Shore excursions

[tacomaguy20]

I'm new to cruising and was wondering about shore excursions. I booked the cruise with a website, not the cruise line directly. Now for the shore excursions, what do you recommend? Should I book with the same website I booked the cruise with, book directly with the cruise line, or use a 3rd party?

 

Also, I was wondering if I was to book through a 3rd party, do I go on the same shore excursion as someone who booked through the cruise line or would I be on a separate shore excursion? For instance, I book through a 3rd party and my friend book through the cruise line. Same shore excursion or different? Thanks in advance.

[Keith1010]

If you book a tour that is offered by the ship then you need to go directly to the cruise lines web site to book the excursion.

 

Of course you can consider booking excursions on your own.

 

If this is your first cruise my recommendation is to book the excisions through the cruise line. You may pay a little more but you will have the comfort of knowing that the excursions will run and that you will not have made any major mistakes.

 

Keith

[Nebr.cruiser]

Keith is right, except that I have seen some online travel agencies that offer ship excursions at some slight discount. I think it would be better to book through the ship, especially for a first-time cruiser.

 

I've never booked the ship excursions through a 3rd party, so I am not positive, but pretty sure they will be the exact same excursion as if you booked with the cruise line.

 

We much prefer independent excursions for quality and price, but there are sometimes reasons to book ship excursions and being a first-time cruiser is one of those reasons. If you are more adventurous, go independent.

[paul929207]

If you do book independently, you will NOT be on the same tour as the people who booked thru the ship.

[DonnaK]

What are your ports? And what do you like to do (beach, adventure, historic)?

 

 

In the Caribbean, I would definitely go with an independent vendor. Go to the ports of call section on Cruise Critic, and select each port. Get a feel for what you want to do and find a tour guide that comes highly recommended. See if others on your roll call are arranging private tours, and maybe you can join them.

 

I would only book with the cruiseline if you wanted to do something that is only offered though them, or if you couldn't find a highly recommended private tour agent. Or, if you wanted to travel far from the ship on an all-day excursion.

 

Otherwise a private vendor offers a less expensive and more personal experience. The highly recommended ones are reliable, and their business depends on them keeping you safe and getting you back to the ship on time.

[Treven]

For my first few cruises I book my excursions strictly through the ship; I was totally paranoid about the excursion getting back to the dock late, and the ship be gone! For my last cruise, to Alaska, I booked two excursions through the ship and two through my TA. Most likely for my next cruise I'll probably book all my excursions through my TA.

[cb at sea]

Really, it depends what you want to do. Some things are totally doable on your own, without paying for an excursion at all! Get a guidebook on your ports, decide what interests you, and THEN decide how to go about it!

[cantw8togo]

Shore excursions can add up quickly, so do your research and prioritize what are "must see" things for you and your party. Start with seeing what is offered through the cruiseline and what is highly recommended on the Ports of Call boards, but you can also do searches of tourism boards for each city or country that you are stopping in to find some interesting things to see and do.

 

Of course you can always just stroll through the various ports and get a sense of each place or hire a taxi to take you on a sight seeing tour. You don't mention where you are going, but many ports, especially in the Caribbean have secure port areas with shopping and bars and are only accessible to the cruise ship passengers. If you go beyond this area, you have to show your sail pass and photo id and often go through a security check point to get back in. Some ports are rougher than others and many passengers don't leave the safety of the port area, but many ports are quite safe and certainly worth checking out.

 

Just plan on being back early so that you don't miss the ship. Be sure to pay attention the time listed on the daily newsletter that you receive in your cabin each day that tells you what time you have to back onboard by; it is generally 30 to 45 minutes before the time that the ship pushes away from the pier. It is an expensive mistake to make as it is your responsibilty to make your way to the next port of call.

[tacomaguy20]

Thanks for all the responses. I have a better idea of what to expect now. By the way I'm going to Key west, grand cayman, and ocho rios. I have found some excursions that look right up my alley. I just don't want to spend a fortune, I want a reputable vendor, and I don't want to miss the boat.

