A Cruise with No Shore Excursions

[aml3679]

My husband and I are sailing on the Equinox from February 15-22, 2020.  Every cruise we have been on, we went on a shore excursion and did not really get a chance to see what is in port.  Has anyone else done this?  Not only will we save a little money, but get to some of the local culture.  Would appreciate any feedback.  Thanks.

[GastroGnome]

It does depend on the itinerary - we regularly don't use shore excursions and either book something local or stay in port.  Are you on the 14 night south Asia?  You do have some stunning  ports.  I guess it depends on what you want to get from the cruise - if you don;t want to take a shore excursion then don't! 

[Toftwood]

We very rarely take excursions but it does depend on the itinerary and ports of call. We prefer to explore on our own either on foot if the town/city is easily accessible or maybe a cab. We like to be our own bosses and not have to run to a timetable and doing as much as possible independently, allows us that freedom. There is so much information online such as self-guided walking tours and a wealth of data about local transport opportunities so it is easy to do plenty of pre-planning and devise your own personal excursion.

[chemmo]

2 hours ago, aml3679 said:

My husband and I are sailing on the Equinox from February 15-22, 2020.  Every cruise we have been on, we went on a shore excursion and did not really get a chance to see what is in port.  Has anyone else done this?  Not only will we save a little money, but get to some of the local culture.  Would appreciate any feedback.  Thanks.

 

It really does totally depend on the ports and how far away you dock from the main port area. Container ports are sometimes used and the area can be ugly and quite a walk from anywhere...

 

In some ports there is a (chargeable) bus from the docking area to the main port area which can make doing things independently easier.

 

Why not go to the roll call for your cruise? You will be able to get some ideas of places to visit  and you should get an idea about the  ports that could be difficult to do independently. Up to you then to either book a tour through X or with other roll call members.

[Tapi]

There’s a cool feature on Google Maps that allows you to virtually “walk” the streets of many cities and port of call. I used it before our last cruise to figure out what was near each port and our pre-cruise hotel, and it was an absolutely fantastic tool. I’d spend hours every night at home before the cruise just “roaming the streets“ in places like Rome, Barcelona, Palermo, and Valletta, and figuring out how to walk to various places.
 

When the day finally came to actually visit these ports, I felt as if I had already been there. I walked confidently knowing where to go. I surprised my wife when we walked out of our hotel in Rome the first day and just started walking to the Vatican through some residential streets without looking at a map or consulting anybody. I just knew how to get there. 😀

 

I used to book excursions at every port of call every time we cruised. My research was limited to going to the cruise line’s excursion page and selecting something for every port from there.
 

But a few years ago, I started researching more in depth every port of call and figuring out what to do on my own. It’s been much more enjoyable this way. I didn’t realize how much I hated sitting in a bus with 50 other people and not having control over anything. 
 

Now, the more that I plan and the more that I figure things out on my own, the more I enjoy the vacation. Our Mediterranean cruise last November didn’t include a single excursion and its been one of my most satisfying vacations ever. 

Edited November 15, 2019 by Tapi

[OceanCruise]

It depends what your itinerary is. Many of the Caribbean ports have the same types of shops in the immediate port area selling mass produced jewelry or cheezy ornaments. Some ports have cultural icons such as churches or forts that you can easily walk to. As someone else mentioned, some of the ports are very industrial looking which require a shuttle or taxi ride to see anything interesting. We generally find that all the ports will have taxis lined up to take you to various attractions or beaches if you want to do those things on your own. You can get a lot of info about individual ports if you look on the port of call forum.

[Georgia_Peaches]

We rarely do shore excursions.  We enjoy walking the ports and taking in the local culture.  If there is an occasional shore excursion planned, it's almost never done through the ship as they are more expensive.

[sanger727]

It kinda depends on what you mean by "did not really get a chance to see what is in port." The literal port area itself in many cities isn't worth seeing. We don't do many ship excursions but we do a lot of independent tours since in many ports you need to have transportation to get anywhere worth going. We do a combination of independent tours and DIY self-exploration but we always work out a plan for the port ahead of time rather than just getting to the port and walking around.

[Fouremco]

DW and I frequently take DIY walking tours in the ports we visit, including three of the four ports that are included on your itinerary. The fourth, Tortola, we simply haven't visited yet, but will in 2021.

 

There is a lot of information online, including suggested routes, maps and accompanying commentary. I quite enjoy spending the time doing the research as it's an excellent way to get to know the port before we even arrive. One resource I've found quite useful, particularly in Europe, has been Tom's Port Guides. The guide for Charlotte Amalie can be found here: https://www.tomsportguides.com/uploads/5/8/5/4/58547429/stthomas-usvi-12-30-2014.pdf

 

Another useful link for a walking tour in Charlotte Amalie: http://www.virginislandsthisweek.com/st-thomas/attractions/historic-attractions-in-charlotte-amalie.html 

 

We used this map of Old San Juan to plan a walk a couple of years ago. Research the attractions you want to visit and plan your route: http://www.mappery.com/maps/Old-San-Juan-Tourist-Map.gif  There are other maps online, and IIRC, I plotted our route on my iPhone using Google Maps.

 

 

 

 

[bobndee]

We use an app called "visit a city". It gives suggested walking tours for the kinds of things you tell it you're interested in. You can use it for pre-cruise planning. Then when you're there it will guide you on your walking tour. 

[cb at sea]

We rarely do excursions.  We do our research prior to the cruise, then just do our own thing in ports....if we get off the ship!  If we're returning to a port we've been to several times, we may make a "ship day" of it.

