How many Excursions does one book for?

[stevedam]

HELP! I'm new at this! I want to book a few excurions at each port. How many do you actually go on? Should I book more than 1 or 2? Any advice would be great!

Steve

[cali-croozer]

It all depends on how long you are at each port. Check out the ports of call boards to get an idea of what you want to do at each port. You can book excursions through Carnival or go out on your own. Some ports are very easy to do on your own, while others are more of a challenge. Have fun planning.

[Cotton]

Good idea to check Ports-of-Call board. Sometimes, you'll only have time for one excursion. Many times, it's much less expensive to go out on your own. (I haven't book an excursion at any port since the 1980s.) I do lots of 'homework' before each cruise, and grab a cab and go do my own thing. Lots of wonderful things to do w/o having to pay an excursion fee.:)

[hstrybuf]

You can easily do one excursion at each port. Two might be stretching it a bit if you don't have a lot of time in a port, but it's doable. We like to do one in each port and save the rest of the time for just looking around and shopping. It's easy to wear out trying to do too much. You go home from your vacation needing a vacation! :eek: :)

[Bethwte]

I'd suggest one tour only. Usually excursions show you various parts of the port, and if you see something that interests you, you can go back and check it out with the rest of your time. Unless you're in a port for a very long time, I think two excursions would be pushing it time-wise, and leave you exhausted. Good luck and have fun cruising! :)

[Cruisegirl6]

On the past 7 cruises we only had booked 2 tours directly from the ship on the account what we wanted to do we could not do ourselves (Thriller Ride to Megans Beach). We never take ship tours, hate to be told to get up early (having to eat and wait on much longer lines for breakfast you really need to eat in dining room that day to avoid the lines but it will be packed as most people book cruise tours) and then be crammed into some room waiting to get off the ship (don't forget the long lines as everybody waits to get off) and make the tour. Not for us, we are on vacation I like to sleep till about 9am, when I get up most people are already off the ship and I can have my breakfast without waiting in those lines, and when I get off the ship no hassle no lines. I also like to come and go as I please.

 

We generally bargain with a cab driver to give us a private tour of the island. They are always happy to make stops when we ask, show us the best shopping and even drive us to a beautiful beach area where he will leave us there (upon us asking him). We give him a time to pick us up and always so far they are right there right on time to continue our "time tour which generally is anywhere from 3-5 hours. They give us a narrated speach while in the cab telling us about the history, people, ways of living, etc. Its the best way to see an island especially the first time. :)

[simkoreb]

My next cruise has 4 ports, and I'm booked on an excursion for 2 of the 4. I like not having something planned everyday, so I feel I have time at some ports to mosey around and do whatever I feel like w/o worrying about making an excursion time.

[MamaParrotHead]

but since it's been 5+ years since DH and I have been on a real vacation, I plan on making the most of my vacation time...no sleeping in for me (although with 2 small children, anthing past 6:30 IS sleeping in, LOL). We're going on a 7 day cruise, making 3 stops in port (Nassau, St. Thomas, St. Martin) and will be in port from about 7:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. I have booked one tour independently (St. Thomas) and plan on booking 2 more through Carnival (one each for Nassau and St. Martin). Most of the excursions are 3-4 hours in length, leaving us time to explore the island for a bit at our leisure before getting back on the ship.

 

just my $0.02.

[mikeymars]

My next cruise has 4 ports, and I'm booked on an excursion for 2 of the 4. I like not having something planned everyday, so I feel I have time at some ports to mosey around and do whatever I feel like w/o worrying about making an excursion time.

 

Couldn't have said it better. What we've learned after years of cruising is balance in experiences is everthing. Now matter how nice the excursion, you are still on a schedule, and if you do that in every port, you begin to feel like you are missing something, which you are: it's called free time.

 

So, depending on the ports, we generally limit excursions so they take up no more than half of the full total hours we have ashore on the cruise. On our upcoming four port itinerary, we're doing excursions in three of them, but one involves only about two hours (sea lion swim in Cozumel). So overall, well less than half our time ashore is booked.

 

Again, read up on and think about your ports, because some lend themselves a lot more to "lay back/mosey" than others.

 

As example, we have nothing scheduled on our stop at Costa Maya, Mexico, because after reading reviews here, we realized the most fun at that comparatively "manufactured" port comes doing exactly what simkoreb described. Maybe we'll take a van/cab to Mahahual and lay on the beach, but maybe we won't if things in the pier area (or something else) attract our interest. Who knows? And the discovery involved will be half the fun!

 

On the other hand, based on what I've heard here, I'd never plan to just "mosey" around the port area in Belize City (a place that's shall we say is very "third world"), so one's best bet there is to book a good excursion that gets you away from town and out in the water or jungle as quickly as possible.

[waterbound]

We normally only book one excursion per port.. That way we still have time to shop, explore eat, have a few drinks, etc... I know sometimes I feel rushed only doing one excursion...