Private Excursions and Worried Passengers

I am sure this will be moved as I don't know where to post this item.

People usually book private excursions due to cost factors, better tours, etc. For those of you who are so worried that you will not make it back to the ship in time I suggest you do NOT book anything but through your cruiseline which guarantees the ship will not leave. I had a couple of experiences on the Nieuw Amsterdam Jan. 6-18. We had one lady who was freaking out that we were going to be late getting back and we hadn't even left on the tour yet. And yes, we did leave as scheduled and got back in plenty of time. Due to her and another woman's concerns over the next 6 hours it made for a very unpleasant experience for the other 8 passengers listening to them freak out every 10 minutes. Not only did they have us mad (and we were too polite to tell them to shut up), but the tour guide was constantly having to reassure them that they would be back in plenty of time (it was not his first rodeo after all!!!), and he was getting pissed himself. Because of this issue we did not make two planned stops as he was so over their grumblings. I always book with reputable private tour companies, do my homework and know that their reputation is on the line as well if they miss the ship. They know what they are doing. Next time please do us all a favour and just book off the ship and don't ruin anyone else's tour.

We had one lady who was freaking out that we were going to be late getting back and we hadn't even left on the tour yet. And yes, we did leave as scheduled and got back in plenty of time.

You are a better person that I am... :D

On a recent cruise to the far east we had a similar lady on a private tour. Took me all of 10 minutes to tell her to either go back to the ship or quit bitching... The other 6 of us were enjoying ourselves .

Worked too!

Actually, no cruise line that I know of guarantees the ship will not leave a ship sponsored excursion. The guarantee is that if the ship leave you will be reunited with the ship at the cruise line's expense. No matter how far away the next port is.

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If we are in a port and just doing a city tour then I usually book excursions thru local companies. But if where we want to go is a distance we usually book thru the ship. On our tour in Costa Rica we were traveling about 2 hours in each direction. We booked thru the ship and...sure enough...we were 45 minutes late getting back. No one was worried and we all had a great time.

Helen

We have had similar experiences....frankly, I am not paying my $$ to listen to that kind of stuff, and I will make it very clear to the offenders in a voice that everyone will hear.

I have had cheers in movie theaters when speaking up to those who think that texting during a movie is cool.

Nervous nellies have no business booking tours that make them nervous.

Actually, no cruise line that I know of guarantees the ship will not leave a ship sponsored excursion. The guarantee is that if the ship leave you will be reunited with the ship at the cruise line's expense. No matter how far away the next port is.

 

 

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This is true. The captain will wait but sometimes weather, tidal conditions, marine traffic at the port, and other factors force the ship to leave without its late arriving tours. I read here on CC a few years ago that a sudden storm forced a ship (either Celebrity or RCI - I can't remember which one) to leave its tour passengers in a French Riviera tender port. They were bused to the next port.

Sorry to say have seen people left when their private tour was late but the almost worst was in China when the CC tour bus was very late from Beijing. We we waiting for a HAL bus who showed up about 1-2 hours late and just as the were beginning to pull the gangway, with the captain repeatedly apologizing as the port authorities was forcing them to leave, the CC bus came speeding in and all passengers were told to run.

When on a private tour, I like to have the tour end at least 1-2 hours before last boarding, which is usually about 30 - 60 minutes before we sail.

When I participate in a private excursion, I figure that, if we get left behind, at least I am with a group of compatible, like minded people instead of alone, and we will manage somehow with a few laughs along the way and a great tale to tell later.

When I participate in a private excursion, I figure that, if we get left behind, at least I am with a group of compatible, like minded people instead of alone, and we will manage somehow with a few laughs along the way and a great tale to tell later.

When in Curacao last Dec. the auto bridge coming from south was backed up for miles due to accident with no police in sight for at least an hour. Started probably hour before all aboard. We watched from veranda. We wondered how many people got stuck and couldn't get back to their ships on time. Anyone on private excursion, or who took a taxi to Sea Aquarium or places south would have been at risk of not getting back on time. Don't know if any did miss the ship but it certainly made us think about the consequences if they did. That being said, we do mostly independent excursions and have never had a problem. Remember, it would be all over TripAdvisor if they screwed up and let that happen. Also, like previous posting, we always try to allow 1-2 hours before all aboard and we take into consideration where we are. For some locations, the ship's excursions are highly advised.

