Organised excursions - worth it?

[shroob]

Hi all,

 

I'm due to go on my first cruise soon and have been looking at the itinerary, along side this is a list of option excursions on each day. I am wondering if it is worth booking these, as some can be quite expensive, or simply doing my own thing when I arrive in port?

 

Thanks again.

[paul929207]

You can do either. There are advantages to both approaches and disadvantages. If you want do go on your own, you would be wise to do some research to determine what you want to do.

[Rob & Beckys mom]

Hi all,

 

I'm due to go on my first cruise soon and have been looking at the itinerary, along side this is a list of option excursions on each day. I am wondering if it is worth booking these, as some can be quite expensive, or simply doing my own thing when I arrive in port?

 

Thanks again.

 

We do a little of both. We are beach people, so getting to a beach on your own is pretty easy, just look into transportation that will be available back to the ship & watch the time! Organized excursions that we like a lot are the four wheel drive wacky rollers, fun! Good luck

 

Jan

[PattyG12]

While we like to book excursions in a first time visit to a port, we rarely book through the ship. We have found they they are more expensive and have many more people on them. Instead, we normally do lots of research (thanks to all my CC friends :D) and book independently. It's much cheaper, often half of what the ship charges. It's also easier to control times. We like to get off the ship as soon as it's cleared and like to get right onto excursions. That way we have the afternoon to check out things we may have missed and can still get back to the ship in plenty of time. For example, in Grand Cayman we hired a tour and did the "Stingray snorkle" excursion. There were 14 people in our group. We spent over an hour with the rays and were amazed!! As we were leaving we saw the ships excursion heading in that direction. There were well over 100 people crowded onto the tour boat. We waved on our way to the next stop.

[cb at sea]

If you do some research on where you'll be, you'll be able to actually DO stuff, rather than just wandering the port area! A guidebook is a must! And, check out the Port of Call boards for what others have done.

It's really pretty easy to do things on your own, but you do need info...you can't just walk off the ship with no idea of what there is or how to get to it!

[6rugrats]

It's really pretty easy to do things on your own, but you do need info...you can't just walk off the ship with no idea of what there is or how to get to it!

I don't know; we've done it that way on a Med cruise - a last minute deal and no time to research. Met lots of great fellow cruisers who had done research and were looking for people to share car rentals, boat rentals, etc. It worked great for us! But no guarantees this will happen.

 

For a Caribbean cruise, I'd never take a ship's excursion. IMO, most are a total waste of money. You can do better on your own.

[John Bull]

Hi all,

 

I'm due to go on my first cruise soon and have been looking at the itinerary, along side this is a list of option excursions on each day. I am wondering if it is worth booking these, as some can be quite expensive, or simply doing my own thing when I arrive in port?

 

Thanks again.

 

There's pros & cons - and price isn't the only reason why folk fix up a private tour, or join such a tour organised by folk on their Roll Call on this site, or DIY on arrival.

 

And the replies you'll get will be personal opinions - some folk can scare the pants off you by over-egging the risk of missing the sailing, whilst other very experienced cruisers may be so used to DIY that they perhaps don't appreciate that newbies can be much less savvy.

 

It depends very much on you

- are you reasonably worldly-wise, reasonably adventurous, reasonably active, willing to research etc.

It depends very much on your itinerary

- in most (but not all) of the Caribbean it's safe & incredibly easy to DIY, whereas in places like Egypt (regardless of current situation) its much more difficult/less safe, and because of visas/language in places such as Russia its not practical to DIY.

And it depends very much on what you aim to do

- for transport to the beach it's generally so much cheaper and more flexible to DIY, for sight-seeing its usually more fun more flexible & half the cost or less to DIY, but if you seek a seriously-deep insight into the sights you'll need a ship's or private guide rather than just a cab or train or bus.

- for activities, such as a catamaran trip or river-tubing or a 4x4 excursion, it's usually either difficult or impossible to fix it up on-the-fly, & perhaps you should fix up ship's offerings. And the sooner the better, they do sell-out.

