cruise ship shore excursions for iceland vs. outside agency shore excursions

[cowboy jim]

We are going to be on a cruise to Iceland. It seems that the outside agencies are offering more stops on their Jewel of North and Golden Circle excursions than the cruise ship shore excursions. They are also less expensive and include city tours which the cruise ship does not offer with their Jewel of the North and Golden Circle excursions. Is it safe and practical to go with the outside tour agencies? In the past we always chose the cruise ship shore excursions because we felt they were reliable and if there was a problem you had the shore excursion desk to talk to..also... what happens if the ship is late or cannot dock?

[CruiserBruce]

As commonly discussed on the Ports boards, private tour vendors stake their entire existence on not causing a cruise pax to miss their ship, so the chances are VERY low. As to whether or not you lose your money if the ship doesn't dock, you need to know what the arrangements are with the vendor. Many vendors don't have any of your money before you get on the tour.

 

Private tours (or "independent" tours) usually have fewer people, so they can move faster than large bus ship's tours. So more stops isn't unheard of. Certainly with smaller group tours you get better use of your time- they are more nimble and can get you to sights before the mobs get there.

Edited December 16, 2015 by CruiserBruce

[teddytumtum]

I have been to Iceland and did a private tour with a company called I think GI tours, they were excellent and did not ask for payment until we were on the mini bus. They guarantee to get you back to the ship on time. We had a superb trip and visited places that the ships tours do not visit. We found them on Google. Hope this helps. Also they were half the price of the ships tour.

[Keith1010]

Most of the tours will not ask for the payment up front and for those who do most will refund the deposit in situations where the ship cannot dock.

 

Keith

[paul929207]

A few years ago, we stopped in 5 ports in Iceland and took private tours in all. We had no problem. The tours were excellent. The ranged from about 6 to 12 people in a van. We paid at the end of the tour. If the ship had missed the port, we had not paid.