Split, Croatia April 2023
Aaawww ... the nice coastal city of Split, Croatia. Plenty of scenery and exploration, with older medieval style buildings and castles within walking distance from the Ship Port.
As an experienced traveler, I have a story to tell you about a shore excursion from our cruise in 2023. On this trip, I am with my wife, brother in-law, and sister-in-law.
How Important it is to Book an Excursion Through Your Cruise in Advance?:
- The deals are better, your spot is guaranteed.
- Your could spend more money that you expected.
- Winging a "spontaneous" tour right off the boat puts you at risk to not return back to the ship in time.
We booked a tour with one of the 20 Independent Tour Operators who where wait outside the port landing.
Booking Ahead:
- Advantage — The tour operators arrange their schedule to coincide with ship boarding.
- Reputation — The operators know the value word of mouth with their services.
- Time — Respect for good tours in a timely manner.
Trip Tip: It's very important to head to an ATM when departing the ship. Most operators only accept cash. There will be a small transaction fee.
After grabbing enough euros near the ATM by the casino, we walked along the short path until we spotted a huge golf cart called a Tuk Tuk. This oversized go kart could easily seat 6 regular sized people (200 lbs or less).
This is where we meet Anton, our tour guide. His nephew was watching the cart while his uncle stepped away. I asked him, "How much?". He spoke very good English, stating his uncle is not here and will be back with pricing..
My frugal brother-in-law was not interested in paying for the "extras" and made it clear with this two hour trip. I told him to hold up and let's look into it -- yep he's a tightwad lol. I wasn't going to take no for an answer, and I guess I'm paying for him.
Anton appeared, ensured his 2-hour trip and we would be back in time to board our boat. Amazing!
I asked Anton, if he would take 75 euros for our tour. He thought about it for a long minute and since I talked my brother-in- law into going on the tour, he would consider the 25 euros difference; my commission for helping him book this tour. I had to laugh and I told him "you got a deal, my friend".
Anton Made Our Tour About Us:
The tour was more amazing than I could have imagined.
Anton was very knowledgeable and personable about all of the sites he took us too. Including an abbey sticking out of a cliff in a random part of town. This wasn't on any standard tourist map took us places not found on the paper map the other tour guides would pass up.
We were able to walk a cobblestone street lined with tourists. It was at the doorstep of the fancy medieval castle in the center of town.
Anton worked this magic by stopping for pictures and took pictures of us. This was a local guy who loved share local places and even took us to restaurant away for the tourist.
At the end of our tour, I asked the price, and he said 100 euros. I did the math. That's 25 each for 4 of us and cheaper than anyone else. Plus the Tuk Tuk was cool.
We got lucky with Anton. He valued our time, enjoyed the local scene with a local tour and boarded the boat on time.
Moral of the Story:
- The advantage to booking our tour with our cruise prior ensured our arrive back to the port -- on time.
- We still took a small chance with a local tourist and spent a little extra money.
- We had an unforgettable experience.
Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for part 2 of our Croatia trip!
Best,
Ramon
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