are excursions worth it or is it best to do your on thing?

[cruiserSg]

will be on the emerald on nov. 28th. i'm looking for possible tours on the islands of antigua, st kitts, and barbados. there will be 5 of us. 3 over 70 so i want something easy but interesting. any ideas? i have booked previously thru the cruiseline but have found that some tours are overrated. please help.

[OCNJ Cruiser]

For Barbados you can hire a taxi to take you on a tour of the island then make sure you stop at Kokomo's for lunch. It's right on the beach, surf and turf menu...delicious and moderatey priced. No need to book in advance, just hire a taxi when you get off the ship. Not sure about the other islands. Check out the Ports of Call Boards. I agree, the cruise ship excursions are overpriced and sometimes overrated.

Good Luck!!

[paul929207]

Join the Roll Call for your cruise. You can meet others sailing with you. Some may be planning private tours and looking for others to join them.

 

To join, go to the boards menu and scroll down to Roll Calls. Click on your cruise line. Then click on your ship. Finally, click on the thread for your sailing.

[Nebr.cruiser]

It just depends on your comfort level, what you want to do and the port you are visiting.

 

We much (much, much) prefer independent excursions and only do ship tours if they are the only one doing what we want to do, the port time is very short and the tour time fairly long (so if the tour is late the ship will wait) or in a dicey area where the big tour buses are likely to be safer.

 

We've also used ship tours when we had a lot of OBC to use up, and can't figure out what else to do.

 

Still, we've almost always had better excursions with private operators, either found from recommendations on these boards or picked up at the dock. On some islands, especially if we've been there before, we may not do a tour at all, just walk around, shop, go to nearby sights, a beach, etc.

[Loonbeam]

It depends on how you feel about various things:

 

1> Tour location and time. If its a cruise ship contracted tour, if the tour is back late they will either try to hold the ship or find a way to get you back to it. Privately booked tours offer no such protection. If its a long port stop or easy to get to the next location, this becomes less of a concern.

 

2> Group size. Most ships tours will be larger groups (there are exceptions). Privately booked tours will be smaller. Depends on which you prefer.

 

3> Comfort with port. If its a port or location I am more familiar with, I am more likely to go private because I know my way around. If time gets tight I won't be asking directions. The first time in any port, I am more inclined to consider ship sponsored options first.

 

Checking your roll call and ports of call forums to see if shared options are avail is a great compromise.

[cdamion]

My personal feeling is that the ship's excursions are overpriced and overcrowded, so always prefer to go with a private operator, or just rent a car and explore on my own.

 

The exception would be if I am doing something that will have a tight deadline with returning to the ship, or is a bit of a distance away. For example in Cozumel, there are private and ship excursions to the ruins in the mainland. In that case I would book through the ship to make sure it waited for me if we were delayed returning.

 

Once when I was on a land-based vacation in St. Thomas, I was delayed a couple of hours on a ferry from St. John, which should have been a 20 minute trip. There were some cruise ship passengers on there that were flat out panicked about making it back to their ship. They wouldve been ok if they were on a ship tour.

[financialgrl]

I've been to Bermuda and on a Caribbean cruise where I just walked off and wandered, took a taxi, etc. And, I've been to Europe where I did things on my ow and took ship excursions in specific locales - for example, Florence and Rome are 1.5 hours from port because, not speaking the language, I didn't feel as comfortable doing that so took ship tours. There should be no language problem on your trip - do research and book accordingly.

[jeffbrig]

It really depends on where you're traveling, and how many are in your group.

 

In Europe, we had a group of 4, and we hired private drivers/guides for less money than the princess organized bus tours in most cities. Have you ever looked at what princess charges for a private vehicle/guide? We got the same service at a fraction of the price.

 

In Alaska, we found minimal price difference between princess and private excursions. We booked some through Princess. We booked some privately where Princess wasn't offering the tour we wanted at the time we were traveling.

[BosoxI]

will be on the emerald on nov. 28th. i'm looking for possible tours on the islands of antigua, st kitts, and barbados. there will be 5 of us. 3 over 70 so i want something easy but interesting. any ideas? i have booked previously thru the cruiseline but have found that some tours are overrated. please help.

