Excursion Choices
In reading thru the itinerary it looks like most days on board the ship there are 4 different excursion choices. Some short (under 2 hours) and others half or more of a day. Is the timing of the different choices such that you could do more than one per day or are you limited to just one choice? While the ship looks nice, if we took the tour we'd want to see as much as possible of each Island not just sitting in the ships lounge.
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I don’t know about river cruises, but on our two small ship cruises we could only have one choice. We asked about taking another and they said no even if we were willing to pay. The price for the cruise was based on one excursion, and that’s that….which is why I prefer land tours and also, if I have to take another small ship because it is the only way to see a place, I’ll opt for a larger cabin….because you spend so much darned time there when you could be seeing what you thought you paid for.
British - For our Iceland small ship tour, we had one of the largest rooms on the ship, but still spent very little time there. When on the ship during waking hours we would either be eating or enjoying the sights, activities, and refreshments in one of the lounges.
Claudia - In general, I agree with British's statement about only having one choice of excursion (I explained this further in a PM to you Claudia). Although, I said I agree with British's statement, I don't think it's quite as harsh as British's comment leads you to believe. Here's why, sometimes the excursions have you do something specific in the morning, but then the excursion will include free time to explore as you please either in the city/town where the ship is docked or in the city/town where the excursion was. Also, different excursions have different lengths. Sometimes an excursion will basically include two half day excursions into one all-day excursion that leaves after breakfast and returns before dinner.
I also prefer land tours, because of the increased time for exploration, especially in the evenings after dinner. On the Iceland tour, I don't recall doing any after dinner explorations, even though it stayed light almost 24 hours a day. Some days the ship would depart just before or after dinner to reach the next port for the next days activities.
Yes, usually on river cruises if there is a choice you pick one and there are times when you can do 2 things the same day. The itinerary for this small ship cruise has so many choices (I think at least 4 per day) and some were very short while others would pretty much take up the entire day. Maybe too many choices. I really wish Tauck had a longer land tour of Scotland than the 8 day one. It's interesting reading some of the comments on this one of how people wished they'd had more time in the Orkney's and Shetland island.
Sam, remember your Iceland tour was very different to ours because your itinerary was changed due to Covid. We had no time ot explore off shore, we moved on.
Claudia, I loved the Orkneys when I went, so much to see…., so much unexpected history, Skara Brae was amazing. Look out for Sheila Fleet jewelry
British, that's part of the problem - I want to see it all.
Here is another favorite in Orkney
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Chapel
And another.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stones_of_Stenness
More
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skara_Brae
Jewelry. I bought silver ring, a necklace pendant and a lovey necklace to match the blue of my cousin’s eyes for her 40th birthday when I went
https://sheilafleet.com/
If you might consider cheating on Tauck, ACE Cultural Tours based in UK has amazing focused itineraries. Cannot yet speak from personal experience b/c I was scheduled for Cornwall in 2020. In any case reading the website makes great armchair travel. Here’s Wild & Ancient Orkney: https://www.aceculturaltours.co.uk/tours/Wild-Ancient-Orkney-ORK1-22
Thanx marketart. I'll keep them in mind.