Thread: Independent Tours vs. Ship Excursions in Europe

Hey everyone!! With Terilynn inquiring about the Baltics, it got me thinking ( )...

When we went to the Baltics, we booked through Red October and loved every minute of it...John (Copper10-8) used the ship's excursions and also had a good time. What have others used during their trips in the Baltics or Northern Europe? (Maybe this will help Terilynn out too!! )

A "little" off topic but I always recommend that the first time you go to any destination (unless it is in this country) you do so with the Ship's excursion. The guide will be able to give you insights that otherwise you might not realize on your own. When you return you can always "do your thing". On the other hand I know that Red October is probably one of the best "independant" tours in the world!!!If you use them in Russia you will not be disappointed...

Actually, we do enough research prior to a trip so we can decide if we want to use ship's excursions or not. We did enough research for all of our Europe trip that the only tour we booked was Red October and then a private walking tour in Copenhagen. Oslo, Helsinki, Tallinn, and Stockholm was done completely on our own and didn't feel like we missed out on anything by taking the ship's excursions.

I have to say that FlRic has a good point, and I tend to agree with him.

That said, if you know of a website for a port, good tour operator, or not-to-be-missed attraction in a given port, PLEASE submit the link to our new Cruise Resources area... It's a directory of cruising-related links.

One of the reasons Rex added Cruise Resources was to provide our members with a great starting place for doing pre-cruise research... the more member-recommended sites we have there, the better!

Does Red October have a website that we could include?

canarymoon...yes, Red October DOES have a website! I've submitted it for review for the Cruise Resources page...

The direct link is: http://www.redoctober.spb.ru/RedOct1280x1024/index.htm