Required cruise line shore excursions

[klfrodo]

8 minutes ago, ShmuelCharlie said:

Well, I recall taking Princess excursions of St. Petersburg, Helsinki, and Berlin back in '95 because these ports were my first time there. Back in '95, the Soviet Union had just collapsed, but the Russian part still required all tourists to apply for visas. The visa application asked tourists to tell the visa office where we're going, with whom, and when we're going to be visiting the port. Regarding Estonia, I haven't visited that country yet on a cruise, but I do know that I have no plans to re-visit Russia again.  

I don’t think one can compare today to what was,,,,,,, 25 years ago

[ShmuelCharlie]

28 minutes ago, NancyIL said:

 

I suspect that if you want to get off the ship, you'll have to be on a ship excursion. No DIY tours or just wandering around.

That's what my interpretation is, too. One thing the ship excursion offers is guarantee that the shore excursion tour bus will return to the ship in plenty of time before it sails, even if the driver has to "push the pedal to the metal" to do that. The last time I saw a bus driver do that was for a return trip from Pisa in the late afternoon in '16. Before that, the driver was rushing back to Kotor, Montenegro, and just managed to get to the tender pier before the ship weighed anchor in '11. Whew! What wasn't so good was for the guests who had to chase the ship which had just weighed anchor and was en-route into the channel. Dinner that night was open seating, and guests at my table watched that tender driver pull all the stops to reach the ship so that the people aboard the tender could board the ship. 

[njkruzer]

MSC has required that passengers who want to disembark at a port must do so on a ship tour.  No wandering or private tours.  1 family left the rour and weren't allowed to reboard.  Had to go home at their own expense.   I really want to travel and for safety reasons will follow any rules they require.   I don't have to tour, can just enjoy a quiet ship.

[Spif Barwunkel]

I do not have a problem with ships tours only, as long as they are as advertised and what I want to do and see. If conditions warrant a "bubble" and special guidelines, I will gladly abide by those rules and regulations, entrusting the cruise line with my safety and enjoyment. That's as it should be. 

 

In many cases souvenir shop stops are part of the plan. That does not deter me from booking a ships tour. Depending on where you are they can be rather pleasant or a royal PIA. Either way, it's just an extension of what I signed up for and the experience is what I make it. Perhaps, just perhaps, I might find something special that I wasn't even looking for. It can happen! 

 

Edited September 8, 2020 by Spif Barwunkel

[yogimax]

When RCCL was doing Cuba, we were informed that any tour we wanted to book HAD to be an RCCL tour.

 

We later discovered that was not true.  We would have done the Hop-On, Hop-Off tour but were mislead into thinking it was not allowed!

[George C]

For most of the Caribbean I don’t mind staying on the ship and will not be cruising Europe until everything is back to normal. 

[Sunshine3601]

MSC has been doing this for their last 3 sailings.    I believe their price was 3 excursions for 100 euro.     great deal from what I read on MSC posts.    I find nothing wrong in doing that to insure the health and safety for those that want to get off the ship.      I did not read about them having any stops in souvenir shops.   I suspect souvenir shopping will be an option after they see how sailings work out      If we want to cruise in the near future, we will all have to be flexible and adjust.

[HaveWeMetYet]

The MSC excursions were not all that restrictive. They go to restaurants, museums and other tourist attractions. However, these cruises are for Italian citizens only and only go to Italian ports. The problem is going to be a cruise with a mix of international passengers stopping in foreign ports. In this situation excursions are going to be much more restrictive if the goal is to not have cruise ship passengers mix with the local population.

[TMLAalum]

I think I could live with ship tours only. But our next two cruises will be only US and Canadian ports so wonder if that will be a requirement for those itineraries.

The big disappointment for us would be the port of Astoria OR if we are unable to DIY there. My sisses/spouses plan on driving from Portland to spend our 11 hours ashore with us! DH will likely go salmon fishing on the Columbia with the guys and our nephew for some of the time. And for Seattle & San Francisco the ship tours would need to be pretty unique since we've spent time in both those cities- already I've bookmarked some unique private tours for both stops. Regardless, we'd deal with any limitations if we could be cruising again.

 

[njkruzer]

I think what happens in January (or whenever cruising resumes) and what happens 3 or 4 months later will probably be different.   Also whether people have been vaccinated or if there are available therapeutics that cruise ships can have on board.   In his recent video Fain sounded positive that cruising would resume and mentioned the availability of rapid tests that don't need a lab.  Sounds like something they would be using.  Waiting to see what happens. 

