A Carnival excursion that was worth the extra money?

I know there is a lot to be said for the security of knowing a ship won’t leave without you if your excursion is delayed and therefore many won’t do anything other than Carnival excursions. I also know there are plenty of cruisers out there (myself included) who are risk tolerant and do port days on their own.

Setting aside the guarantee of not missing the ship, is there a Carnival excursion that you thought was hands down better than anything that could be done on your own? Maybe there are some excursions that are offered only through the cruise lines that regular tourists cannot take? Just wondering if anything out there is worth the extra cost of going through Carnival.

I think that excursions have to be looked at on a case by case basis. They are not always more expensive than doing the same activity on your own.

We are very independent and often cruise the Pacific Coast of Mexico. We are comfortable with Mexico and can speak enough spanish to get along well.

There have been times when we did book a tour as it took us out into the countryside when using local buses would have been a complete pain and local taxis would have been either very expensive or wouldn't go because they'd be crossing state lines.

We are doing a Caribbean cruise in a few weeks and we have one local independent tour booked and 2 with Carnival because it was easy and not too expensive.Sometimes easy trumps all!

We have done both as well independent and booking with csrnival and for the money the carnival booked dolphin swim and buffet all inclusive was hands down the most bang for our for buck!!! The food was good time in the water with those wonderful creatures in a small group setting was phenomenal and given the opportunity we wouldn't hesitate to take this excursion again. But our next cruise is with a group so we are seeking out something a little different like Mr Sancho's still all inclusive but close to the port so no chance of missing the ship:D

Key West Pub Crawl was awesome! It was only $40, you get 5 free drinks, a t-shirt and they tell you about the local history along the way.

La casa en la playa-Cozumel.. Awesome excursion.. Well worth the price..

we also did the pub crawl in Key West and it was so much fun. However my all time favorite was "The Rhythms of the Night" Porto Vallarta. We tend to do our own bookings not with Carnival but this one was one of theirs. The Best! Check out the website.

Cabana at Mahogany Bay in Roatan. You can only book through Carnival. This is one excursion I felt was well worth the money.

In Roatan, we did Jolly Rodger Catamaran snorkeling and lunch, only offered through Carnival, and was amazing! In Belize, we did the Snorkeling and Starfish Island. They work with all the cruise lines, pick you up directly from the ship, so no tendering to shore first, and they take you to the barrier reef for snorkeling, then straight to Starfish Island.

Both those excursions were hands down among the best I've done.

I know there is a lot to be said for the security of knowing a ship won’t leave without you if your excursion is delayed and therefore many won’t do anything other than Carnival excursions. I also know there are plenty of cruisers out there (myself included) who are risk tolerant and do port days on their own.

 

Setting aside the guarantee of not missing the ship, is there a Carnival excursion that you thought was hands down better than anything that could be done on your own? Maybe there are some excursions that are offered only through the cruise lines that regular tourists cannot take? Just wondering if anything out there is worth the extra cost of going through Carnival.

Xunantunich Mayan Ruins with Lunch was an amazing excursion. One of the best we've taken.

We hardly ever book through the cruise lines because of cost, amount of time at the excursion, and number of people on the excursion. But this tour was going to have us traveling by bus two hours in either direction. That's my limit for private vs. ship. Good thing we did book because we were over an hour late and the ship had to wait for us.

we also did the pub crawl in Key West and it was so much fun. However my all time favorite was "The Rhythms of the Night" Porto Vallarta. We tend to do our own bookings not with Carnival but this one was one of theirs. The Best! Check out the website.

This was indeed an excellent excursion.

I do have a funny story about ship vs. private excursions. We sailed to Alaska on Legend in July. Looking at tours, we found one we liked on the Carnival website. I highlighted and Googled the title. I found a private tour with the same title and almost word-for-word description but it was $40 less pp. I read reviews and booked it.

