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what do you do for shore excursions?

vols_159

By vols_159,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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rochelle_s

rochelle_s

Posted
Posted
Stick with NCL or go out on your own? Ncl is a little more but knowing if crap happens the ship will be there when we get back..

 

Completely DIY....unless it is a difficult port or with so much to do and trying to make the very most of it in which case arrange a private tour, often with people from the roll call.

 

Either way perfectly personalized to exactly what I am interested in seeing.

 

My first cruise was as a solo in 1989. I've done long solo's ( longest 39 days) and have traveled with family and/ or friends and as of yet have never done a ships tour. That's not to say that I never would as I can understand why many people prefer them. But for me, so far, I just prefer the personalization, the cost savings and the small groups or solidarity of the way I have been going so far.

 

Another top reason for DIY is I enjoy the research almost as much as the cruise itself!

 

Rochelle

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www3traveler Holiday Sharing Rare

www3traveler

Posted
Posted
Stick with NCL or go out on your own? Ncl is a little more but knowing if crap happens the ship will be there when we get back..

I am a widow who travels alone. I always book excursions through Norwegian. To me, it is worth it.

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NMLady

NMLady

Posted
Posted
Stick with NCL or go out on your own? Ncl is a little more but knowing if crap happens the ship will be there when we get back..

 

We do both. Some tours through NCL and some privately arranged (roll call group often helps with this).

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texast518

texast518

Posted
Posted
Completely DIY....unless it is a difficult port or with so much to do and trying to make the very most of it in which case arrange a private tour, often with people from the roll call.

 

Either way perfectly personalized to exactly what I am interested in seeing.

 

My first cruise was as a solo in 1989. I've done long solo's ( longest 39 days) and have traveled with family and/ or friends and as of yet have never done a ships tour. That's not to say that I never would as I can understand why many people prefer them. But for me, so far, I just prefer the personalization, the cost savings and the small groups or solidarity of the way I have been going so far.

 

Another top reason for DIY is I enjoy the research almost as much as the cruise itself!

 

Rochelle

17 cruises, 1 ship tour-Cart. Columbia felt safer.

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coka

coka

Posted
Posted
Stick with NCL or go out on your own? Ncl is a little more but knowing if crap happens the ship will be there when we get back..

 

It depends on the port of call, the price differential between Norwegian and do-it-yourself, whether I mind getting left behind there, do I know anyone there who can help me out, and how close by the next port of call is. This means I usually go with Norwegian.

 

coka

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che5904

che5904

Posted
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I book all excursions through NCL, unless we are just going to sightsee in town.

 

And actually not always are they more expensive, our one tour was cheaper through NCL than directly through the tour company (same company). I would have to assume that it depends on what good deal that they can work out with the tour company and still have a profit.

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jdvmd

jdvmd

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We always do our own private excursions. Never have had any problems (knock wood). The one time that the ship did have to wait because we were late was because we were on a ship excursion. This was Holland America and not NCL.

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kmb388

kmb388

Posted
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We have only been on one cruise and went on two excursions - one through NCL, one we booked ourselves. I'll echo what was said already: the tour booked on our own was a fraction of the price, and only took up about half of the ship's time in port. We figured if anything happened, we would have enough time to make alternate arrangements. The excursion (ruins) was less than an hour from the port, too.

 

We went through NCL to do a hiking / cave tubing / zip line / tour excursion, figuring there were too many moving parts that could fall out of place. Could we have planned our own excursion? Sure. Did we enjoy our excursion more because we didn't have to worry about making connections? Yeah, probably. Also, we needed to tender, so booking through NCL allowed us to take the first tender.

 

It comes down to personal preference and comfort level. Certainly no one-size-fits-all solution.

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herbanrenewal

herbanrenewal

Posted
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I rarely book through cruise line because I hate large busloads on tours. there is so much time wasted waiting for stragglers who never quite show up on time. even if its a good group, the logistics of loading 40-60 people make for less time to enjoy the tour.

 

if we DIY with the roll call, we can get a small group. usually the tour can be personalized to get to see exactly what you want, and eliminate spending half your time in shopping at more expensive shops where the excursion gives the ship a kickback from sales.

 

you can get great feedback from the Port of Call threads, and find reputable tours, and these people love CC recommendations, and know having a missed ship will ruin their business - they have a vested interest in getting you back on time. i usually ask to be back 1-2 hours before final boarding time to leave a safe margin for trouble returning.

 

I have heard that harbormasters would be the best source of information regarding catching up to the ship if you missed the ship but i have never needed to do that. For me the bottom line is that if i can do more, see more, pay less, and be more comfortable with a small group DIY, and have a backup plan for worst case scenario, DIY is the way to go.

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kikki21

kikki21

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I think it is personal choice as in which ports you are visiting and how comfortable you are doing a DIY or if you have money to spend on an NCL excursion as they often work out more expensive.

 

I try and do DIY excursions with the roll call. However, last time I was on a cruise when the itinerary changed that went out of the window as I knew nothing about 1 port of call, Roatan and a little bit more about Cozumel as I had been to Mexico before so we did the NCL tours and actually both were quite enjoyable as they were relatively small tours.