[Sunshine3601]

1 hour ago, HaveWeMetYet said:

The MSC excursions were not all that restrictive. They go to restaurants, museums and other tourist attractions. However, these cruises are for Italian citizens only and only go to Italian ports. The problem is going to be a cruise with a mix of international passengers stopping in foreign ports. In this situation excursions are going to be much more restrictive if the goal is to not have cruise ship passengers mix with the local population.

The MSC cruises are open to  residents of Europe's Schegen zone, not Italian only citizens.   

I think it is Costa Cruises that started sailing Sunday that is for Italian citizens only.     

[BirdTravels]

8 hours ago, ShmuelCharlie said:

A current CC article address whether cruise lines would require their guests to book at least one shore excursion to ensure that they stay within the social distancing "bubble". Here's my thought about that requirement: So long as the required shore excursion visits the sights I expect to see on that excursion and does NOT visit a required shop from which the line receives its commissions, I have no problem booking that excursion. For example, if the excursion visits Pompeii and then continues to Sorrento or Amalfi from either Salerno or Naples, I have no problems visiting Pompeii and/or Amalfi while within the social distancing "bubble", but I refuse to enter those souvenir shops that the line requires its guests to visit unless I really need to use their Men's room facilities. 

 

RCCL guests, what are your thoughts about this issue? 

At some ports, it is a requirement of the local authorities that the dirty cruise ship guests are on tightly controlled, escorted tours only and not wandering about infecting unsuspecting locals. If the cruise lines do not comply, they are not allowed to dock. 

[HaveWeMetYet]

4 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

The MSC cruises are open to  residents of Europe's Schegen zone, not Italian only citizens.   

I think it is Costa Cruises that started sailing Sunday that is for Italian citizens only.     

Correct.

I really don't see this working for Carribean cruises where the majority of people want to go to a beach.

[Sunshine3601]

6 minutes ago, HaveWeMetYet said:

Correct.

I really don't see this working for Carribean cruises where the majority of people want to go to a beach.

Why not.  Going to the beach is easy to social distance.  Easy enough to have beach excursions.   Sure some may not want to do their excursions but if required for me to get to a beach then so be it.  I'll do it.  

[HaveWeMetYet]

29 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Why not.  Going to the beach is easy to social distance.  Easy enough to have beach excursions.   Sure some may not want to do their excursions but if required for me to get to a beach then so be it.  I'll do it.  

The beaches are not private, anyone can wonder around there is no way to enforce social distancing.

Also, I am only saying this doesn't work if the goal is to isolate the cruise passengers from residents and the fact that very few people on cruises are going to put up with it.

[yogimax]

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

At some ports, it is a requirement of the local authorities that the dirty cruise ship guests are on tightly controlled, escorted tours only and not wandering about infecting unsuspecting locals. If the cruise lines do not comply, they are not allowed to dock. 

No country wants their citizens to be infected by well to do cruisers.

[Sunshine3601]

10 hours ago, HaveWeMetYet said:

The beaches are not private, anyone can wonder around there is no way to enforce social distancing.

Also, I am only saying this doesn't work if the goal is to isolate the cruise passengers from residents and the fact that very few people on cruises are going to put up with it.

Sure it is very easy to stay within a bubble that may be set by a cruiseline on beach.   Let's say a  Bus takes everyone to beach they would be instructed to stay within area set up with chairs umbrellas all properly spaced out and if you want a snack or drink you put your mask on when you go to snack bar.  I spent the month of june and came back down 1.5 weeks ago at shorehouse in LBI Nj and everyone nicely spaces themselves out  no issues here.    I love it!

Just like msc has done if people dont follow the instructions they are denied boarding the ship.  MSC did it with at least one family and everyone was happy that msc enforced their rules.  

If you dont like the rules then dont go.

 

Edited September 9, 2020 by Sunshine3601

[BillOh]

19 hours ago, edspec said:

I think the article said IF you wanted to go on an excursion it had to be in the cruise line's social bubble.  I don't think you HAD to go on an excursion.  And this is for the first cruises offered....don't imagine it will last long once rapid testing and/or a vaccine is available.

Makes sense, but the Excursion group at Royal is one of the least trustworthy groups, including their IT department in my mind.  If I've had any Royal people lie to my face, (or via written word)  it was the excursion people.    Most of my private excursions are less packed that the ones Royal offers, so I don't believe the social distancing thing for a minute.    

