Do I book shore excursions through the ship or on my own? Which is better?

I'm sailing on Princess Royal on a Mexican Riviera 7 day cruise in Feb and wondering if its better to book the shore excursions directly through ship or offsite on my own? I don't want to get scammed.

Getting scammed is not the concern.

Cruise line excursions are more expensive and more crowded.

But what do you get with that extra cost and bigger crowd?

An excursion that has been vetted by the cruise line to ensure safety, insurance, quality, viability, etc.

The cruise line also ensures that should your excursion run late for whatever reason, the ship will wait for your return before departing.

Excursions on your own can be very inexpensive, less crowded, and centered around your interests.

Research can provide information on many wonderful people and companies that provide local excursions that may interest you.

The choice is yours. My wife and I have done both. After 14 cruises, we still do both. Just returned from a Med cruise. Having never been to that region of the world, we went with cruise line excursions.

Getting ready to return to the Caribbean, going local on a couple and cruise line offered on another.

what klfrodo said.

Now I'll just sit back and wait for the 200 replies saying on your own is better and the 200 saying through the ship is better.

It is very rare we would ever book a ship excursion, only if it was in extreme circumstances.

Booking with local operators will not only be much better value, but the group size will almost certainly be much smaller.

No reputable local tour operator is going to get you back late to your ship. It has never happened to us or anyone we know. That is mainly scaremongering by the shipping line.

There is lots of information out there, so start your research with Cruise Critic and Tripadvisor. You can also look and see if there is a roll call for your cruise.

I too agree with what kilfrodo said. If you choose to go with a private tour company just make sure you do some research first on their reviews and cancellation policies. My husband and I have done a mix of both of as well and have never had any problems. Depends on the ports and your comfort level.

 

The cruise line also ensures that should your excursion run late for whatever reason, the ship will wait for your return before departing.

 

Read the fine print on your ticket contract. No cruise line can (or will) promise to wait for you if port circumstances (e.g., tides, schedules, etc) are such that departure cannot be delayed beyond a certain point in time.

Not unlike any reputable independent tour company, the ship's excursion contract will agree to get you to the next port.

This "waiting" concept is the same for the somewhat empty and often misunderstood promise in choosing the cruise line's air arrangements. Unless there are many affected late arrivals on a cruise line arranged flight AND port circumstances are in line, the ship will leave without you. As for "catch up" cost coverage, read the fine print and get some trip interruption insurance (even if it's just the coverage provided by a travel-savvy credit card that you used to pay for tickets (BTW, if possible, buy each ticket with a different account from that card company- this effectively doubles your coverage limits).

OP should really do some decent research. With a little detective work, one can find which private tour provider is also doing the ship's tours. Often, the carriers will caravan and that provides some emergency options for return to the ship. Our most recent experience of this was an excursion to the Alhambra in Spain. Oceania used the same tour company as did our private arrangement. For half the per person fare, our group of 8 (with guide and Mercedes van) did the exact same trip as the ship's bus with 40 passengers.

what klfrodo said.

 

Now I'll just sit back and wait for the 200 replies saying on your own is better and the 200 saying through the ship is better.

On Cruise Critic, Dave, I suspect the responses will be much more heavily weighted to "on your own".

And that "on your own" split between independently-organised tours (private or via the RollCall or via agencies) and make-it-up-as-you-go-along with vans & taxis at the pier.

And then there's those who just walk off the ship & explore by themselves on foot.

Which is best is gonna vary according to the different ports, to what the cruiser wants to see or do there, to the size & makeup of the cruiser's group (kids, mobility issues & such) to the thickness of the cruiser's billroll, and last but not least the cruiser's confidence in themselves and those around them.

So without more info from Diane, my response, - & probably those of others - will be full of generalisations.

Cruise Critic members are generally more experienced than the average cruiser, so are aware of the excessive prices and the inevitable cattle-herding of most ship's excursions. They tire of being led to "craft workshop" places that give the cruise line a cut of their sales, and they can cut thro the cruise line bull@@@@ about missing the sailaway, Their experience has also generally given them the necessary confidence.

The cruise line guarantees that if a ship-sponsored tour returns late, the ship will wait (or in very exceptional circumstances the cruise line accepts responsibility for catching up if the ship leaves without them).

But they do over-play that hand. :rolleyes:

I've frequently challenged folk on threads like this to come up with a single first-hand instance of an independent tour group that's missed a sailing - with no takers to date.

I won't say it's never ever happened, but so rare as to be of no consequence - it would ruin the tour operator's reputation.

