Do you book non RCI excursions?

[pete1681]

We have started booking excursions based on trip advisor reviews and have never had a problem,the RCI excursions are a little too tame and crowded for us. The ones we have booked outside of RCI have been smaller groups and more real world,like you were doing it on your own. Anyway, just would like to know of others experiences.....Cruise on!

[cb at sea]

We hardly EVER book ANY excursion! We read guidebooks..do our research and do our own thing. In reality, few things require a paid guide

[ColoradoGurl]

I booked a ship excursion...once. RC botched it so badly that I've never gone back. We book private excursions now, and have always had a good experience. Locals rely heavily on providing a good experience so that tourists will be comfortable and put out a good word for their private businesses, whereas the companies booked with the cruise ships seem lackadaisical and unconcerned about losing business because they know the ships are always going to send customers their way whether they provide a good tour or not.

[akcruz]

We book most of our excursions outside of the cruise line. Some ports the excursion we want you can only do through the cruise lines so do book through them, some ports no excursion is required, and the rest we book on our own. No right or wrong answer for everyone or every port. Do your research and you can find what fits you best.

 

 

 

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[shellunderwater]

We only do cruise line excursions if it is a complex trip, like tulum from Cozumel. We've booked a van in the port area and love Cozumel Bar Hop. Never had a problem. We choose our non cruise line trip carefully based on CC info and Trip Advisor.

[preschool teacher]

We always book privately unless we want to do something that is time sensitive.

One our best was a catamaran we went on in Barbados . Many many other great ones too

[OCruisers]

When not booking with the cruise line, we sometimes take a taxi to a beach or resort. :)

[lenquixote66]

We always book directly with the cruise line.The only exception is if there is an overnight stay.

[leaveitallbehind]

We never book cruise line excursions.

[OSUZorba]

We basically never do excursions, but have booked some private ones. My first cruise we did a ship excursion at every port, because I thought that is what you did, and disliked all of them. Since then we have only booked one cruise excursion, which was just a beach outing in Falmouth and was fine, though overpriced.

[MCC retired]

Our recent Norwegian Fjords cruise , 4 ports , we found identical independent tours to RCI in each port for far less than RCI was charging . RCI was really marking these up more than we usually

encounter with other cruise lines . Small markup in understandable but these were close to 40% [emoji53]

[KMagz]

We rarely book through the cruise line. We can usually find better excursions for far less cost than what the cruise line offers. Smaller groups and more personal too.

[jules815]

The only time we would book with the cruise line is if the excursion were lengthy; like to the ruins in Cozumel. I wouldn't risk it. Or most recently, we were on a spring break cruise, and my daughter (21) and her friend wanted to do something in Jamaica. I booked them on a river rafting excursion in Ocho Rios through RC.

[KeywestK]

If time and location make sense for us to do it, we book our excursions with private tour operators. I have used CC and Trip Advisor as my guide. Typically it will cost less, and more often than not it will be a better tour, smaller buses and less people, and an all-around better experience. That said, I know there are people who are not comfortable booking privately, and if that's the case, you gotta do what your comfort level dictates.

[TSC]

in our first couple of cruises we did ship excursions. Now we usually do private ones (if we do an excursion.) We've always had excellent luck with the private ones. Now the only time we do a ship's tour is if we are worried about getting back to the ship in time or if we are in a country that makes us nervous about venturing out alone. (Pretty rare.)

[packercruising]

We are pretty much excursioned out, but have done non-RCI ones. They are usually smaller groups and you have more flexibility. The best way to do this, if you are interested, is to research the ones you want to go on and then get members of your roll call sign sign up. 10-15 people is a nice size group and you get to know your roll call folks better. The good ones will be sure you are back to the ship in plenty of time.

[OCruisers]

The only time we would book with the cruise line is if the excursion were lengthy; like to the ruins in Cozumel. I wouldn't risk it. Or most recently, we were on a spring break cruise, and my daughter (21) and her friend wanted to do something in Jamaica. I booked them on a river rafting excursion in Ocho Rios through RC.