 

Get back here, or on the relevant ports of call boards section, and give us a little more background. There's lots of help on these pages.

 

John Bull

[SheilaNC]

We, too, usually do private tours with folks that we've met on Cruise Critic. If that's of interest to you - go to the Roll Call section of the boards and join the Roll Call for your cruise (listed by cruise line and by date). We've never been disappointed when doing that. On occasion we do book with the cruise line - if it's an unusual itinerary (like riding a camel in Lazarote, Canary Islands) or a lengthy drive and we want to be sure to be on a cruiseline excursion to be sure that we aren't too late to make the ship's deadline.

 

I really don't like being on a large bus and waiting for everyone to return (there are always some lagging behind for one last picture) - but it works out to make that decision based on where we are and the difficulty in finding a private driver. You can find good info about drivers/guides on the appropriate Ports of Call boards. Enjoy - whatever you decide.

[shroob]

Wow is all I can say. Thanks for all the great advice and friendlyness.

 

This is not only my first time cruise, but also first time holiday without my parents (I am going with my brother using money that was left to us for a holiday when a relative died - who specified that we were to take a holiday together, so a really nice gesture on their behalf).

 

I am new to this site so will look for the section called 'Role Call'.

 

Background information: The cruise is on the Thomson Destiny, doing both the 'Coral Islands' and 'Caribbean Gems' itinerary. The ports of call are:

Fly to La Romana -> St. Georges (Grenada) -> Castries (St. Lucia) -> St. Johns (Antigua) -> Philipsburg (St. Maarten) -> Road Town (British Virgin Islands) - > La Romana (Dominican Republic).

 

Then the 2nd part of cruise is from La Romana -> Kingstown (St. Vincent) -> Bridgetown (Barbados) -> Portsmouth (Dominica) - > Basseterre (St. Kitts) -> Road Town (Tortola) -> La Romana to catch the return flight home.

 

Thanks once again for all the advice.

[paul929207]

Here are direcdtions to the Roll Call"

 

To join, Click Boards at the top of this page, Scroll down to Roll Calls, click on your cruise line, Click on your ship. Find the thread for your sailing.

[John Bull]

Wow is all I can say. Thanks for all the great advice and friendlyness.

 

This is not only my first time cruise, but also first time holiday without my parents (I am going with my brother using money that was left to us for a holiday when a relative died - who specified that we were to take a holiday together, so a really nice gesture on their behalf).

 

I am new to this site so will look for the section called 'Role Call'.

 

Background information: The cruise is on the Thomson Destiny, doing both the 'Coral Islands' and 'Caribbean Gems' itinerary. The ports of call are:

Fly to La Romana -> St. Georges (Grenada) -> Castries (St. Lucia) -> St. Johns (Antigua) -> Philipsburg (St. Maarten) -> Road Town (British Virgin Islands) - > La Romana (Dominican Republic).

 

Then the 2nd part of cruise is from La Romana -> Kingstown (St. Vincent) -> Bridgetown (Barbados) -> Portsmouth (Dominica) - > Basseterre (St. Kitts) -> Road Town (Tortola) -> La Romana to catch the return flight home.

 

Thanks once again for all the advice.

 

For road tours, its easy enough to negotiate a taxi or minibus at the quayside. Sharing is usual - best with like-minded folk you meet on the ship, but drivers can arrange it on the quayside. Drivers are friendly, reliable, trustworthy, know their island & know the importance of back-on-board time. Agree price/itinerary/timescale before you board, pay when you get back.

 

 

La Romana - day one you'll be taken straight to the ship. Mid-cruise you'll have a day, that's the one port I'd be very wary about. Not been there, but it has a poor reputation so take care. Last day, you may have a morning, depends on your flight time - check out ship's 1/2day tours, esp if they have one which starts at the ship & ends at the airport.

