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Excursion prices?


Sheltieluv
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I did a search, but could not find an answer.....

Am wondering why excursion prices aren't listed. Makes it impossible to compare costs for different itineraries for budget concerns. The descriptions of the excursions are very informative, but we need to know cost before we make decisions.

Just wondering if anyone has any tips to find out this information.:)

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Thanks to you both. I want to find prices before booking, but I'll try calling and see if they will give me the info. I find it odd that they don't post their excursion prices.

 

 

I don’t think most people who pay $15,000 for a cruise are too worried about whether an excursions costs $200 or $170. At least not so much that they might not take the cruise. After I’ve booked I do compare Seabourn’s rates to options for private tours.

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I have found 2 comparable itineraries and the other cruise line lists excursion costs, so I just wanted to see Seabourn's offerings. I like to see all up-front costs. Guess that's the retired business teacher in me!;)

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s. I like to see all up-front costs.;)

I completely agree. I might spend money on a luxury cruise line but it doesn't mean I want to waste money.

 

On the other hand, we don't often take ship's excursions so I didn't bother finding out the prices before we booked.....

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I can't give you specifics, but the excursions we have taken on Seabourn have run anywhere from $79 (!) to a little over $200 per person. The cost depends on the country, what is included (sometimes a lunch is included) etc. Hopefully, you will get the information you need by contacting Seabourn.

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We have found Seabourn's excursions reasonably priced. Very comfortable buses , it seems once a bus is half to two thirds full another bus is booked.

Tour guides have been good, escorting Seabourn staff most helpful. Plus the lovely surprises often on your way back to the ship at the end of the tour. On our recent Arabian Gems tour to Petra we had a surprise stop at a venue and were treated to Champagne and Caviar by the senior Seabourn staff and CD Ross in full Arab traditional dress. Then the welcome back at the ship by smiling staff and more Champers on the dock.

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Generally, in Europe I have noticed simple bus tours for 3-4 hours are about $80 to $150. The latter being the case if they involve guide, wine tasting or food tasting.

 

Would it be fair to say it’s probably about a 20 percent markup of a DIY ?

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We found the cruise tours reasonable when coaches were used, overpriced for "walking tours" and ridiculous for anything involving the small zodiac boats. Don't even think about "private van or car" tours. For the latter you will be up for $1000+ in no time at all.

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Generally, in Europe I have noticed simple bus tours for 3-4 hours are about $80 to $150. The latter being the case if they involve guide, wine tasting or food tasting.

 

Would it be fair to say it’s probably about a 20 percent markup of a DIY ?

I have organized FULL DAY group tours with an English speaking guide for 8--20 cruise passengers in Italy, Greece, Malta and Slovenia.

The shared cost worked out to just 19--30 [emoji387] euro per person, (no food, no wine tasting, no shopping kickbacks)

Edited by drsel
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drsel, You would be doing a huge service to some of us who have never arranged a private tour on our own if you would describe how you go about doing it---where you look for the agencies/guides and how you go about setting it up with others. I do know about Roll Call, but haven't didn't see a tour form from there on our last voyage. And before that, I was not on Cruise Critic.

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I'm not drsel but as someone who almost exclusively DIYs or does private tours, I have done a couple larger group tours arranged on Roll Calls (that worked out nicely for Bangkok on our Azamara cruise in 2016 -we had a group of 8, someone else found the tour but it was a company highly recommended on other review spots online) I look for what I'm interested in (I love a food tour!) on review sites online, including the Ports forums here on Cruise Critic, and also with friends (I work with a lot of people who have traveled extensively) for personal recommendations. I check prices, timing (some groups work around cruise ships - this is common in Alaska but perhaps not so much elsewhere - I've only cruised the Caribbean once so maybe it's more common there too?) When I find something we want to do, I book. If there's an active Roll Call for a cruise, I'll see if others are interested in joining us. If not, I'll try to book a "group" through the tour company or private if it's the only option and not prohibitively expensive. We've been fortunate and not had any bad tours. We've had some AMAZING tours and some that were just fine. But I LOVE to research a vacation - it's part of the excitement for me. That's one of the reasons I love DIY.

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Thanks Hoyaheel. I guess I've just been nervous about jumping in. I do have another question about Roll Calls---how does the group actually commit to a tour and communicate? Is there a place on this site for private messages? Or do they just share emails addresses on the roll call? These may seem like really simple questions, but I just haven't been involved in seeing how it is done.

 

By the way, on our June voyage on the Ovation, two of my favorite days were some of the days we did on our own--one day in Stockholm and the other in Tallin. I will be relying on some of you in the future to point out to us which ports lend themselves to self discovery. I am not too keen on renting a car anywhere or catching a train on our own, but do enjoy taking a SB provided shuttle into town etc. At the same time, we are glad we opted to take some SB excursions in certain places (like Bornholm, Denmark) as we would have missed some memorable sights if we had not.

