Excursions: on your own vs ncl-sponsored

[Host CMLA]

care to elaborate

Born2cruise is taking a cruise in July and has booked an excursion through the ship and the excursion isn't scheduled to return to the ship until one half hour after the ship is supposed to sail. What other details would you like to know?

 

Possibly the excursion isn't as long as stated or the meeting time will be earlier or the ship may leave port later or any number of other things could account for the time difference. But the ship won't leave until the ship's excursion returns. Unless, of course, you do an excursion that starts in one port and ends in another like can happen if you start an excursion in Skagway, Alaska and end it in Haines, Alaska.

[WazAnOkie]

We have done both, Ship sponsored tours, and independant. Like a lot of others, there are so many variable, we have no set rules.

 

If it is a new port, many times we like to take a shorter 'sightseeing' tour as opposed to a destination. That way get to see some of the highlights, get info on good spots, and possibly then return to the ones that we are interested in.

 

Some of the all-day tours like we did in Costa Rica or Panama, we went with sponsored tours. In Belize, we went with a private tour for Cave Tubing, and was much better than the ship tour (we talked with others from the ship..)

 

Just have to do your homework, use common sense, be carefull, and enjoy!

 

Check things out - and dont be afraid to ask questions -

 

Things like being sure to agree on a price before getting into taxi's - many dont use meters, some have set prices, a lot are negotiable - but if you wait till the end of the ride, then the price could be whatever they tell you :eek:

 

Also, check out things like are they 'licensed' taxi's, like in Jamaica, be sure you use a JUTA cab, which are licensed, as others can paint their private car to look like a cab.

[Trigger69]

Very insightful...especially this...

 

care to elaborate:confused:

 

I would guess that the excursion is on shore time as opposed to ship time. There could be a couple of hours difference depending on where you sail from. Then again, that is only a guess.:rolleyes:

[Carolyn1950]

My first 2 cruises I took ship sponsered excursions but this time we are branching out.. We are doing our own on excursions in the ports where the ship docks, thinking we can walk back to the ship if worse comes to worst. But where the ship tenders I am more comfortable with ship tours, thinking I can't swim that far..lol

We are taking a Victor Bodden tour in Roatan and taking a cab to Paradise beach in Cozumel..But I would never wait til the last minute to return to the ship.. I plan on being dropped off at the ship 2 hours before sailaway, then if I want to shop more I can walk, with the ship in view..lol

[frontrangecruiser]

My first 2 cruises I took ship sponsered excursions but this time we are branching out.. We are doing our own on excursions in the ports where the ship docks, thinking we can walk back to the ship if worse comes to worst. But where the ship tenders I am more comfortable with ship tours, thinking I can't swim that far..lol

We are taking a Victor Bodden tour in Roatan and taking a cab to Paradise beach in Cozumel..But I would never wait til the last minute to return to the ship.. I plan on being dropped off at the ship 2 hours before sailaway, then if I want to shop more I can walk, with the ship in view..lol

 

We did the same thing last month at Cozumel....took a cab to Paradise Beach....one of the best things we did the whole cruise. You will LOVE the beach....they rake it nightly, and you always have a waiter on the beach to take care of you. :)

[dishealth11]

Born2cruise is taking a cruise in July and has booked an excursion through the ship and the excursion isn't scheduled to return to the ship until one half hour after the ship is supposed to sail. What other details would you like to know?

 

It just seemed a bit odd to me that they would schedule an excursion to return after the published departure time. Obviously the ship will not leave until the excursion returns. Will they (do they) tell the other passengers that is why they are not leaving on-time? Is this common? I mean, if I hadn't found this board, I probably would not have known that ship-sponsored excursions never get left behind.

[alabama_cruisin]

I am not scheduling any ship excursions. My family cruises alot, and they say that you are just like a bunch of cattle. The personal excursions that I've read about usually have 20 passengers. In Roatan, you can have a personal taxi driver all day for $100.00. That way my family and I can spend quality time doing anything we want, anytime we want. The ship excursions I've priced are about $100 more than a personal excursion. Check out "Coral Breeze Unlimited" for an exeample.

[judyf]

I thought I would try my questions here first before I start a new post.

 

What private tours can you do in Miami and Port Canaveral??? I've been searching and haven't found much of anything. The port board is very hard to look for info on these two ports. Please help!

