Excursions through NCL VS Booking them yourself

[HLWCruze]

My disclaimer....This will be our first cruise!!! Please be patient with me! I have noticed that some of the excursions that we were looking at through NCL are twice as expensive as booking them ourselves. Is there something in writing that says WE HAVE TO book excursions through NCL? We are cruising on the Dawn in April 2013 and I know we have a long time to wait, but we want to get the best price for our excersions, but also at the same time, we want to be safe when off the ship. We are cruising through the Western Carribean with ports in Roatan, Belize, Costa Maya, and Cozumel. For example, we found a place that does Cave Tubing and and ATV Jungle Tours in Belize for HALF the price of what NCL has the excursion booked for. It is NOT the same exact place, but I read all the reviews on all the sites I could find and they are mostly all 5 star.

Do most of you book your own excursions or just book them through NCL?

Thanks so much for any comments!!

PS Anyone been to Anthony's Key for the Dolphin/snorkel swim? We want to take our 8 year old and that one seems like the best (it is bookable through NCL).

[disfan13]

There is thing stating that you have to buy your excursions through the cruise line, please do your research!!!

 

If by chance the tour operator breaks down on your way back to the ship, and you miss the ship. You will spend a lot more on catching up to the ship than what you saved on the excursion.. If the ship sponsored tour operator breaks down or is late, the ship will wait for you. There are other reasons to book Hugh the ship.

 

On the other hand there are many reputable companies where you can save money. I'm the one that is always very cautious.. I would usually book thru the ship. On that note I will be in Bermuda for three days and will be booking some through shore trips.

[genealogyfan]

these private companies have to maintain a good reputation and won't have one if their clients miss the ship all the time.

 

Definitely research on this board for good recommendations of private excursions and don't go through the cruise lines. why pay alot more - alot of times you get a lot more with the private excursions.

 

So glad we did that on our cruise to Hawaii - for example we booked a private excursion for a luau on Kauai - the shuttle that picked us up on the cruise only had about 12 people (the luau looked packed) - compared to the cruise one which had probably 4 or 5 large buses - and I heard the cruise excursion luau didn't sound as good as ours.

 

Yes definitely avoid the cruise line excursions unless there is something you really like.

 

Just make sure you leave plenty of time to get back - most excursions will pick you up at the dock or near - as they cater alot for the cruise ship passengers

 

Just search or post questions on the specific island for recommendations of excursion companies and you'll do fine

[MeHeartCruising]

Welcome to cruising and Cruise Critic. You will find people all over the map for this topic. Some people rely exclusively on the ship's excursions. Some will not use them at all (often due to price and/or the fact that they typically involve large groups of passengers (often a full bus load)). Some people do a mixture of the two. One of the primary advantages of purchasing a ship excursion is that they are convenient to sign up for without doing a lot of planning/research. A second major advantage is that the cruise line will not leave port until all of it's own excursion customers are back on the ship accounted for. This is NOT the case if you arrange your own excursion and happen to have a flat tire and you miss the ship's departure time by 15 minutes. That's the primary risk of making your own arrangements. Many, Many people still book their own, but you must weight this slight possibility when you make that call. Private companies would not get much business if they develop a reputation of having their customers miss the ship, so it doesn't happen very often. But it is a possibility. Do a lot of reading on your ports on here. Personally, I some times do ship excursions and I some times arrange my own with a company and some times I do it all myself using mass transit/taxi/walking/etc. I would not book anything right away. Spend time reading about your options and then make that decision when you're comfortable. Most certainly you DO NOT have to book thru the ship unless you prefer to do that.

[sdmike]

This question has been asked many times on here. For lots of opinions on the topic do some searching.

 

There really are two points of view. Those that choose to do the ship excursions like the convenience and the fact they are "guaranteed" to be back on the ship before it leaves. If you're running late, they'll wait for you in nearly all cases.

 

Going with a private operator adds SOME risk, but not a lot. Most operators in port cities know the ship schedules and are VERY used to managing to them without problem. However, the ship won't wait if you're late in most cases. You can also find tour operators that guarantee you'll be back to the ship in time or they'll pay to fly you to your next port. I just had this with Northern Lights Charters.

 

The riskiest are self-led trips, but if you do the proper planning (make sure you are on ship time and know when you're supposed to be back are good starts) your risk is small too.

 

You can also reduce risk by giving yourself a lot of time. In Ketchikan our ship left at 5. We were done our fishing trip by noon.

 

Personally, I do mostly private trips, with ship trips or self-guided coming in a distant second. In Juneau I rented a mini-van for $80 and put 7 family members in it, drove out to Mendenhall Glacier and the fish hatchery, and was back by noon for a 1:00 departure. That same excursion offered by the ship would have cost us nearly $1,000 for the 7 of us.

[cruiseat50]

Since you are new to CC and in case you haven't found it yet you should look for the Ports of Call (scroll down on the Boards page until you see it) or here is a link. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=5 then find the ports you are looking for. There will be lots of companies that are recommended on there that have good reputations. Personally I think the people that you see on most videos on youtube that are running trying to get the ship to wait are people not on any excursion at all. They probably were busy shopping or drinking and not paying attention to the time. If it was an excursion there would probably be more running.

 

Welcome to CC and the cruising addiction. :D

 

P.S. In case this isn't a topic that has enough of a definite line drawn for those that do or do not like going through private companies... I will add this... Whenever we leave the ship we take our passports with us because if there ever is a situation where we don't make it to the ship on time (could be accident, etc...) (whether on a private or NCL excursion) If you need to catch a flight to get to the next port you will not be able to do so without your passports. There... I've stirred the pot just a little more.

