Booking shore excursions online?

[herb]

I'm wondering whether it is possible to book shore excursions ahead of sailing date online. I searched all over the site and only found information about the shore excursions but no way of booking them.

 

(When we sailed Royal Caribbean it was nice that all shore excursions could be booked ahead of sailing).

[jenr]

I posted this same question several months ago and learned that Carnival doesnt let you book online. I agree, it was nice on Royal Caribbean to have that all taken care of before we even left!

[herb]

Wow, I'm really surprised and a bit disappointed. Although we booked no excursions when we sailed Carnival to Canada, we did go on excursions in '99 on Fascination. At that time we needed to book on the ship. I thought for sure that after all this time Carnival would improve their website and allow for pre-booking.

[Rdabadie]

You can't book through Carnival but frankly, why would you? At almost every port there are lots of independent tour operators who charge 2/3's the price for shore excursions which, in my opinon, tend to be superior. In Grand Caymen I watched a huge boat disgorge 200 Carnival passengers at Stingray City while the 20 of us on a Nativeways tour were getting personal service. In Jamaica, Ioni McBeam gave us a wonderful personal tour while the herds of Carnival tours looked less than happy. In Roatan, my trip to the Sante Healt Center, all 4 in our group, had a stunningly fantastic time while other people told us how much they hated "that poor island." Go with Carnival tours, feel like you're in a herd, do a little research and save some money while having a better experience.

 

There are only a few tours I would use Carnival for. Canopy Tours are sometimes hard to book independantly, Blue Lagoon in the Bahamas is less expensive through the cruise line, and transfers into town are often cheaper booked through the cruise line particularly if you're traveling on your own. But by and large I say do your own thing.