[born2cruize]

We are scheduled to do back-to-back tours in Sitka, the first one is 3 hours from 8:30 to 11:30 then we are doing a 4 hour from 12:15 to 4:15. The ship is scheduled to leave at 4:00. As has been mentioned the tour will probably be shortened or there is some free time built into the tour. But the topic is sponsored or on-you-own. I wouldn't try an afternoon tour like this one on my own. Also since most cruise ships would like you back on ship about a 1/2 hour before departure we're looking at 45 minutes.

 

borntocruise

[arby70]

If it is an all day excursion, (like the Lamanai tour in Belize) we will book through the ship. I would be too nervous to enjoy the excursion worrying if we would miss the ship since there is so little leaway on this long excursion. I have booked our Atlantis sub tour in Cozumel on our own (it's only 2 hours and we'll take a cab) and we plan to take a cab to Xcaret on our own in PDC. We'll probably take a ship tour in Roatan as the ones we're interested in are under $50 even through the ship. If you're new to cruising, go with what you feel comfortable with. I am pretty "wet behind the ears" yet, so we're going kind of "safe".

[mshe]

After reading the excursion postings, I can't decide whether to do ship excursions or go it solo (having done neither).

 

Curious, of the members, how many are staunch supporters of cruiseline sponsored tours, how many want their independence?

 

 

Depends which port and what activity. At some ports, it's just easier to book via the ship regardless of price. At other ports, there are more options, and it's better to go solo :) So it really depends on what activities you're interested in and where.

[Jim Gallup]

fodorspeter thinks I am a travel agent, trying to frighten cruisers into purchasing more ship-sponsored shore excursions.

 

Actually, I am a Ship Hotel Director, who is very happy to sell you one of our insured, regulated, and higher-priced shore excursions.

 

To tell the truth, I PERSONALLY believe that only nimrods and feeble-minded people should take a ship-sponsored shore excursions. But there are so many newbie travelers and naive cruisers coming out of America these days, it is a pretty good idea for most of them to take the ship-sponsored tour.

 

Every week on my ship, I have to spend a great deal of time with about 25 different cabins who tried to "save a buck" on a cheapie independent tour.

They:

Missed the ship.

Were cheated.

Got sick from eating lunch in some dive.

Had something stolen.

Had to pay a fortune for breaking some equipment.

Had an accident and were injured.

Were abandoned by the operator.

Were arrested.

 

The list is endless. But despite the fact that they took the cheapie tour to avoid paying for the insurance, safety, and other services that accompany a ship-sponsored tour, they still expect me to sort out their problems with some fly-by-night character on shore. Some of these people don't even have passports, but take the chance to be stranded illegally in a foreign country - just to save a buck. They get loads of sympathy from me, but not much else.

 

Having said that, I never take a ship-sponsored tour, unless it is the only way to comfortably and safely make the visit. But then, I do a great deal of homework before I take an independent tour, considering all the possible things that could go wrong, and then preparing for the worst.

 

Incidentally, tour operators need to stay competitive on price if they want to stay in business. But they also need to charge enough to make a profit and stay in business. When the cruise line requires them to have the $5 Million liability insurance, proper licenses, and proper safety equipment, their costs increase dramatically - especially in a thiord-world country. They pass those costs on to the cruise line - who passes them on to you.

 

If you find an operator who offers a much lower price than the others, it seems too good to be true. Is he that dumb to give you such a special price, or are you that dumb to take a ride with someone who is not insured, has no license, and will probably rip you off??

Does the cruise line make a profit from selling shore excursions? Of course they do. (Profit making is still legal in America, so far as I know) Profits from Shore excursions sometimes hit 40%. You have to decide if that 40% is worth your safety, comfort, and well-being on your cruise of a lifetime.

[Host CMLA]

First you wrote:

To tell the truth, I PERSONALLY believe that only nimrods and feeble-minded people should take a ship-sponsored shore excursions.

Then you wrote:

You have to decide if that 40% is worth your safety, comfort, and well-being on your cruise of a lifetime.

So.....put these two together and you PERSONALLY think that passengers are feeble minded AND a nimrod for preferring safety, comfort and well being on your cruise of a lifetime. Nice. Thanks for the pep talk Jim. :rolleyes:

[Jim Gallup]

Cecilia,

 

Not quite right.

