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RIP Off Excursions


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Howdy cameljockey and thank you for your post! emo22.gif

 

However, your post is off-topic here. This Cruise Blogs & Websites forum is for members to post their personal travelogue-type cruise-related blogs or websites.    

 

I suggest you repost on the Saving Money on Your Cruise - Tips & Advice forum. Your post will be on-topic there. That's the forum where members offer their advice for saving money on cruises... from booking tips to info on shore excursions.

 

I sincerely hope this will be helpful and glad to have you aboard Cruise Critic! emo35.gif

 

Kat 🐱

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  • 2 weeks later...

I’ve had good experiences with Resort for aDay. Enjoyed having all-inclusive amenities, beach and pool time, then returning to the ship.  

But I guess it would depend on what kind of activity you’re looking for, and what’s your definition of “worth it”?

I usually enjoy most every part of a cruise. After all, a bad day on vacation is almost always better than a good day at work 😎

Edited by sail_ORN
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We've done one that we loved -- a small-group snorkeling trip in Cozumel. But we only did that one because it was comparable in price to a private operator and our desires were pretty moderate; we wanted to see fish and drink tequila sunrises. And lo and behold, we did!

 

Generally, private tours are cheaper and easier than cruise line tours, and much more enjoyable. But by far our best days cruising have been when we got out completely on our own -- either with a rental car, or public transportation -- and explored. 

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If you research your ports, you may find things that interest you that don't require an excursion at all...we generally do our own thing ashore.  A guidebook is very helpful, or you can google your ports and find out about everything....transportation, beaches, shopping, points of interest, restaurants, safety, etc...

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It really depends on the place you're going.  We still use ship excursions but avoid anything with panoramic or bus in them.  Sometimes it's the best way to do what you want to do and sometimes not.  You can do most beach areas on your own.   We research each port of call and try different things.  I plan what to do then look into private or non ship excursions vs ship.  And we never just show up at a port with out a plan.  The plan may be to wander around on our own but it's a plan. After almost 40 cruises we still do a mix of ship and ones we book on our own. The right ship excursion can still be fun!

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I think it depends on where you are going, the demographics of your party, and what you like to do.

 

We've pretty well given up on ship offered excursions.  We pretty much do our own thing.  On our cruise next year we'll be in six ports and only buy a ship excursion in one.  We prefer to either just DIY, or in places like St. Petersburg we'll hire a private guide for two days with just my husband and myself so we can customize our itinerary and  go at our own speed, which is often much faster than any group tour would offer in some places and slower so we can take it all in at others.

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On 9/18/2019 at 10:24 AM, cameljockey said:

I guess we've done about 14 cruises with various Cruise Lines. And I have to say we have never come back from any excursion saying that was worth the money. Look for safe alternatives, like Viator. 

Good to know.

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We've had several excursions we felt were worth both our time and money - both through the cruise line and privately booked.  I also research and am picky about what we do.  We have had a couple of disappointments too, but that's also part of life.

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We were on a ship excursion in Darwin, Australia in 2018 to see the jumping crocodiles.  We stopped at a local pub for a break when our bus driver got ran over by her own bus and was killed!  We all were in the pub when this happened and all our belongings were on the bus.  Because it was a “crime scene”, nothing was released until after the police had cleared the area.  We were late getting back to the ship.  Of course the ship waited for us.  This would not have happened if we were on a private tour.  We NEVER will take an excursion with anyone except the ship ever again!  I don’t mind paying a bit more for the assurance.

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On 1/19/2020 at 10:44 PM, kim.elniski said:

We were on a ship excursion in Darwin, Australia in 2018 to see the jumping crocodiles.  We stopped at a local pub for a break when our bus driver got ran over by her own bus and was killed!  We all were in the pub when this happened and all our belongings were on the bus.  Because it was a “crime scene”, nothing was released until after the police had cleared the area.  We were late getting back to the ship.  Of course the ship waited for us.  This would not have happened if we were on a private tour.  We NEVER will take an excursion with anyone except the ship ever again!  I don’t mind paying a bit more for the assurance.

The captain might wait in a circumstance like this. Waiting for a drunk or inconsiderate shopper who lost track of time and doesn't inform the ship agent is one thing. This situation is a tragedy. Imagine the social media publicity if he didn't make an effort. Most captains will wait for a while unless there is a compelling reason to leave on time. They don't have to, but they try.

 

Always bring the front page of your daily which has the port agent's phone number.

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Princess was AMAZING.  They brought in 

more busses for us to sit in as the temperature was in the 30,s Celsius.  They offered free food and drinks to everyone but we were in shock so we just sat on the bus and waited.  When we arrived back at the ship, I had never seen so many white uniformed people waiting for us.  That was in case we needed emotional assistance.  Then, they offered counselling in case anyone needed it.  They also refunded half of our excursion back.  Princess handled the whole situation very professionally.  That is why we don’t have a problem paying a bit extra for princess excursions.  We know we will be taken care of.  
Great idea about the Princess Patter!  Thanks 

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20 hours ago, kim.elniski said:

Princess was AMAZING.  They brought in 

more busses for us to sit in as the temperature was in the 30,s Celsius.  They offered free food and drinks to everyone but we were in shock so we just sat on the bus and waited.  When we arrived back at the ship, I had never seen so many white uniformed people waiting for us.  That was in case we needed emotional assistance.  Then, they offered counselling in case anyone needed it.  They also refunded half of our excursion back.  Princess handled the whole situation very professionally.  That is why we don’t have a problem paying a bit extra for princess excursions.  We know we will be taken care of.  
Great idea about the Princess Patter!  Thanks 

I certainly understand your feelings about ship excursions after that horrid experience. That sort of tragedy often changes our decisions. 

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On 9/30/2019 at 6:28 AM, sparks1093 said:

Different strokes for different folks I guess, we've done many excursions that we felt were worth the money.

 

Same here.  Choose wisely. 😄

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On 9/18/2019 at 12:24 PM, cameljockey said:

I guess we've done about 14 cruises with various Cruise Lines. And I have to say we have never come back from any excursion saying that was worth the money. Look for safe alternatives, like Viator. 

Viator is a consolidator and functions the same as a cruise ship's tour office: they take a cut off the top.  Plus they are owned by tripadvisor and a sister company of cruisecritic.  "Trusting" the recommendations of Viator and its sisters is up to you.

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On 1/19/2020 at 7:44 PM, kim.elniski said:

We were on a ship excursion in Darwin, Australia in 2018 to see the jumping crocodiles.  We stopped at a local pub for a break when our bus driver got ran over by her own bus and was killed!  We all were in the pub when this happened and all our belongings were on the bus.  Because it was a “crime scene”, nothing was released until after the police had cleared the area.  We were late getting back to the ship.  Of course the ship waited for us.  This would not have happened if we were on a private tour.  We NEVER will take an excursion with anyone except the ship ever again!  I don’t mind paying a bit more for the assurance.

 

This was a horrible experience but I am sure that something like this almost never happens.  It would be a major mistake to never take a private excursion just in case your driver or tour guide might get killed or hurt.  If you were in a car as a passenger and there was an accident and the driver of the car was killed, would you never get into a car ever again?

 

I hate to say it but bottom line is that stuff happens and sometimes really bad stuff happens.  We shouldn't let it affect it for the rest of our lives.

 

DON

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