 

Excellent reasons for booking through the ship in certain situations! :D

There are times when booking a ship's excursion is the best choice. :)

Edited June 12, 2016 by OCruisers

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Excellent reasons for booking through the ship in certain situations! :D

 

There are times when booking a ship's excursion is the best choice. :)

 

 

I also find that as a solo traveler, the ship's generally cost less than the private route.

 

The "low advertised price" is always based on something like 6 or 8, and solo is ridiculously expensive.

 

Yes, in theory you could share, but most people sharing want to fill their tour with the max, and throwing a solo in there means one of the other parties has to have an odd number. From what I've seen tends to make for grumpy, whiny people that a solo will make it cost more for everyone.

 

Plus with a ship-based excursion, you know that the itinerary will only change if it absolutely has to. I have had a couple of friends who joined up on private excursions (one as a solo and two as a couple) only to find that the others a) already knew each other very well and b) had decided ahead of time that when they were underway they would ask the driver to please change X to Y and my friends - who booked that tour because it did NOT include Y were stuck.

 

 

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[impatientlywaiting]

The only time we would book with the cruise line is if the excursion were lengthy; like to the ruins in Cozumel. I wouldn't risk it. Or most recently, we were on a spring break cruise, and my daughter (21) and her friend wanted to do something in Jamaica. I booked them on a river rafting excursion in Ocho Rios through RC.

 

We're the same. For example, when we ported for Paris, it was an almost 3 hour bus ride into Paris so we booked the ship's bus - we weren't going to take any chances that we'd miss the ship. Once we were in the city we had our own plans - just used the ship's bus. Most times, we plan our own excursions. We hate the big crowded buses.

[Lazz]

Like some of the previous posters, my answer to you would be "It depends." I prefer booking thru the cruise line because I am paranoid about getting back to the ship on time. However, I will book independently if the ship has an overnight or late departure, or if I read about a good reason to make an independent booking. On St. Kitts, 8 of us struck a deal with guide right off the pier and got a great tour of the island. On the internet, I found a real fun trip on Aruba by a group called Trikes Aruba. They have a small number of vehicles, so you have to book online very early. The tour people told us cruise lines will not use them because of the small number of trikes they have. Half the fun is doing the research before the trip! Have fun.

[tunisbridal]

Never do ship excursions! We use these forums and have never been steered wrong

[packercruising]

I also find that as a solo traveler, the ship's generally cost less than the private route.

 

The "low advertised price" is always based on something like 6 or 8, and solo is ridiculously expensive.

 

Yes, in theory you could share, but most people sharing want to fill their tour with the max, and throwing a solo in there means one of the other parties has to have an odd number. From what I've seen tends to make for grumpy, whiny people that a solo will make it cost more for everyone.

 

Plus with a ship-based excursion, you know that the itinerary will only change if it absolutely has to. I have had a couple of friends who joined up on private excursions (one as a solo and two as a couple) only to find that the others a) already knew each other very well and b) had decided ahead of time that when they were underway they would ask the driver to please change X to Y and my friends - who booked that tour because it did NOT include Y were stuck.

 

 

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This has not been true for us. Generally it has been the ships tours that fill their 40-50 pax bus to the max. If you are lucky, you get on the last bus which might not be completely full. The private ones we have been on have been 10-12, for which they use a 15 pax van. If the group wants to do something a little different, there is the possibility to do that. The tour guides and drivers have been great! Maybe we have just been lucky. First step is to join the CC roll call for your cruise. Then you might be able to get a group together. Being a single cruiser should not be a problem. Half the price and twice the fun!

[bluebeard39]

Our first RCL cruise we did everything from the ship after that we joined CC and our roll calls and did only private tours. 1. it was cheaper 2. we were able to customize the tours as we wanted. Our mediteranian cruise we only did one tour with the ship and that was in Turkey due to some unrest in that country. It is very easy to do things on your own these days due to Google and Trip Advisor. 95% of the time you will save a significant amount of money. We just booked 8 out of 9 tours privately for our Alaskan Journey next month. Travel on and enjoy.

[George C]

We booked cruise ship excursions for decades, but recently stopped after a really bad one on RCCL, in general ships excursions are overcrowded and overpriced. Will book 1 excursion with them are our 9 port Europe vacation coming up, the rest are private tours

[Brigbound]

We have had great success doing our own research and either self guide or find private tours that fit our interests.