Excursions

[yamatonadeshiko]

Every cruise ship sells excursions at the ports of call, but they are very expensive. The cruise ship company says we should buy from the ship because they guarantee our excursion. For example, if we couldn't come back to the ship on time because of some excursion trip delay, they will get us back to the ship at their expense. There are many similar excursions offered at the ports that are not sold from the cruise ship for much less money. I wonder how many people feel fine about buying excursions from the local tour groups at the ports of call. We are thinking of going on the Glacier Point Wilderness Safari in Skagway.

[Treven]

My personal opinion is while the ship sponsored excursions are more expensive than the private ones you can buy on the pier, ship's excursions guarantee that should your excursion return late, the ship will be waiting for your tour's return. If the ship can't wait any longer, they will get you to the next stop of the itenerary - at no cost to you. If you are on a personal excursion and are late returning, you can stand on the pier and wave as your ship pulls away from the pier.

[Shmoo here]

Every cruise ship sells excursions at the ports of call, but they are very expensive. The cruise ship company says we should buy from the ship because they guarantee our excursion. For example, if we couldn't come back to the ship on time because of some excursion trip delay, they will get us back to the ship at their expense. There are many similar excursions offered at the ports that are not sold from the cruise ship for much less money. I wonder how many people feel fine about buying excursions from the local tour groups at the ports of call. We are thinking of going on the Glacier Point Wilderness Safari in Skagway.

 

It just depends on your risk comfort level. For the most part, private excursion companies (particularly the ones who have been in business for a number of years) are not going to jeopardize a good reputation by taking a chance on you missing the ship. It's not good for their business.

 

But, on the off chance that you do miss the ship, and are on a private excursion, as noted, it's on you to somehow meet back up with the ship (either the next port or the debarkation port).

[SPacificbound]

We enjoy booking private tours with other passengers on our roll calls, or sometimes we book a private tour just for us.

 

We understand it is our responsibility to be back on time. We have gone on ship's tours, but we enjoy the smaller tours better.

 

It's whatever you are more comfortable doing.

[dioxide45]

Thousands of people take private tours in the ports of call and very few miss the ship because of them. These tour operators know that their livelihood is dependent upon happy guests that don't miss the ship. If they have a tour that misses the ship, they will get bad reviews and bad reviews and missed ships will ruin their reputation and thus their livelihood.

 

You should be fine. Some tour operators even offer ship like guaranties that they will pay your way to the next port if you miss the ship because their tour is late getting back.

 

I also find that a lot of private tours leave lots of time to return. They don't cut it close like some of the ship tours do and return to port pretty early. That may mean you have a little less time exploring what you took the tour for.

 

We are doing an Uxmal tour in Progreso this fall. The private tour is only 5.5 hours long where the Carnival offered tour is 6.5 hours. So the private tour is making sure they get the guests back, but that also means they cut the time at the ruins short or they skip a shopping or lunch stop.

 

I would have no concerns booking a private tour in a port with a well established operator.

Edited August 29, 2015 by dioxide45

[wassup4565]

 

We are doing an Uxmal tour in Progreso this fall. The private tour is only 5.5 hours long where the Carnival offered tour is 6.5 hours. So the private tour is making sure they get the guests back, but that also means they cut the time at the ruins short or they skip a shopping or lunch stop.

 

I would have no concerns booking a private tour in a port with a well established operator.

Yes, but to add, the ship's tours usually pack a giant bus with 50 or 60 people, and every time the bus stops, it takes a looong time to get those 50 or 60 people on and off the bus. A private tour is usually in a much smaller vehicle. So I'm guessing that extra hour is eaten up by loading and unloading.

 

Never had a bad experience with a private tour operator. They know their business reputation depends on good service. Usually at about half the price of the ship's tour.

[leaveitallbehind]

Haven't booked a cruise sponsored excursion in 20 years. We always find something to do on our own from renting a car, taking a cab to a planned destination, booking specific activities privately, or just wandering around the port on our own. Often we will stay on board for a quiet day in certain ports or ones we have been to several times previously. And if you book a private tour, most privately arranged tour operators or transporters are very responsible and know well when to get you back. They would soon be out of business with a bad reputation otherwise.

 

The risks of a delay returning to port are always there but if you manage your time carefully and understand ship time relative to port time and when you have to be back on ship, as long as you allow enough margin for error you will be fine. Never say never I guess, but to date in over 20 years of cruising we have never had an issue getting back to the dock on time or have missed a ship.

[Keith1010]

There is not one simple answer for this when we look at excursions.

 

Sometimes we go private, other times on our own with no formal excursion and other times with a ships excursion. There are many factors that we consider from cost to overall excursion.

 

If we know that getting back to the ship will be tight than we do give priority to a ships excursions.

 

Keith

[John Bull]

Ships use those scare tactics in order to sell their own excursions.

 

This is a subject which frequently appears on Cruise Critic, and I have never ever seen any mention of anyone on a private tour missing their sailing - it would wreck the operator's reputation. And let's face it, if a tour operator got anyone back to the ship too late they'd seek out websites like Cruise Critic to let the whole world know.

Yes, I'm sure it's happened somewhere sometime - but the prospects are so slim as to be worth discounting.

 

Those who miss their sailing are folk who go off & do their own thing and mis-judge how long it takes to get back, screw up what time they're supposed to be back (sometimes confusion between ship's time & local time, so watch out for that), don't allow a margin for delays, etc. Alcohol often plays a part.

We usually do our own thing without any sort of organised tour - no problem if you use common sense and allow some leeway. For instance, visiting a number of places we start with the furthest & work our way back to the sights nearest to the ship - so if we're delayed anywhere we simply skip the sights near the ship.

 

That said - like Keith, on very rare occasions we've chosen ship's tours for sights that are several hours from the ship. Never been to Alaska, so can't comment on specifics about Skagway.

 

JB :)

[Floridiana]

I wonder how many people feel fine about buying excursions from the local tour groups at the ports of call. We are thinking of going on the Glacier Point Wilderness Safari in Skagway.

 

We have taken ship's excursions, bought tours on the pier and done our own thing sometimes on foot, sometimes with public transportation. It depends on the distance from port, our familiarity with the language and also with the country.

 

Have you checked the Alaska section of cruise critic to learn more about the excursion you would like to take?

[paul929207]

We almost never take the ship tours. To many people crammed into a big bus. Too many waits for the people who can't tell time and are always stretching the allocated time.

 

If a private tour is 5.5 hours and the ship one is an hour longer, you will probably see more, not less, on the private one.

[cb at sea]

Researching your ports is crucial to making this decision....you need to know something about where you're going....distances, transportation, traffic, etc.... If you know those things, and you know that you're close enough, or have other means of getting back to the ship, there is absolutely no reason to book anything thru the ship.

 

Private tours would go out of business if they were in the habit of allowing their guests to miss the ship.. The risk of using a private company is very low.

[Viv0828]

We have never taken a ship's tour and only rarely a private tour.

 

We almost always do our own thing and hire a cab at the port or take public transportation. This does require some research beforehand as we do make plans for what we want to see.

 

We have never even come close to missing the ship. However, we have done a lot of traveling and speak a smattering of several foreign languages. We have seen some unique things that folks on big tours will never see.

Edited August 29, 2015 by Viv0828