excursions

[dlon]

does anyone know if princess adds different excursions as the cruise gets closer? I saw earlier one for st. kitts that is no longer offered.(i saw it prior to the time excursions became available) i also saw the shopping/beach excursion for st. thomas that is no longer listed.:(

[Toto2Kansas]

The generic excursions that are listed under the ports are not always available for each cruise. When your excursions open up, those are usually what you have to pick from. You can keep checking back, but normally they don't add much to the list once they are open for booking. Once in awhile you will see one or two extras added, but not very often.

[chasetf]

does anyone know if princess adds different excursions as the cruise gets closer? I saw earlier one for st. kitts that is no longer offered.(i saw it prior to the time excursions became available) i also saw the shopping/beach excursion for st. thomas that is no longer listed.:(

I am sure the tours are planned way in the future. Not only do they have to publicize them on the web, but there are the tour books sent out ahead of time that need to be printed. Things happen, so I am sure there are last minute cancellations (and maybe even additions).

[Bucky3]

It's always a good idea to check once on board to see if any excursions have been added.

[merrilyanne]

Do your own excursions! They are always better and cheaper. I have always done my own, even in China, Vietnam, and Greece and Turkey, even though I was a single woman travelling alone. I always ended up seeing more for a quarter of the cost than the excursions. People at dinner would ask if they could go with me on my day trips when they heard how much more I had done and seen for so much less.

 

The Caribbean is particularily easy to get around as the islands are small and there is not the cultural and language barrier. Have a game plan of where you want to go (do the same as Princess is doing if you want) and ask other couples if they are interested in going along to split a taxi. Or get off the ship and go to a taxi stand, and there are usually others who are willing to split a taxi.

In Nagasaki, Japan, the smart people paid $1. to catch a street car a block from the ship, to go to a museum 10 blocks away, and the other passengers paid $65. to be transported by Princess. We also got to shop and sightseeing around the area, whereas the Princess passengers had to return to the ship.

Good luck!

[flarad]

I have found the port related message boards here to be full a great information about what to do on our own. We cruised on NCL last spring and did all our own things for less money and had great, not crowded experiences.Look there for information. Also, I don't know if I'm supposed to mention this but shoretrips.com has great alternatives and they are well planned. We're used them before.

[Beach4me]

Before you book any of your own trips, be sure to look at your itinerary in your reservation. I'm cruising the Island Priness r/t Hawaii in January. I'd been waiting for the excursions to open up because I had one that I dearly wanted to take in Kauai. Excursions opened up last week - no Hanalei excursion. I was looking for a private tour when it finally hit me why the excursion wasn't being offered on my voyage. Instead of the 8 am - 5 pm port time we were scheduled for, the itinerary under the cruise personalizer says we will only be in port from 11 am - 5 pm...not enough time for the excursion. AND, not enough time for a private excursion to Hanalei/Bali Hai either.

 

You've got to look under your reservation/cruise personalizer at the itinerary though. The Princess website and Travelocity still show the port day to be 8 am - 5 pm for my voyage.

 

I'm still hoping we go back to the longer port day as I'd still like the tour I'd been planning. But, if not, I've got other alternatives lined up.

 

Enjoy your voyage!