Shore Excursions

Hi all!

I hope I'm posting the the correct area!

I'm looking to book some shore excursions for our up coming cruise. Has anyone had experience with the company Shore Excursioneers? I noticed their prices are considerably cheaper than a lot of others, and figured there might be something not so great about the company. We will be cruising to Cozumel, Belize, Roatan, and Costa Maya. Any tips or reviews would be greatly appreciated!

This is the perfect area to post.

Hopefully you will get some feedback.

Have you also checked out Trip Advisor?

Keith

Thanks Keith! Yes, I did look at trip advisor and there was only 1 review on there that I could find, and it wasn't very good. But only 1?? I'm so skeptical about booking tours with outside companies. :o

If you look on the Ports boards, there are many comments about Shore Excursioneers.

The first thing you need to understand is they don't provide the tour. They are brokers. They take your money and contract with a local provider. This seems to generate low prices, but there have been customer service issues...you can't get ahold of anyone if you have a problem. There are several of these brokers...Viator being perhaps the largest. Many of us here have quite using these brokers, and much prefer to do direct to recommended vendors, due to issues of this nature, including ourselves.

Many cruisers balk at booking cruise line excursions because of their high price and big groups...so looking for alternatives is very normal. You do have quite a few options including simply Do It Yourself (DIY) which is often the least expensive...and generally not too difficult in popular ports. But once you start looking at other tour options, primarily private tours, it becomes a daunting task. These days there has been a group of companies (many new) that are essentially third party booking agencies. Viator is probably the largest such company in the world. Another relatively new provider is called "Tours by Locals." These third part companies do not actually provide the tours..but rather enter into deals with local tour providers. Many experienced travelers (me included) prefer to deal directly with the local tour providers...which is usually easy to do via the internet. You are essentially getting rid of the middle man and dealing direct.

So, for example, consider a port like Bonaire. Many folks want to do snorkel trips on that island and you certainly book them through the cruise line or a third party packager of tours. On the other hand, we think the best snorkel tour on Bonaire is on a boat called the Woodwind...and the only way to book on that boat is by doing it directly online. There are similar situations in most ports. And if you are going to the Caribbean it is often easy to simply use public transportation (i.e. taxis) if you want to get around an island. In Europe there are local/regional buses, metros (subway), trains, and rental cars.

As to the third party company you mention in your post....we personally have no clue.

Hank

I have used Shore Excursioneer twice and have been pleased both times. I have something through them coming up in July as well.

We've used Shore Excursioneer a couple of times with no problems. As stated, they are a tour broker and don't run the tours themselves; they just act like a booking agent.

We rarely do ship tours and usually book an independent tour using recommendations found on these boards or other sites like Trip Advisor. Sometimes we pick up a tour right on the dock.

Sometimes, especially if we have been there before, we just get off the ship and walk around the port area, shop or find local transportation to a beach or other attraction. Rent a car, take a bus or trolley, taxi, etc.

So far we have never just stayed on the ship, but some people do.

I've used them a couple of times and no issues. My preference in order are (1) Book directly with the tour operator, (2) 3rd party broker and (3) with the ship. I thoroughly research using tripadvisor, CC, google and then make the decision. Only once did I have a less than enjoyable experience and that was a snorkel trip in Belize I booked directly with the tour operator. Though it had great reviews, I thought it was a dud.

Thank you everyone for you responses! Greatly appreciated!