First Cruise, are excursions a must?

[Hlitner]

On 2/28/2023 at 11:04 AM, jacelyn said:

I tried the search but didn't come up with anything, I'm sure this has been asked. We're doing a 7 day mexico rivera cruise in April, but we are both a bit introverted and also trying to be smart with our money. Are excursions a must on port days? Are there things to do at the ports that are free-ish? Like somewhere to eat and people watch or chill? Or walk around and self tour? 

We cannot know your "spirit of adventure,"  travel smarts, etc.  But let me give you a basic explanation of the Mexican ports on your cruise.  I come at this as a very frequent crusier (for over 50 years) and one who lives in Puerto Vallarta for 10 weeks every winter.  Understand that all the port of the Mexican Riviera are tourist-friendly, have plenty of "gringos" living in the area, etc.  You are generally dealing with cities and areas that have beaches, restaurants, cafes, street vendors, lots of shops, etc.  

 

How you choose to deal with this is up to you.  You can take a cruise line excursion, try to book a local tour online, or simply go off on your own (we call this DIY or Do It Yourself).  They are all valid options with their pros and cons. You can go to the Cruise Critic Ports of Call Boards and look at the Mexican Riviera to get some ideas.  If you want to save money and do your own thing, as a first time visitor you should spend time reading as much as you can about the ports, ask questions (you can do that on the Ports of Call board here on CC) and decide what you want to do with your days. As an example, if you want a cheap day here in Puerto Vallarta you could take a local bus (about 50cents) from outside the port into town (known as Centro) and just walk around, browse shops, stop for lunch and drinks, etc.  You will be among thousands of other "gringos" and it is quite safe.  You can do the same in other ports like Mazatlan, Cabo St Lucas, etc.  You can also go to a local beach and rent chairs (they might be free if you are going to eat/drink).  On the other hand, you could spend more money and go on an excursion.  This is all up to you.

 

Hank

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jsn55]

Just do some reading, make some notes, do some more reading and pretty soon a whole itinerary will start to gel for you.  I love the ports info on CC, while I will always go out of my way to see something special, there's nothing better than just wandering off the ship whenever you please and amusing yourselves for several hours  without spending much money.

[ontheweb]

15 hours ago, Hlitner said:

One of the dirty secrets of cruise ship excursions (and many private tours) is that the tour company and/or guide gets a nice kick-back or promotional fee for taking their charges to specific shops.  At times it becomes downright amusing (if not frustrating) such as when we were literally locked inside a faux "jewelry factory" while on a Princess Cruises excursion in Turkey.

 

Hank

For us it was also in Turkey, but a rug store and on Holland America.

 

I should add, we of course did not buy anything there, but when we went out DW bought a holder for her glasses that was designed to look like a Turkish rug. We paid the asking price of 1 Euro (no need to haggle at that price!). Years later someone admired it and asked where it was purchased. When we answered Turkey, they realized that it was not going to be easy for them to find something similar. 😉

Edited March 5, 2023 by ontheweb
added second paragraph

[lynncarol]

Sometimes you can do the best research possible and still encounter problems. Years ago my husband and I signed up on a roll call with a family of three for the five of us to explore part of southern Italian port stop.  (I'm not going to be more specific in case they recognize themselves in this post).When we got onboard, we learned that this family had (without ever telling us) signed up another 18 folks and rented a bus.  I should have backed out then, but foolishly continued on with this greatly enlarged group.  Turned out they were all very boisterous, sharing photos and with continuous talking so loud that the guide on our bus finally gave up trying to impart any information on the tour.  Days later we attended a captain's party where we could barely hear his comments because of so much noisy conversation in the background.  Turned out it was this same group of folks. It took us quite awhile to sign up for any more tours with strangers.

[ontheweb]

7 minutes ago, lynncarol said:

Sometimes you can do the best research possible and still encounter problems. Years ago my husband and I signed up on a roll call with a family of three for the five of us to explore part of southern Italian port stop.  (I'm not going to be more specific in case they recognize themselves in this post).When we got onboard, we learned that this family had (without ever telling us) signed up another 18 folks and rented a bus.  I should have backed out then, but foolishly continued on with this greatly enlarged group.  Turned out they were all very boisterous, sharing photos and with continuous talking so loud that the guide on our bus finally gave up trying to impart any information on the tour.  Days later we attended a captain's party where we could barely hear his comments because of so much noisy conversation in the background.  Turned out it was this same group of folks. It took us quite awhile to sign up for any more tours with strangers.