If we are in a port and just doing a city tour then I usually book excursions thru local companies. But if where we want to go is a distance we usually book thru the ship. On our tour in Costa Rica we were traveling about 2 hours in each direction. We booked thru the ship and...sure enough...we were 45 minutes late getting back. No one was worried and we all had a great time.

 

Helen

If there is a long distance involved, we take a ship's tour. DH wouldn't freak out, but I know he would enjoy it less if he thought we might miss the ship. We rarely do private tours. We either go completely on our own, allowing plenty of time to get back before all aboard, or we go with a ship's tour.

Our independent touring is usually local, so we can get a taxi back to the ship in time. We have rented a car a few times. On PEI, that turned out to be great--we got to Green Gables just as the last morning bus was leaving and were done just as the first afternoon bus was arriving. In Florida, renting was almost a disaster. We were at a stop in FLL on our way to the Panama Canal, and I wanted our friends to see South Beach. We had a lovely day there, and I left lots of time to get back. Thank goodness I did. There was an accident and massive backup on the Interstate (I-95), so people moved to the old highway (US 1), which became backed up, too. We were terrified we would miss the ship. But we didn't. We missed the rental company's shuttle to the port, so a nice young man drove us to the ship in our rental car and we were back about an hour before sailing. If we had missed the ship, it would have been a real mess. Our next port was to have been Cartegena, but at the last minute it was changed to Curacao. So we'd have been on our way to Cartegena and missed the ship again!!!!

I used to do some shared private tours; a few years ago it seemed easier to find like-minded people who were interested in specific sites to visit. Now it seems like many folks on roll calls only want a basic "see 15 places in 8 hours" type tour, with cost being the only denominator of interest.

Having already done most of the basic must-see sites several times over, I now mostly just get around on my own or, on a rare occasion, will hire a driver.

I used to do some shared private tours; a few years ago it seemed easier to find like-minded people who were interested in specific sites to visit. Now it seems like many folks on roll calls only want a basic "see 15 places in 8 hours" type tour, with cost being the only denominator of interest.

 

Having already done most of the basic must-see sites several times over, I now mostly just get around on my own or, on a rare occasion, will hire a driver.

Which is why I chose my private excursions carefully. One can often ascertain by the tenor of the Roll Call posts which type of excursion is offered.

Which is why I chose my private excursions carefully. One can often ascertain by the tenor of the Roll Call posts which type of excursion is offered.

Agree. And by emails as well.

We are doing some different ones on our upcoming cruise thanks to like-minded, well travelled roll call members. It's not hard to tell who wants to really see things and who the experienced private tour people are.

We do private tours for the quality and flexibility offered. While the price is often better, it is not always the case ;). And a small group of 6 or 8 people can do so much more than a bus with 40 ;)

I used to do some shared private tours; a few years ago it seemed easier to find like-minded people who were interested in specific sites to visit. Now it seems like many folks on roll calls only want a basic "see 15 places in 8 hours" type tour, with cost being the only denominator of interest.

 

Having already done most of the basic must-see sites several times over, I now mostly just get around on my own or, on a rare occasion, will hire a driver.

+1

The OP's misadventures sound like a good reason to NOT fill up your private excursion with strangers from a roll call.

I also DIY 90% of the time, only doing something with a SMALL group if there is no way to DIY.

Got back from the Independence yesterday to Mexico. We took a taxi to the pier in Cozumel, took the ferry, rented a car, drove to Tulum & Back, and saved 66% off the cruise ship excursion. That's why we do independent most of the time.

We have had similar experiences....frankly, I am not paying my $$ to listen to that kind of stuff, and I will make it very clear to the offenders in a voice that everyone will hear.

 

I have had cheers in movie theaters when speaking up to those who think that texting during a movie is cool.

 

Nervous nellies have no business booking tours that make them nervous.

