What are the odds!

[shortyjoesmith]

Before my first cruise, I received some very good advice. A coworker told me to make sure to book an excursion at ever port I went to. He said that if I didn't, most ports look the same. 

 

For every cruise I have been able to go on, I did research months in advance and picked excursions that our group has thoroughly enjoyed. We leave next week for a Southern Caribbean cruise on the Magic.  We have had two different excursions cancelled due to missing the minimum number of passengers.  One was for a sunset cruise in Curacao and the other was for a fun-filled variety (snorkeling, starfish, fast boat trip to an uncrowded beach) with a limit of 26 passengers in La Romana.  Now there is nothing out there that even comes close to either of these. It looks like we are going to have to take our chances with the uninspiring, large group offerings from Carnival.  We already had one booked through them for one of the other ports that we couldn't have done direct.  All that research. 

 

Sadness.

 

I guess the lesson learned is to stick with the Eastern/Western Caribbean where there are more passengers.

[crewsweeper]

There are independent vendors who offer similar excursions.  Most are very reliable, and understand the ship schedules.

Port of call boards often have reviews of similar excursions not via ship vendors.

 Try viator, shoreexcursioner, or island marketing.  These are middle men type companies, linking cruisers and small vendors.  Check Trip Advisor as well.  You can find things to do. 

 

Curacao is a great walking around port with colorful buildings.

Agree that La Romana doesn't have a lot right at port but Seavis Tours to Saona Island are great snorkeling excursions.

[thesmiths]

This next trip we are doing to Curacao I rented a car.

Island is simple enough to navigate on your own..

 

Shame, we did that trip to Sanoa at La Romana, was a neat trip. Bumpy for some ..but fun.

 

 

 

 

[dmdiver]

When we stopped at La Romana, we took Seavis Tours' trip out to Saona Island - we were able to book online & pay when we arrived.  We found that through our roll call group here on CC.  We got 10% off when the excursion group reached a certain number of people.  Apparently you get a code to share.  You might try your roll call & see what you can do there.

 

In Curacao, we walked around town a bit & ate supper at a place called Steak & Rib at Rif Fort.  We were seated with a view of our ship docked with all the lights on.  The food was very good, staff was pleasant & the view was pretty.  Prior to that, we stopped for $5 mojitos at a cigar bar.  So, the guys had a cigar & we all had a drink.  Staff here was nice as well.  They had the best ventilation system.  I wasn't bothered by smoke or odor.  I don't know the name of the place, but it was at the end of a strip of stores.

[Cruisefanatic71]

We were on the Magic in September on the southern carribbean cruise. In Curacao we used Irie Tours . We went to the Curacao liquor factory as well as had beach time. It was an enjoyable excursion. 

[purplephenom]

La Romana really does seem somewhat lighter on excursion options than other ports.  Maybe try something not water related here- I'm usually all in on the water excursions, but it doesn't seem like there's much to choose from in this port that isn't far away. 

 

As for Curacao, if it's a sunset tour you want, i think a few different independent operators have them. Or, you could see if you could find something at the dock.  

 

Don't stick to the Eastern/Western- Curacao is really a different looking port.  Even without an excursion, you won't feel like its the same as every other island.  Aruba is more of a desert island- very different from the others. But generally, I agree with your coworker- if you just go to the beach everywhere, things tend to run together after awhile 

[Nic6318]

Hi Shortyjoesmith

 

I imagine you were dealing direct with a local tour operator. I was thinking for instance that maybe you not give up yet. For the sunset cruise for instance, have you found out how many more people they need? If it was only a couple, you might try to convince some people on your roll call group to join in. There are also FB groups that you could try to get in touch with. It is still a week away. 

 

Otherwise I would also suggest those middlemen type tour companies. They are able to tell you if the tour will happen or not.

 

looks like a nice itinerary

have a great cruise

[buckeyefrank]

In Curacao go with Irie tours.  They have 2 versions of their tours, one for each side of the island.  We did the shorter tour and had a fantastic time.  It was only $25 pp with unlimited beer and water included.  

[tallnthensome]

There are many people that do no excursions and never have . They simply stay on the ship or walk the pier and shop. To me, an excursion is a must and the real way to see a destination. Doing nothing is pretty much like flying to an airport for a layover and  shopping the stores while waiting and then telling people you’ve been to that city. Excursions  are always the way to go. We have had so much good luck with private vendors and the savings that it is the route we prefer to take. We Still book a few ship tours but private are less crowded and cheaper and have been just as reliable . 

Edited November 6, 2019 by tallnthensome

[Joebucks]

This is actually good info to share with cruisers. Just because you booked an excursion, doesn't mean it's going to happen.

 

I try to stay away from those types of trips unless they can confirm I'm not wasting my time

[purplephenom]

One more thought- if it's the Seavis (or something like that) tour you had booked in La Romama, I think they have a discount code for booking through your link.  If you can get the code, post in in roll call groups both here and elsewhere, but also share why you were excited about the excursion.  If you just post a link, people may ignore it as spam, but if you include it as part of a more descriptive post, you might get some takers.  