[johneeo]

Thanks for all the responses. I have a better idea of what to expect now. By the way I'm going to Key west, grand cayman, and ocho rios. I have found some excursions that look right up my alley. I just don't want to spend a fortune, I want a reputable vendor, and I don't want to miss the boat.

 

As mentioned, the Ports of Call threads are great for info on booking excursions.

 

If you are in port for the day, consider doing a private excursion that goes for a couple of hours in the morning. Then you have the afternoon to maybe go to a beach for a couple of hours and plenty of time to plan on getting back to the ship.

 

Whatever, the reputable tour companies will definately get you back to the ship, it is their business and reputation at stake.

[DonnaK]

Thanks for all the responses. I have a better idea of what to expect now. By the way I'm going to Key west, grand cayman, and ocho rios. I have found some excursions that look right up my alley. I just don't want to spend a fortune, I want a reputable vendor, and I don't want to miss the boat.

 

In Key West, you can just wander about the port area and see all the highlights without having to take a tour.

 

In Ocho Rios, you definitely want to take a tour, either ship sponsored or with a private guide. It's not really safe to wander about on your own. We've used Marva Shaw and her son Javia, and they are very reliable and come highly recommended on cruise critic. www.knowjamaica.com

 

On Grand Cayman, the highlight for most people is swimming with the stingrays, which you could book through the cruiseline or on your own. There are city tours to Hell and to the Turtle Farm. Or, you could just take a cab to 7 mile beach, or go shopping in the port area too.

 

Ask on your roll call and see what others are doing. Then check the ports of call board for each of these places.

 

As someone else mentioned, been very aware of what time the ship leaves. Wear a watch and keep it set to "ship's time" (which is not always the same as local time), and plan to return to the port area at least an hour before sailaway (we usually come back with two hours or more to spare, just in case).

 

Take the cruise newsletter ashore with you because it has the contact information for the ship's agent in the port, in case you should have an issue or problem while ashore.

[chipmaster]

For port excursion do your reserch as there are many considerations.

 

For a newbie the cruiseline tours are always the easiest and least you have to worry. The cruiseline will drop brochures in your room, offer seminars about the ports and offer many options for almost every avaliable attraction in every port. They will also be priced to make a profit as well. The other thing you need to know about cruiseline tours is they will be mass market affairs where you'll all likely board a bus and do the tour as a rather large group. For some their is comfort in this herd for others it can be view as slow and limiting.

 

If you like to do things at your own pace, between research here, online you can find in many popular stops a healthy side business of local tour guides/business will be in operation. From taxi drivers to fulltime companies with their own independent bus.

 

If you book thru the line there is very low chance you'll be on the same tour as those that book thru the cruise line, There will some notable exceptions if there is a very large vendor or attraction that sells to both. For example large scenic cruises, train rides etc. you'll find both independent and ship tours people on them.

 

What is best is personal, combination of budget, desire and how much effort/research you want to put in. In most ports that I sail now I plan independent or private as I like to plan my on schedule and avoid the big herd tours, YMMV.

 

 

I'm new to cruising and was wondering about shore excursions. I booked the cruise with a website, not the cruise line directly. Now for the shore excursions, what do you recommend? Should I book with the same website I booked the cruise with, book directly with the cruise line, or use a 3rd party?

 

Also, I was wondering if I was to book through a 3rd party, do I go on the same shore excursion as someone who booked through the cruise line or would I be on a separate shore excursion? For instance, I book through a 3rd party and my friend book through the cruise line. Same shore excursion or different? Thanks in advance.

[tacomaguy20]

Thanks again for all the advice. Here's what I'm think so far.. At key west, they have a bar hopping tour (carnival) that takes a couple of hours so I figure I'll be able to hang out and have a few drinks and maybe get to know some folks with me on the cruise. At grand cayman, carnival has a stingray/turtle excursion that has good reviews. But in Ocho Rios, carnival doesn't have what I would like to do which is the dunn falls and the river tubing combo. I'm thinking of a private vendor for that one. I've been reading up on the private vendors and so I think I've found one I'll be comfortable with.