...can anyone suggest, do I pay the expensive fee's the cruise line want for excursions or simply do our own thing?

"YES, for sure do excursions. You don't want to go all that way and then miss some of the best historical sights in the world. I have cruised the Med twice and have another booked right now that I have already booked excursions for. It would help to know which cruise you are taking and what port stops you will have. Not all cruises of the Med are the same and the ports are also different. It also makes a difference what cruise port you depart from. So I'll go over some of the ports I have been to and give you a suggestion on each.

Both of my Med cruises (and the one we have booked) departed from Barcelona. If you fly into Barcelona and you have time before the cruise departs or after it returns and before your flight (like late afternoon) you can tour Barcelona on your own. We are going to use this hop-on hop-off bus to tour when we return there. http://www.barcelona-on-line.es/eng/reserves/bus_turistic.htm

Nice/Monte Carlo: We did a ship's tour at this stop but I was not impressed with it. My advice is go on your own.

Florence/Pisa (Luverno): In my opinion the Leaning Tower of Pisa is a must and Florence was nice also. You can do both in one day. We did but it was a rushed tour. But if you want to book your own try this web site: http://www.viator.com/Florence/d519-ttd
and:
http://www.italyguides.it/us/pisa/pisa_italy.htm

Naples: Naples you can do on your own, even if you want to go to Pompeii which I highly recommend. http://www.viator.com/Naples/d508-ttd

Rome: Rome is a MUST do on any Med cruise but my advice is to book with the cruise line for this one port because the cruise pier is a good hour by car, bus or train from the city. I have read reviews where people made their own arrangements and the train station to take you to Rome is not too far from the pier. BUT, if you go on your own and are late getting back you do run the chance of being left behind; they WILL leave you. But if you want to do your own touring this web site will help: http://www.viator.com/Rome/d511-ttd
AND:
http://www.limousineserviceinromeitaly.com/

http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/z-Info/MV_Info_Servizi_Visite.html


Athens: The port for Athens is about 20 miles from the city and you can get ab taxi and go on your own. But you better know where you are going as the street signs are in Greek. http://www.athensguide.org/

Santorini: No ship's tour necessary. Just take the tender boat ashore and ride the tram up to the city level. We did a tour but realized after wards that we didn't really see much.

Mykonos: go on your own. You can walk into town or take a shuttle bus.

Kusadasi (Ephesus): I suggest taking a ship's tour because Ephesus is a good half hour bus ride from the pier. http://www.kusadasi.net/


But if you want to book yourself you can do that online but you'll need to do a lot of research so you'll know what you want to see and how much it costs. Then you'll need to decide whether you want to book in advance on your own tours or wait until you get to the port city. My advice is book in advance.e web sites:"
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