 

In the islands, I would get off the ship and hire a taxi or local guide. In certain other places Princess is the best bet, IMHO. Some Princess tours are worth every penny, others aren't, but the trouble is that determination can be made only after taking/missing one!

[Essiesmom]

will be on the emerald on nov. 28th. i'm looking for possible tours on the islands of antigua, st kitts, and barbados. there will be 5 of us. 3 over 70 so i want something easy but interesting. any ideas? i have booked previously thru the cruiseline but have found that some tours are overrated. please help.

 

I was on Celebrity Summit last week, and had a basic overview tour booked in St. Kitts. It was cancelled by the tour operator, so I went ahead and booked the Scenic Railway tour. I had initially bypassed it because it cost $99.75. But I was sooo glad I did. I found it really relaxing and entertaining.

http://www.stkittsscenicrailway.com/ourTour.html

I chose not to do the earliest departure, so we had the bus ride first, and therefore the train brought us back to Basseterre. I think it was well worth the money, giving you an in depth overview of the island. If you choose to do this, keep in mind that there are five cars and five buses. They are numbered, and those in bus #1 get into car #1. I was at the end of the line, got into bus #5, and therefore in the last car on the train. I think it was the best view, as I had an unobstructed (by the other cars) view out the rear of the train. I spent the entire trip on the upper level, except to go down to the lower level to the bathroom. EM

[Pam in CA]

Five people are too many to just grab a cab; you'd have to get two cabs and try to coordinate between the two. With a three year old and a 70 year old, being taken care of might be worth the extra cost of booking a ship's tour. There are no surprises or worries.

 

If it were me, I'd check my roll call to see if anyone has organized anything and whether there are five spaces left. With five people, you could probably arrange something similar for yourselves if someone's group is filled. Otherwise, I'd take a ship's tour. If all you want to do is go to a resort or beach, then grabbing a couple of cabs is probably better. One thing to remember is that when you go off on your own and not a ship's tour, you are responsible for anything and everything that could go wrong.

[Nebr.cruiser]

Also, remember that most 3-year-olds have a low tolerance for sitting on tour buses/vans for long periods while sight-seeing. Most kids this age get nothing out of just plain touring. Beaches or other active excursions work best, with limited driving around.

 

I speak from experience! I probably would think hard about doing, say, an island tour on a large bus with mostly adults with a young child--both for his sake and for others' sake.

 

We took grandkids aged 3,4,5&5 on a cruise once and while they loved the beaches and the boat ride, and river tubing we went on, they got antsy very quickly on the one private excursion we took in Jamaica that had only a limited amount of actual touring the island time. And this was on a small bus with a very personable, fun guide.

[caribill]

In the islands, I would get off the ship and hire a taxi or local guide.

 

When you do this, you have no idea of the quality of the guide and thus the experience you will have.

 

Instead, go to the Ports of Call section of Cruise Critic and read about the port(s) you are interested in. You will find suggestions for excellent tour guides and can arrange in advance via internet to use them.

[Times Prince]

will be on the emerald on nov. 28th. i'm looking for possible tours on the islands of antigua, st kitts, and barbados. there will be 5 of us. 3 over 70 so i want something easy but interesting. any ideas? i have booked previously thru the cruiseline but have found that some tours are overrated. please help.

On Antigua I would definitely recommend Nelson's Dockyards - We took a ship's tour that went to some overlooks as well but in our opinion did not spend enough time at the dockyard. This attraction is flat, making for easy walking, has a museum and really nice snack bar in some of the original houses and in our opinion was the best historical site in the Caribbean. It was truly a pleasant place to just browse, and we never even got to the gift shop.

 

We've been to St. Kitts twice and have just walked into town each time.

They have some great street entertainment.

[Colo Cruiser]

will be on the emerald on nov. 28th. i'm looking for possible tours on the islands of antigua, st kitts, and barbados. there will be 5 of us. 3 over 70 so i want something easy but interesting. any ideas? i have booked previously thru the cruiseline but have found that some tours are overrated. please help.

 

 

Here is the roll call for your cruise.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1037210

[itslin561]

BE VERY CAREFUL, if you are late the ship will leave without you if you are out on a private tour. If you are on a Princess tour, they will wait for their group to return.