Tendered/Docked - Ship Tour/Private Tour?

[wanderingoz]

Not wishing to hijack another thread, I was interested in this comment from Mr Walker;

We do a combination of ship & private tours, depending on if it is tender or docked, distance to travel on tour & if the ship is offering a 'must-do' for that port.

 

Do experienced cruisers have a preference for ship vs private tours according to whether the port is a tender or dock? Reasoning?

 

TIA

[Viv0828]

We have never done a ship's tour. We do private tours with one or two other couples or DIY it and catch a cab or public transportation.

 

Primary reason is we do not want to travel with 50 or so other people. We might want to stop along the way, stay longer at one particular place, extend the tour if we really are enjoying it or cut it short if the weather turns bad, etc.

 

we are geocaching nuts and if we find a cache along the way or hear about an interesting hike, we want to feel comfortable changing the itinerary without affecting others.

 

We always make sure we are back in port at least an hour before the all aboard time. Doesn't matter if it is a docked or tender port. That's just us - do what's comfortable for you.

 

 

 

 

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[peter.kath@hotmail.com]

We prefer to arrange our own activities whilst ashore.

However there has been times particularly whilst tendering where it has been better to do a ships tour.

 

An early tour means you get off the ship first so that you can maximise your time in Port.

If your going to want to do something a long distance from the port and don't want yo risk not getting back to the ship in time.

 

We did this in Port Denarau where the tender ride is about 30 mins, the first time I we went it took nearly 3 hours to get off.

Also in Rabaul when we did not know what would be available and some safety concerns.

Some ships tendering is good but sometimes it is appalling, not always the ships fault. It amazes me how many people try to collect tender tickets when their family members are still asleep, hungover or haven't had breakfast.

 

 

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[The_Big_M]

Tendering adds complexity to the time getting off the ship. Those on ships tours get priority getting off when on tenders (so as to ensure their tour group is not held up), and the rest have to wait - and sometimes if not prepared those going independently may take some time.

 

Thus on tender operations, the ability to get an early start may be impacted if not taking a ships tour.

[MicCanberra]

Not wishing to hijack another thread, I was interested in this comment from Mr Walker;

 

 

Do experienced cruisers have a preference for ship vs private tours according to whether the port is a tender or dock? Reasoning?

 

TIA

 

Similar to my walker, it really depends on the port. Things to consider are

• docked vs tendered;
  
• first visit;
  
• items of our interest in the port;
  
• length of tours; and
  
• language spoken in the port.
  

 

Sometimes, it is cost effective to the ship's tour due to tendering and time of tour. Other times, you want to do something not offered by the ship.

[GUT2407]

Many variables, but tendering is one thing to take into account.

[SinbadThePorter]

Do experienced cruisers have a preference for ship vs private tours according to whether the port is a tender or dock? Reasoning?

 

Private tours are invariably much cheaper than ship tours, since the cruise line acts as a middleman. They are generally more flexible, often having more and different locations and varying times to see them. However they are not guaranteed by anyone other than the proprietor, so you take your chances.

 

Private tours are riskier than ship tours because, at least in theory, the ship will wait for all its own tours to come back before leaving. If you go on a private tour and the vehicle breaks down somewhere remote, you will be waving bye bye to the ship if you don't get back in time.

 

The way tendering comes into it is that even on the best ships in good conditions, tendering takes hours. When docked you can rely on getting off the ship and onto the wharf in minutes.

 

Without priority tender tickets you are going to lose most of the morning getting off the ship. This impacts on getting a private tour and the amount of time you have to get anywhere and back again.

 

So to cut a long story short, unless you are familiar with local conditions, don't risk private tours in tender ports. Too much rushing and anxiety.

 

However, in docking ports, private tours make a lot of sense so long as you are careful.

[Brisbane41]

Not wishing to hijack another thread, I was interested in this comment from Mr Walker;

 

 

Do experienced cruisers have a preference for ship vs private tours according to whether the port is a tender or dock? Reasoning?

 

TIA

 

I would never do a private tour unless it is in Russia where visa requires that you purchase a tour. The other reason is that if I do not do a ships tour I will explore on my own which is better than going in a group. Most people reason that shore excursions are bad because of large groups, well private ones are just as bad with small groups because its one in all in for the activities.

 

The only thing that irritates me about ship excursions is excessive amounts of time spent at lunch and excessive amounts of time at shopping venues. That aside I will do a ships excursion if it has a really good appealing itinerary that is impossible to do on my own or cost prohibitive on my own.

[wanderingoz]

Thanks everyone.

 

I guess we've been pretty lucky so far and have not had to tender much, in fact only once and that was in a place where hanging out on the beach was the big attraction. We have always done private tours throughout Europe where docking was the norm.

 

I can understand the problem now of tendering with private tours, especially on the islands where time may be limited.

 

Cheers. :)

[mrs and mrs]

First question would be, How Big is your Risk Threshold.

 

Taxi ride on mystery island 1 hr from ship or

a taxi ride into Bangkok (3 hrs from ship)

 

She's a big world out there.

