Western Caribbeaner's - c'mon in!

[Christina1003]

So my fellow cruisers (heh - am I allowed to say that yet?) that took a trip to the Western Caribbean -

 

What did you enjoy the most?

What excurisions were absolutely worth the price? (And what wasn't?)

Recommendations? Warnings? Advice?

 

I'm looking at the prices for excursions and it's taking my breath away...whew! I know it's only once but...damn!

 

Mariner of the Seas

05/08/2005

[surgie]

Captain Bryan's Stingray Tour in the Caymans - $34pp - very nicely done - a very professional group! Our catamaran only had about 20 people on the tour - very relaxing - great snorkeling.

 

Peat Taylor tours in Jamaica - $30 pp - to Dunn's River Falls and sightseeing around Jamaica. He was great, but if I had it to do over, would just have taken a taxi from the pier to the falls and then back to the ship. My "kids" - ages 18 and 21 - thought the island tour was kind of long - stopped at the local pottery factory, drove through a typical Jamaica neighborhood, went through Fern Gulley. They would rather have had more time back on the ship and I would have too. Peat did a very nice job - it was just too much time in a van for us, but others might enjoy that kind of day.

[fajitapita]

Don't know if it's still offered, but we rented waverunners in Labadee in 2002 and had a blast! Also booked RCI excursions for hiking Dunn's River Falls in Jamaica, and scuba diving in Cozumel and Grand Cayman. (This was all before I discovered Cruisecritic.com)

 

Definitely check out the Ports of Call sections on this site for the places you'll be visiting. I saved a lot of money by booking my Alaskan excursions with independent contractors, all based on fellow Cruise Critics' advice and opinions. Each excursion was wonderful, and I would highly recommend them, too. You'll probably save a lot of money and end up with much smaller tour groups (that was a definite plus with us).

[Christina1003]

Thanks fajitapita! Question though - do independent exurcisions (sp? I'm so sleepy!) still get charged to your ship card thingie, or do you have to pay out of pocket for them?

[fajitapita]

No, unfortunately, you have to pay out of pocket for them. I say unfortunately, because we have an RCI Visa card, and anytime we use it on the ship- bar tab, excursions, gift shops, etc.(i.e. anything on the seapass card)- we get DOUBLE points towards our future free cruise!!! :)

 

Two things you DEFINITELY want to make sure when booking independent excursions:

1. What is the company's cancelation policy if the ship is delayed getting in to port or can't make it to port because of weather, etc. (The Alaskan companies I booked with let me know up front what their policy was- basically if it was the ship's "fault" I couldn't make it to the excursion, they would reschedule for later in the day or give me a full refund. If it was MY fault, I'd have to give them 24-48 hours notice in order to receive a refund)

 

2. Make sure you give yourself PLENTY of time between the end of the excursion and the time you need to be back on board (the ship won't wait for independently-booked excursions)

 

Enjoy your time on your beautiful ship in the beautiful Caribbean! :)