How early in advance can you book shore excursions?

[ryzmom]

Hello! I am new to the boards and will have tons of questions, so here we go!

 

How early in advance can you book shore excursions or when will they let you book? We are sailing in October of 2006 and going to the Western Caribbean.

 

Thanks so much!

Deana

[serene56]

Deana: I know you said you are new to the boards--so welcome aboard--but are you new to cruising?

 

I suggest before you even look at what the cruiselines has to offer in the way of excursions check out the port of calls board to see if something there interests you. here is http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=5 the link for that area. For Western caribbean there is a lot of private vendors doing tours to stingray city for less then 50% then what you pay on the ship

 

Carnival allows you to book cruise excursions 180 days out.

[Love2cruisegirl]

Hi there and welcome!

 

I'd ditto what serene56 said. We are just back from RCCL/NOS (Western) and we booked all (except the Canopy Tour in Jamaica) excursions ourselves through private tour operators. Not only were they cheaper but they were less crowded & we got a more one-on-one type of service from the guides.

[ryzmom]

Thanks for the welcome serene66 and Love2cruisegirl!

 

I am kinda new to cruising since I haven't been in about 5 years. This is will be my 3rd cruise and my husband's 2nd. So, you could say that I need to get a really good refresher in alot of things nowadays! We are both in our early 30's and are so excited to be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary on the Freedom of the Seas next year!

 

We are going to the Western Caribbean on RCCL in October.

 

In Grand Cayman, I would love to do the Stingray City with Captain Marvin's. That is one that I will definitely book outside from the ship. I have heard the horror stories about Jamaica, so I kinda nervous about that one port. Where is the best place to get a massage? On the ship or in a port? Any suggestions are totally welcome. I want to treat my husband and I to one, since he has never had one, but don't want to spend a ton of money on it.

[Love2cruisegirl]

Deana,

Congrats on your 5th anniversary. We are also in our 30s & just celebrated our 10th anniversary while onboard! You will have SO MUCH fun on your trip! Half the fun is in the planning! All the ports were great, Labadee was a nice relaxing day (and a hot 105 degrees!), Jamaica was fun! (we did The Original Canopy Tour!), GC...the stingrays were amazing-we booked our excursion thru Captain Bryan's & only had 8 people on our catamaran. Super Day! ,Cozumel-we did some shopping & my husband did a 'Learn to Scuba' class.

 

I'm so sad our trip is over! I keep going in my bedroom and night...looking for a chocolate on my pillow & a towel animal on the bed. For some reason, my husband isn't doing all those wonderful things that my stateroom attendant did!

 

If you'd like more specific NOS info, here is the link to the thread I started. I've been answering posts in regards to NOS info. You might find some of the information helpful. If you have any more questions, post there & I'll try to help out! :)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=236188

[serene56]

I'm so sad our trip is over! I keep going in my bedroom and night...looking for a chocolate on my pillow & a towel animal on the bed. For some reason, my husband isn't doing all those wonderful things that my stateroom attendant did!

 

Um, maybe you didnt pre-tip him.. The cabin steward did that stuff coz he was gonna get paid at the end of the week...

 

After my cruise I was waiting for room service for many weeks.

[CaptData]

I would do the Rasual spa treatment on board. I hear it can bring up interesting things.;) ;) :D

 

 

You may want to pre-book Sunset Beach for a spa treatment. Capt Marvin is great have fun.

[smrtypnts]

I want to treat my husband and I to one, since he has never had one, but don't want to spend a ton of money on it.

 

The ship spa treatments and massages (IMHO) are VERY expensive. There are several beaches you can go to in Cozumel (see the Cozumel boards) and there are people there who will give you a massage for $1 per minute, 20M minimum. HOWEVER, these people are often not certified and for that reason MAY be taking your chances. Many, many people have gotten massages by these people with no consequence and only good things to say about it. Even though the maseus' on the ship are certified, I think the ship prices are very high.

 

As for excursions, it depends where you're going. Visit the port of calls board for the exact locations you're going to. We're going in November and our stops are in Grand Cayman where we're going to Snuba and had to use the ship's tour for this as there's only one company on the island for this and they have an exclusive contract with all the ships. I saw that you're planning on the Stingray tour and this is by far the most popular and I've recommended it to many in our group. We're also stopping in Cozumel where we have reservations through dolphin discovery.com to do the Royal Swim at 10:00 am and then we're off to Paradise Beach. In Belize we're doing the favorite cave tubing with Nacho and Cynthia, private tour operators. In Costa Maya, we have no real plans.

 

Good Luck. Before you know it you're going to be addicted to these boards!!:p

[Ehpride]

ryzmom, when we cruise on the Inspiration in January, we're using Captain Marvins for Stingray City. From what I've heard and read on the boards, they seem to do a very good job and it's also affordable. If you go to the Grand Cayman forum (in addition to other ports) you can ask around and see who people recommend. That's what we did and decided to go with Captain Marvins. I think we're paying 34 dollars each for our excursion.

[Love2cruisegirl]

Um, maybe you didnt pre-tip him.. The cabin steward did that stuff coz he was gonna get paid at the end of the week...

 

After my cruise I was waiting for room service for many weeks.

 

LOL!! I believe the tip's been paid! ;)

[lhill1108]

Hi, when in January are you cruising, we're also going in January on Inspiration, 1/7/2005...started packing already!

[TheWog]

Welcome to the boards. You have gotten many great responses, but I wanted to say you can still have fun in Jamaica as well. Are you going to Montego Bay or Ocho Rios. That makes a difference as they are quite a way apart. There are many great local tour operators who will take great care of you and make sure you see all the sights you want to see. I suggest you go over to the POrts of Call boards as others have suggested and learn a lot about each local place you are going. Peat Taylor was a tour guide I learned of from these boards and he was wonderful. (He is at Ocho Rios, Jamaica) He made sure we got to the Falls early enough, he took us to do the White River Rafting, everything. He was very inexpensive as well. $30.00 (now $35.00 - admission increase) per person for the day included admission to the Falls. There are many to choose from to make your day memorable. Also any other questions ask away!!!!