If you dial "pier runners" into YouTube, it's fun watching the very late returnees - some that make it & some that don't. They're not independent tour groups, they're folk who've gone off & done their own thing. Usually involves alcohol, or not allowing a little wiggle-time, or getting confused about back-on-board time, or sometimes clock differences between ship's time & local time. Doesn't happen to any independents who have a brain in their head.

We'll use ships' tours when circumstances suit

- a tour that's simply not available independently (eg St Kitt's sugar-train)

- when the destination is a long way and time in port doesn't allow a decent amount of wiggle-time (eg Playa del Carmen to Chichen Itzxa)

- where DIY involves a ferry & there's no Plan B (eg Tortola to Virgin Gorda)

- where ships' tours are given precedence, for instance a police escort (can't think of a Caribbean example)

We also have our own parameters for fixing something up in advance (eg Montego Bay to Dunns River Falls) or DIY with vans on the quayside (most Caribbean islands).

Diane - if you're a first-time cruiser or first time in the Caribbean, you may want to set your own parameters a little higher.

- You won't get exactly "scammed" by the cruise line, but you will pay over-the-odds.

- You shouldn't get scammed if you book (or share) a well-recommended tour operator (that's independently-reviewed, eg here on Cruise Critic or TripAdvisor , not reviews on their own website). But do check cancellation terms in the event of the ship not making port. That does happen, & if it happens most of the reputable operators give a full refund, perhaps minus a small admin. charge.

- You shouldn't get scammed by vans and taxis available in the port - they're all known to the authorities, & they all know each-other and are inter-dependent for their reputations. And you agree a price at the start, but pay at the end.

- A good possibility of getting scammed by taxis/vans not lined up at the port - they may not even be legit. or insured. :eek:

All just my honest opinion, as always ;)

JB :)

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I'm sailing on Princess Royal on a Mexican Riviera 7 day cruise in Feb and wondering if its better to book the shore excursions directly through ship or offsite on my own? I don't want to get scammed.

Do it on your own. Ships costs too much.

Deleted, duplicate post.

Diane, you have picked the perfect time of the year to do that itinerary (we live in Puerto Vallarta that time of year) and we hope you have a great cruise and grow to like or even love Mexico as we do. As to excursions, there is no right or wrong and you should also consider doing things on your own as a third option. Personally, we dislike cruise line excursions (and we cruise a lot) but for some folks they are a perfect solution.

There are sometimes when a cruise ship excursion is the only way to do certain things. For example, the most popular excursion for Puerto Vallarta are trips over to Las Caletas...which can be done as either a day trip (beach and lunch) or (for ships that are in port until late or overnight) and evening excursion called Rhythms of the Night. Las Caletas is operated by a single company. Vallarta Adventures, which will only sell their tours through the Cruise Line (if they know you are a cruise ship passenger).

But many other things can easily be done on one's own at far lower cost then a tour..and without being stuck in a group. For example, in Puerto Vallarta you can get from the port into Centro (town) for less then 50 cents by simply using the local buses (where you will find plenty of other "gringos"). And with the use of a basic tour book (or various guides you can download online) one can easily plan their own walking tour and lunch. It is the same in Cabo...where its not difficult to do things on your own...as long as you do some planning.

Hank

I interpret the OP as a single female. If that's the case, ignore any post that doesn't specify "For a single female....". John Bull raises some good points, but for a single, DIY is rarely cost-effective unless you're really sure what you want.

Some things (most things!) don't need excursions AT ALL! Get a guidebook...do your research! Excursions are for those who know NOTHING about where they're going,...or who want to do something far from the dock....or something that requires major transportation...a guidebook will help you decide what to do, and how to do it!

You can save a bundle by doing things on your own, whenever possible!

Often the ease and convenience of booking with the cruise line is worth it.

They pick you up from the ship, take you to have fun, return you to the ship and you "never miss the boat" ... all with no worries or advanced planning on your part. :D

On our first cruise, to put it simply, we didn’t have a clue as to how things worked at the ports, etc. So we booked through the cruise line. On our second go-round we did a mix of private, cruise line and DIY. Now we're mostly DIY with the occasional private excursion.

Go with what makes you comfortable. I know we paid more on the first cruise going through Royal but it's what we were comfortable with.

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Log onto the Princess Cruise Personalizer. Under shore excursions, they usually list 8 places/points of interest. Figure out which you may be interested in seeing. I then match Princess prices with what is available from reputable tour operators. Booking with Princess is straightforward if you go that route. On your own often involves forming a small group. That is where Roll Calls for a specific cruise can be really helpful. Do research - what to see. Ports listing is very good on Cruise Critics. Also - guide books. In Mexico, the dollar goes a long way, so the Princess excursions may not be that expensive. I hope this helps.

