FlyerStef

I just got back from 7 days Athens --> Malta on the Odyssey. We did two of the seabourn excursions (we were scheduled for three, but couldn't tender at Naxos due to high wind & waves). From talking to other guests, they booked similar tours for about 25% less than what we paid, most common company mentioned was tours by locals.

The seabourn tours were just okay. We did get to see everything promised, and the tour guides were fine, but nothing spectacular. The busses were comfortable, air conditioned, and never completely full.

I personally like booking the cruise line's tours when going on tours that go far from port just in case things go wrong - I've been on an excursion (non-seabourn) in the past that was extremely delayed and resulted in the ship needing to be held for us to return. But I do recognize that is a rare circumstance, and will probably be looking more into third party tours in the future, if only so I can customize them a bit more to be what we truly want, instead of a combo of things set to fit the seabourn masses.