Princess Tour or Do It Yourself?

[Edwy]

Because you have all truly been such a lot of help, I'd like to run this by you. I've read the articles posted on this site, but when is it a good idea to take the cruise line's tour instead of finding one on your own? We are going on a Princess Cruise next summer, visiting ports in Ireland, England, Scotland and France. The advice about how close the sights you want to see are to the boat makes sense, as does the idea of whether you want individual attention, but it seems to be pretty scary to have the possibility that the boat will go off and leave you if you're on a non-cruise line tour that is late! Although, the idea of having to spend an extra day somewhere like Paris doesn't actually sound too bad....:DDo you routinely search for other venues? What about hotels? Do you use the cruise line's package or find one for yourself? As you can see, we have done several Disney Cruises, including actually one to Spain, France and Italy. We used the Disney tours on that junket as we were first timers and they were lovely. I have not been as impressed with Princess and I'm not sure how I feel about booking tours with them. Thanks for the help - yet again! :confused:

[Bonnie J.]

Tours are not actually the ship's tours. They pay private tour leaders for their tours which the ships put together. Then each tour is paid $$$$ for each passenger doing the tour.

Very often you can get the exact same tour for a lot less $$$ with a private tour. Can't remember the last time we apaid for the ship's tour. However we have not cruised in Europe. Only thing is if the ship's tour is late getting back, the ship will wait for the tour before leaving. But private tours make sure you never miss the ship or their business would fail as soon as missing the ship is learned.

Edited December 2, 2016 by Bonnie J.

[Viv0828]

Usually we can do a private tour with one or two other couples for less per person than the ship charges for a bus load of 50+ people.

 

We like the flexibility of doing what we want to do rather than having to do what is preplanned.

 

We have done private tours or DIY'd at 100+ ports and have never even come close to missing the ship!

 

 

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[cb at sea]

If you do your research, you will see how far or difficult the places you'll be visiting ashore are...and can make the call to do a private excursion or thru the ship. Many things are easy to do on your own, too....but a guidebook is really a must for things like that!

 

If you keep your WATCH (not your cell phone!!!) set to the SHIP'S clocks, you will NOT miss the ship. Private tours DEPEND on visitors and will do everything in their power to make sure you're back on time!

 

And just so you know....even ship's excursions CAN 'miss the ship'...the difference is they will get you to the next port, or home (whichever is cheaper) if some delay is so lengthy that the ship can't wait.

[Gwendy]

As other posters have mentioned, research is the key as well as joining your roll call. I tend to do a lot of ports on my own or with other tour operators but if the ship is only in port for a short time or the destination is a long drive eg Berlin or Paris I tend to go with Princess tours, just too much to go wrong.

For example in June there was heavy rain on way to Berlin and traffic chaos so everything took more time.

Also if in a country where I feel unsure of language and culture, I do a ship's tour. I travel on my own a lot.

Do your research, in St Petersburg many passengers found alternate tour companies much cheaper and offered excellent service. Enjoy

[capriccio]

We did the British Isles cruise on Princess in August 2013 and I think we took only one Princess tour (Guernsey) and in two ports (Cobh and Liverpool) we visited a number of sights and museums on our own; in all other ports our excursions were arranged with other cruisers on our roll call. It is a fabulous itinerary and all our private excursions were excellent. Check out your roll call http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=106 to see what folks have already organzied.

[Marseydotes]

As well as the good advic above, look up your ports on Google and Trip Advisor. You will find lots of information about the possibilities awaiting you, the favorite private excursion companies, and the history of each place.

Only you can decide if it is worth the risk of missing the ship, but as one poster said, one missed ship would kill that company--we here on Cruise Critic would be sure of that!

My private excursions have been wonderful. I ask to go where I wish to go, and do not have to be back on the bus "in fifteen minutes." Try one!

[robbinsca]

I can remember being in Naples and getting stuck in traffic due to one of the daily labor strikes there while on a private tour. We were panicked, but the driver got us close enough that we could jump through a hole in the fence, then another van from the company picked us up inside the port area and drove us over to the ship. I will never forget that. The driver said it was their policy that they would take us to the next stop (Rome) if they missed the ship.

 

The reason we made it...... the ship's tour was behind is in the traffic. We love the smaller private tours!

 

 

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