GZanta77
(fka: uksaint)
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2018
Going to ask on this board as I seem to get the most answers here. Posted on Cruise Critic but nothing yet.
Going on Med Cruise in May. First time to Europe. Group consists of Me, DH, DS 24, DD 21, DS's Girlfriend 22 and My Brother and SIL. My son is paying for his and his girlfriends cruise -but we are paying for all the tours/transportation for the 5 of us. So, is getting a bit $$$.
We have some tours set up but don't really want to do a tour at every stop. Can anyone tell me if there are some stops that are better for wandering around on our own or any suggestion at these stops. I
We Fly into Rome a few days early. We have transportation, hotel and tours already set up for Rome.
Cruise Stops:
Amalfi Coast - Nothing yet
Sicily - Nothing yet
Santorini - Have Tour set up plus a photo session. Son is going to propose to girlfriend here.
Ephesus - Nothing yet
Mykonos - Nothing yet
The Cruise ends in Athens. We are here for a few days after the cruise. We have transportation, hotel and tours set up already for Athens.
Also, I am assuming we tip any tour guides/drivers. How much? 20% like in the US. How about for transportation from Airport to Hotel and such - do we tip those also?
Thanks for any suggestions/info !! Lynn
We did a cruise in Oct and I can highly recommend EphesusPortTours for seeing the sights there. We had a brand new Mercedes mini bus that could seat 8, a driver and a personal guide who was so knowledgable he really enhanced the experience. It costs us $150 for the two of us and we tipped generously because they were so good. We bought the highlights of Ephesus tour, but they allow you to customize it to ensure you see everything you want. I found thenm easy to deal with and very responsive to emails.
In Rome, we used sharedshuttle for airport/hotel/cruise transfers. We thought they were great, but with a party your size you should be able to get private transfers without the need to share.
In terms of general tipping, it is often not expected in Europe, but when I do I use 10% as the benchmark for good service and only going above that if service was exceptional. You know, the way it used to be in the US.