Excursion thru Carnival or private tour company?

[Talli]

Does it really make a difference with the quality of the excursions (fun wise that is) with booking through Carnival versus a private tour company? It seems like everything I read on these and other boards prefer private tours for the most part. I know you save money if you book privately but we are traveling to Ocho Rio's in November and the DH is worried about safety, so we are considering our options. Especially with the recent unrest and travel warnings for Kingston. Also does anyone know how I could research how "safe" a tour company is?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Talli

[Froufie]

The tour companies offered thru Carnival are technically 'sub contractors' and not necessarily safer than any others. Not sure what you mean by safe? If you are 'zip lining' or cave tubing obviously you want good equipment, experienced guides. etc. I have hard of Carnival sponsored tours where the group was held up on a beach...no way could Carnival control that I guess?

 

The only safey measure offered is if your tour is late getting back they should hold the ship for you so you don't miss it.

 

If you are looking for a well recommended private tour simply go to the ports of call boards (for jamaica) and I'm sure you can find some good reviews there from other recent cruisers.

 

I personally prefer private tours - definitely cheaper and a more fun and personalized experience. It is very different being 1 of 10 or 4 on a tour rather than 1 of a 100 (or more?)....and of course you can usually customize such tours and get to do what you want to do rather than being herded around.

[golfadj]

I always prefer a private tour.

 

Much better value and much better tour.

 

I go to the port of call pages for info and only take recommended companies.

 

Having said that wold be very careful in Jamaica and not sure what I wuld do at this moment but if very worried stay on the ship.

[sallyb]

To me, it also depends on the port. We did a private tour in Ocho Rio that was excellent, the guide actually prevented people from bothering us, but that's been 5 years ago.

[GinDon]

Previous poster "Froufie" explained it very well. The only time that we take a ship's excursion is if 1) you can only get the tour through the ship or 2) if it's a long tour that goes far away. For instance, we are doing a BioBay night tour in San Juan this Fall. It's a long bus ride to get back to port. Ship leaves at midnight. We don't want to take ANY chance of being on the pier waving good-bye at midnight. So we took the (pricier) ship tour.

Research these boards for tour operators in each port. The same names come up over and over again. Pick one of those, and you should be fine.

[Talli]

Thank you everyone for your responses! It was what I was looking for :) I did pick a tour company that I emailed tonight for a customized tour, and it was one that has been recommended many times on this board, Peat Taylor :) DH was just wondering if we would feel "safer" in a larger group compared to possibly just the two of us on a tour in secluded area's (cool blue hole). Wow! I didn't realize that there could be 100 of more on a carnival tour! I guess we are just getting a little nervous with the high crime rates and now with the unrest in Kingston that we read about! Very excited to see Jamaica though! Heard it's beautiful! Just want to stay safe and not be harassed by the vendors, so we will try to stay out of the shopping area's.

 

Thanks!

 

Talli

[falconfan]

Does it really make a difference with the quality of the excursions (fun wise that is) with booking through Carnival versus a private tour company? It seems like everything I read on these and other boards prefer private tours for the most part. I know you save money if you book privately but we are traveling to Ocho Rio's in November and the DH is worried about safety, so we are considering our options. Especially with the recent unrest and travel warnings for Kingston. Also does anyone know how I could research how "safe" a tour company is?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Talli

 

Always check the prices. I found the Carnival SCUBA excursion in St. Maarten is cheaper then if I went through a private company. Also, as someone else mentioned, if you are going on a long excursion that would return close to sail-away go with the Carnival excursion. You will feel much better not worrying about missing the ship.

[dprg644]

I always prefer a private tour.

 

Much better value and much better tour.

 

I go to the port of call pages for info and only take recommended companies.

 

Having said that wold be very careful in Jamaica and not sure what I wuld do at this moment but if very worried stay on the ship.

 

I agree with this. We have done both private and cruise excursions and enjoyed them both. Booking on our own has saved a bunch over the ship excursions. The only exception to this is for Jamacia and there we always do the excursions through the ship.