Excursions, yes or no?

[PescadoAmarillo]

I am an accountant, so, of course I say: absolutely, positively, there is no debate about it, it is black and white...ALWAYS do your research and base your decision on that.;)

 

(We also think about if, in the event we miss the ship, will it be a fun adventure with a story to tell going forward to catch up with it again the next day, or are we on a trans-oceanic cruise with 4 or 5 sea days in a row coming up? I always remember that most independent tour operators want to make sure we get to the ship on time, as they don't want to have to deal with stranded passengers either.)

[missella1]

We have never had a bad ship excursion. As far as economics go, it seems that if you are just a couple with no one else to share a private excursion with, that it is cheaper to do the ship's excursions, especially in Europe. We did a cruise several years ago, when we missed three of the four islands we were scheduled to visit. Just think of the hassle if we had made pre-arranged private tours. No thanks!

[missella1]

We have never had a bad ship excursion. As far as economics go, it seems that if you are just a couple with no one else to share a private excursion with, that it is cheaper to do the ship's excursions, especially in Europe. We did a cruise several years ago, when we missed three of the four islands we were scheduled to visit. Just think of the hassle if we had made pre-arranged private tours. No thanks!

[bjkTX]

With two cruises under our belts (OK so we were late in figuring it out) in the last couple of years, and one scheduled for February, I'm trying something different this time.

 

The first two cruises (NY to Canada for Fall Foliage on the Golden) and Alaska (on the Diamond) I scheduled a Princess tour at every location. We loved them all thanks to the information I was able to get here on CC. I had looked at private party excursions and knew I could certainly beat Princess' prices, but wasn't that adventurous. Missing the ship wasn't a concern - maybe it should have been :-)

 

On our upcoming cruise to the Western Caribbean I have done tons of research on private tours and had selected a few I wanted to try, but figured this was going to be a bit different kind of cruise - more relaxation than touring, so I only had two that I was ready to set up.

 

But now with all the schedule changes and tendering problems the Grand is having with this itinerary the "missing the boat" concern has popped up more than once with taking a private excursion - and there weren't any I really cared enough about to pay Princess prices to go on just so I could be sure to get back on board.

 

SO - it looks like we will pretty much stay on board, relax, enjoy the scenery, my DW will sit on the balcony doing her crosswords and catching up on her reading, and I will silently (I hope) go flat out nuts! Unlike many cruisers who love just relaxing on the ship - I need a plan for every waking moment, and if I don't have something to do I get very up tight. That's why the tour in every port worked so well for us (me) on the previous cruises.

 

I'm going to do this cold turkey - keep me in your prayers - our marriage has lasted 33 years (with 30 years in the military) - this could be the real test :-)

[Beagledog]

Regarding excursions how does one find a local or private excursion. I am taking the Grand on 2/4/06 and would like to see some of the Mayan Ruins. Does anyone have any advice on selecting a tour? They are offered at two ports, which might be a better choice? and is there a private company other than Princess that offers a nice tour of the ruins and in which port would you recommend? Thanks, KK

[Nancyquilts]

When we were first cruising, we used to take lots of ship's excursions. Now we are confident enough to go ashore in a strange port and take our chances (after research in the library and on-line). The only time trying to go on our own didn't work was in northern Japan, where a taxi for four would have been twice the tour price each. (Next time in Japan, we'll take the tour!) Nancy

[SaylorGirl]

I never take ship excursions and always go on my own. BUT it requires you to do your homework and have plans and reservations in place before you leave. If you wait until in port, you are eating up valuable touring time. :)

 

I agree with Budget Queen we never take ship excursions and always do our own. We know what we want to do and what we want to see. You do need to do your homework before hand. We even did St. Petersburg independently in September, it was an such an amazing experience to be on our own.

 

I think shore excursions are great for many people but not for us.

[cnmiranda]

Ship shore excursions for a number of reasons:

 

-I enjoy reading about the shore excursion details through Princess.com and it saves me time on research.

 

-We like guides that can share info on a place's history and since it is authorized through the cruise line we are fairly certain it will be a very enjoyable experience.

 

-if we are late we don't have to worry about being left behind :eek:

 

-safety concerns

 

If we've been to a particular port more than once we are more likely to explore on our own but thus far we're very happy with the ship's excursions.:)

[critterchick]

If we've been to a particular port more than once we are more likely to explore on our own but thus far we're very happy with the ship's excursions.

 

As we get more comfortable with a particular area, we are more inclined to do things on our own. We have not yet booked any tours with independent operators, but will probably do so on our spring cruise to Alaska. If (make that WHEN) we go back to the Mediterranean, we will probably do our own thing in the cities that are close to the ports - e.g. Venice or Barcelona - and maybe do ships' excursions for places that are farther away such as Florence or Rome. We're partial to winery tours, and those are always fun bus rides, especially on the way back.

 

We do our research ahead of time in the form of guidebooks (we love the Rick Steves and Eyewitness series) and have found them to be just as good as many of the tour guides for explaining what we're looking at. I like the personal touch of a guide, but I was observing many large crowds in Venice, always being exhorted to move along, and was glad to be wandering somewhat aimlessly on my own.

 

There are some places where I wouldn't mind missing the ship, but I don't think I'll test that!