 

I would say walking off that ship and discovering that shrine 1/2 hr away, independently, would be very satisfying.

 

Doing it 3 hrs away, and having trouble or stress getting back in time spells in-satisfying.

[wanderingoz]

First question would be, How Big is your Risk Threshold.

 

I really don't have a problem with the risk factor. My issue is we will probably only visit most of these ports once in a lifetime and I don't really want to spend hours waiting to disembark if taking a ship tour can get us off earlier and provide a similar experience.

 

We will just have to weigh the extra cost against the desire to see the port and surrounds.

 

Cheers.

[MrsWaldo]

I don't often comment here.

 

I tend to do smaller ships so the time to debark is often less and they don't tend to do the you are on a tour priority.

 

I look at the port i am in, what is on offer by the ship and what other offers are available.

 

I then look at $$ and who the operators are (Lots of reviews on TA that have feedback about day tours from ships) so i can establish the risk factor

 

 

If I am booking local i do a private tour and 90% of the time this is actually cheaper than the three of us through the ship on a smaller group tour. I make sure I have LOTS of communication with the operator and on booking tell them my back at ship time is 1 hour earlier than it needs to be.

 

Over the years this has been really successful. e.g. in the Falklands our private operator had us out at the penguins 20 mins before the ship and back at the dock before the 3rd last tender (we left at the same time as the ship tours) This meant we had time to see town. I paid the same for 3 as the ship was offering for 1.

 

In Malaysia last year our private guide picked us up and we were able to tailor the sites we wanted to suit us. Large group tour was $30 more for the 3 than for 1. We played it by ear and had a bucket list. We got to see more than planned because we didn't wait for people to shop. If a tour guide is pushing shopping at his XXXXX place we just sit in the car and wait. They soon realise they won't make money and there are lots of places for reviews.

 

Sometimes I will do a ships tour because they offer something above and beyond or in a town where the ship has monopolised all tours and there is little else to do (Port Chacabuco, Port Blair, Tower of London by Night, Dinner in the Dunes Namibia)

 

Sometimes its a lottery.

 

If you suggest some of the prt maybe some of us can offer some personal experiences.

 

 

e.g. i would book my own drive in Port Vila

[MicCanberra]

First question would be, How Big is your Risk Threshold.

 

Taxi ride on mystery island 1 hr from ship or

a taxi ride into Bangkok (3 hrs from ship)

 

She's a big world out there.

 

I would say walking off that ship and discovering that shrine 1/2 hr away, independently, would be very satisfying.

 

Doing it 3 hrs away, and having trouble or stress getting back in time spells in-satisfying.

 

I wonder if they even have taxi's on mystery island, I didn't think they even had roads, or are you referring to water taxi's.:confused:

[wanderingoz]

If you suggest some of the prt maybe some of us can offer some personal experiences.

 

We are doing the Bounty cruise on P&O Aria in May next year. have been to Noumea & Vila before. This cruise also takes in Nuku'alofa, Vava'u, Port Denarau and Suva. I understand at least some of these will be tendered.

[peter.kath@hotmail.com]

We did the Bounty on the Aria in March this year. Tender ports are Vava'u and Port Denarau.

It wasn't too bad getting off, but long waits to get back to the ship.

At Port Denarau they ended up bring in a large catamaran.

 

 

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[wanderingoz]

We did the Bounty on the Aria in March this year. Tender ports are Vava'u and Port Denarau. It wasn't too bad getting off..

 

Thanks :-) Do you recall if you were doing ship tours or something private?

 

.. but long waits to get back to the ship.At Port Denarau they ended up bring in a large catamaran.

 

That would be pretty cool. At least if you are at the dock and waiting they can't really leave without you. :p

[Aus Traveller]

I wonder if they even have taxi's on mystery island, I didn't think they even had roads, or are you referring to water taxi's.:confused:

You are correct. Mystery Island has an airstrip, but absolutely no roads, no vehicles and no water taxis. :)

[The_Big_M]

I wonder if they even have taxi's on mystery island, I didn't think they even had roads, or are you referring to water taxi's.:confused:

 

Hehe. Did see an 'air taxi' on one cruise there though!

[joandian]

We did 2 ships tours on one of our first cruises and have never done one since. I have organised private tours for us all over the world and often ask others on the Roll Calls to join us. Besides them being much cheaper than the ships tours, we get to see and do so much more travelling around as a small group. Our biggest saving was over $400 pp with the overnight to Cairo, staying at stunning Mena House at the foot of the pyramids.

 

I always tell the guide we want to be back at least 30 minutes before all aboard to give us a little leeway.

 

The only time we were back late was above trip back to Alexandria from Cairo and there was a bus with a private group right behind us and 2 bus load of ships tours an hour behind us. The traffic was atrocious but we did arrive about 10 minutes before the original sail away time, although there were a few nerves as we didn't know about the ships tours at that time. It hasn't stopped us always organising private tours though :)

[MicCanberra]

You are correct. Mystery Island has an airstrip, but absolutely no roads, no vehicles and no water taxis. :)

 

I think I walked around from one end of the island to the other with in 30 minutes and that was on the sand in the heat.