[sdmike]

P.S. In case this isn't a topic that has enough of a definite line drawn for those that do or do not like going through private companies... I will add this... Whenever we leave the ship we take our passports with us because if there ever is a situation where we don't make it to the ship on time (could be accident, etc...) (whether on a private or NCL excursion) If you need to catch a flight to get to the next port you will not be able to do so without your passports. There... I've stirred the pot just a little more.

 

Agreed, except I think you can fly on a driver's license between US ports, like cities in Alaska... but I'm just splitting hairs :)

[cruiseat50]

Agreed, except I think you can fly on a driver's license between US ports, like cities in Alaska... but I'm just splitting hairs :)

 

Yes, that is nice. I was just on the phone with my niece and she was saying that she was going to get passports for her and her family for our cruise next year. Then a little later I told her at some point she will have to go into NCL and fill out her information and the light didn't even flicker until then that we don't need to bring our passports since it will be a Hawaiian cruise but I wonder if NCL wants that info. anyway. I will have to check that out.

[garycarla]

1 - Visit the ROLL CALL for your cruise. Tours are often a big discussion.

 

2 - Visit the PORTS OF CALL to learn more about your ports.

 

3 - You do not have to take NCL tours.

 

4 - The "missing the ship" thing is way over-stated. The few people that miss the ship are usually within walking distance and drink or shop too much.

[Warmer Climes]

I carefully research excursions- both ship and private- and usually take private excursions unless it's a very long excursion, such as to Lamanai in Belize.

 

You shouldn't assume that ship excursions will be better quality than private excursions. You mentioned cave tubing in Belize. When we did this excursion with a private operator, the ship excursion we saw had a ton of people and seemed in every way worse than the excursion we were on. And it cost double. The cruise line contracts with private operators, and the one time I complained about a TERRIBLE ship excursion (deep sea fishing in Costa Maya, $150 pp) I got a small percentage back from NCL.

 

I have also had outstanding ship excursions: Lamanai and Maya Key in Roatan come to mind. Just read as many reviews as you can on the Ports of Call boards.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

Barb

[HokiePoq]

To me it depends on the port and the operator. In a "risky" seeming port, I take the ship's excursions to be sure. We've had great experiences with private operators found through roll calls and through research on CC and Trip Advisor. As the others have said, research each one before booking and have a great trip!

[HLWCruze]

Thanks for all the replies and opinions. I have been researching very thoroughly and I think we will enjoy the private excursions the most. I just don't want to miss the boat!! :eek:

[jimlouisesophie]

When you book an excursion with the cruise line before embarking, does that amount get charged to your account, or do you pay upfront.

[Twelvevman]

We are cruising on the Dawn in April 2013 and I know we have a long time to wait, but we want to get the best price for our excersions, but also at the same time, we want to be safe when off the ship. We are cruising through the Western Carribean with ports in Roatan, Belize, Costa Maya, and Cozumel. For example, we found a place that does Cave Tubing and and ATV Jungle Tours in Belize for HALF the price of what NCL has the excursion booked for.

 

We are doing this cruise in November. I hae already booked Victorr Bodden for a private tour in Roatan, Viv Tours for cave tubing in Belize and Maya Chan for an all inclusive beach day in Costa Maya. The prices were much cheaper than anything I could have gotten thru the ship tours Plus they will be smaller groups or private tours. I fully reccomend researching through the ports of call boards, thru the roll calls for your trip and on other trip advisor type websites for reviews.

[khaide612]

If you book a private tour find out their cancellation policy. I have been on several cruises where we skipped a port due to weather conditions. The people who booked private excursions were at the shore excursion desk trying to get refunds - how can the cruiseline refund them for something they don't control? I wasn't charged for the excursion I booked through NCL when we skipped Florida once but that was before the prepayment of excursions - I don't know how they handle it now - refund vs. onboard credit.

[pcreek]

Up until our last cruise, we didn't have a definite preference of cruise line or private tours. We mostly did lean more toward the cruise line - just because it was easy!

 

NOW, we will always ONLY book with the cruise line. My DH suffered a broken leg during a ship's excursion (on a beach, in Jamaica of all places!)

All the medical costs back onboard were covered - because it was a ship sponsored excursion.

 

If we had gone private - we 'could' have missed getting back to the ship on time - add to it all the private medical expenses, of being in Jamaica, etc. I don't even want to think about how much that could have cost!

 

You just never know what will happen. The extra $$ to go with the ship is definitely worth it to us! :rolleyes:

[Lou33]

We haven't done a ship's excursion in years. The big, and as far as I can see, only advantage of booking through NCL is that the ship will wait for you if you are late. But the private tour companies understand how important it is to get you back to the ship on time. Medical problems are not an issue for us because we are covered by our health provider from work, and we often buy supplemental travel insurance with additional medical coverage.

 

With a private tour, not only is it much cheaper, but often the groups are much smaller. You might be in an 8 person van vs. a huge bus with 60 people. With the smaller groups the tour guide can get you around very quickly, and you are able to see more. Sometimes there is a nice vista point, and a van can pull over for 3 minutes and quickly let you in and out to take photos. There is no way you can do that with a bus full of people. And the ships tour always seems to have a last stop at some cheesy souvenir place, and you are basically held hostage there for an hour while they hope you will spend money there. The shopping place is chosen because they pay big fees to the cruiseline to take you there.

 

Remember that you don't have to book any tour, NCL or private, at every port. Some of our best times were "free" activities. At Cozumel, we take a taxi to beach area and go snorkeling for "free" with no schedules and no cruise crowds. At some ports we simply rent a bicycle and ride around on our own.