name a few. These are cities with lots to do and we can get around by foot, public transportation such as by bus or subway, and there is also the ability to get around via a taxi.
We have also found that in selected cities that taking a hop on/hop off bus is an easy way to get an appreciation for many of the attractions founds around the city. Sometimes, we might take the bus on the first day to get the lay of the land so to speak, and then on subsequent days go it on our own.
Another possibility is to arrange for a guided tour. This could be a private tour just for you or other people traveling with you or it could be a group tour. A private tour will cost more than a group tour but the benefit is that often you can change things up while on the tour. There are loads of information on the Internet to assist you in identifying and researching tours. We would first recommend reading up about highlights and things to do and see in each city so that you have a starting point. Then, you can find tour companies to see if they offer tours that include one or more of the places you have identified.
To find tour guides/companies we might begin with a Google search or we have found that another valuable tool is trip advisor where we can easily find several tour guide companies and read reviews on each of them and then we can go to their own respective Internet site to get details on the tours and pricing. We have also found that we can e-mail back and forth with the tour operator to get our questions answered and to ultimately book the tour. Some tour companies require no up front deposit but do require your credit card information so that they can charge you for the tour should you not show up on the day of the tour. Most companies have a very liberal cancellation policy to cancel tours ahead of time without a fee but as we say often the devil is in the details so be sure you know how the cancellation fee works before booking the tour. Other tour companies require a deposit of around 50% with the remaining balance due the day of the tour while others require a 50% deposit to book the tour with the remaining balance due prior to the tour. We have found that some of this is based on the region we are visiting.
Another option available to you is to have your travel agent and/or agency that they are part of put together a private our group tour for you. Sometimes the price is as good or even better than what you can obtain on your own, but other times it is higher as both the tour operator and the travel agency are making money for the tour.
Next we will discuss shore excursions.
Often this is not possible, so another option is to secure the services of a transportation company. In most cities/towns there are transportation companies that are either local, regional or national. They offer a variety of vehicles from sedans, to SUV's and Vans, to stretch limousines. Think through carefully your requirements including the amount of luggage you will have in-hand to be sure that you get the right size vehicle that will accommodate all of your needs.
Another alternative is some sort of shuttle service where you are taken to and from the airport with others. The benefit of this is that if it is one or two people than often this is a cheaper option compared to a private vehicle but the down-side is that it often takes longer as others are either being picked up or dropped off along the way.
Also, be sure to think through any other transpiration requirements between airport/cruise ship terminal, airport/hotel and hotel/cruise ship terminal for your pre and/or post cruise stay.
Certainly, another option is a taxi but depending on the distance it can be more economical and certainly more comfortable to take other forms of transportation such as a private vehicle.
As part of your preparation, you will also want to think through your plans for touring in the pre and/or post cruise cities that you will be visiting. There are so many possibilities that we can't go through all of them.
If it is a city that you have been to before or easy to tour on your own and you have no mobility issues, then with careful planning you can tour on your own. For us, examples of this might include London, New York City, San Francisco, and Paris just to name a few. These are cities with lots to do and we can get around by foot, public transportation such as by bus or subway, and there is also the ability to get around via a taxi.
We have also found that in selected cities that taking a hop on/hop off bus is an easy way to get an appreciation for many of the attractions founds around the city. Sometimes, we might take the bus on the first day to get the lay of the land so to speak, and then on subsequent days go it on our own.
Another possibility is to arrange for a guided tour. This could be a private tour just for you or other people traveling with you or it could be a group tour. A private tour will cost more than a group tour but the benefit is that often you can change things up while on the tour. There are loads of information on the Internet to assist you in identifying and researching tours. We would first recommend reading up about highlights and things to do and see in each city so that you have a starting point. Then, you can find tour companies to see if they offer tours that include one or more of the places you have identified.
To find tour guides/companies we might begin with a Google search or we have found that another valuable tool is trip advisor where we can easily find several tour guide companies and read reviews on each of them and then we can go to their own respective Internet site to get details on the tours and pricing. We have also found that we can e-mail back and forth with the tour operator to get our questions answered and to ultimately book the tour. Some tour companies require no up front deposit but do require your credit card information so that they can charge you for the tour should you not show up on the day of the tour. Most companies have a very liberal cancellation policy to cancel tours ahead of time without a fee but as we say often the devil is in the details so be sure you know how the cancellation fee works before booking the tour. Other tour companies require a deposit of around 50% with the remaining balance due the day of the tour while others require a 50% deposit to book the tour with the remaining balance due prior to the tour. We have found that some of this is based on the region we are visiting.
Another option available to you is to have your travel agent and/or agency that they are part of put together a private our group tour for you. Sometimes the price is as good or even better than what you can obtain on your own, but other times it is higher as both the tour operator and the travel agency are making money for the tour.
Next we will discuss shore excursions.
