Talk me out of Carnival's excursions.

[mz-s]

Can't talk you out of it - we've always booked pre-planned excursions with the cruise line. Might be more expensive, debatable, but we usually only do 1 excursion per cruise so not a big deal for us.

 

On our most recent cruise, we used the free shuttle in San Juan, hired a taxi in St Maarten (not an excursion booked through Carnival, just went up to the taxi stand), and did a sail&snorkel excursion in St Thomas.

 

I have never had a bad experience with a Carnival-sold and Carnival-backed excursion. If I did, I'd have someone to complain to that has the power to make it right.

[firemanbobswife]

Can't talk you out of it - we've always booked pre-planned excursions with the cruise line. Might be more expensive, debatable, but we usually only do 1 excursion per cruise so not a big deal for us.

 

On our most recent cruise, we used the free shuttle in San Juan, hired a taxi in St Maarten (not an excursion booked through Carnival, just went up to the taxi stand), and did a sail&snorkel excursion in St Thomas.

 

I have never had a bad experience with a Carnival-sold and Carnival-backed excursion. If I did, I'd have someone to complain to that has the power to make it right.

 

What about all the wonderful places that Carnival doesn’t go to on their excursions? You’re missing out.

[Sizzlechest]

We also book many of our excursions through private vendors for several reasons. 1. Price is almost always better! 2. We prefer to do tours with a small group if not a completely private tour for our group. 3. We like to customize our experience rather than having to do exactly what the ship tour says you'll do. 4. Most of the time, we get much better service and personalized attention on a private tour.

 

That reminds me of a funny story. My in-laws were on a Bermuda cruise with us and took our niece on a cruise-line excursion to the caves. They got stuck waiting for a couple who wandered away from the group. They had to wait an HOUR until the tour guide found them.

[LuckyStar]

"The guarantee for cruise-sponsored excursions has always been a huge anxiety reliever for me. Is getting left behind truly not a problem? Am I just letting my anxiety get the better of me?"

Yes, you are letting your anxiety get the best of you. i would like one example of a person missing a trip because of a tour. Drunk at Fat Tuesdays, maybe.

 

I'm with this last poster. I have become more easy with booking third party vendors for tours. Look, this is their livelihood, if they aren't counted on to get passengers back to the boat on time and safely, they won't have a business. We used a third party in Costa Maya and they were better than Carnival cruise vendors.