Advanced excursion booking or in port bookings?

[travellingcanuck4]

Hi there,

 

My boyfriend and I will be going on a cruise to Nassau, St. Maarten, and St. Thomas next week on RC's Oasis of the Seas. We were just pondering whether it is best to book the (very inflated priced) excursions through the RC website, book private tours beforehand independently, or wait until we get off the ship to book. I've been told mixed things about whether tour operators wait at ports to recruit new customers. On the one hand, waiting until the day of seems beneficial as we don't know what the weather will be like and it would likely save a lot of money from what I've heard. Of course, we don't want to be left stranded with nothing to do if we wing it like this. If anyone has personal knowledge of this, I would really appreciate your advice! Thanks!

[Keith1010]

I would do the homework and decide if you want to just go it on your own without a tour or book a tour. If you want to book a tour I wouldn't wait till you get there.

 

Keith

[Krazy Kruizers]

Go to the Ports of Call on this site and ask questions for each port as to what tour companies people recommend.

Also join your Roll Call and see what private excursions others are taking. Just scroll down this link until you find the date of your cruise:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=549

[cruiseapril]

Getting to beaches in those ports is fairly easy by taxi.

Look at maps and read up on the ports.

 

In Nassau, we like to go to the Melia resort by taxi and buy a day pass (without food) at the front desk. They have a good website.

 

As suggested, check out the port forums for lots of excursion advice.