St Lucia - Best is a morning drive to the "drive-in" volcano at Soufriere, mebbe $25 pp, most popular trip on the island. Perhaps at the end get the driver to drop you at a beach near the ship, such as Choc beach. Avoid Castries town - grim, boring, not too safe.

Antigua - a drive across the island to Nelson's Dockyard, then back via a beach on the west coast. Mebbe $25pp

St Maarten - mebbe a tour including the french side (mebbe $20pp) then get dropped in P'burg for the Caribbean's best duty-free shopping. Laid-back local shops (not cloned shopping malls), and a decent beach right behind the shops. Walk or water-taxi back to the ship. Or for something a little more hair-raising, try Maho beach

Tortola - perhaps just taxi to Spring Garden beach, about $10-$15 e/w.. If you want to visit "The Baths" on nearby Virgin Gorda island, best take ship's tour. Ferry is way cheaper but the very small risk that the weather might prevent the return ferry will create big big consequences of missing the sailing. If you're on ship's excursion that has the same problem, its Thomson's problem, & not yours.

St Vincent - town is grubby & nothing there. Mebbe a drive up into the rain forest/waterfalls, around $20 for 1/2 day.

Barbados - way too many tour options to list. Or walk into Bridgetown, or taxi up to one of the many super west coast beaches. Or if the ship offers snorkelling with turtles by catamaran for half-sensible money, go for it.

Dominica - a drive up into the rainforest is popular, can't help further cos I I've always landed at Roseau, not Portsmouth (is it a tender port?)

St Kitts - a circular drive round this small island will cost mebbe $15 to $20pp. The Sugar Train is popular but can only be booked via the ship, so it's poor value for money. Same route (over half the tour is by road) & same scenery, but those who've done it loved the atmosphere on the train. No other choices on the island & poor beaches, so a boat trip may be worth considering.

Road Town twice????

 

More details, more options, and more advice on the Ports of Call boards - at the bottom of this page, click on "forum jump", scroll to Ports of Call & you'll find the islands listed under Caribbean. Ask any island-specific questions there.

 

Ship's excursion offerings give you an idea of the places to visit - local drivers can replicate a ship's road tour (well under half ship's price in a full taxi or minibus), or vary it, or suggest other places.

 

There's pros & cons cruising with Thomson. Destiny is one of the smaller cruise ships, a little older & a lot less glitz. But excellent value, sensible on-board drinks prices (same as UK pubs), everything priced in sterling, no service charges. And although all cruise-ship excursion prices are too high, Thomson's are a little cheaper.

 

Take USD for spending ashore - get lots of $1 & $5 & $10 bills (can be a struggle with UK banks etc) & decline anything larger than $20. This way you won't have grief with change, incl being given change in local currencies. Prices I've quoted are ball-park & mebbe out-of-date

 

It's a great itinerary, & (guessing you're a Brit) a Caribbean-based UK ship is ideal for a first cruise.

 

Have a good one

 

JB

[Lard Greystoke]

Background information: The cruise is on the Thomson Destiny, doing both the 'Coral Islands' and 'Caribbean Gems' itinerary. The ports of call are:

Fly to La Romana -> St. Georges (Grenada) -> Castries (St. Lucia) -> St. Johns (Antigua) -> Philipsburg (St. Maarten) -> Road Town (British Virgin Islands) - > La Romana (Dominican Republic).

 

Then the 2nd part of cruise is from La Romana -> Kingstown (St. Vincent) -> Bridgetown (Barbados) -> Portsmouth (Dominica) - > Basseterre (St. Kitts) -> Road Town (Tortola) -> La Romana to catch the return flight home.

 

Thanks once again for all the advice.

 

Some ports are easier than others. I would plan things out in St Lucia.

Antigua is easy - check the boards, you can take a taxi or even local bus to a variety of nice beaches (I walked to Darkwood - doable, but not recommended).

St Maarten is also easy: taxi to Orient or Maho beach, or others.

Tortola is easy. Taxi to Cane Garden or Brewer's beach, or sightseeing up in the hills. (Get out on deck while cruising through the Virgins, it's pretty).