And sometimes it can work out very well. When we did a Baltic cruise, I communicated with the various companies and felt most comfortable with Alla. Of their tours, DW picked out one that she liked the best. I proposed it on our roll call. We ended up with a group of 10, ourselves, 3 other couples, 1 of which had 2 teenagers with them. We all communicated by e-mail and agreed on some slight changes. We all got along very well. The key is communicating.

 

That seems to be what went wrong in your example. I hope that one bad experience does not cause you to never have to go with a group. But next time, if there is one, make sure that everything going on is shared.

[ecs66]

We often don't take excursions, and just stay on the ship which is pretty peaceful since most passengers are away.  A lot of times we don't do an excursion, but will get off the ship if there's stuff to do right at the pier -- shopping or entertainment.  (I used to buy OTC antibiotics, etc., at the pharmacies, but wouldn't take that chance now with fentanyl-tainted pills being such a problem.)  If tendering is involved, it's kind of a pain, but do-able.

 

But on a first cruise, I'd definitely do some, and the Mexican Rivera has some fun ports.  Be SURE to stay with a group; don't go it alone.  That was true the first time we did that itinerary back in the '80s, and it's even more important now.

[Mum2Mercury]

On 2/28/2023 at 12:04 PM, jacelyn said:

I tried the search but didn't come up with anything, I'm sure this has been asked. We're doing a 7 day mexico rivera cruise in April, but we are both a bit introverted and also trying to be smart with our money. Are excursions a must on port days? Are there things to do at the ports that are free-ish? Like somewhere to eat and people watch or chill? Or walk around and self tour? 

Multiple thoughts: 

- No, you don't need to reserve an excursion. 

- Adding to that thought:  You don't need to reserve an excursion with the cruise ship.  Use this (and other) boards to research private excursions.  They tend to be smaller and more personal, and you have more control over your day; that they're cheaper is just a bonus.  The ships push the idea of "we won't leave you behind", but this is a scare tactic (one that many cruisers embrace) ... don't stray too far from the port, go on the first-in-the-morning excursion, and get back to the ship well ahead of the all-aboard time.  

- Consider that you really have four choices:  Stay on the ship ... walk around the port on your own ... take a ship's excursion ... take a private excursion.  

- If you're uncertain, consider reserving excursions for some islands /plan to wander on your other islands.  Then you'll be able to judge for yourself, and when you cruise again you'll feel confident in your choices.  

- I personally like to plan "balanced" excursions:  maybe one beach day, one cultural /history day, and one active adventure day.   I personally would not, for example, want multiple beach days on one cruise.  

- I fully approve being smart with your money, but I'm much more willing to pay for an experience that will create memories than for junky tees, etc.  We still talk about some excursions we took more than a decade ago.  

- Yes, you can exit the ship and just walk around the port; however, I don't recommend doing this unless you have something planned -- other people may disagree with this.  You aren't likely to find much that's free-ish, as many of the islands' economies are based upon cruise ship dollars.  Some ports are better for walking around than others.  

- The cheapest thing you can do -- typically -- is go to a local beach.  We did this recently in Aruba; we used the city bus to get to Eagle Beach, and it cost about $5 each way for the two of us.  We spent literally no money at the beach.

[Mum2Mercury]

18 hours ago, ecs66 said:

... If tendering is involved, it's kind of a pain, but do-able ...

Fortunately, tendering is becoming less and less common.  

[Honolulu Blue]

1 hour ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Fortunately, tendering is becoming less and less common.  

True, but one of the major reasons why is that the ships from many of the mainstream cruise lines have gotten so big that it's impractical for them to run a tendering operation.

[Hlitner]

5 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Multiple thoughts: 

 

- Consider that you really have four choices:  Stay on the ship ... walk around the port on your own ... take a ship's excursion ... take a private excursion.  

 

My goodness, there are a few other options.  In Europe, we have often gone 1-3 hours from the port via train, or rental car.  There are many ports around the world that are simply gateway ports to other places which can be a long way from the ship.  Folks that enjoy doing their own thing (called DIY on these boards) are not constrained to simply walk around ports.  In fact, some of us have been known to leave a ship overnight to stay in a city/town before rejoining the ship at a later date.  

 

We will soon be on a long cruise in Asia (mostly Japan).  One couple on our cruise intends to leave the ship a few days so they can travel over to Korea, and later come back to Japan to rejoin the cruise.  I only mention this to point out that there are all kinds of interesting options.

 

Hank

[gerryuk]

Always remember your safety. If on ship excursions, there is generally safety in numbers. I do not do ship excursions as a rule, but some ports, particularly in South America, i would not want to get of the ship and do my own thing.. Don't know how safe, ports in Mexico are though.

Remember if you leave the ship on your own, it will not wait for you if you are late back for whatever reason. It will wait if you are on an excursion.