How many passengers take Ship's Tours?

[gooch47]

On the Sun Princess last month the the head of the Tour Department kept announcing that about 700 passengers were going on each of the day's tours. This was out of around 1950 on board? That seems low to me.

 

But considering the price of the ship sponsored tours these days, maybe that isn't low.

 

The cruise was around Australia and nearly 90% of the passengers were Australians. I wonder if that made a difference.

[woodmill100]

The only reason we're taking ship tours in January is because I am pregnant and have not been able to research other options as I would usually due to morning sickness.

[Toto2Kansas]

Linda, We have traveled to Australia three times now, twice up the eastern coast from Sydney to Singapore. The first time we booked only a couple of ships sponsered tours, the second time, not even one. What we did was contact a travel agency in Sydney, on James Street, each time before we left. Via email we arranged our private tours for both the cruises up the coast of Australia. When we arrived in Sydney, all we had to do is walk to the agency (not far from our hotels) and pay and pick up our tour tickets. Very simple process and no problems whatsoever. The prices were less than half of what the ship charged, and we had no complaints at all at what we received. Those that took ships sponsered tours were just the opposite as they felt they paid way too much for what was delivered.

 

Not sure what percentage of Aussies were onboard the ship when you sailed, but my guess would be that most of them didn't bother with the overpriced ships tours but booked them privately through an Australian company before they boarded.

[Colo Cruiser]

That is strange I have never heard them announce tour passenger numbers before. :confused:

[Tinwoman]

I think it is rather typical for first time cruisers to take the ships tours, especially in a country different then theirs.

I know that is what we did.

But now we usually book on our own.

[Spikesgirl]

Depends upon the country and whether or not we can speak the local language. When we did the SE Asia cruise, we took all ship sponsered tours. More expensive, but we didn't want to risk any issues on shore. when we were in the BI, we took a couple, like to the Tattoo, that we again didn't want the hassle of going it alone.

 

First timers - it's a good idea to take ship tours until you have a little experience under your belt. The alternative to that would be to hook up with your roll call and see if anyone's doing something there.

 

In all our cruises, I've never heard actual tour numbers annouced, only that some tours were available and others weren't.

 

Familiarity with the surrounds could have led to the low numbers, but it's really hard to say.

 

Charlie

[gooch47]

The funny part was he seemed PROUD of the number. And yes, there were about 90% Australians on board.

 

I've always been too chicken to arrange our own tours. I have nightmares of the ship sailing away without me. Also, what happens when you don't make the port and have already scheduled a tour? That would have happened twice on this cruise. We were very late to Cairnes (12:30 p.m. when it should have been around 8:00 a.m.) and missed Exmouth altogether. I tried to do that for Hobart, but the tours I could find on-line always left too early or arrived back too late.

[whale-watcher]

we will take ships tours when we want to pack a lot into a port...ie 2 excursions, and not much room for error at the end of the tour. In some ports, no other options are available. Otherwise, we prefer the small group size and flexibility of private excursions (not to mention the cost savings).

[Pam in CA]

I often take ship's tours, for several reasons. One is that I often cruise to exotic ports and not only don't I speak the language, I can't read the signs. I have no way of knowing where we're going or how long it's going to take us to get there and back to the ship on time. I'm just not comfortable leaving that in a stranger's hands.

 

Another reason is that I'd prefer to be on a bus than stuffed into a van and have to get in and out frequently. I've found that for the most part, Princess tours are very professional and the tour guides knowledgeable.

 

And another reason I often take a Princess tour is that if the tour isn't what I expected or didn't match the description, I can tell the Shore Desk; in other words, I have someone I can go to.

 

And finally, there are many times I like the assurance that the ship will wait if my tour is delayed. This has happened to me quite a few times when delays happened over which we had no control. If you're in a rental car or with an independent tour, the ship won't wait.

