First time cruiser:) NCL excursion vs booked on our own

[Californiamom72]

A friend said we should book our excursions on our own, and I've found some great deals with reputable companies that are sometimes $50-75 cheaper per person than the ones NCL is offering. Should I be wary of non cruise companies? NCL makes it feel like the other companies will make us late. We are cruising on the Pearl 6/18- 25. This is our first ever cruise and are unsure, but don't want to get stranded, yet, we are trying to save $$. Thanks for any and all advice!!

[NLH Arizona]

If you feel comfortable with the company, then book with them.

[Kamloops50]

For first time cruise I usually recommend ships tours. Once you've been to port, the next you can get a private.

 

 

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[hawk/hornfan]

Both posters above make good points.

 

My rule of thumb is if the excursions stays relativity close to port and will finish way before departure time, I book independent excursions. However, if I am traveling a few hours away and return is close to depart time I go with the ships excursion.

Edited June 10, 2017 by hawk/hornfan

[BirdTravels]

Sometimes you get what you pay for.

 

Or

 

If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

[Californiamom72]

Thank you so much. In many cases, it appears that the excursion is the EXACT same excursion as the one NCL is offering.....just less expensive. But, I think in Ketchikan, I will book a NCL excursion since we have such little time in port, but in Skagway, we have all day so it doesn't seem like it will be a problem to return in time.

[hawk/hornfan]

You will find that many of the ships excursions are booked through the same independent operators.

The majority of reliable operators are well aware of departure times for ships. Their lively hood depends on giving reliable customer service.

 

Have fun Alaska is beautiful. We did ours 6 years ago on HAL 10 day land and cruise.

[Shayhooper]

We haven't booked a cruise ship sponsored excursion in years. Especially in Alaska prices are high and everyone speaks English, I wouldn't hesitate to book independent excursions. Just check yelp and trip adviser reviews before booking.

[cb at sea]

We almost never do ship excursions (or ANY excursions!)..we research our ports, decide what we want to do, and a guidebook gives you the info you need to DIY! The Caribbean is quite easy to DIY...but you do need to know something about your ports!

[AKR2011]

Just make sure to give yourself at least 1 hour to get back to the ship after a tour in case there are mechanical issues, traffic, etc. The boat will wait for cruise sponsored excursions, but not private ones. That being said, I have only booked a couple excursions through NCL. I always book privately and even book in port where the prices are even cheaper. Sometimes it's also fun to rent a car and do it on your own for a fraction of what the companies charge.

[garycarla]

Sometimes you get what you pay for.

 

Or

 

If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

 

Can not agree with this at all.

 

Ship tours are almost always more expensive. The almost always involve larger groups. They almost alway require you to arrive earlier than needed and include more people that can not stay on time.

 

Private tours are usually smaller groups. Usually less money. Usually more fun.

 

Getting back on time? If there is traffic, all tours get caught up in the same traffic, etc.

[easyboy]

We book private excursions if the time to get back to the ship is 2 hours before all-aboard time, more often morning tours when ship is whole day in port. For repeat port visits, we do DIY.

 

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[ctnurse]

We are going on our 5th cruise next month and we have never done a ship excursion.

 

I always read TA reviews and look on CC for recommendations, email the tour guide, and decide who I want to book with. Every tour I have ever taken make sure they will have you back before the shop sails. ( A bad review or not getting you back one time would kill their business.)

 

I also feel that you can see so much more on a private, or smaller tour. You don't have to wait for 40+ people to use the bathroom or get on the bus.

[ozscotart]

I think you have to weigh up the risks (usually quite low) of not returning to the ship in time, we have seen people left behind, compared to the savings. I think the person who suggested that if you aren't going too far from the ship, e.g. in a port with shuttle and nearby town you are walking around yourself, or taking a short taxi ride, compared with an excursion of some hours, where the bus/car might break down and need towed, another vehicle brought, this can happen and can take some time in sparsely populated areas. We tend to use ship excursions for the latter but I know that there are many reliable companies offering less expensive alternatives.

 

 

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[CruiseMH]

I would suggest to do private tours instead of ship excursions.

Usually there are not so many tour operators offering excursions in the ports,so the cruise line will use the same companies as you will.The only difference is that the cruise line wants to earn some money with excursions.Thats the difference in the price they are offewring.

My whole family is going on cruises every year,so i know about dozens of private tours and i NEVER heard that anybody was left behind because arriving too late at the port with a private company.

They will do their best to bring you to the ship in time.Otherwhise they would loose their business sooner or later.

[sanger727]

I usually book independently and have found that independent excursions are both cheaper and better. I've never felt like there was any danger of being late while on a non-ship excursion. The only time I would do the ship excursion is if you the excursion takes up almost the whole time in port (like a 7 hour excursion during 8 hours in port) or if there is a very long and elaborate travel time (like doing ruins in Mexico from Cozumel where you need a ferry and a 2 hour bus ride).

 

Companies that sell shore excursions base their reputation on getting you back on time. And every time we've done an independent tour and ran into the ships tour in port we were so glad we weren't on the ships tour. Huge groups, very few guides, and a lot of hurry up and wait while waiting for people to catch up.

 

 

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[PorkChopKid]

Both posters above make good points.

My rule of thumb is if the excursions stays relativity close to port and will finish way before departure time, I book independent excursions. However, if I am traveling a few hours away and return is close to depart time I go with the ships excursion.

We totally agree with your "rule of thumb".... we'll do independent excursions if the scheduled return time is a couple hours before all-aboard time. A couple 7 hour excursions booked via the ship come to mind. In both cases we returned at sail-away time and they were obviously waiting for us. Whew, were we glad we went with the ship excursion!