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The way I've done it/been involved is the person who finds the tour usually says "I've found an XYZ tour, if you're interested, send me an email Jane dot Doe at gmail dot com" [people like to spell out email addresses to avoid crawlers I suppose ;-) Sometimes a tour can accommodate a range of people/numbers and is just priced per person accordingly. Yes, everything I've done in the past is over email as CC does not have private messaging turned on in its board software. Then we come to an agreement over how to pay (sometimes everyone can contact the tour company with separate credit cards, sometimes the organizer does the deposit with a credit card and everyone pays in cash day of the tour - however it's done is usually hour the tour guide prefers it and is arranged in advance)

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Just want to say a quick thank you to everyone for their responses! As we've only cruised on Regent, I've not had experience looking at cost for excursions because we have always just availed ourselves of the included ones.

I just read a post on the Silverseas forum and someone there was looking for the same type of info regarding excursion prices. It appears Silverseas doesn't post excursion prices either.

Again, thanks, everyone.

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drsel, You would be doing a huge service to some of us who have never arranged a private tour on our own if you would describe how you go about doing it---where you look for the agencies/guides and how you go about setting it up with others. I do know about Roll Call, but haven't didn't see a tour form from there on our last voyage. And before that, I was not on Cruise Critic.

It requires a lot of time & effort, but its also fun & exciting.

You need an active roll call, which is usually available on Celebrity, Carnival, Norwegian, Royal; but not on Costa or MSC in Europe.

 

For each port/city search for the BEST 5 tour operators (with the maximum good reviews) via tripadvisor & google. Then, most importantly, choose the BEST tour that YOU would like to do with your partner/family in that city & see if it can be done in the time available in port.

 

Email all 5 tour operators with your date & time available in each port/city & ask for multiple quotes for a minivan/minibus tour with & without a guide for 8,12,16,20,24 pax. Usually the guide's fee is additional.

 

Always ask the total cost for the whole group of 16 or 20 pax both with & without a guide. Don't accept a per person quote from any operator. It is much more profitable for them to charge per person-- I've even had exhorbitant quotes, asking for 50--60 euros per person.

Then, inform your roll call of the best offer(s). Its usually much cheaper for 16--20 pax.

 

I had no problem getting folk to quickly join my group, cos it was by far the BEST VALUE tour of 6--8 hours in that port. Often the groups were overfull, so I had to increase capacity, which further brought down the price per head. Sometimes I had to keep a few in the waiting list, when we crossed 20. A waiting list is also useful in case anyone drops out due to sea-sickness, sore feet, fatigue, etc.

 

The final list is confirmed at the Meet & Greet, organized by the cruise line.

 

Some operators required an advance deposit, which I made from my personal CC. There was never any problem or default by the tour operator. They were punctual, reliable & always kept their word.

Edited by drsel
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I've organised independent tours for 8 people and also joined in on others tours they've organised. I have to be honest, I find it a tad stressful, because you are concerned whether everyone is enjoying what is on offer, even if they know the sort of thing they'll be getting. Then there's collecting in the money, the tips, and all this is often with people you've barely met.

 

And then there's the time someone injured themselves (ankle - needed a surgical boot and crutches for the rest of the cruise, and a cut arm, steri strips needed) and I felt so responsible! The minibus returned because the person concerned had to get medical help on the ship. It happened when getting off a junk, without the usual SB staff and lots of steps. The tour operator wasn't negligent, it was just a different way of doing things and I think we're so used to being cosseted by SB. I just felt awful that this happened on an excursion I'd organised. We did resume the tour but it wasn't quite the same as we were all worried about the person who'd had this fall.

 

So, all in all, I will organise tours for myself and my husband, I will join in on a tour someone else has set up, or I'll do SB excursions!

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I can totally understand your stress Mauzac. I don't think I would be willing to organize a tour for strangers. I MIGHT consider joining one. But even that causes me a bit of the stress of the unknown. On a previous cruise, we traveled with friends and they had orgainied private guides at several ports--expensive, but quite wonderful. There were only four of us.

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I've organised independent tours for 8 people and also joined in on others tours they've organised. I have to be honest, I find it a tad stressful, because you are concerned whether everyone is enjoying what is on offer, even if they know the sort of thing they'll be getting. Then there's collecting in the money, the tips, and all this is often with people you've barely met.

 

And then there's the time someone injured themselves (ankle - needed a surgical boot and crutches for the rest of the cruise, and a cut arm, steri strips needed) and I felt so responsible! The minibus returned because the person concerned had to get medical help on the ship. It happened when getting off a junk, without the usual SB staff and lots of steps. The tour operator wasn't negligent, it was just a different way of doing things and I think we're so used to being cosseted by SB. I just felt awful that this happened on an excursion I'd organised. We did resume the tour but it wasn't quite the same as we were all worried about the person who'd had this fall.

 

So, all in all, I will organise tours for myself and my husband, I will join in on a tour someone else has set up, or I'll do SB excursions!

I never had any stress organizing tours. In fact it was fun and exciting, a challenge!

But I did spend a lot of time on internet research, communication, emails, forum chats etc

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