 

While most of my tours have been Princess tours, I have taken independent tours that have been great -- among the best I've ever had. Whether or not I'm feeling adventurous depends on what part of the world I'm in.

[chasetf]

We vary like many of the above posters. It depends on where we are, how much time we have, how far the site is we want to see, the cost, and the type of activity.

 

We have never pre-booked tours though independent agents. Just seems too much overplaning, plus we may change our minds or see something better to do. If we do not have a ship's tour booked (probably half the time) we will do something local (like wander into town) or do a pickup tour off the dock.

[Druke I]

Like Pam and Spikesgirl, we often (but not always) takes ship's tours in foreign countries, particularly if we have no "sprinkling" of the language.

 

Admittedly, we might not see as much, but it does give us a good idea if we would like to go back, and have a more in-depth look around.

 

We have taken a 1/2 day tour in the morning, and then gone back in the afteroon for our walk-about, if the port facility is handy to transportation to the city center.

[Nancyquilts]

We rarely take the ship's tours anymore. Sometimes we will get a van or taxi on shore, sometimes just walk around. I hate to wait in buses for the last person to board at each stop - usually the same one.

[CruisinKiki]

Lately we have leaned toward independent tour operators based on recommendations from CC members (Thanks!) I would still do cruise line tours in exotic ports where we don't speak the language or if times would be cutting it close. I prefer to get away from the herd if possible but have always had good tours and guides when going through the ship. For independent tours, my experience is if the ship is unable to port for some reason, they do not charge you -- though something to be sure of prior to booking.

[GBeret]

I normally book ships tours on the Princess website hooked up to my particular voyage. They are listed by each port of call with prices, etc.

 

I'm able to pick and choose from the many offered there and read enough about them to tell if I want to go on them. Many feature lunch with the tour as well.

 

I also, feel safer on these tour for many reasons; however, the greatest reason is that if the tour is delayed, etc. the ship will wait for the tour to return, which isn't true of Independent tours, one may book on their own.

[Host Caroline]

We do sometimes if it's more convenient or there is really a time concern..not bec. we want to spend more...:rolleyes: this next cruise we are going to Baths in Tortola bec. we have a relatively short port call but we all wanted to go; in St Thomas there are 7 ships in Port.. DH has never been to St John, we don't care about snorkeling so opted for ship tour over via ferry both ways that picks us up at dock and returns us so there's no traffic hassle.. if you have ever been in St THomas with 5 much less 7 ships you will understand why!

[starskyfan]

So far we have never done a tour on our own, for all of the reasons other posters have mentioned. Bottom line, I've been too chicken! I can't say I never would, and I intend to research all the Australia ports just in case I find something better, but the circumstances will have to be right. In the Caribbean there were always people waiting at the ports anxious to take you somewhere, but that seems rather risky to me. I would definitely consider something put together by a cruise critic member, but only in a port where I was comfortable. Brenda

[spongerob]

We do a mixture of both. Most of the time we arrange our own tours. We'll do ship's tours if there is one that is particularly interesting, we have a short time in port, or there are potential language issues that make independent touring difficult.

 

If you have the time and inclination, net access makes it very easy to research the places you intend to visit and find good tour operators. There is also a lot of good information on this site, within the ports of call section, and sometimes reviews include contact information for local operators. Roll call groups sometimes set up group tours, too. Just be sure to ask whomever you speak with what their cancellation policies are, if pre-payment is needed, and how to handle those payments. Almost everyone we have dealt with has been very professional. I can only think of once or twice where I felt I had received poor service or was disappointed with what was delivered.

 

We always make sure that our guide, if we have one, knows that we want to be back at the ship at least an hour before sailing.

[hill6]

I will take ships tours depending on where we are and what they offer. Yes I I can probably do some cheaper on my own but I also like that the ship will not leave without me.

 

I will not ever do a thing in Jamaica without a ship's tour but I would not be afraid somewhere like St. Thomas to venture out on my own