Private vs Celebrity Group Tours

[cle-guy]

I think the issue of the ship waiting for Celebrity excursions that may be delayed while leaving those with 3rd party excursions behind is a bit of a stretch overall. More of a marketing gimmick the lines use to trick people into paying the inflated prices.

 

Yes they will, but the truth is, the people one books with rely heavily on word of mouth and on-line reviews. And nothing is going to kill their business faster than making a whole group miss a ship and post about that experience and cost.

 

If you book with groups that have solid reviews and come with word of mouth, they are going to make sure you make it back to port. If you rely on DIY all the way and taxi and public transit and no guide, it may be a bigger issue.

 

Just make sure the excursion you may self-book is timed to be back to ship 1 or 2 hours prior to sailing to have time built in for problems.

 

Each person has a different risk tolerance, but for me, I'd save some money and book 3rd party any day.

 

I haven't read (though honestly haven't been looking for) any reviews of people actually missing the boat due to delayed excursion returns. Not saying they don't exist, just that it's such a rare occurrence, you probably have as much chance missing the boat by being in a hospital after falling down a cobble stone path.

Edited June 11, 2014 by cle-guy

[GaryT-UK]

I can't comment on private tours, but on a Celebrity trip last year our bus broke down and I know I was more worried about whether it would be fixed in time to see the Waterfall I'd gone to see, rather than worrying whether the ship would sail without me. I have also been back on board more than once and the ship has been delayed sailing because the tours were late back, so for me peace of mind, plus having it all planned for me is worth the cost.

[Kartgv]

Another issue I forgot to mention earlier is that the ship's tours are more likely to have checked the tour operators for compliance with general health and safety laws, as well as other basic "do's & don'ts". On our last Mexico cruise, many our roll call group was very excited about having booked an independent whale watch tour at half the cost of the ship's tour that we were booked on. Our tour was great, saw lots of whales, and the ship's captain carefully explained the rules about how close they were allowed to get and the rules against pursuing the whales.

 

After the tour, we talked to many of the people on the roll call tour and found out that not only did they not get close enough to see any whales, but they had been thrown about the deck several times as the captain did quick turns to try to maneuver closer when one was spotted in the distance. There were some bruises and lots of very unhappy people. The point is that if you do an independent tour, someone needs to do the research about the safety record and honesty of the tour operator. At least in theory, the cruise line has done that for you. Yes, there can be mistakes and you could have an 'incident' on any tour, but at least with the ship's tours, you have some recourse if something goes wrong.

[Gracie115]

If we are in a port where there are private tour operators that are rated well on sites like this one and Trip Advisor we almost always will hire them. They are smaller tours, designed to see what YOU want to see and not what the cruiseline chooses for you. Sometimes they might be more expensive but usually not, usually close to the same or less expensive if shared with 6-8 other passengers. We have done this in Rome, Istanbul, Ephesus, Athens, Israel to name a few and have never been disappointed...

 

The only time we stay with a ship sponsored tour now is when there just isn't any other viable option. Just really don't like the herd mentality of a busload of people....AND invariably most ships tour include extensive "shopping time" which we really don't like and feel is a waste of precious time in a port.

[zlato]

Bathroom waiting lines, shopping, eating: This is one reason why I question the wisdom of choosing group bus tours unless it is the only option.

[MoyCoy]

I try and find private tours with my roll call . Once on a private tour a roll call member left their camera on the bus. I knew the gentleman from roll call and returned his camera to him. Pays to have friends when touring!

 

I have always had a blast touring with CC members. They are normally very courteous to the other tour group members. That has been my experience anyway:o

 

There was a cruise I took a year ago where the gentleman lived at one of the ports and offered to rent a car for his roll call and give a private tour. There was another instance where a tour company normally never picked up passengers at the pier , but made an exception because our roll call booked out that particular tour. It pays to get to know your roll call members!

Edited June 12, 2014 by MoyCoy