Upon going ashore in Scagway, we could not find anyone holding a sign with our tour name. My husband walked up to one woman and asked if she knew anything about the tour with the same name as the one a young lady was holding up for Carnival. She sent us over to her. We told her we were looking for the private tour. She asked our names. She flipped the page on her clipboard from the Carnival list to the private list and checked off our names. We were on the same exact excursion with folks who book through Carnival and NCL but we saved $80.

In Belize 2002 we did a horseback riding in the jungle excursion, all day, including lunch. Tour driver got stopped and received a speeding ticket on the way back to the ship. WE WERE LATE. Ship waited for us and sailed as soon as the last tender passenger boarded. Yeah, it was worth it!!!

Mayan Ruins @ Tulum - plain & simple reason - too (TOO!) far away from port and thus too risky for missing sailaway! Almost never do cruise line excursions!

Atlantis pass for the water park

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Belize - We ALWAYS do a Carnival excursion in Belize. Why...because they pick you up directly from the ship and take you directly to a little island for the day.

If you do anything on your own, it is a very long tender ride to town, then to your excursion destination, and back. Big waste of time.

We find it easier to just use a Carnival excursion while in Belize.

Belize. I've heard most of the excursions are best through the ship. We did Xunantunich Mayan Ruins. It was very good and no way to do it independent and make the ship with time enough not to be panicky!

Tracy Arm Fjord Explorer. It was great. If you sail on Carnival you have to book with them. There's no way this could be done privately. On other lines it can sometimes depending on port schedule, but not with Carnival.

Rhythm of the Night in Puerta Vallarta. Spectacular show.

(until the ugly American whined that the lyrics weren't all in English...RME)

Great fun, good food, beautiful setting, fun boat ride there and back. I highly recommend.

Rhythm of the Night in Puerta Vallarta. Spectacular show.

(until the ugly American whined that the lyrics weren't all in English...RME)

 

Great fun, good food, beautiful setting, fun boat ride there and back. I highly recommend.

wasn't it wonderful? our fav!

We did Uxmal in Progresso through Carnival. It was only $20 more (for two people) than the independent. (I see now the price difference is greater.) We had more time at the ruins than the independent excursion.

The other one was in Puerto Rico, kayaking in the bioluminscent bay. It was either 11:00 pm or midnight when we got back to the ship. The bus ride to the sight was long, and the excursion was scheduled to get back pretty much exactly as the ship was scheduled to leave. Because it had to be dark, you couldn't exactly schedule to go earlier.

We'll book cruise tours if it's a long drive away or by tender. Sometimes the basic 'overview' tour is reasonable.

Did the whale shark excursion in La Paz. Booked it through the cruise line as it was iffy if any would still be around when we got there.

Carnival does price match the excursions.

Horseback riding in Grand Turk and ATV riding in Cozumel are my top favorite excursions and well worth the money! Next up is dune buggy riding in Grand Turk next month. Hopefully it will be just as fun.

Belize. We also did the Xunantunich ruins through Carnival. Worth it . The peace of mind at getting back in time for the ship was priceless to us

Screamin' Eagle Jet Boat in ST. THOMAS, USVI..It is a fast speed boat ride similar to the Beast/Shark here in NYC but 10x times better and more faster

I second La Casa en la Playa in Cozumel. You can't book that through other sources, and it is a wonderful, relaxing beach day with perfect attentive service, authentic Mexican food, and unlimited drinks (the Mojitos were great!).

As someone who has first hand experience, most tours are exactly the same, as someone else has mentioned. My son is Capt in STT and has been doing tours for the cruise lines and privately on the same boat. My son's excursion was $75 through the cruise line and $50 through hotels or the internet. Yes, CCL takes a cut on all shore excursions. The tour companies live and die by reviews. They know what time zone you are on better then most cruisers. You will not miss the ship. The ship has a manifest and know exactly how many passengers have yet to return to the ship. They will not depart unless they are not informed of an issue, or your passed out at a bar. The one caveat is some tour companies have an exclusive deal where they can not accept CCL guests if they are contracted with CCL. However they can take other ship's guests.

I will not do a tour on my own in a port that you have to tender.