Grannymcgoo Posted October 1, 2015 #1 Share Posted October 1, 2015 My husband and I are cruising in the Caribbean on the Brittania in November. We are wondering if it's better to book excursions before we leave or are we better booking on board. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natross1110 Posted October 1, 2015 #2 Share Posted October 1, 2015 Is it your first time? It is much cheaper to arrange your own tours and they're very reliable. Just use a review place like trip advisor first. With the ship tours you get the guarantee that the ship won't leave without you if you're late back, however..... This is extraordinarily rare and a scare tactic used by cruise lines. Yes the ship will leave without you if you're late back from an independent tour but just look at the reviews. I know if I missed my ship I'd write a terrible review and there aren't any that I've seen. I've always done my own thing as you can probably tell but I do understand why people like the safety of the ship tours too so it really is a personal decision. Maybe say on here what ports you're going to and people might be able to recommend a reputable tour company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare dronnygirl Posted October 1, 2015 #3 Share Posted October 1, 2015 I wouldn't book any excursions at all. This is the best place for DIY trips. As you get off the ship in the morning there will be lots of taxis waiting to take you on trips around the islands. Sometimes they wait until they fill up their 8 seaters, but it's nice to have the company of others on the trip. They are local so have wonderful knowledge of their islands and they always get you back to the ship on time - their reputation is at stake. It's much cheaper than the ships trip and often you can ask them to drop you at a beach on the way back to the ship and pick you up a while later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grannymcgoo Posted October 1, 2015 Author #4 Share Posted October 1, 2015 Thanks for the advice, will have a look at trip advisor and wait until we dock before arranging excursions xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonTowner Posted October 2, 2015 #5 Share Posted October 2, 2015 Read the reviews on the Caribbean threads. I certainly wouldn't book a ship's excursion in the Caribbean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOVICE WELSH CRUISERS Posted October 2, 2015 #6 Share Posted October 2, 2015 Would be interested to know if any of the contributors on this thread to date have been to Island Margarita (Venezuela). I've been on seven cruises and only used the ship's excursion once. However, this port of call is troublesome as there appears to be only one main operator, namely Magic Tours, and they require 50% of the fee in advance , payable to a bank in New York. Add to the mix that reviews imply that the vast majority of taxi drivers offering tours speak little or no English. Please advise . Thanks Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owena Posted October 3, 2015 #7 Share Posted October 3, 2015 Would be interested to know if any of the contributors on this thread to date have been to Island Margarita (Venezuela). I've been on seven cruises and only used the ship's excursion once. However, this port of call is troublesome as there appears to be only one main operator, namely Magic Tours, and they require 50% of the fee in advance , payable to a bank in New York. Add to the mix that reviews imply that the vast majority of taxi drivers offering tours speak little or no English. Please advise . Thanks Paul I am on the B604 Cruise and like you have been searching for info. One member of a PO Cruising the Caribbean (FB group) told me that there are 120 vendor stalls selling jewellery, art, T-shirts, and a great variety of handicrafts in nice palm-frond roof booths. All are selling their handmade wares in US dollars, pounds, or euros, so there is no need to change money into bolivars if you're planning to stay in the port area and not go to see the island. There is a cultural dance show in the morning in the main plaza. There is live music and other forms of dancing throughout the whole day. There are also a few bars and you can find refreshments easily. There is also a small but nice and very clean beach for cruise tourists to enjoy. The access to this beach is absolutely FREE and it has clean restrooms/toilets. You can rent shaded lawn chairs, jet skis, paddle boats, and banana boats there. You will not see local islanders on this beach - it is reserved for tourists on cruise ships. I also found this website - http://www.margaritasun.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark-Sheffield Posted October 4, 2015 #8 Share Posted October 4, 2015 Thanks for the advice, will have a look at trip advisor and wait until we dock before arranging excursions xx P&O change the islands that the ship visit every year, so if you list the islands from your cruise, members can give specific advice to that island :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wilkies Posted October 6, 2015 #9 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Slightly off topic. We have quite a big onboard credit so were looking at booking some shore excursions on the principle of use it or lose it. Normally cruise Princess and the cost of any excursion goes onto your ship board account. Don't P & O do this? Do you have to pay for them separately by credit card? Wondering as why do P & O give you onboard credit if you are unlikely to use it all on tips, drinks, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason12 Posted October 6, 2015 #10 Share Posted October 6, 2015 (edited) Slightly off topic. We have quite a big onboard credit so were looking at booking some shore excursions on the principle of use it or lose it. Normally cruise Princess and the cost of any excursion goes onto your ship board account. Don't P & O do this? Do you have to pay for them separately by credit card? Wondering as why do P & O give you onboard credit if you are unlikely to use it all on tips, drinks, etc. Yes you can book with your onboard credit for excursions once onboard, hence the name onboard credit [emoji1] If you book online then you pay upfront. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Edited October 6, 2015 by Jason12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wilkies Posted October 6, 2015 #11 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Yes you can book excursions once onboard, hence the name onboard credit [emoji1] If you book online then you pay upfront. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Thank you so much, that's a relief. We are doing our own thing in quite a few places. The Q & A page on the P & O website wasn't very clear. On a couple of occasions the first time we visited the Caribbean, we just got off the ship and went to the Info Centre which was usually just inside the dock building. had some lovely days out. Also got the local bus in St Lucia. That was more interesting that the destination we were aiming for. Wondered what the world record was for the highest number of people crammed into a minibus! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason12 Posted October 6, 2015 #12 Share Posted October 6, 2015 (edited) Thank you so much, that's a relief. We are doing our own thing in quite a few places. The Q & A page on the P & O website wasn't very clear. On a couple of occasions the first time we visited the Caribbean, we just got off the ship and went to the Info Centre which was usually just inside the dock building. had some lovely days out. Also got the local bus in St Lucia. That was more interesting that the destination we were aiming for. Wondered what the world record was for the highest number of people crammed into a minibus! We have lots on OBC as well for our24 night November round trip, hope there's some decent tours left by the time we get onboard? If not more cash for drinks[emoji1]. Booked a few private tours, Rose and Jims tours in st Kitts and Lawrence of Antigua tours. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Edited October 6, 2015 by Jason12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark-Sheffield Posted October 6, 2015 #13 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Some excursions get booked up really quickly before you get on the ship, so if there is a particular excursion that you want to go on, i would book now rather than using OBC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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