Yes, I am a single lady but traveling with 3 gf's. This is actually my 2nd cruise but the first one my inlaws booked everything for us so I don't know how anything was done, they paid for all of it so this is all new to me. Any other tips are very much appreciated. :-)

Keep in mind that some tours are only available from the cruise line.

The only time we booked through the cruise line was when they were the only one offering the excursion we wanted to do. We have always used locals and never been disappointed.

We've done both. We started out doing excursions offered by the ship, then started booking on our own. We have two cruises planned. On our cruise in December,we are booking on our own. We're familiar with the islands and have done all the usual tours. On our cruise in June, we have a good OBC from the cruise line and another from our TA so we will probably do a few excursions offered by the cruise line. One thing we did notice on our last couple of cruises is that a few of the vendors we chose were the vendor that did the same excursion for the cruise line. The price, etc., was the same. Not one dime of difference so what we had found was a great way to save on excursions (booking on our own) didn't apply. We booked through the cruise line because booking on our own meant we had to also arrange transportation. Just one more loose end we avoided by booking through the cruise line. The only time we've ever run into a snag with booking on our own occurred when the driver for the transportation (included in our excursion with them) dropped us off at the wrong place to get to the ship. We kept trying to tell him and he dropped us off at the wrong place and we had to hire another taxi to take us BACK to where we needed. We booked all over Europe on our own without a problem. This happened in the Caribbean (Cozumel).

TruckerDave - I just love this signature line!! :D

"This message sent using a piece of fruit.:cool:"

Brenda

We have just returned from our first cruise on the Thomson Celebration in the Mediterranean and have learned a lot.

We booked five excursions on five days at the cost of £360 but missed two as we both went down with a stomach bug.

We understand that if you book on ship on Thomson you are refunded immediately at reception if you miss a trip through a registered illness.

We booked ours in advance at a Thomson shop and were told the money would be refunded on our card in up to 14 days.

Sadly Thomson are refusing one refund as they are currently 'investigating' it. We both had free injections on different days from the ship's Serbian doctor so these must surely be in the ship's medical records.

For this reason in future I would book on ship. In England's travel shops they will tell you that the excursion desk on ship is busy and you might miss out on a trip. This was not the case on our ship - in fact we were told some trips had been cancelled owing to lack of interest.

I just returned from the Bahama's with a group of 8 women/girls to celebrate a 14th birthday. We booked a private island dolphin encounter in Nassau through Carnival but all water excursions were cancelled due to rough waters from high winds. Our money was refunded back to our Sail/Sign card same day and we booked another dolphin encounter at Atlantis through CCL the next day (overnight in Nassau as HMC port was cancelled too). It was my first cruise so it was nice to have transportation provided without worries to Atlantis and back.

When we have pre booked excursions in the Caribbean with local operators we haven't had to pay beforehand. Just paid when we have met up with them at the cruise terminal.

I do a combination of DIY, private tours and ship's tours.

For DIY: I will wander around a town when there is nothing that otherwise calls out to me. Look at the map or read here where everyone goes and then go there. Lunch, shopping, local parks and museums. Just do a little research before regarding transportation options. It helps a lot to know where the buses or taxis are.

When I am more interested in the history and scenery of a given place then a private tour is perfect. Small van, local guide. They can drive you around and change the itinerary to suit you. Best tour I have taken was a private tour. It was, however, not less expensive. It was way more. But, that's because we didn't share. Such tours are booked by the vehicle, not by the person. And we never try to get a group together, so we pick and choose these types of tours carefully and go only on those tours we think are worth the extra cost.

If there is a specific spot I want to visit (like a castle or a cathedral) and it is a distance away, then why not take the ship's tour? There will be a guide, very often local. And any tour I've taken we were given the option by the guide to stick with the tour or wander around on our own. So, you don't really have to feel like you're in a crowd. I travel with my 2 sisters and I do all of the planning. That's one of my best talents. But, it can get tiring trying to keep track of everything. The real beauty of a ship's tour is I don't have to do anything besides sign up. That in itself can be worth it.

My wife and I used cruise ship excursions on out first cruise. After that we always find our own excursions. We use trip advisor and go with the top rated tours. We've never had a problem with going on our own. There is a convenience factor with booking through the cruiseline, but that's about it. I don't believe that the cruiselines "properly vet" the tour operators they work with so I wouldn't be so sure to wholeheartedly trust the cruise tours. We took a cruise that stopped in Belize. Two people on the cruise who took a zipline tour through the cruiseline broke their leg on the same platform.