booking shore excursions

[mthaydu]

We are travelling on the Pride 09/04 and want to do some excursions. I have seen comments that I should book them myself rather then going thru the cruise lines. How is this done and where/what excursions should we be going on? Any help would be appreciated (Randi's horse rides is one what else?)

[day-day]

Go to the Ports of Call message board and look up posts under the headings for your ports. You can also post questions there. I booked our excursions in the Western Caribbean after researching the message boards and searching the internet.

 

I booked online and made sure that the companies I booked with would not charge me in the event the ship could not make it to that port as scheduled. (Some companies list this as a policy and others don't.)

[kathyjack]

Personally, I would never book anything other than a ship excursion. We have heard too many horror stories - it just isn't worth it to us. Our peace of mind is worth the little bit of extra money we spend on a ship excursion. They have a list of everyone and on what excursions they are on. If one of the excursions doesn't come back they check it out. Last one I heard about was someone who had rented a jeep at Aruba on their own. They had a flat tire in the middle of no where and had no way of contacting any one. Fortunately an hour or so later a ship excursion with jeeps passed them and helped them change a tire. Their spare was flat.

[hstrybuf]

In the past we have always booked excursions from the ship. However, on our next cruise we are booking with reputable vendors such as Capt. Marvins in Grand Cayman and Peat Taylor in Jamaica. Search the Ports of Call for info and, if you aren't getting any help, please ask specifically here for each port and recommended guides. Either way, you'll have fun!