Why we should buy Shore Excursions

[MadManOfBethesda]

My aren't you a little condescending ;) Maybe you should consider Cunard, it sounds like you would fit in perfectly.

 

Thats really true and Cunard has so little to be condescending about these days.;)

 

I think the OP's attitude is despicable, but I've got to tell you, this isn't much better. The OP is implying that some HAL passengers are trashy and that they don't meet his standards, but your position is basically the same, but for opposite reasons.

 

Defending HAL by condescendingly putting down the passengers of another cruiseline is as inappropriate as what the OP did.

[world~citizen]

... but your position is basically the same, but for opposite reasons.

 

Rubbish.

 

Smooth sailing to you...

[CowPrincess]

We all enjoy cruising, and that´s why we are members of

Cruise Critic.

To enjoy cruising we need healthy cruiselines. Cruiselines

make money by providing shore excursions to enhance your

enjoyment of your cruise. Yes, they are more expensive, but

they provide stress-free experiences.

Without this income the cruiselines have to look to other areas

to make money. If they don´t make money, you won´t be

enjoying the type of cruising you hate to see them cutting back on.

So on your next cruise, go on a shore excursion, buy the drink of

the day, visit the casino, or play a game of bingo, because if you

don´t, you will be wondering why in the near future, crusing isn´t

what it used to be.

:mad: John C

 

 

Cruising ISN'T what it used to be. Hasn't been for a while. Fares are not keeping up with costs, because many consumers are more "cheapness" oriented than value-oriented. We can now do a 7 day Alaska cruise for less than the same cruise cost in 1999.

[MadManOfBethesda]

Rubbish.

 

Wonderful rebuttal.

 

I would have expected nothing less from such an erudite individual.

[azmar]

I don't like to get into message board arguments. We cruise primarily on HAL and take their tours when we can't arrange private ones. We prefer private tours because we have more control of the itinerary For instance,on a HAL tour two years ago in Jerusalem, we hit some heavy traffic -- so they only spent 20 minutes in the Holocaust Museum -- but were able to spend almost an hour in the overpriced diamond store.

Enough said.

Marcia

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Something that has not been mentioned about buying a shore excursion from a cruise or in the case Holland America is safety. Any tour operator that cruise lines contract with must be fully licensed for their area and carry an extremely large bond as well as insurance. That local tour operator you hired, do you think they have enough insurance to cover if there was an accident or even if they have insurance at all.:confused:

Last year I heard first hand a story of a person that thought they would save a bit of money doing a Float Plane excursion in Alaska, when they got to this float plane, (picked up at the pier via a van they found the pilot to be 16 years old and another girl helping him that was not much older. Plane was owned by their Dad who was no where in sight, they asked if an adult could be the pilot of the plane and they refused, these people lost their money. Trust me there can be lots of horror stories with private tour operators. If you do not know the area or have not fully checked out this tour first hand then you are putting you money and life in someone elses hands.

I have done some private tours but I will say the majority are booked thru the cruise line where I know if there was a problem I have a way of getting help.

[cruisemom42]

It is quite easy to get recommendations and reviews for private tour operators. I wouldn't think of booking one if I hadn't researched them thoroughly. Most will do anything in their power to avoid a bad review, as one bad review will scare off potential customers even if there are 50 positive ones.

 

In general, the private tour operators I've dealt with have been highly professional, licensed, registered by any applicable local authorities, and insured. Of course, I'm talking primarily about tours in places other than the Caribbean or Mexico...

[world~citizen]

Wonderful rebuttal.

 

I would have expected nothing less from such an erudite individual.

 

Then you weren't disappointed.:D

 

Smooth sailing to you...

[world~citizen]

It is quite easy to get recommendations and reviews for private tour operators. I wouldn't think of booking one if I hadn't researched them thoroughly. Most will do anything in their power to avoid a bad review, as one bad review will scare off potential customers even if there are 50 positive ones.

 

In general, the private tour operators I've dealt with have been highly professional, licensed, registered by any applicable local authorities, and insured. Of course, I'm talking primarily about tours in places other than the Caribbean or Mexico...

 

We have had good luck with private tours also - I think cruiselines overstate the potential dangers of them, but they do exist. Research is the key as you say, as well as your comfort level with going independent.

 

We go the independent route about half the time. I certainly understand those who opt for the convenience and security of the ships shorex though.

 

You pays your money and takes your pick.

[3rdGenCunarder]

True that - I've been on ship excursions that weren't much more than bus tours of an island "Look at the resort, Look at the trees, Look at our local drugstore" - Meh...

...but I've been on others that were priceless experiences, such as the Flam Railway in Norway, our day-trip to Loch Ness, the Yukon Railway, bicycling on Bonaire, the Quiruga Ruins and Rio Dulce in Guatemala, snorkeling off Roatan, Castle Alnwick in England, the drive to the top of Mauna Loa on Hawaii...

 

Then there have been non-ship excurions that have been amazing as well - such as boating around to the French side of St Maartin, and another boat trip to Jost Van Dijk off Tortola...

...and sometimes you just want to do your own thing, like we do in Alaska when we go to Juneau, Ketchikan or Sitka where you can just walk around and see everything yourself or where we took the local water-taxi in Oslo to the other side of town to go see the Viking and Kon-Tiki museums, or walking & shopping in Copenhagen and watching the changing of the guard at Amalienborg Palace, or having a friend drive us to see Pearl Harbor, Iolani Palace and Waikiki in Honolulu.

 

IMO - This isn't an All-or-None issue.

