Booking shore excursions

[barbara brad]

Going in April on The Island Princess to the Panama Canal. Are we better off booking our shore excursions through Princess? How safe is Columbia?

Thanks

[carlp22]

Hi,

We just returned (Thursday 11/6/08), from the Panama Canal on the Island Princess.

We didn't book a tour through the ship. Instead, grabbed one outside the terminal. It turned out to be - not too good! Our friends did the same thing 15 minutes later and their tour was great.

Do not use "Billy White". He is just outside the terminal. Your chances are much better with someone else.

See the Old City.

The street vendors are like flies! Don’t hold anything they hand you and only engage them if you really want something they have to sell. Bargan.

Good luck.

[GloriaF]

We took the ship's tour in Cartagena, Colombia - don't recall the name of it, we saw all the sights by bus but got off and did quite a bit of walking, too - the fort, the old city, the monastery/convent on top of the hill, and so on, ending with shopping in an upscale area with emerald shops. We do not usually do this type tour thru the ship, but felt a little apprehensive about being on our own in Colombia. It was a good tour and we were glad we had not gone off on our own. We covered so much territory that the tour ran late - another reason we were glad to be with a ship-approved tour.

 

There are opposing viewpoints as to whether Colombia is safe on your own. I think it depends on how adventurous you are. Either way, enjoy your time there.

[caribill]

Going in April on The Island Princess to the Panama Canal. Are we better off booking our shore excursions through Princess? How safe is Columbia?

 

 

For most ports, you can check the ports threads and find recommendations for non-Princess touring. In general, I recommend that you arrange all excursions in advance (either Princess or independently) as what you might get at the dock is an unknown quality as one other poster indicated.

 

You might also check the roll call for your sailing. Often other CC members are arranging independent tours and are seeking more participants.

 

In Columbia, I feel safer on a Princess excursion.

[GloriaF]

Colombia is a fairly new port for Princess. I think the cruise we took in April 08 was one of (if not the) first Princess ships to stop there.

 

Colombia now has it's own port of call board -

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=7&f=500

[Sea Hag]

We caught a taxi right as we came out of the building, and we had a great tour. There were two guys in the taxi, the "one who drove" and the "one who talked." The talker was great. He was very knowledgeable about local history. He gave us a great tour of the fort, down into the underground passages. Good time!

[rustytdog]

My wife and I took a shore excusion booked with Carnival 2 years ago in Costa Rica. The bus had a mechanical problem we were almost an hour late returning to the ship. Because the excusion was booked through the cruiseline, the ship was held at the port and ships officers met us at the drop off point and helped us back to the ship. I know of others that have been left behind because they used private companies. Because of this, we alway spend the extra and book through the cruise line.

[barbara brad]

Thanks for all the responces. We will book through Princess for our excursions.

 

Next question.. How soon do we need to do this?? We arn't going till April

[LNscooter]

You can book them on your cruise personalizer, but they aren't available until 120 days out and sometimes not even then. We are going in February and I check every day to see if they are available yet. We are within the 120 day window, but they don't have them up yet. Depending on which excursions you are interested in, some of the more popular ones fill up quickly. Princess is great about letting you reserve them and you don't pay for them until you are on the ship. This way, if you change your mind before your trip you can easily go online and cancel your excursion or decide on another one.

Hope that helps,

Lisa

[notentirelynormal]

Colombia is a fairly new port for Princess. I think the cruise we took in April 08 was one of (if not the) first Princess ships to stop there.

 

Colombia now has it's own port of call board -

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=7&f=500

 

 

Not true at all. We were there in April 01 - and I know my mom was there a few years before.... both on Princess. We actually took the same tour as one of the above posters.

[mauiedin87]

Just my two cents' worth, but we never book a tour from vendors on the pier and we've also never had a problem on 14 cruises so far. We'd rather pay the extra and feel safer. Depends on how young and adventurous you are. Regarding Colombia, I would only take a Princess-sponsored tour.

As soon as tours are available on-line (120 days is the usual start-date) I book them because we've had the experience of 50% of them being sold out already by the time we got on the ship (especially Island Princess this past April).