Use excursions on Norwegian Escape for the Caribbean?

[pal]

:D

 

I am a rookie cruiser and wondering if the excursions on the ship are worth it?

[easyboy]

We usally choose ship excursions when time in port are too tight making it uncertain to return to ship on all-aboared time. Worth it since we just had to enjoy the excursion. Other than that, we normally take private tours or do a DIY in the Caribbean.

 

 

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[billybob57]

Save money and book a tour when you get off the ship, I only book a ship tour if I am traveling hours away from port and don't want to risk missing the ship

 

 

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[Shayhooper]

Cruise ship excursions will be more expensive and more crowded but for a rookie cruiser, I do recommend them. Once you have some experience and are familiar with how shore time works, start looking for independent vendors.

[sanger727]

I like to browse the excursions just to get an idea of what I would like to do. Then once I decide what I want to do I search the ports of call board on cruisecritic and TripAdvisor to find a specific tour company to use or whether to DIY. If I want to do an excursion that involves a lot of logistics (like a ferry ride and a long bus ride) or a tour that takes most of the time in port (like a 7 hour tour in an 8 hour stop) I book a ship excursion.

 

It really comes down to what it is you want to do. If you are looking to go to a beach you are almost always better off taking a taxi. If you want a local tour on the island you are on; you'll find cheaper and better tours booking locally.

 

But if you are on Cozumel and want to do something on mainland Mexico or on st thomas and want to go to tortola; you'll feel much less stress if you book through the ship.

 

 

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[snownow]

Both... where are you going? We have booked on board 75% of the time up until this trip. This trip (western) we are 100% not booking on board. It seemed to work out that other vendors had better options this time around.

[OneWord]

We usally choose ship excursions when time in port are too tight making it uncertain to return to ship on all-aboared time. Worth it since we just had to enjoy the excursion. Other than that, we normally take private tours or do a DIY in the Caribbean.

 

 

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This:D

[redmomof4]

Save money and book a tour when you get off the ship, I only book a ship tour if I am traveling hours away from port and don't want to risk missing the ship

 

 

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Do you find availability when walking off the ship?

 

 

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[VideoTech]

:D

 

I am a rookie cruiser and wondering if the excursions on the ship are worth it?

 

If you are a rookie cruiser, then ship's excursions are worth it (worth the extra cost) for your peace of mind. If you book an excursion through the ship, and for some (very unusual) reason the excursion is late returning, the ship will wait for you. If you book on your own, the ship will not wait.

 

That being said, you can almost always get the exact same excursions through the websites of the excursion operators, for less cost. Or you can just book out on the pier. The issue of excursions being late back to the ship is not a huge problem. These excursion operators depend on the cruise ship business, and none of them will stay in business long if they get a bad reputation, such as for being late back to the ship.

 

So use the ship's excursions, as has been suggested, to get familiar with the islands and the things you might want to do. If you go back on another cruise, you can book on your own.

[negn]

If you are interested in beaches, do not book from ship. St Thomas you can go to Meagan Bay by catching the tram just off the pier, Tortola catch a taxi to Crane Bay Beach. We are in Nassau a short time so I would avoid Atlantis.

[cb at sea]

Depends what you want to do in each place....do you know that yet? Have you researched your ports? Most things are quite easy to DIY...but you do need to know about each place you're visiting!

Beaches are easy DIY days....as is shopping or just wandering about. The more you know in advance, the better time you'll have. If you are interested in something OTHER than beaches, then read a guidebook...libraries have them...find out what is there that interests you!

[dbail4]

I would stay with ship excursions for your first cruise. If your adventurous use trip advisor for your research on the islands. I also agree that looking at the ship excursions will give you an idea of the prices and the exciting places to see. We always book with the island tours now but make certain they are to be trusted. Ask or research on this site for reviews of the local tour companies.