What I am trying to say is -that depending on the season, location,and cruise line, a relatively high percentage of cruisers are not exactly world travelers. (For those of you who have taken more than 5 World Cruises or visited more than 100 countries, I am not referring to you here.)

We know from market research that only 16% of Americans even own a passport. The great majority of Americans are not the most experienced travelers. (Note: Visiting Canada, St. Thomas, Disneyland, or Hawaii doesn't really make you seasoned traveler.)

Unfortunately, these are the very people who are usually trying to save a few dollars with a cheap flaky tour operator who is going to rip them off - or worse. These are the people who should be on the ship shore excursion tour.

 

For those of you who know the new Maitre d' at Gaddi's (or even know what Gaddi's is), have stayed at the Yak & Yeti or the Bali Oberoi, or cannot recall exactly how many times you have flown around the world, you should definitely be booking your own independent tours. I am not worried a bit about your experience. You are going to have a blast and save a lot of money. And I won't expect to see you in my office at the end of the day crying, "Nobody told me", or "Why isn't there a Wal-Mart in Ujung Pandang?".

[Host CMLA]

Not quite right.

What I am trying to say is -that depending on the season, location,and cruise line, a relatively high percentage of cruisers are not exactly world travelers. We know from market research that only 16% of Americans even own a passport. The great majority of Americans are not the most experienced travelers. Unfortunately, these are the very people who are usually trying to save a few dollars with a cheap flaky tour operator who is going to rip them off - or worse. These are the people who should be on the ship shore excursion tour.

While I appreciate you elaborating on your earlier comments, I still don't see the distinction you're trying to make. You said:

To tell the truth, I PERSONALLY believe that only nimrods and feeble-minded people should take a ship-sponsored shore excursions. But there are so many newbie travelers and naive cruisers coming out of America these days, it is a pretty good idea for most of them to take the ship-sponsored tour.

If you point out that most people aren't world travelers and so few people even have passports then why call those inexperienced people that are doing the right thing by taking a ship sponsored excursion feeble minded and nimrods? Aren't they doing exactly what you think they should do? I've traveled extensively. In South America I didn't do ship's tours. We hired a cab and driver on the pier for a trip that took us hours into the country and hundreds of miles roundtrip. We felt comfortable enough to do that. Not everyone should do that. However, in Malaysia I did do the ship's tour because I wanted to go to Kuala Lumpor from the tiny town we docked in and there was really no other way to get anywhere. Am I feeble minded and a nimrod for that? I don't think so. I've been to 5 continents and 47 countries. Not the most well traveled but more than a lot of people. In any case...I think you've contradicted yourself and I wonder what you want inexperienced travelers to do...go cheap and on their own and not be feeble minded or a nimrod or book with the ship for safely, comfort and well being but be called names?

[shoreguy]

Cecilia

 

I have no problem understanding what he is saying:

 

Everyone but seasoned world travellers are nimrods and feeble-minded people and should take a ship-sponsored shore excursions. ;)

 

I guess since I don't know the new Maitre d' at Gaddi's I better start booking my shore excursions online with NCL. Who knew that was the test :D

[tigerlilycruiser12]

I failed the test to. :rolleyes: I better book my excursions on line to or else it will be all sold out.

 

Gosh and I studied so hard. Please tell me that I do not have to take a test to board the ship. :eek:

[fodorspeter]

I know it doesn't sound right, but I liked him better when he was a travel agent. And by the way, the ONLY reason the ship excursions are more expensive is because the cruise line takes a cut, period. Most all independent tour operators carry just as much insurance as the ones working for the cruise line. In fact, I personally have been on dozen or so excursions booked independently where I found myself with the ship's excursion. The best example of that was the hydrofoil from Naples to Capri where the ship had charged $39 US per person just for the transportation to and from and we paid $18 by walking 100 yards from the terminal and buying the tickets ourselves. And while I've got a full head of steam; in Florence the bus ride to and from from Livorno was $49 per person from the ship and the train was $3.50 plus $30 taxi fare = net result was ship $196, independent $47 and the total travel time was bus 2 hours, train 1 1/2 hours.

