Beach Excursion?

[luv2travel13]

I am new to cruising - and a bit confused. LOL

If I sign up through Celebrity for a simple beach excursion - they transport me to and from the beach. I get that part. Since there is a duration listed, I assume that there is no freedom in coming/going - correct? It says that it departs at 9am and lasts for 3.5 hours. So we leave the ship at 9, then and 12:30 they transport us from the beach back to the ship?

 

Just want to make sure I fully understand this. :)

 

If I do not sign up for an excursion, am I free to get off/on the ship as I please? Or are there only certain times I am allowed to get off or get back on?

 

Thanks for any advice!

[kyriecat]

The 3.5 hours includes transport time so you will leave the ship around 9 AM and get back to the ship at 12:30. Assuming 30 minutes each way, you will have 2.5 hours at the beach.

 

You are free to leave the beach and take a cab/walk somewhere else. However, if you plan to utilize Celebrity's transportation, you have to be back at the beach by the designated return time to meet your bus.

 

If you choose not to participate in a Celebrity-offered excursion, you may get on/off the ship as you wish. Just remember that you must be back onboard at least 30 minutes prior to sail time. If sail time is at 5 PM, then you have to be back by 4:30.

 

For a beach day, I usually just catch a cab at the pier and tell them where I want to go. Many popular beaches have taxi stands that make it easy to get a ride back to the ship. If there isn't one, I'll ask the taxi driver if he can return at a certain time.

[ClaudiaB]

Hi and welcome here!! Don't worry about it at all - you can get off the ship whenever you want to (after the ship clears customs) and come back when you want to. No certain times and you are not required to just take the ship's excursions. You can come and go as much as you want -- in some ports we've been known to get on and off many times. (OK sometimes we are on and off because we've forgotten something).

As a matter of fact, we rarely go through Celebrity for our excursions. Particularly a beach excursion---we just get a taxi or some form of public transportation and go. Do a little research here or on line somewhere to find out the beach you want. On days like that we tend to be a bit lazy in the morning on the ship and take our time getting there. Or we might visit a couple beaches or a beach and something else. We just do it all independently.

I always thought those cruiseline beach excursions were kind of expensive, considering you can get there yourself and stay as little or as long as you want.

Have a wonderful time!!

[luv2travel13]

Awesome! Thank you both so much - the closer it gets the more excited I am :D