Non-Carnival excursions?

[squierjosh]

Can you only book Carnival excursions? Is it based on port of call? I'm looking at renting a side-by-side in St Maarten, the Carnival excursions just aren't doing it for me. We're there 9 hours and I don't want to shop or sit on the beach for that long. :P 

[BoozinCroozin]

Yes as long as the whole party is vaccinated.

[KatieBug28]

We pretty much NEVER book Carnival excursions, and have always had a great experience. You save so much money and have a much smaller group (or in some cases with things like a Pirate Ship, we've literally been on the EXACT SAME EXCURSION that the folks from the cruise were on.)

 

I feel like folks are always saying that booking through the cruise line is worth it for "peace of mind" because the ship won't leave without you. But every excursion we have ever done was absolutely militant about getting us back on time. They know if you miss your ship, their business will suffer from the bad review. We've had fantastic professionalism from everyone we've ever gone with, and never missed the ship - or even come close!

[tm_aw_love]

So long as your entire party is vaccinated... like BoozinCroozin said. 

You can do basically whatever you want in ports. 

 

[LatinaInTexas]

I also rarely book Carnival cruises. I find better prices, more interesting choices, and smaller groups.

Also have always had top notch service, nothing concerning has ever happened.

This last cruise I did one Carnival excursion in Nassau that was a bad experience. Ended up getting half of the price refunded, that's what I felt was fair and they agreed.

The other excursion was not booked through Carnival and while it didn't end up being a great excursion it wasn't the company's fault. Weather prevented some people's snorkeling tour and fire us using the kayak we rented.

They handled it excellently by refunding each of us $20, and throwing in a delicious hamburger meal and either a drink, beer, or soda.

 

[RWolver672]

When booking with an outside company, it's best to ask ahead of time if they refund your deposit or payment if the ship doesn't make that port.  We've been on several cruises where the captain got almost to the pier, then decided he couldn't dock and went back out for a sea day.

 

Several excursion companies will just take your credit card number to hold the excursion, then put the charge on it when you show up.