Shore Excursions

[aashee]

Hi all,

 

I am very intrigued with the idea of purchasing shore excursions with private companies before the cruise. I am booked on the Jewel for March 5th going to the Western Carribeen. Our group has 10 people going and buying the excursions from the boat would be rather costly. I have been looking at a website that advertises with CC called shoretrips.com. The cost for these excursions is literally one third of the price of buying them through NCL!

 

My question is if any of you have had experiances with these non-affiliated tour operators and what I should look out for. I'd like to think Shoretrips.com is a credible organization since CC recommends its services.

 

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I do enjoy reading your other posts and many of you are very helpful. I have cruised Carnival, Princess and NCL a few times and I prefer NCL. Thanks again for any suggestions you can offer.

 

Chad

[OCruisers]

Chad .... You can find lots of information on private operators by going to the Ports of Call section and checking under each of your port stops.

 

Everyone seems to have his favorite and loves talking about how much money was saved. :D

 

Have fun planning! Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)

[aashee]

Thanks a ton OC. As you know, every dollar saved on excursions can be used the following year for a better cruise;) .

 

 

Chad

[Host CMLA]

I'd like to think Shoretrips.com is a credible organization since CC recommends its services.

Hi Chad. Welcome to the board. I just wanted to let you know that just because a tour operator buys advertising space on this site, doesn't mean that Cruise Critic endorses them or vouches for their services. I'd like to think that if one of the advertisers on this site mistreats cruisers in any way, maybe the board admnistrator wouldn't sell them ad space but I don't know for sure. So be careful with who you book with. Just because it's on this site, doesn't mean it's the right tour company to use. Also, check out the ports of call board for other tour company recommendations. That way you have more than one option. Let me know if you need help finding the ports of call board. Good luck.

[enjoyscruising]

check cancellation policies. make sure that your excursion starts at LEAST one hour after you're scheduled in a port and ends at LEAST one hour before you're scheduled to return. the ship cannot and most likely will not wait for an excursion that was not booked through its cruiseline. even one hour after and before isn't very long - you might want to make that at least 1.5 hours either way to play it safe.

[aashee]

I truly appreciate all of your input. I am kind of the "mother hen" for this group of 10 (is it possible for a guy to be a mother hen?). The last thing I want to do is have 10 angry friends because the plans backfire.

 

 

This is a great informational website. For all of you newbies please keep this site in your favorites. Your cruise experiance will be greatly enhanced.

 

Chad

[Glamourgal]

I guess the main thing to remember with a group of 10 is that you can't please all of the people all of the time. Maybe you should come up with a couple of different senarios and then let each person decide which one it is they want to select. Group cruises are great as long as you all do what makes you happy. Best of Luck!! Your group is lucky to have you doing the research!! It will make it a much happier and fun cruise.