 

[BarbinMich]

3 hours ago, sanger727 said:

It kinda depends on what you mean by "did not really get a chance to see what is in port." The literal port area itself in many cities isn't worth seeing. We don't do many ship excursions but we do a lot of independent tours since in many ports you need to have transportation to get anywhere worth going. We do a combination of independent tours and DIY self-exploration but we always work out a plan for the port ahead of time rather than just getting to the port and walking around.

Presumably, the original poster is doing a Caribbean cruise and visiting places like St. Thomas, St. Maarten, etc.  Those are both easily walkable from the ship, perhaps with the help of a ship shuttle.  I would agree some ports in Europe are perhaps more "industrial" although the only one that comes to mind is LeHavre, where shuttle buses are offered by Princess and presumably the other liens.  The usual excursions I've done in the Caribbean were to go snorkeling, although I have snorkeled from the beach in Aruba (took a local bus to get there).  I've loved walking around St. Maarten, Curacao, Aruba, St. Vincent, etc.

Edited November 15, 2019 by BarbinMich

[luv2travel90266]

Suggest you take a look at TripAdvisor on the cities visited. Also view their forum as travelers do post " 1 day in the city" where you can review and piece together your own itinerary based upon your interest. They also might mention "free walking tours" where a local takes you around the city for the cost of a tip. I take very view of the cruise company tours.

[calicakes]

If you go to Alaska, you should definitely do some excursions.  I found each port exactly the same.  Selling the same Made in China knock-offs. 

[davekathy]

Some cruises we don't do any shore excursions, even on repeat itineraries. 

[4774Papa]

13 hours ago, aml3679 said:

My husband and I are sailing on the Equinox from February 15-22, 2020.  Every cruise we have been on, we went on a shore excursion and did not really get a chance to see what is in port.  Has anyone else done this?  Not only will we save a little money, but get to some of the local culture.  Would appreciate any feedback.  Thanks.

Before we decide what we do at a port, I do research on things to do for the port.  A good place to start is at TripAdvisor.

 

Sometimes you don't need an excursion or guided tour.   You can do it yourself.  Port were we have done this include: Dubrovnik, Athens, Mykonos, Cannes and others.   Also, we have done our on sightseeing at ports where cruises began  or ended: Venice, Barcelona, Istanbul, Quebec City, Key West, New York City (we did take the Ellis Island and Stature of Liberty private tour), Seattle, Sydney and Boston.

[aml3679]

Thanks for everyone's replies.  We are on a 7 day Easter Caribbean stopping in San Juan, Nassau, St. Thomas.

[ShawninFL]

On 11/15/2019 at 2:37 AM, aml3679 said:

My husband and I are sailing on the Equinox from February 15-22, 2020.  Every cruise we have been on, we went on a shore excursion and did not really get a chance to see what is in port.  Has anyone else done this?  Not only will we save a little money, but get to some of the local culture.  Would appreciate any feedback.  Thanks.

 

We frequently do this, especially in the Caribbean.  We've been to many of the island multiple times. Sometimes we just enjoy getting off the ship and walking around town with no plan whatsoever.  We break off the main shopping roads and walk through the more local neighborhoods.  These aren't the picturesque areas you see on the brochures, but it's where the real people live.  Everyone has always been friendly and says hello as we meander.  We usually end our day stopping in a restaurant somewhere on the waterfront and having lunch or a snack and some drinks before heading back to the ship.  

[dogs4fun]

A great tool for DIY in Europe is the Rick Steves Audio Europe app.

[billslowsky]

19 hours ago, calicakes said:

If you go to Alaska, you should definitely do some excursions.  I found each port exactly the same.  Selling the same Made in China knock-offs. 

Each Diamonds International is unique in its own way!

[calicakes]

4 minutes ago, billslowsky said:

Each Diamonds International is unique in its own way!

Thank you for my first laugh of the day!!

[VitaminSea53]

For those using Google Maps or other Apps, can they be accessed in the foreign country without WiFi ?  

 

Also, we tried the “just walk off the ship and see the town” DIY in Jamaica and were accosted by many locals wanting to sell us tours. They would approach you demanding to shake your hand and if you did not oblige they would follow you and shout out at you that you were racist . (I don’t shake ANYBODY’S hand on a cruise) If we ever stop in Jamaica again, I will stay on the ship. 

[Fouremco]

Yes, you can use Google Maps without wifi. For instructions, follow this link: https://support.google.com/maps/answer/6291838?co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS&hl=en

 

As for Jamaica, all I can say is that you need to have a better knowledge of where you will be visiting. There's abundant information on the internet, including country profiles prepared by many governments. This is the Canadian government's Jamaican profile: https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/jamaica?_ga=2.166835069.2131681596.1573921030-1131832327.1573921030

[BarbinMich]

5 hours ago, aml3679 said:

Thanks for everyone's replies.  We are on a 7 day Easter Caribbean stopping in San Juan, Nassau, St. Thomas.

Old San Juan is easily walkable from the pier.  A lot of interesting historical sites including Castillo San Felipe del Morro, a 16th c fort and, if you're willing to take an excursion outside of town there's El Yunque National Forest (rainforest).  In Nassau there's the Queen's Staircase and Ardastra Gardens/Zoo.  In St. Thomas, there's the SkyRide which whisks you up 700 ft above the dock for good views.  Finally, St. Thomas are good for going to a beach and/or snorkeling as is Nassau, I believe.  Enjoy!

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

6 hours ago, aml3679 said:

Thanks for everyone's replies.  We are on a 7 day Easter Caribbean stopping in San Juan, Nassau, St. Thomas.

 

I don't even get off the ship for that itinerary.