[Sunshine3601]

8 minutes ago, BillOh said:

Makes sense, but the Excursion group at Royal is one of the least trustworthy groups, including their IT department in my mind.  If I've had any Royal people lie to my face, (or via written word)  it was the excursion people.    Most of my private excursions are less packed that the ones Royal offers, so I don't believe the social distancing thing for a minute.    

I dont know what kind of problems you have had with rcl excursions.  I cannot think of any problems we have had other than waiting for people who show up late.

[ATC cruiser]

18 hours ago, George C said:

For most of the Caribbean I don’t mind staying on the ship and will not be cruising Europe until everything is back to normal. 

I agree

[Dscomp1]

My excursions now mainly consist of scuba, I will not dive with the ship and if that is the only way I will be able to get off the ship I guess my cruising will be curtailed.  I will probably still cruise-as long as I don't have to wear a mask all day, everyday-but not nearly as much.  I would be sad because I live to cruise and I love to discover new dive areas by cruising.  The new "normal" is changing everything and I don't think I want to deal with it.

 

[time4u2go]

6 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Sure it is very easy to stay within a bubble that may be set by a cruiseline on beach.   Let's say a  Bus takes everyone to beach they would be instructed to stay within area set up with chairs umbrellas all properly spaced out and if you want a snack or drink you put your mask on when you go to snack bar.  I spent the month of june and came back down 1.5 weeks ago at shorehouse in LBI Nj and everyone nicely spaces themselves out  no issues here.    I love it!

Just like msc has done if people dont follow the instructions they are denied boarding the ship.  MSC did it with at least one family and everyone was happy that msc enforced their rules.  

If you dont like the rules then dont go.

 

If the beaches are public, how do you keep people that are not on the cruise from encroaching on the "bubble"?

[keyboardjunkie]

FYI.....here is Costa's list of 'safe cruise' items"

 

http://sailcosta.com/8118_Safety/8119.01_10Things.pdf

 

You will see the info about shore excursions they are requiring.

[jean87510]

50 minutes ago, Dscomp1 said:

My excursions now mainly consist of scuba, I will not dive with the ship and if that is the only way I will be able to get off the ship I guess my cruising will be curtailed.  I will probably still cruise-as long as I don't have to wear a mask all day, everyday-but not nearly as much.  I would be sad because I live to cruise and I love to discover new dive areas by cruising.  The new "normal" is changing everything and I don't think I want to deal with it.

 

I agree. My husband and I were getting certified to scuba when all of this hit in the winter. We were going to scuba on a couple of islands in the Caribbean. But I have no interest in doing it via ship excursion. 

Since a lot of this is just scenarios, I prefer to wait to see the actual wording rather then vivid imagery and speculation on a cruise forum.  Does make for some interesting reading.

[catlady66]

On 9/8/2020 at 2:04 PM, ShmuelCharlie said:

Well, I recall taking Princess excursions of St. Petersburg, Helsinki, and Berlin back in '95 because these ports were my first time there. Back in '95, the Soviet Union had just collapsed, but the Russian part still required all tourists to apply for visas. The visa application asked tourists to tell the visa office where we're going, with whom, and when we're going to be visiting the port. Regarding Estonia, I haven't visited that country yet on a cruise, but I do know that I have no plans to re-visit Russia again.  

Russia can't be seen from a cruise ship excursion.  I spent a lot of time there in my younger days as a student.  The people, the history, the culture, the day to day grind--an 8 hour stop would never do it justice.  World class opera & ballet for just pennies (in the early 90's) , collections of paintings & sculptures from cherished artists, snow falling on Red Square, dickering with little grannies over pastries, comparison of grandiose  Russian architecture versus the terrible Communist era buildings. Even the cemeteries  are a walk thru history of authors & artists & brave souls.  The subways & trains are the most efficient I've ever encountered.  No, my friend, I wouldn't do a Russian excursion either.  You need at least a month in-country, making friends who show you the real Russia.  That probably is true for most countries.  For me, however, I'll always be grateful for experiencing Russia & not just being a tourist there.  Our cruise vacations are a cliff notes version of traveling & although I love it, it can never replace total immersion.  Alas, as working adults, we no longer have that option.  Just for the record, I am not a Communist or Socialist.  Just an old lady reminiscing