No Excursions

[Fast_Camaro]

Hi y’all. We’re going on the Escape February 1-8 2020 out of Miami. This will be our 4th cruise. 
 

We travel quite a bit. Been almost everywhere in Caribbean. My question to you - have you done a cruise with no excursions at all??

 

The wife and I just want to hit the beach, drink foo foo drinks and relax. Also bask in the warm weather since I personally hate the cold. Walking around town/window shopping too. 
 

So, anyone just did not do excursions??

[DinaS]

We rarely ever do excursions.  We much prefer to explore on our own.  The only time we did an excursion in the recent past, was on a stop in the Dominican Republic.  We wanted to go to a beach on Cayo Levantado, so we did the NCL excursion.

 

We normally just find a cab, or walk, or use public transportation to get where we want.  We also do some planning so we know our options, as well as any safety concerns there may be.

[PTC DAWG]

Yeah, I see no issues with your plan..spit balling can be fun.  

[Bonobochick]

52 minutes ago, Fast_Camaro said:

Hi y’all. We’re going on the Escape February 1-8 2020 out of Miami. This will be our 4th cruise. 
 

We travel quite a bit. Been almost everywhere in Caribbean. My question to you - have you done a cruise with no excursions at all??

 

The wife and I just want to hit the beach, drink foo foo drinks and relax. Also bask in the warm weather since I personally hate the cold. Walking around town/window shopping too. 
 

So, anyone just did not do excursions??

 

I've been doing my own thing for a while now, at least with Bermuda, Bahamas and Southern Caribbean cruises. It's easy as cabs will be waiting at ports to take folks to wherever they want to go, if you're not within walking distance. I just got off the Bliss last week and did my own thing for every port except Antigua where I did a NCL excursion. (My own thing was basically going to a previously researched beach on my own and relaxing all day before heading back). 

[MeHeartCruising]

I rarely do excursions in the Caribbean.  For me the Caribbean is for the warmth, relaxation, ship fun, and not much else.  Going to Europe?  That's an entirely different story.

[mjkacmom]

I just research where we are going, and do it on our own. We love beautiful beaches!

[Dawnya00]

In the Caribbean we decide to stay on the ship, depending on the port or head to the taxi area and find a quiet beach. If that is your definition of excursions, then we do those. LOL. We are planning Alaska for July and that is a different story, but beach vacations are just that; sun, fun and foo foo drinks.

[JamieLogical]

I've been on seven cruises and have only ever done two excursions...

[dogs4fun]

We much prefer DIY so we rarely book excursions through the ship.

[ontheweb]

13 hours ago, MeHeartCruising said:

I rarely do excursions in the Caribbean.  For me the Caribbean is for the warmth, relaxation, ship fun, and not much else.  Going to Europe?  That's an entirely different story.

Actually with proper research, most of Europe can also be done on your own. St. Petersburgh, Russia is probably the exception because once you figure in the cost and hassle of getting a Russian visa it is almost definitely better to use one of the several outstanding local tour companies.

[paul929207]

We only take a ship excursion when their is something we want to do and cannot arrange it independently.  

 

Starting in late January we will be on a 40 day Caribbean cruise on the Crown Princess. We have no excursions booked. We may pick up one or two on the pier. 

[jollyjones]

Just done a week in the Caribbean, didn't even get off the ship. Just basked in the warm weather, foo foo drinks etc.

 

Just remember this is your cruise and you can do whatever you want - there's no rules that say when and where and what you must do in port. 

Edited December 18, 2019 by jollyjones

[John Bull]

15 hours ago, Fast_Camaro said:

Hi y’all.

This will be our 4th cruise. 
We travel quite a bit. Been almost everywhere in Caribbean.

 

 

Hi, fellow-petrolhead,

 

Since you've visited much of the Caribbean and I'm guessing that at least some of your cruises have been that way, I'm surprised that you need to ask.

Have you not seen the hordes descend on the port shops & bars? 

Or the vans & taxis thronged with cruisers? And shuttleboats in some ports.

So very very easy in virtually every Caribbean port, and certainly in all of the popular ports.

Tour prices fixed up on-the-fly with van drivers at the port are around 20% (yes, 20%, not a typo) of ships' tour prices though they include only transport - no food or drink. Van drivers at the port are all known to each-other, friendly & trustworthy, they know their island and they know the importance of "back-on-board" time. Far more fun, far more flexible, and no waiting while dozens board & alight, or folk go missing.  Agree a price and basic itinerary & timescale before you board, pay (USD) when you get back - it's the norm. You'll be sharing with others on your ship.  Take your beach gear,- at the end of the tour the driver can drop you at a beach handy to the ship.

 

No need to waste your time & money on ships' tours, with a very few exceptions............

- Group activities like zip-lining or river-tubing, and specialist transport like 4WD usually need to be fixed up in advance - thro the ship or a local operator.

- A very few attractions like the St Kitts sugar train are block-booked by the ship - if you want to do that, you have no choice but ship's tours.

- Where independents need to use a ferry but ships' excursions use chartered boats you need to carefully weigh up the risks of the return ferry being fully-booked or cancelled due to mechanical issues or weather. For example Tortola to Virgin Gorda, or St Thomas to St Johns. Perhaps better that getting you back is ship's responsibility.