It's about balance: Knowing where you're going, what you want to experience and how you feel best to achieve it.

 

I agree. I do a lot of research before a trip. We get an idea of what we want to see. If it's all in the port city, we will spend the day on our own, walking, using local busses. I guess about half the ports we've been to we've done our own sightseeing.

 

if any distance is involved, we'll likely book a ship's tour. We've taken a few all-day tours (ships' tours) where we probably would not have been able to see as much on our own as we did with the tour. We do read the tour descriptions carefully, and we've learned to recognize when sites are being hyped. (For example, an "historic" fort in the Caribbean was a ruin with one or two cases of "artifacts.")

 

I guess I've been lucky. When I was able to price things on my own, I've found that the cost from the ship and the cost from the tour/attraction operator was about the same--often plus/minus $10 or less. The ones that come to mind were mostly on Cunard, so maybe HAL marks things up more. (And no, I am not trying to be condescending :rolleyes: )

 

I've also been lucky with guides. We've had many fantastic guides, and only a few not so good. We've been lucky with other passengers on the tour. I can't recall ever having to wait more than 5 minutes past "be back time." And in all my trips, only one crying kid. But the many pleasant people we've met make up for the kid.

[3rdGenCunarder]

<snip>

 

At another stop, there is a great rail based excursion option. In this case, going with the ship locks us in to a specific time, while there are many departures to choose from. In this instance, there is also a huge cost difference. See this copied from our tour posting on our roll call:

 

"Then the Flamsbana Railway. See http://www.flaamsbana.no/eng/ . There are many options but I am looking at the 14:45 departure, planning an 80 minute stop at the top to explore, and returning on the 17:15 return arriving back in Flam at 18:10. Round trip cost for the train is 360 NOK / person (about $63). Of course, the railway journey can be booked through HAL for $145/person, and they throw in Coffee/Tea and waffles at the Hotel on the mountain."

 

<snip>.

 

Go online and see if you can buy your tickets in advance. Your ship (or another if there are two in port that day) might buy out the whole train at the time of your choice (I've read that this sometimes happens). One of the risks of going on your own is that you might be shut out because of the number of people going on the ship's tour. One of the rewards of going on your own is being somewhere when the tours aren't there.

 

OT, but a bit of advice about Flaam--make time to go to the little museum about the construction of the train line.

[kazu]

It is quite easy to get recommendations and reviews for private tour operators. I wouldn't think of booking one if I hadn't researched them thoroughly. Most will do anything in their power to avoid a bad review, as one bad review will scare off potential customers even if there are 50 positive ones.

 

In general, the private tour operators I've dealt with have been highly professional, licensed, registered by any applicable local authorities, and insured. Of course, I'm talking primarily about tours in places other than the Caribbean or Mexico...

 

very well said - and I agree 100%:)

[Ine]

Doesnot each and everyone make the decision himself what class to fly, what cruise to book, what to spend on board, what excursions to make or not?

I am sure cruiselines know what to expect depending the itinary.

 

Most touroperators that you can book individual will have various insurances (although to be sure you can check this before), In many countries there are regulations before one can be called a guide (courses in languages, history, etc.). But the ever populair cabdrivers in most countries often donot need to follow those rules.

[world~citizen]

...But the ever populair cabdrivers in most countries often donot need to follow those rules.

 

Thats for sure.

 

We took a cab tour in Alexandria. We got a flat tire on the way back to the ship, and they ended up having to replace two. As far as I could tell, the replacements were not much better than the flats.

 

Still, he took us places a bit off the beaten track, and to the specific places we wanted to go where he seemed to know all the staff which got us in behind some otherwise closed doors.

 

Its the stuff that good memories are made of.

 

Smooth sailing...

[Bippie]

I too am all for conducting research and making a smart decision based on all factors.

 

For example, thanks to CC I discovered I could book a group on the Flaam railway in Norway. This appeared to have very little risk. The railway station is just steps from the cruise ship. We were booked on the same train as the ship's excursions. However, we paid less than half per person than the cruise line charged. In our rail car, we only filled about half the seats so everyone could be comfortable and see scenery on both sides. During the brief stops, we could easily get on and off. When I talked to cruisers who took the ship's shore excursion, they talked about how overcrowded their rail cars were and how difficult it was to see something if it was on the other side of the train - usually the windows were mobbed with those taking photos. These folks were on the same train we were on.

 

In the end, I traded a few emails and the fact we had to purchase our tickets at the Flaam rail station for a cost savings and a much more pleasant experience. There was no downside to this - we couldn't be left behind because we were on the same train as the ship's excursions.

 

On a Baltic cruise, we booked a private tour of St. Petersburg. On the tour we saw many more sites in two days that the HAL excursions. In fact, after CC research we only used HAL for one excursion (Stockholm) on that cruise.

 

Occasionally I will select a HAL excursion when it makes sense. They make an offer and I choose whether or not to accept that offer. When making that decision, I never choose the ship's excursion just to ensure they make a few extra dollars. As someone else said earlier in the postings, that's their job. Based on the crowds I see on HAL's shore excursions, there appears to be plenty of cruisers who are helping them make money on these excursions. I'm not always one of those cruisers.

[tip]

Occasionally I will select a HAL excursion when it makes sense. They make an offer and I choose whether or not to accept that offer. When making that decision, I never choose the ship's excursion just to ensure they make a few extra dollars. As someone else said earlier in the postings, that's their job. Based on the crowds I see on HAL's shore excursions, there appears to be plenty of cruisers who are helping them make money on these excursions. I'm not always one of those cruisers.

 

Nor am I!;)