 

I would always try to DIY if I can though.......:)

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4774Papa

4774Papa

Posted
Posted
Stick with NCL or go out on your own? Ncl is a little more but knowing if crap happens the ship will be there when we get back..

I research each port, compare what private tours have to offer, buy a Rick Steves and sometime organize tours on cc.

 

You have four options

1) stay on boat--- we have never done that, but some people cruise to cruise

2) Do it yourself---sometime we do that when public transport or cheap taxis are available and safety is not an issue. Some ports are just amenable to doing it yourself. Athens, Venice, Mykonos, are good examples.

3) Ship's excursions--Sometimes the ship's excursions are actually cheaper than private and can be excellent, even though you are on a bus with 30 people. Also, you have the benefit that if the tour is late, the ship won't leave without you.

4) Private tours can be excellent, but research on TripAdvisor and cc for their track record. One disadvantage is that you have to pay in cash most of the time, requiring having to carry hundreds of dollars. Further, I had a private tour company not show up once and while after contacting them, we did get the tour, it was not totally satisfactory. Still, in some cases private tours are better and cheaper.

 

 

Do the research, then decide.

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GORDONCHICK

GORDONCHICK

Posted
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We have always done privateor independent excursions and have never even come close to missing the ship. In many cases, they are much less expensive (cave tubing independent $50, NCL $119, and the independents spent more time in the water and guides are much better) but have always been much better. We just got back from Roatan - we'd not been before. Researched here on ports of call, chose a private company, booked tour for 8 of us for best of the island. I mentioned to the guide that one person in our group had always wanted to try breadfruit and asked if that was possible. He made a few calls. We were given 4 plates of hot out of the fryer breadfruit chips (lightly salted) and it's much better than potato chips when hot! That won't happen on a ship tour.

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mitsugirly Great Review Rare

mitsugirly

Posted
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You will find that a majority of cruisers on this site do the research, get opinions of places to go, and do it on their own. It saves a lot of money and you usually get to spend a lot more time where you are going.

 

We always do it on our own with the exception if it's some place we HAVE to go and you can't get there other than by cruise ship (our last cruise we wanted to go to Maya Key in Roatan and you could only get there by ship excursion...definitely glad we did, it was our favorite day). The only other time that we have down the ship excursion (which was also our last cruise) was in Belize because where we wanted to go (Bannister Island), they would pick you up right on the cruise ship instead of having to tender to Belize port and then get on another boat. :)

 

Other than that, if you plan it, you can do it on your own easily.

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Mollycat

Mollycat

Posted
Posted

I've always booked through the cruiseline, aside from taking a taxi to the beach and whatnot.

 

My husband and I are going Cavetubing in Belize next month. We've booked through NCL, but we are considering cancelling and booking privately. The listed port time is from 8 am to 5 pm. I'm looking for opinions if it is a good idea to book privately? Thanks.

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GORDONCHICK

GORDONCHICK

Posted
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I've always booked through the cruiseline, aside from taking a taxi to the beach and whatnot.

 

My husband and I are going Cavetubing in Belize next month. We've booked through NCL, but we are considering cancelling and booking privately. The listed port time is from 8 am to 5 pm. I'm looking for opinions if it is a good idea to book privately? Thanks.

 

We just went last week with cavetubing.com and had a blast! Great lunch, too! We did cave tubing and zip lining for $75.

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boopsahoy

boopsahoy

Posted
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We book NCL tours mainly due to laziness:eek: The ticket's in your room when you get to your cabin with the time and meeting place. You get off the ship in your group and follow the sign and no worries about getting back to the ship on time.We also always pick one port to stay on the ship. Its great to have the pool to yourself!:D

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Sizzlechest

Sizzlechest

Posted
Posted
So far I have always been too paranoid to do it myself. I'm so scared of missing the ship! If paying extra gives me peace of mind, it's worth it to me.

 

Assuming you're in port for more than one day, that shouldn't be an issue unless you do it on the last day in port. BTW, most excursions start (and end) early enough, so the risk of not getting back in time is overblown.

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mpk218

mpk218

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Posted
Assuming you're in port for more than one day, that shouldn't be an issue unless you do it on the last day in port. BTW, most excursions start (and end) early enough, so the risk of not getting back in time is overblown.

 

???? What ???? :eek:

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chill6x6

chill6x6

Posted
Posted
Stick with NCL or go out on your own? Ncl is a little more but knowing if crap happens the ship will be there when we get back..

 

I do both.... For instance for the Lamanai Mayan ruins out of Belize City I went thru NCL... 7-8 hour tour....bus ride....boat ride.... a lot COULD happen. I wanted to be sure and make it back to the boat! :)

 

Most other places I just do it myself..... But in April I have $450 obc so I may use some of that on excursions....

 

Many excursions aren't offered thru NCL....for instance no zip lines at Isla Roatan even though this is VERY popular there! Also like Costa Maya...lots of great beach days available there!

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