- Where the destination is distant from the port and transport options are unreliable or timings are tight. (but I can't think of any examples in the popular Caribbean ports)

 

In a dozen Caribbean cruises we've taken mebbe 4 or 5 ships' tours and a couple of pre-booked tours with local operators, everywhere else in the Caribbean we've winged-it.

 

JB 

 

 

[MeHeartCruising]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

Actually with proper research, most of Europe can also be done on your own. St. Petersburgh, Russia is probably the exception because once you figure in the cost and hassle of getting a Russian visa it is almost definitely better to use one of the several outstanding local tour companies.

 

I guess I misunderstood the original post.  I was not advocating ship excursions in Europe.  I was stating that in the Caribbean I often don't do anything planned.  I may walk around the immediate port area for a bit, but then I return to the ship and relax.  My point was that in Europe I do not do "nothing".  I always plan big activities in Europe, and most of the time, I do it on my own.  I do not usually rely on ship or 3rd party excursions.

Edited December 18, 2019 by MeHeartCruising

[George C]

We rarely do excursions in Caribbean have done about 50 Caribbean cruises, Europe or Hawaii we would do excursions but try to avoid ships excursions. 

[ger_77]

We've done Caribbean cruises a number of times, and after the first couple, decided we didn't need to do any more.  Now when we go, we walk around the port, find a place for nice cold drink and lunch, and enjoy people-watching along the way.

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

[CruisingAlong4Now]

Cruising the Caribbean is very different from cruising in Europe. For most people, Europe is all about the ports.  The Caribbean is all about the weather and the ship. Not sure I would even get off the ship in the Caribbean. 😉

[Toofarfromthesea]

23 hours ago, Fast_Camaro said:

Hi y’all. We’re going on the Escape February 1-8 2020 out of Miami. This will be our 4th cruise. 
 

We travel quite a bit. Been almost everywhere in Caribbean. My question to you - have you done a cruise with no excursions at all??

 

The wife and I just want to hit the beach, drink foo foo drinks and relax. Also bask in the warm weather since I personally hate the cold. Walking around town/window shopping too. 
 

So, anyone just did not do excursions??

 

On our first cruise, a 7-day Carib. on X, we not only didn't do any excursions we didn't even get off the ship.

 

A cruise is like Burger King - have it your way.

[navybankerteacher]

In the Caribbean: never ship’s excursions - a few independent scuba and snorkeling runs.

 

In Europe: several group excursions - set up by me or others who I joined; only on ships excursion was on a Celebrity cruise from Harwich (UK) to Miami - from one of our stops in Spain they offered a bus trip to Santiago di Campostella - exactly what we wanted - and it would have been hard to do on our own— that was our only ships excursion in over a couple dozen cruises —- with a bit of research and imagination you can do a lot better on your own at lower cost.

 

Next week we’ll be in the Caribbean with Cunard - will probably stay on board at a couple of ports - and hit favorite beaches on our own at a couple of others.

Edited December 18, 2019 by navybankerteacher

[MicCanberra]

On 12/18/2019 at 7:01 AM, Fast_Camaro said:

Hi y’all. We’re going on the Escape February 1-8 2020 out of Miami. This will be our 4th cruise. 
 

We travel quite a bit. Been almost everywhere in Caribbean. My question to you - have you done a cruise with no excursions at all??

 

The wife and I just want to hit the beach, drink foo foo drinks and relax. Also bask in the warm weather since I personally hate the cold. Walking around town/window shopping too. 
 

So, anyone just did not do excursions??

Yes, the south pacific (New Caledonia, Lifou, Isle of Pines and Vanuatu, Mystery island) are excellent ports for this.

[Bookish Angel]

We research and do our own thing in ports.  We like art, cultural and historical and just plain quirky things to do.

 

Sadly, the Caribbean is often written off as not having as much “culture” as Europe, Asia, etc.  We know better.

[Hlitner]

Here is my answer to the OP's specific question.  NO!  We do not generally take a cruise ship excursion (unless it is absolutely necessary).  Next year we will cruise in the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East and Asia (for more then 70 days) and plan on taking not a single cruise ship excursion.  There are some places where we will join others on a very small group private tour, but in most places we will do what we have done for over fifty years of world travel...which is "our own thing" using our feet, public transit, rental cars, trains, etc.

 

Hank

[cb at sea]

We rarely, if ever, do "excursions".....all it takes is a bit of research, so you know what's available in each place, and how to do whatever it is that "floats your boat"!

[marco]

Let alone no excursions.....we've taken a winter Caribbean cruise every year for over the past 30.  We rarely even get off the ship!

[Hlitner]

5 hours ago, marco said:

Let alone no excursions.....we've taken a winter Caribbean cruise every year for over the past 30.  We rarely even get off the ship!

LOL, we resemble that remark.  Once took a 14 day Celebrity cruise that called at 9 Caribbean ports.  We did not get off the ship at the first 8 ports and only went ashore at the last port (St Maarten) to buy some booze.

 

Hank