RCI Excursions vs. private excursions

[denred04]

we are going on Empress/7-08-06, and have seen many nice excursions from private companies on two Bermuda sites...is there a benefit to going through RCI???

[lauren0309]

The only benefit I know of through a ship excursion is that is your tour is held up to get back to the ship they will hold the ship since it is a ship sponsored tour. On the other hand, we enjoy private tours because they are more personalized and cheaper. You just have to watch that you start your excursion early so you have enough time to get back to the ship in case of any delays.

[ppsailor01]

personalized is usually cheaper and less of a herd mentality. The downsized is that if something goes wrong it is more difficult to get your money back. I choose the private company.

[AFT_LOVER]

spends the night in St Petersburg, Russia. If you want to walk around you need a VISA (and they do not mean credit card) so we are doing ship excursions so we don't.

[denred04]

I was reading other posts, and someone had reccommended Jesse James (Bermuda) which was one of the places that looked good...i think we will go with them...and watch the times!! good advice:)

 

[LLSullie]

Does the ship have information on booking your own private excursions?

 

Example: my kids and I are the Rhapsody and want to go to the turtle farm, Hell and Stingray City.

 

How can we fit all of that in? Would doing it ourselves be the answer, and if so how do we go about doing that?

[lauren0309]

There are a few tour operators that you can e-mail and they ask you what you want to do and work out an itinerary. We used Nativeways for our Stingray tour. They have a website and there are other tour operators also so you can compare. Other ones I know of is Captain Marvins, Sotos. They will meet you at the pier when the ship docks. They are usually holding up signs so it is easy to spot them at the pier.

[catmommy]

we are going on Empress/7-08-06, and have seen many nice excursions from private companies on two Bermuda sites...is there a benefit to going through RCI???

 

Bermuda is pretty small and easy to get aound. Even if you miss the ship in Hamilton it is no problem to get to St. George. It would be a different story if the ship was leaving for back to Philly. :)

 

These tour companies want and need your business so I would think they would be really good about being aware of the ship's departure times.

 

We've been to Bermuda twice before and last time and this time we are not doing any ship's excursions.

 

What were you thinking about doning?

 

We did Hartley's Helmet Dive and had no problems at all. We also went to Harbor Nights on our own and it was no problem.

 

I think the ship's "excursion" to Harbor Nights is a big rip off, that is one thing I would do on my own even if you decide to do other ship's excursions.

 

Calm seas,

Caroline

[denred04]

I was thinking of going with Jesse James for their 3 site snorkeling tour...my boys think it looks great. will stay away from the helmut dive...a friend of mine and her daughter almost died! she said you can really only see in front of you, and they got separated from the group and the oxygen!! they are fine, but had to really struggle to get up to the surface.

 

I also was thinking about the bike tour. what is harbour nights? haven't seen that listed anywhere. I also thought I read about tuesday nights in Hamilton where you can go in to town and there is music and crafts, but can't find info on that either....any one heard?