Why book with us

We arrange private shore excursions in Greece for cruise passengers, and we give four guarantees in writing on every booking: your tour is timed to get you back before all-aboard time, you receive a full refund if your ship cannot dock, we track your vessel’s real arrival rather than the printed schedule, and you can cancel free of charge up to 48 hours before your port date. Every tour is run by a licensed local operator we have checked in person and a route we have driven ourselves. Nothing is charged when you enquire.

The four guarantees

Back-to-ship guarantee

Every itinerary is built backwards from your ship’s departure, with a deliberate buffer.

We start from your all-aboard time, not from a standard tour length. The last stop is planned to finish with a buffer of at least an hour before you need to be at the pier, and more in tender ports where the queue is the real variable.
Stops that depend on a single bottleneck — one cable car, one tender line, one ticket window — are placed early in the day, never last. If one runs long, the stop we drop is the one furthest from the port.
If a delay is caused by us and you miss your ship’s departure as a result, we cover the reasonable cost of reaching the next port of call. This applies to private tours booked directly with us.

Full refund if your ship cannot dock

If your ship skips the port, you get every euro back — including the deposit.

This covers a skipped port, an arrival too late for the tour to run, and weather or sea conditions that stop your ship anchoring and tendering. It applies however late the change happens, including on the morning of your port call.
You do not need to prove anything or send documentation. We watch vessel arrivals, so in most cases we contact you before you contact us.
The refund is returned by the same method you paid the deposit, within 10 working days.

Real-time vessel tracking

We follow your ship’s actual arrival, not the printed schedule.

When you book you give us your cruise line and ship name. We track that vessel through public AIS data — the same transponder signal that port authorities use — from the evening before your call.
That tells us the real arrival time hours before you know it yourself, so your guide is at the pier when you actually walk off, not when the itinerary said you would.
It also drives the decisions above: whether the day needs shortening, and whether a refund is owed because the ship is not stopping at all.

Free cancellation 48h

Cancel free of charge up to 48 hours before your port date.

More than 48 hours before your date of port call: cancel for any reason and the deposit is refunded in full.
Within 48 hours: the €50 deposit is retained, because the vehicle and guide have already been committed to your date. Nothing further is charged — the balance is never taken.
Date changes, guest-count changes and itinerary tweaks are free more than 48 hours ahead, subject to availability.

Exact conditions, deposits and refund timings are set out in our cancellation policy and terms.

How we vet every tour

Big platforms list thousands of tours nobody has checked. We list nine. Before a tour appears on this site it has to clear four things, and one failure is enough to keep it off.

Licensed guides

The guide holds a current Greek licence for the sites on the itinerary. Inside archaeological sites such as the Acropolis and Ancient Olympia, a licensed guide is a legal requirement, not a preference.

Insurance on file

The operator carries passenger transport insurance and we have seen the certificate. We re-check it each season rather than once at signup.

Vehicle inspected

We look at the actual vehicle: air conditioning that copes with August, seat belts, and capacity that matches what the tour page promises.

Route driven by us

We have travelled the route ourselves, timed against a real port call rather than a brochure — including the queue at the cable car or the tender.

Our local partner operators have welcomed thousands of cruise guests over the past 15+ years. Whoever delivers your day, we stay your point of contact for the booking and for anything that goes wrong.

Independent tours vs cruise line excursions

Both are reasonable choices and they fail in different ways. Here is the comparison we would want to read, including the one thing the ship’s own excursions do better.

	Booking with us	Cruise line excursion
Group size	Your party only on private tours, up to 6 guests depending on the vehicle. Small-group tours are capped at 16.	Commonly 30–50 people on a coach.
Pricing	Priced per group, so the cost per person falls as your party grows.	Priced per person, so a family pays a multiple of the headline figure.
Flexibility	The itinerary can change mid-day — skip a stop, linger at one, adapt to a late arrival.	Fixed route and fixed timings; the coach leaves when it leaves.
If you are late back	We time the day with a buffer and track your vessel. If a delay is our fault and you miss the departure, we cover reaching the next port.	The ship waits. This is a genuine advantage of booking with the line, and the main reason people do.
If your ship cannot dock	Full refund, including the deposit, however late it happens.	Refunded, usually as onboard credit or to the folio.
Who you deal with	The same people before, during and after — we hold the relationship with the operator directly.	The shore excursions desk, which is itself reselling a local operator.

Group sizes for cruise line excursions are typical coach figures and vary by line, ship and port.

Common questions

What happens if my ship arrives late?

A late arrival is not a cancellation. We track your vessel's actual arrival time and shorten the itinerary to fit the hours you really have ashore, at no extra cost. If the delay leaves too little time for the tour to be worthwhile, you can cancel on the spot for a full refund.

Is it risky to book independently instead of with the cruise line?

The honest difference is what happens if you are late back. A cruise line excursion is operated by the line, so the ship waits for it. An independent tour is not, so the protection has to come from timing and from a written guarantee. We build every itinerary around your ship's departure with a deliberate buffer, track your vessel, and if a delay is caused by us and you miss the departure, we cover the reasonable cost of reaching the next port of call.

What does "personally vetted" actually mean?

Every tour on this site is run by a local operator we have checked in person: a licensed guide or driver-guide, valid passenger transport insurance, a vehicle we have inspected, and a route we have travelled ourselves against a real cruise timetable. We list only tours we would take on our own port day, which is why the catalogue is small.

How much do I pay upfront?

Nothing when you enquire. We reply within 4 hours with availability and a firm total price. If you accept, a €50 deposit per booking confirms it, and the balance is paid on the day of the tour. Prices on the site are per group, not per person.

How large are the groups?

Private tours are your party only — no strangers join, up to 6 guests depending on the vehicle. Our small-group tours are capped at 16. Cruise line coach excursions commonly carry 30 to 50 people, which is what drives the waiting at every stop.

Who actually runs the tours?

Licensed local guides and driver-guides in each port, working with us directly rather than through a booking platform. Our partner operators have welcomed thousands of cruise guests over the past 15+ years. Whoever delivers the day, we remain your point of contact for the booking and for anything that goes wrong.

Tell us your ship and your date

We reply within 4 hours with availability and a firm price. Nothing is charged when you enquire.

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