Carnival excursions vs going it alone.

[Axxill]

A few friends in our group are thinking of saving some money by trying to do dunns river falls in Ochoa rios on their own. Does anyone know the cost of the falls. And what taxi rides would be to and from the falls from the dock?

 

Also. Are their any benefits or hazards to this

Edited April 12, 2016 by Axxill

[riclop]

A few friends in our group are thinking of saving some money by trying to do dunns river falls in Ochoa rios on their own. Does anyone know the cost of the falls. And what taxi rides would be to and from the falls from the dock?

 

Also. Are their any benefits or hazards to this

 

Benefits you will save $$. Hazards are that if you are late they won't wait for you.

[choirgal23]

Tell them to check with Marvyn Gale tours. We used him in Jamaica and had a great time. He's highly recommended on some travel sites and his prices are much better than the cruise lines! They can customize their trip to their liking!

 

 

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[dolphin2012]

It will save money but I prefer to use the ships tours so I don't have to worry about missing the ship. We have done some trips ourselves but most of the time I just don't want the worry. Its a preference and what works for your family..

[cruzelover55]

When I am researching excursions, it is very apparent that booking outside of Carnival is a HUGE savings. But, as others have said, no guarantee if you are late that the ship won't leave without you. In fact, I have read many reviews about when that indeed happened.:eek: Our previous rule of thumb was, if the excursion is 45 minutes plus, from the port. Do it through Carnival. Especially Jamaica. Now, not an issue as I have not found any excursion worth all the travel time. So, we stick closer to port. Caymans we have had good luck with taking a taxi, just not that far. Some things are just too much travel time and very little excursion time to bother with. The Xplore available from Cozumal, we did from an A.I. and it was wonderful!! From the ship there is so little time you can barely fit 1/8 of the things to do in the time frame. Again, mostly travel.

 

Personally I would not feel comfortable taking any excursion from Jamaica outside of Carnival. Our next cruise will be our 3rd visit and we plan on staying on the ship.

[loxley]

I think a private excursion is not only cheaper, but better. I can not talk you how many times we ended up at the same place as the ship excursion. Or private excursion has already been there some time before they show up. They are gone before we leave. Our 4 person group has one to two guides, there 30 person group has two guides.

 

Of course I use common sense. I don't get too far away from port. Try to have an alternative plan to get back. Know travel time before we leave. Make sure the person knows when we want to be back. And have my own watch on ship time.

 

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[stargate fan]

I think a private excursion is not only cheaper, but better. I can not talk you how many times we ended up at the same place as the ship excursion. Or private excursion has already been there some time before they show up. They are gone before we leave. Our 4 person group has one to two guides, there 30 person group has two guides.

 

Of course I use common sense. I don't get too far away from port. Try to have an alternative plan to get back. Know travel time before we leave. Make sure the person knows when we want to be back. And have my own watch on ship time.

 

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Exactly!

 

We've booked only a handful of cruise line sponsored excursions. All the others have been private tours. We never feared missing the ship because I research and research and make sure the companies we use have excellent reports.

[lizardhowson]

A few friends in our group are thinking of saving some money by trying to do dunns river falls in Ochoa rios on their own. Does anyone know the cost of the falls. And what taxi rides would be to and from the falls from the dock?

 

Also. Are their any benefits or hazards to this

 

My wife & I did this exact excursion on our own some years ago.

The only wrinkle was 2 Jamaican guys jumping on the bus trying to sell all the Americans on the bus "gonga".

[Micahs Grandad]

I think a private excursion is not only cheaper, but better. I can not talk you how many times we ended up at the same place as the ship excursion. Or private excursion has already been there some time before they show up. They are gone before we leave. Our 4 person group has one to two guides, there 30 person group has two guides.

 

Of course I use common sense. I don't get too far away from port. Try to have an alternative plan to get back. Know travel time before we leave. Make sure the person knows when we want to be back. And have my own watch on ship time.

 

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exactly. We plan to be back 2 hours or so before sail time so we have plenty of just in case time

[TerReuv]

I think a private excursion is not only cheaper, but better. I can not talk you how many times we ended up at the same place as the ship excursion. Or private excursion has already been there some time before they show up. They are gone before we leave. Our 4 person group has one to two guides, there 30 person group has two guides.

 

Of course I use common sense. I don't get too far away from port. Try to have an alternative plan to get back. Know travel time before we leave. Make sure the person knows when we want to be back. And have my own watch on ship time.

 

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

Great advice! Our first cruise we only did Carnival excursions. The last two we plan our own. After reading on this board and seeing how much we can save, plus having more personal attention than on a Carnival excursion, we use common sense as Loxley advises.

 

As for going on your own tours in Jamaica, we did and were so very happy. We did not do Dunn's River as my Mom couldn't physically do them, but we found a wonderful rafting trip that was better and cheaper than Carnivals and we hired our taxi for the day, so he waited on us wherever we went.

[beachbum53]

Yes, it is possible to save money by booking an excursion independent of the cruise line. But, if you miss the ship, any money you saved will be a moot point when you have to arrange transportation to either catch up with the ship or fly back home. If we decide to book an independent excursion, we do some research ahead of time on line, and choose a tour operator that has been in business for several years and has been highly rated by their customers. I'd be leery about hopping into a cab and just striking out on my own. It seems kind of risky to me.

