Anybody booked their own excursions?

[Colts88]

I was thinking about booking my own excursions. Please let me know what you think. We are going to Montego Bay, Grand Cayman and Cozumel.

[jckvpa0]

Many people do. If you go to the port of calls section on CC you will find a lot helpful info for each island.

[palmtre2]

Take your time & do the research, check things like Lonely Planet, Tripadvisor and the port boards here. The better informed the least likely you are to have problems. I have only used the ships excursions once and have had a good time on all our tours. If you do the research, you can even just walk off the ship and get a tour at the pier in many ports - just come armed with knowledge.

[mkk]

We usually walk off the ship and hire a taxi to take us around...that works out well and is more reasonable as long as you are a GOOD clock watcher!

DH and I don't like being on a bus or a great big van with too many folks..just our personal preference.

A few weeks ago we walked off the ship in Belize...grabbed a dive/snorkel tour that involved ; taxi to airport...flying to San Pedro...boat to the reef...flying back and shuttle bus back to the ship. A little nerve-racking cause if it weren't for the shuttle bus sitting at the airport when we got off the plane we would have been a little pressed for time:) We still don't know why the bus happened to be there...just very thankful that it was! We had a great day and would do it again in a heartbeat!

The following day took a 'ship excursion' to the ruins near Costa Maya and we found it pretty touristy and somewhat cheesy..but still glad we stayed AWAY from Costa Maya..that was worse!

[bonniemari]

On our first cruise we took the ships shore excursions just to be on the safe side. Seventeen cruises later, now we kind of play it by ear. If where we want to go is far away from the ship and involves taxi/boat ride we usually take the ships excursion. My DH & friend are going deep sea fishing thru ships excursion-my friend & i are doing the beach on our own in St Marteen on the Valor 1/1/06.

 

While we were in Jamacia we did Margaritaville on our own. In Coz we did the ships excursion to Passion Island. We have also done the beach in Coz on our own.

[dan40]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=5

 

Click on the above link, then click on your ports.

 

Dan

[yogimax]

It's the way to go! You'll save $$$ and have fun at the same time. Simply gather all the information you can on these boards and through google searches and go with it!

[The4Cruisers]

On our first cruise, we had booked three excursions through Carnival. Two were cancelled as we got off the ship (due to lack of participation) and we actually slept through the third one (no alarm clock - so it was our own fault). Carnival graciously credited our account for all three.

 

I wonder if the privately booked tours have the same last minute cancellations for lack of participation. I also wonder if they would be willing to credit us for missing an excursion when it's our own fault.

 

I guess the ship tours and the private tours both have their pro's and con's.

[picklebongo]

The only downside as far as I understand in terms of booking your own shore excursions is that if you book thru the cruise line and there is a delay getting back to the ship, they will wait for you. This is not the case if you have gotten off the ship and gone on an excursion, had an accident, flat tire or otherwise delayed.

[hstrybuf]

The only downside as far as I understand in terms of booking your own shore excursions is that if you book thru the cruise line and there is a delay getting back to the ship, they will wait for you. This is not the case if you have gotten off the ship and gone on an excursion, had an accident, flat tire or otherwise delayed.

 

That is most often correct. This is one reason that we only booked ships excursions when we were new and still do so on occasion when we are visiting a port for the first time. These days, we prefer to take independent tours whenever possible. The really good ones come highly recommended by other cruisers and usually cost less. They are also less crowded. The tour operators depend on the good will of tourists to keep them in business so are well aware of when ships depart and try always to get their customers back to the ship well before departure time.

 

I've taken the same tour twice in Barbados and broken down twice. Once was a flat, once was a transmission problem. Both times we made it back to the ship with plenty of time to spare.

[MelBCroozer]

In Grand Cayman, we booked with Capt. Marvins for the stingray tours. Great price and great facilities. We have also booked with Carnival for this excursion, but thought Capt. Marvin did more for you and was a better price. The website is http://www.captainmarvins.com. Have fun!!

[Sheffie]

On our first cruises we booked through the ships. We have since booked most of our excursions with private operators.

 

Cozumel is an easy place to get around on your own, or book through private operators. As suggested, check out the Ports of Call. We went to Paradise Beach last time and it was great. We also did a snorkel/SNUBA tour through cozumelinsider. Wonderful!

 

Here is a list of the operators in Grand Cayman that have been highly recommended here on cruise critic. We did the Bucaneer and had a fantastic time. I suggest you check out their times of departure and see which works best for you.

 

Sailboats:

Buccaneer: http://caymanislandsdiscounts.com/Stingray_City_Buccaneer_Excursion.htm

Captain Bryan’s: http://grandcaymancruiseexcursions.com/StingrayCityCaptBryans.htm

 

Motorized:

Captain Marvin’s: http://www.captainmarvins.com

Nativeway: http://www.nativewaywatersports.com/shiptours.html

Sotos: http://www.sotoscruises.com

 

Have a great cruise!

[addicted to cruising]

I rarely book via the ship....I agree with many of the others, do your homework and this is a great place to start. Just know you get alot of opions here and it can almost get overwhelming.

If you are more of a risk taker and adventurous then do it on your own

If you have high expectaions for this trip and alway err on the safe side then go with the ship.

I can tell you from my travels that in Jamaica go with the ship the other 2 ports are super easy to get around in and there are plenty of services that are cheaper than the boat. Every tour Ive done on my own has been top notch with very small groups of people unlike the ship tours.