One other thing I would add for the OP is to join the Roll Call for your specific cruise. We've been on many private excursions arranged by someone in the Roll Call. At the very least, individuals on the Roll Call will have experiences to share....

[lumpkin8]

Hi, my vote would be for ship's tour if not close to the port. We were on a tour in Nassau, thru the ship, and the ship waited for the 4 of us before sailing since the tour was late in returning. We were the last ones on board, thru no fault of our own, and had we been on our own excursion that ship would have sailed without us. For me, a rule of thumb is if I can walk to the event, beach, museum, etc, from the ship port, then I will do it on my own. Otherwise, I opt for ship tours. I have never had a bad ship tour, and it has never been too crowded. Another time, we booked a snuba tour (thru the ship) got there, and the water was too rough for the snuba to take place. They told us we could stay at Coral World for the day, or we would have to pay for the tour van to take us back to the ship early. We went back, and the ship was absolutely agreeable to not having us pay for the return trip back, and all our money for that tour was refunded. We had booked SNUBA, not a general visit to Coral World. Had we done on our own, of course there would have been no refund.

 

Just my experiences....

[ncstrman]

Just make sure to give yourself at least 1 hour to get back to the ship after a tour in case there are mechanical issues, traffic, etc. The boat will wait for cruise sponsored excursions, but not private ones. That being said, I have only booked a couple excursions through NCL. I always book privately and even book in port where the prices are even cheaper. Sometimes it's also fun to rent a car and do it on your own for a fraction of what the companies charge.

 

Hi AKR2011! Regarding booking "in port", what do you mean? Do you contact the tour operator from the ship or walk off and choose one at the pier? We have done the latter a few times in the Caribbean with friends and have had nice tours customized to what we wanted to do. In Montego Bay the girls wanted to get their hair braided and the driver took us to some locals who did a great job for a fraction of the cost.

 

We are doing a Med cruise and were thinking of getting a private tour in Naples at the pier to do Pompeii & Amalfi coast.

[garycarla]

I would second the idea of finding tours on your Roll Call. We have done that a few times to get a mini bus/van for a small group. A group of 6-12 people is much nicer for a tour.

 

As to those missing the ship. Yes, people miss the ship, or almost miss. The ones I have witnessed and heard about were busy shopping and drinking and did not pay attention to the time. Their fault. NOT the private tour.

[fabnfortysomething]

Hi AKR2011! Regarding booking "in port", what do you mean? Do you contact the tour operator from the ship or walk off and choose one at the pier? We have done the latter a few times in the Caribbean with friends and have had nice tours customized to what we wanted to do. In Montego Bay the girls wanted to get their hair braided and the driver took us to some locals who did a great job for a fraction of the cost.

 

We are doing a Med cruise and were thinking of getting a private tour in Naples at the pier to do Pompeii & Amalfi coast.

 

unlike the Caribbean you wont find private tour operators at the pier looking for on the spot business-they have to be prebooked via their websites

 

However particularly in Naples there will be taxi drivers at the port who will take you to places such as Pompeii

it is a fixed fee which will be displayed inside the cab

for instance round trip to Pompeii with at least 2 hours at the site is 90 euros

that is per cab so if there are 4 of you works out more cost effective

you will have to hire a guide at the site separately if you want someone to talk you through what you are seeing

otherwise bring a good guidebook

[Nuclearchik]

We are on the same sailing! I found that most of the Alaska tours I was looking at had a guarantee to get you back to ship or get you to next port. We have booked 2 tours both direct with tour operators (Juneau and Skagway) I think we are just going to wing it in Ketchikan and Victoria. Like others have suggested, shorter tours that finish well before boarding time are usually pretty safe with reputable company. I would probably book an all day tour through the boat. Good luck!

 

 

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[Tatka]

Sometimes you get what you pay for.

 

 

 

Or

 

 

 

If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

 

 

 

Well, it is not true in this case. We had terrific 7 hours tour on St Lucia with Cosol tours. It was iirc $65, which is twice cheaper than cruise line offered for less. Same with http://www.captainmarvins.com in Grand Cayman. Three stop snorkeling tour with Stingray city was cheaper than Stingray city alone with cruise line.

 

Of course it helps to read reviews and find reputable company.

[txagfan]

Some of the advice on here is pretty bad. I generally book on my own unless as another poster said you are going very far from port. For example, we went to Lamanai ruins in Belize which involves a one hour bus ride and one hour boat (only way to ruins).

 

Generally, I find the private excursions to be far superior just as a casual observer. For example, we had a wonderful sailboat ride out to the wildlife sanctuary in St Thomas where the sea turtles are. We had a wonderful time snorkeling for honestly longer than I would have wanted (was exhausted ha). While we were in St Thomas something like 3 boats, including one of RC's giant bots, was there. We saw numerous giant power catamarans come out, people line up and get off, 15 minutes later they all get back on boat. How lame is that?

 

 

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[Buck1949]

Hi AKR2011! Regarding booking "in port", what do you mean? Do you contact the tour operator from the ship or walk off and choose one at the pier? We have done the latter a few times in the Caribbean with friends and have had nice tours customized to what we wanted to do. In Montego Bay the girls wanted to get their hair braided and the driver took us to some locals who did a great job for a fraction of the cost.

 

We are doing a Med cruise and were thinking of getting a private tour in Naples at the pier to do Pompeii & Amalfi coast.

 

May I suggest All Around Italy for Naples/Amalfi Coast. They provide outstanding tours. Look at their reviews here on Cruise Critic and Trip Advisor. The owner Fabrizio himself conducts tours and he also has a great staff. Prices are very reasonable and we always were back at the ship in plenty of time. (We have done 3 different tours in different ports with All Around Italy).

 

Enjoy your Med cruise....we loved our cruise!