 

Peter

[tigerlilycruiser12]

lol lol lol

[smeyer418]

some places you should take the ships tours most places you can do it on your own. I have done both. Columbia is a place I stay on the ships tour. Other than that I do mostly my own. I like the independence of going where I want to when I want to and not with the cattle call you get on some ships. I was just in Monaco-not on a ship stopped to have a spot of tea at the Cafe Du Paris sat about an hour and half and watched the crowds and people watched. Next to us come and went a couple of nice woman from a RCCI cruise. They gulped their coffee and ice cream cause they only had 10 minutes... You can take the countries public buses for 3.50 euros all day long to anyplace there you want. Sit run see the sites- and get back to the ship for a tenth the price of the ship's tour. But you need to do your own research first. Jim - It takes work to do it right but with the internet and guidebooks you can found legitame tours for much less most of the time.

 

Ps I don't drink my tea with my pinky up---unless its up my nose :)

[fodorspeter]

Another wise man!! Thank you.

 

Peter

[Cruise_More_Often]

We've only cruised twice with NCL, and both times were repo cruises on the West Coast. Because we were familiar with all the cities we were visiting, we did not book any excursions through NCL.

 

In planning for this year's cruise, I compared the costs of some of NCL's offerings with those we could get on our own (especially those in San Francisco), and I was really surprised at how close the two were. We found the same to be true on our RCI Baja cruise last winter, where the difference was only $5-$10.

 

Because of that, we will be booking our 2006 Alaska excursions through NCL.

[House_Atreides]

It depends on the port!

Our last cruise we did a couple of excursions thru the cruiseline, only because the trips did EXACTLY what we WANTED to do; also the groups were small. I don't like standing in line for a tender or to get off the ship; that makes me crazy, but with priority tender tickets it helps.

Most places, we go out on our own after reading, reading and more reading about where we are visiting and figuring out what we'd like to do. We do a lot of spur of the moment stuff too, like jetskiing...shopping...it depends on our mood :D

I resent being labeled a 'nimrod' since I AM well-traveled and have been since I was a small child. Just because I haven't taken 40 gazillion cruises doesn't mean I'm a 'nimrod'. There ARE other ways to travel other than cruising (although cruising is now by far my favorite way to go!)

Mary

[bragstarr]

I've done an independent tour in Jamaica and gone snorkeling in Bahamas on excursions I've arranged myself, with absolutely no mishaps, saved much money and had a wonderful time (both trips discovered, by the way, through recommendations on these boards). Who would have thought that something I arranged myself--in FLORIDA!--would turn into a disaster. Last February on the Dawn, I had booked my own rental car (months earlier, very cheaply), for which I would grab a Hertz shuttle when I docked at Port Canaveral, retrieve my car and go off to Kennedy Space Center on my own with my husband and 18 year old son, who really wanted to do the KSC Up Close Tour, which I booked ahead of time since they sold out frequently. Dawn ended up porting at noon instead of 9AM, didn't get off the ship till after 1PM, couldn't cancel the car at that late time, had to cancel my up close tour (which, with less than 24 hours notice, they were kind enough to do once confirming the Dawn had ported late), waited way too long for the Hertz shuttle to get our car, and were pressured all afternoon trying to fit in the regular KSC tour and get back to the ship that night on time for our 8PM dinner reservation at Teppanyaki. Needless to say, had I booked this through NCL, I would have immediately gotten on a bus right off the ship at the port and been to the Space Center earlier, but I figured I was saving money and would maybe have the car for a bit afterward to wander around--this was, of course, when we were supposed to port at 9AM. So who knew--but what should have been my easiest self-arranged excursion turned into a stressful, tiring day. Had this been in a foreign port it would have been a real mess, so I will think twice before arranging things on my own again, or at least things I have to commit to financially before I get to the intended port!

 

Robin

[tinkerbelldee]

I am well traveled, not sure if that would be considered a world traveler, but I am smart traveler. We booked all our excursions on our own on our first cruise.

 

That being said, I did a lot of research. I checked many boards for recomendations. I e-mailed the tour providers with a ton of questions. I felt that I made intelligent, informed choices and had no problems.

 

You do not have to be a world traveler to be smart enough to go off on your own excursions.

 

We did not want to be on a tour with a large group; that is why we booked on our own. We also brought a credit card and identification with us, in the unlikely event that something did happen.

 

The bottom line is that you should do what you are comfortable with. Well traveled or not, it is all about making choices that you will be happy with.