[shortyjoesmith]

Thank to all. 😊  

 

For the La Romana one, they did direct me to Seavis for a comparable excursion. I submitted online and was told that they had filled 2 boats but wouldn't guarantee us on the third boat until they had the minimum number of passengers. I received an email yesterday that we are in!  WooHoo!  Not my first pick but as a second, I can't complain.

 

For Curacao, all of the other vendors I could find didn't run the day of the week we are scheduled to be there. Carnival offered one with a beach stop but the reviews were so bad (not including the expected crowding), that I decided to pass.  Our cousins are going on this trip and were already booked to do a island tour through Carnival.  I told them I loved them enough to be bored by a history lesson to spend the day with them. Giggles all around!  They were delighted we decided to do this.

 

So, not the ones I planned for but I expect we will have a delightful time with the options we are going with. 

After all, we will be on a cruise! 🏝️🛳️

[Vitamin Sea Addict]

In Curacao, we went with Curacao dreams (booked through viator though) to swim with sea turtles, see flamingos, tour the island etc. It was awesome!!!

 

We are going to La Romana in the spring and based off how busy we'll be with our excursions at all the other ports, we plan to just get off shop, walk around and maybe eat some local food. I wasn't thrilled with the excursion choices so we chose a relaxing day and then ship time (with less people). 

 

We always get off the ship, even if just to shop and eat. 

[lenquixote66]

We love Curaçao.We were last there 2 weeks ago.We walked from the cruise port over the swinging bridge to town. It was unbelievably hot and we took a taxi back to the ship.It was $5 a person and the driver took us on a mini scenic tour as well.

[villauk]

On 11/5/2019 at 5:35 PM, shortyjoesmith said:

Before my first cruise, I received some very good advice. A coworker told me to make sure to book an excursion at ever port I went to. He said that if I didn't, most ports look the same. 

 

 

I take it he was referring to the Caribbean? On some continents, the statement above couldn’t be further from the truth.

[S-and-J]

Before our first cruise I also did loads of research and booked us on a tour for every island we went to.  But we were so tired, especially after 36 hours of getting to the ship, that we did not do half the trips we had paid for.

 

We have learned our lesson: travelling to the ship, and being on a moving ship, are both tiring.  It is not possible for us to cram in loads of activity and have a holiday on a cruise.  So, since then we have been more careful about not booking day long excursions every day.

 

On our most recent cruise - scheduled at the end of my doing a Master's Degree as a bribe to complete it - we knew we would both be tired because my wife had also started a new job.  So, we spent two weeks on board and only got off twice and did not bother with trips.

 

So...

 

On 11/5/2019 at 5:35 PM, shortyjoesmith said:

Before my first cruise, I received some very good advice. A coworker told me to make sure to book an excursion at ever port I went to.

 

... I don't think that was necessarily good advice.

[soonernstlouis]

@S-and-J

We also found spending several hours on a sunny beach to be tiring.  But we love the beach (live in the landlocked Midwest), so we plan little else if we go there.

[S-and-J]

4 hours ago, soonernstlouis said:

@S-and-J

We also found spending several hours on a sunny beach to be tiring.  But we love the beach (live in the landlocked Midwest), so we plan little else if we go there.

 

That's the beauty of a cruise.  Some people have a lazy dinner, booze and pool cruise, some have a dancing, nightlife and lounge-lizard cruise, some have a history and exploration cruise, some have a casino and tux and Captain's table cruise, some have a relaxing catch-up-on-my-reading while someone else does the cooking and cleaning cruise, and some people get to try a different beach every day cruise.

 

Why would anyone ever stay in a hotel?

[ShawninFL]

On 11/5/2019 at 12:35 PM, shortyjoesmith said:

Before my first cruise, I received some very good advice. A coworker told me to make sure to book an excursion at ever port I went to. He said that if I didn't, most ports look the same. 

 

For every cruise I have been able to go on, I did research months in advance and picked excursions that our group has thoroughly enjoyed. We leave next week for a Southern Caribbean cruise on the Magic.  We have had two different excursions cancelled due to missing the minimum number of passengers.  One was for a sunset cruise in Curacao and the other was for a fun-filled variety (snorkeling, starfish, fast boat trip to an uncrowded beach) with a limit of 26 passengers in La Romana.  Now there is nothing out there that even comes close to either of these. It looks like we are going to have to take our chances with the uninspiring, large group offerings from Carnival.  We already had one booked through them for one of the other ports that we couldn't have done direct.  All that research. 

 

Sadness.

 

I guess the lesson learned is to stick with the Eastern/Western Caribbean where there are more passengers.

 

Don't write off other areas in fear that this will always happen.  Get back to doing some additional research and find replacement excursions.  Do a search on here for other posts detailing excursions in those ports or look at Viator.  If you booked with a travel agent, ask him or her if they have excursion vendors they recommend.  All is not hopeless.  You just need to dig a little more.