I am trying to do some comparison shopping...

the ship is offering 4 hours of Nice and Eze for $54 ...

what would be the cost of train, bus pp if you do this on your own? does anyone know?

We know this area quite well (in fact, we will be back there in late April) but I cannot put an exact price on the train since we almost always have a rental car (about $110 for the day). But, getting to Eze is a bit of a challenge with the train since it only stops at Eze sur Mer down on the coast. You still need to get up to the village. There is a bus stop right in front of the little station, but the shuttle bus up to Eze runs on a pretty irregular schedule. If you can't get the bus, than you need to get a taxi (there is a cafe across the road where they can call you a taxi). There is a local bus line that runs between Eze and Monte Carlo (not sure of the bus number) and that is another option. I suspect that doing in on your own would cost at least $20 pp less than the tour, but it comes down to how much you like tours. One reason we like to do our own thing is that we prefer taking our time and eating lunch off the ship (hard to pass-up a good meal in France). Those half day tours waste too much time getting you to and from the ship so you can have lunch on the ship, and we have never figured out why anyone would go to places like France and Italy and than eat on the ship. We always smile politely when fellow passengers tell us they do not want to spend money on shore since they have already paid for their meals on the ship. Each to their own, but the culture of many countries (particularly France and Italy) can almost be defined by their cuisine. Nothing like some escargot to remind one of the slugs crawling on their sidewalks at home

Hank

once again Hank, thank you...

20 dollars is of no consequence...

since we have never been to this region, we are hesitant to explore too far since we only have one day...

your first time here, perhaps you too chose the security of the ships tour...

if we had two days as we do in Rome we would definitely venture off by ourselves...others are dong all kinds of tours here but we will exlore, sit in cafes shop...do our thing and get back when we feel like it...

again thank you for all your insights...

we have done the Baltic extensively if you ever need any advice on that....

Actually, the first time we were in Rome we did choose the full-day cruise tour (it was Princess) and loved every minute. But, my issue with the Eze/Nice tour is that its only 4 hours. If you going to spend any time in Nice, you should certainly be there long enough to have lunch at one of the cafe/restaurants in the old town section. The thought of leaving this place (or Eze) to go back to the ship for a soggy hamburger really gives me heartburn .

Hank