Shore excursions on Nautica Ottoman Empires

[MamaLux]

I would like some input on shore excursions for the 12-day Black Sea (Athens to Istanbul) Nautica trip. Has anyone taken this trip recently? How do the cruise line offerings compare to privately organized excursions?

[carabenz]

Just returned from this trip. It was great. Stay with the excursions from the ship. There are very few in these stops that speak english in the black sea area. The stop in Russia is very restrictive unless you have a Russian tourist visa, you are only alowed to go from the ship to your tour and back to the ship. If you wonder off on your own you will be detained and the cruiseline will have to recover you. Also in Romania we had eight passengers who had their purses snatched. Rest of the stops where great, Good shopping.