Boy, did we need you in Japan on some very poorly planned CC excursions when the organizer became concerned about what time we'd get back to the ship. I'd been spoiled with every roll call excursion being fantastic prior to Japan on a Celebrity cruise. Not only did we not see Mt. Fuji on the Mt. Fuji excursion, the husband of the organizer bullied those who comolained about it.

I am just booking ship's excursions when in Asia in the future.

[beginQUOTE=take us away;52056046]Sorry to say have seen people left when their private tour was late but the almost worst was in China when the CC tour bus was very late from Beijing. We we waiting for a HAL bus who showed up about 1-2 hours late and just as the were beginning to pull the gangway, with the captain repeatedly apologizing as the port authorities was forcing them to leave, the CC bus came speeding in and all passengers were told to run.

When on a private tour, I like to have the tour end at least 1-2 hours before last boarding, which is usually about 30 - 60 minutes before we sail.[/endQUOTE]

===

My advice is not to do a private tour in China unless you have an extra day to spare. Been there. We took the trains to get to Beijing which worked find but when we were coming back the agent for the local train to the port said "no train come back tomorrow" needless to say it was quite a long and traumatic experience getting back to the port - fortunately we were in port for another day.

When I participate in a private excursion, I figure that, if we get left behind, at least I am with a group of compatible, like minded people instead of alone, and we will manage somehow with a few laughs along the way and a great tale to tell later.

Love your attitude!

I'm not cruising until Sept so I'm busy doing my shore excursion research. Nearly every private tour I have looked at has the exact same guarantee as the cruise line. If they make you miss ship's movement they will get you to the next port. That being said I have come across numerous tours that appear to be offered by the exact same companies that the ships are using, just at a lower price. Given what I now know thru my research l'm afraid I would to tell someone ruining my excursion to shut up!

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I'm not cruising until Sept so I'm busy doing my shore excursion research. Nearly every private tour I have looked at has the exact same guarantee as the cruise line. If they make you miss ship's movement they will get you to the next port. That being said I have come across numerous tours that appear to be offered by the exact same companies that the ships are using, just at a lower price. Given what I now know thru my research l'm afraid I would to tell someone ruining my excursion to shut up!

 

 

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It's really key that people going on private tours know what they are getting into. If they are uncomfortable and you didn't sense it in the emails or the roll call, then give them the option to opt out.

the odds are they won't want to and that ends the conversation.

and the voicing of worries and the distraction of the guide as well ;)

We've been lucky over the years with Roll Call excursions. Everyone has been experienced travelers.

But we still got a little nervous in Istanbul. Four of us in a van with escort and driver. We got into gridlock on narrow streets. I tried not to look at my watch. It started getting dark and we were making no headway.

Our driver made a right turn, one block, left turn and we were at the ship. Had no idea we were so close!

I'm so glad we got our two days in Istanbul when we did.

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Speaking of Curacao, we saw a woman get left on the wrong side of the pontoon bridge on our Westerdam cruise. On a Princess cruise last month to the ABCs, we took an independent tour purchased near the dock in Bonaire. One group of passengers with us had the tour guide divert the bus back to town instead of heading directly to the slave huts as planned because they had to be back to meet friends at a restaurant. They apparently did not realize a tour that was sold as three to three and a half hours long might go over 15-20 minutes. (We were back in plenty of time to board the ship--never a question about that.)

We had a very harrowing experience on an independent tour when we were on an Oosterdam Southern Caribbean trip. See our trip report at: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2281285

We had scheduled a tour that should have had us back 2 hours before 'last onboard'. My suggestion is to make sure you take your passports, cash, cc, etc - just in case. We had faced the prospect of getting from one island to another on our own with just swimsuits, tshirts, flip-flops, and $60 in our possession.

It all turned out well, but did put the fear-of-god in us about next time we schedule an independent tour.

We tend to take ship excursions on anything longer than 2 to 3 hrs. We always take ship excursions on any activity using a boat or the ocean. We had a boat, anything can happen out at sea. Can take hours to get help.

Private tours in the Caribbean may be a bit different than what I've experienced in Europe. There, private tour operators seem to be well organized and very time conscious. I have never felt as if I were in danger of missing the ship (and I've taken some quite lengthy tours, including in Israel and Sicily, that involve traveling a long distance from the ship).