Ship Excursions vs. Booking Privately

[estafish]

The cruise ships offer similar excursions as the private tour companies. The prices seem similar. What, if any, is the difference between booking through the ship or calling and booking myself?

[Belle2002]

I think that it is purely a person decision to either book with the ship or go it on your own. The only real advantage with the ships tour is that if you are late getting back, the ship will wait for you, not so on your own. One other advantage with the ships tour is that if there is a problem with the tour, you at least have some recourse. Belle

[Swizzle v2.0]

Excursions to the Aquarium/Zoo (then afterward to the Caves?) do not give you enough time to wander around at a leisurely pace. Better off doing that on your own. If there are other excursions that visit multiple places you might have similar time constraints.

[cgal]

I just read about the Heritage Bermuda Pass (HBP) that is good for 3 days and gives you admission to a few things like the Aquarium/Zoo, Maritime Museum, and Fort St. Catherines. It is worth checking into, then you can go to the attractions at your pace. It is $25 for adults and $15 for kids 5 - 16. You can get it at one of the visitor bureaus in each of the three major ports on Bermuda. Just thought that might be helpful: http://www.bermudatourism.com/pdf/sightseeing.pdf

[busybusybusy]

We booked a snorkel trip on our own because there were 16 of us. It ended up being $45pp, including tip, as opposed to $62. If you have a large group, I think it is better to go on your own. However, if it is small, I think the ship is just about the same price (we paid $720 for 3 hours).

 

 

Have a wonderful time!:D

[Jeanne S]

The only real advantage with the ships tour is that if you are late getting back, the ship will wait for you, not so on your own. One other advantage with the ships tour is that if there is a problem with the tour, you at least have some recourse. Belle

 

 

These tour operators for the water excursions in Bermuda are very aware of the sailing times and can make them, but anything land based might hit traffic returning to port.

 

If you are on a Celebrity ship, they wait for no one.

[Reese1717]

I think there are 2 good things about booking independantly.

 

The first one is a more personalized experience. We booked an independant snorkel trip in Mexico (Dive with Martin) when we got off the boat. It was 6 of us total w/2 instructors and we had the absolute BEST time. We saw TONS of cool fishies and just kind of swam behind the instructor because he had tortillas. Hundreds of fish swam around me and caressed me. (Sounds kind of kinky, huh.)

Later in the day we saw Celebritie's excursion. It was 65 people all on top of each other and more in this huge double decker boat. I doubt they even saw fish it was so haphazard. I'd take the 6 of us drinking Coronas and bonding any time.

 

Also, once you book a shore excursion (in advance) you are locked down. No room for spontanaity.

 

On the other side if you book w/the cruise line you have kind of trip insurance or assurance that you will not be left behind and covered in case of cancellation if you like order. Also, you can pretty much trust the people that are taking you out on the tour. You don't have to consider the shadiness of the tour operator. You're not going to end up in the middle of nowhere w/no money. Just something to think about. :o

[Joyce and Tim]

A couple reasons: they are usually cheaper and have smaller groups of people (not waiting for the slowest cruise pax to get on the bus is appealing). Getting to a museum in Europe ahead of all the people wearing stickers is a great thing--you can see many more sites in a day if you've done homework. (My husband is very thorough about transportation, locations, hours, etc!)

Also, and more important: cruise ships cancel their excursions at the least bit of bad weather. Independents (or you on your own) will go and do it regardless. We've seen this several times. EG In Grand Cayman Feb 04, all ship's (Oosterdam) tours were canceled due to "choppy" weather. We'd booked snorkeling ahead (much cheaper!) with an independent operator and were a couple of the few pax who got to swim with the stingrays that day, a highlight of the cruise. Of course the locals cancel when the weather is REALLY bad, but the ships seem to have a much higher standard of "safety" due to, we assume, liability issues. We also saw this when we were staying in Roatan for a week, snorkeling every day in dead calm waters. The day a cruise ship arrived, there was a tiny wave and we heard the ship people telling pax to turn in their equipment and they'd get refunds, etc. We felt bad that they missed the second largest coral reef in the world, just offshore, b/c of a really non-important wave issue. (OK I admit you could have gotten scratched a little if you weren't careful.)

When you look at what cruise ships charge you to walk around town, rather than booking with a local on your own, even at the last minute, it's an easy cedision! Even local transportation: in Seattle, we could get a ride to the airport for $50 ($25/p) thru NCL, or get a taxi for $28 or the shuttle for $23 (plus tips). No brainer, right? I don't know how the lines get away with it. Sorry to vent, but you asked, and that's my .02! (Please don't flame me with with how you aren't assured of making the sail-away--I know this is their scary selling point and maybe when we are a bit older, we'll choose that route. Right now we can hurry along and see more and pay less on our own.);)