[summersigh]

Our personal rule is that if the tour goes far enough out into the country to where there'd be no hope of catching a bus or taxi to get back if our tour transportation broke down - we book with the ship. Otherwise we book independent.

 

The money we'd save on the private "far out" tours isn't worth it to us with the worry of possibly missing the ship if there's a problem.

 

Disclaimer ... we're retired and not quite as adventurous as we once were :D:D

[cruzeluver]

Only do it on your own if you are docked in Ocho Rios as you are not too far away. Docked elsewhere book either with Carnival or a private guide that gets excellent feedback here and on Tripadvisor.

[TerReuv]

Yes, it is possible to save money by booking an excursion independent of the cruise line. But, if you miss the ship, any money you saved will be a moot point when you have to arrange transportation to either catch up with the ship or fly back home. If we decide to book an independent excursion, we do some research ahead of time on line, and choose a tour operator that has been in business for several years and has been highly rated by their customers. I'd be leery about hopping into a cab and just striking out on my own. It seems kind of risky to me.

 

I totally agree with you. Ours was a pre-booked Taxi through a company that was referred by folks here on CC. That way there is no misunderstanding as to how long we have, etc. I also try to plan our return to the ship at least 2 hours early.

[Axxill]

Thanks everyone for your advise. I will pass on the information. Also thanks choirgal23 for the referral.

[evandbob]

Just an add on thought, to be prepared if you book independently, by bringing your passport with you off the ship and having prepaid for travel insurance, which you should probably get anywhere.

 

I think the risk is more about sustaining an injury at the Falls like a broken arm, leg or ankle, and requiring medical attention, which will then cause you to miss the ship. I've climbed the Falls 4 times, and have seen various injuries on each occasion.

Edited April 12, 2016 by evandbob

[jdemps]

We book private tours or just take a cab to where we want to go. It has nothing to do with cost but rather the frustration of herding all those people together for a carnival excursion and then taking a bus somewhere and then waiting for all the people to get off the bus....and on and on. Carnival will list a 2 hour event for more like 4 hours to allow for all that herding..lol

[Micahs Grandad]

We book private tours or just take a cab to where we want to go. It has nothing to do with cost but rather the frustration of herding all those people together for a carnival excursion and then taking a bus somewhere and then waiting for all the people to get off the bus....and on and on. Carnival will list a 2 hour event for more like 4 hours to allow for all that herding..lol

 

Very true. Very frustrating doing a cruise line tour that consists of doing something interesting for an hour and than waiting for 50 people to get on and off a bus and wait for people who think time doesnt matter.

[GOLDENBONNY]

Benefits you will save $$. Hazards are that if you are late they won't wait for you.

 

I am not sure about savings now. Now all local companies charge a lot for excursions its not like 10 years ago. :cool:

[Micahs Grandad]

I am not sure about savings now. Now all local companies charge a lot for excursions its not like 10 years ago. :cool:

 

We are still finding major savings. The best part is for private we are in a van with say 10 people as opposed to a bus with 50.

 

Can see a lot more in a van.

[cmptrwiz]

Try Peat Taylor's tours you won't be disappointed.

[Heirloom]

Keep this in mind, if you'd like.

 

ALL independent suppliers have ZERO relationship with cruiselines. In other words, complaints/problems with them will fall on 100% deaf ears.

 

Other than a quick number of bucks from money-savers that will likely

not return any time soon to their business (in a foreign country), there is

much less of a motivation to get it done right.

 

Some will, some won't. Up to you as to whether or not it's worth taking

such a risk in order to reduce excursion fees. Considering our total

vacation costs, we're not encouraged to go independent ourselves.

[Micahs Grandad]

Keep this in mind, if you'd like.

 

ALL independent suppliers have ZERO relationship with cruiselines. In other words, complaints/problems with them will fall on 100% deaf ears.

 

Other than a quick number of bucks from money-savers that will likely

not return any time soon to their business (in a foreign country), there is

much less of a motivation to get it done right.

 

Some will, some won't. Up to you as to whether or not it's worth taking

such a risk in order to reduce excursion fees. Considering our total

vacation costs, we're not encouraged to go independent ourselves.

 

Your choice of course.

 

However these tour companies depend upon word of mouth. We usually find them via port of call pages or trip advisor based on other peoples experiences.

 

Screw up a few times and their business will be seriously hurting.

 

Over 35 or so cruises our savings are substantial and comparing our tours to ones taken via the cruiselines we believe we have done very well.

[Smart Arsenal Fan]

Get the best of both worlds... book the ship tour, submit a claim for their Best Price Guarantee.

The ship waits for AND you are paying same as independent tour (Actually, less as it is 110% difference back.)

 

We found a Grand Cayman tour for $10.00 less per person, so we received 110% back in an obc. That's a $44.00 obc! :D

[cruzeluver]

We frequently boo with independent tour operators, but only with ones with a history and very positive feedback both here and on Tripadvisor. Its not just about money but also wanting a more personalized experience. Not a fan of being on a tour with 50 plus folks.