[MicCanberra]

We did 2 ships tours on one of our first cruises and have never done one since. I have organised private tours for us all over the world and often ask others on the Roll Calls to join us. Besides them being much cheaper than the ships tours, we get to see and do so much more travelling around as a small group. Our biggest saving was over $400 pp with the overnight to Cairo, staying at stunning Mena House at the foot of the pyramids.

 

I always tell the guide we want to be back at least 30 minutes before all aboard to give us a little leeway.

 

The only time we were back late was above trip back to Alexandria from Cairo and there was a bus with a private group right behind us and 2 bus load of ships tours an hour behind us. The traffic was atrocious but we did arrive about 10 minutes before the original sail away time, although there were a few nerves as we didn't know about the ships tours at that time. It hasn't stopped us always organising private tours though :)

I like to have an hour before all aboard, that way if someone wants, they can still have a little look around at the shops/ markets that are often set up by the dock.

[peter.kath@hotmail.com]

Wanderingoz,

At Nuku'alofa when you get off the ship there is a money changer as well as some markets stalls. There are some really well mannered locals there selling half and full day tours. We took the half day worked out to be $A50 each but we got to see all the sights and with a very interesting commentary as well.

 

At Vava'u we got a taxi to take us to the Tonga Beach Resort it was $10A each way and he come back and picked us. We had a really nice lobster lunch then a bit of a bar crawl.

 

At Port Denarau there are locals offering tours for about $70 each but if you know what you want to do it is cheaper to organise yourself with a taxi. We paid 100 Fiji Dollars total (about $66A) for half a day.

He took us to the First Landing Resort for a swim, gave us a tour of Nadi and his village. We then had a nice seafood lunch at the Port Denarau Marina, a bit of shopping and a massage.

 

Suva again locals selling tours we didn't look how much as we have been there several times.

We enjoy the shopping and usually walk up to the Grand Pacific Hotel or the Holiday Inn for a swim and a beer, then lunch usually at the Peking Chinese Restaurant

Enjoy your trip we have been on about a dozen P&O cruises and the Bounty cruise is a great itinerary. We will definately do that one again.

Our next cruise is again on the Aria our second time to PNG.

 

 

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[wanderingoz]

Wanderingoz,

At Nuku'alofa when you get off the ship there is a money changer as well as some markets stalls. There are some really well mannered locals there selling half and full day tours. We took the half day worked out to be $A50 each but we got to see all the sights and with a very interesting commentary as well.

 

At Vava'u we got a taxi to take us to the Tonga Beach Resort it was $10A each way and he come back and picked us. We had a really nice lobster lunch then a bit of a bar crawl.

 

At Port Denarau there are locals offering tours for about $70 each but if you know what you want to do it is cheaper to organise yourself with a taxi. We paid 100 Fiji Dollars total (about $66A) for half a day.

He took us to the First Landing Resort for a swim, gave us a tour of Nadi and his village. We then had a nice seafood lunch at the Port Denarau Marina, a bit of shopping and a massage.

 

Suva again locals selling tours we didn't look how much as we have been there several times.

We enjoy the shopping and usually walk up to the Grand Pacific Hotel or the Holiday Inn for a swim and a beer, then lunch usually at the Peking Chinese Restaurant

Enjoy your trip we have been on about a dozen P&O cruises and the Bounty cruise is a great itinerary. We will definately do that one again.

Our next cruise is again on the Aria our second time to PNG.

 

 

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Terrific info. Thanks very much. Unless I see something outstanding being offered on the ship tours I'll be inclined to do our own thing. If we have to wait for tenders then it can only be seen as an opportunity to enjoy a leisurely breakfast. :p

Cheers

[wanderingoz]

I like to have an hour before all aboard, that way if someone wants, they can still have a little look around at the shops/ markets that are often set up by the dock.

 

Yes I like to work the same way. The local markets at the port can be left for the return.

[wanderingoz]

Private tours are invariably much cheaper than ship tours, since the cruise line acts as a middleman. They are generally more flexible, often having more and different locations and varying times to see them. However they are not guaranteed by anyone other than the proprietor, so you take your chances.

 

Private tours are riskier than ship tours because, at least in theory, the ship will wait for all its own tours to come back before leaving. If you go on a private tour and the vehicle breaks down somewhere remote, you will be waving bye bye to the ship if you don't get back in time.

 

The way tendering comes into it is that even on the best ships in good conditions, tendering takes hours. When docked you can rely on getting off the ship and onto the wharf in minutes.

 

Without priority tender tickets you are going to lose most of the morning getting off the ship. This impacts on getting a private tour and the amount of time you have to get anywhere and back again.

 

So to cut a long story short, unless you are familiar with local conditions, don't risk private tours in tender ports. Too much rushing and anxiety.

 

However, in docking ports, private tours make a lot of sense so long as you are careful.

 

Exactly. Cheers.