Best Non-Cruise line Excursion Booking

[Cdncruisecpl]

I find the pricing on Celebrity excursion to be excessively high.  I know it comes with peace of mind of the ship waiting for you, but I don't value the peace of mind THAT much.

What are you favourite ways to discover excursions that aren't through Celebrity?

[wrk2cruise]

I've been using Tours By Locals to arrange small groups and sharing with others on the roll call.  The only issue is they require pre-payment 30 days in advance although they do let you structure payment so others can pay them directly in advance.

[mom says]

The first place I check is the Roll Call to see if anyone is offering to share a private excursion. Then I look at the Ports of Call board. Next I go to TripAdvisor.  Tours by Locals and Viator are other 3rd party  sources.

[jelayne]

When possible I book direct with a guide or tour operator, cutting out the middleman ( Celebrity, Tours By Locals, aviator).  The ports of Call boards used to be an excellent source but with the long stoppage of cruising much of that info is outdated.  Also cruise reviews can provide info on guides others have used.  

[jwlane]

We do research (and occasionally book) with Shore Excursions Group.  It brings up sailing specific offerings.

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

We haven’t booked a Celebrity excursion in years. We book exclusively with Tours by Locals. Every place we go, we go to their website first. We can also customize tours for what WE want to see. We set up 3 days of tours with the same guide in Amsterdam before getting on the Apex in June. 

[Saturngrl]

Viator or Shore Excursions websites are both great! 

[OysterD]

Rent a car and go and see where you want in your own time. Obviously this works better in some places than others but one excursion we did last year we just rented a car and got to all the places the official Celebrity excursion was going, got to spend longer in each location and the car rental cost us less than one ticket for the official excursion. 

[George C]

We much prefer private tours with roll calls , with a group of 10 or less. TripAdvisor rates lots of great tours .

[AmberCascades]

What they said.    The only times I book with the cruise line is if it's a one-of-a-kind-not-offered-anywhere-else thing, or if it is a long trip to somewhere.  I wouldn't want to get caught in traffic far from the ship.

 

I also check reviews and look for independent tour operators who guarantee they will get you back to the ship in time.  

[chimchimtx]

We have booked with Viator many, many times and have always had excellent experiences.  I only book people with lots of good reviews though.  The locals are ALWAYS very well informed on ship arrival and departure times (often more so than the Celebrity employees) and they know exactly what they need to do in order to get you back to the ship in plenty of time.  We are doing our very first excursion via Celebrity in Bimini but only to go to the world resort.  We had OBC to burn and that way we don't have to worry about taxis.  If we were actually going to tour something I would have booked local.

[Jeremiah1212]

I also try to find a well vetted local and book directly. You pay a huge premium for Viator and ToursByLocals. Last time I booked a Viator excursion in Greece, I found the guide's info afterwards and learned the he would have charged about 70% less than what we paid. I refuse to do big motor coach tours with groups. 

[TMLAalum]

26 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

I also try to find a well vetted local and book directly. You pay a huge premium for Viator and ToursByLocals. Last time I booked a Viator excursion in Greece, I found the guide's info afterwards and learned the he would have charged about 70% less than what we paid. I refuse to do big motor coach tours with groups. 

At least with ToursByLocals you can choose your guide and be in direct contact with her. But I didn't realize there's an upcharge for booking with them. I am aware that Viator is a middleman so have never booked through them.

 

It takes research to find private tour guides - often several pages into Google. 

 

Aside from the Ports forums, I have been stalking the roll calls for this year's Celebrity Iceland/Greenland cruises and last year's as well to find the private tour guides those cruisers have booked! Thanks to them, I have 8 good leads bookmarked for 2024!

[islabahia]

Viator

[the penguins]

1 hour ago, TMLAalum said:

At least with ToursByLocals you can choose your guide and be in direct contact with her. But I didn't realize there's an upcharge for booking with them. I am aware that Viator is a middleman so have never booked through them.

 

It takes research to find private tour guides - often several pages into Google. 

 

Aside from the Ports forums, I have been stalking the roll calls for this year's Celebrity Iceland/Greenland cruises and last year's as well to find the private tour guides those cruisers have booked! Thanks to them, I have 8 good leads bookmarked for 2024!

TBL is our first choice: you book direct with the guide, pay via the head office in Canada, full refund if the ship fails to dock or you are denied landing, and  in the unlikely event that you miss the ship TBL will pay to get you to the next port.

[the penguins]

5 hours ago, Cdncruisecpl said:

I find the pricing on Celebrity excursion to be excessively high.  I know it comes with peace of mind of the ship waiting for you, but I don't value the peace of mind THAT much.

What are you favourite ways to discover excursions that aren't through Celebrity?

Sorry to disillusion you but Celebrity does not guarantee that the ship will wait for you. What X actually guarantees is that if the ship doesn't wait it will get you to the next port. Which is the same guarantee that other companies, for example TBL, give.

[TMLAalum]

28 minutes ago, the penguins said:

TBL is our first choice: you book direct with the guide, pay via the head office in Canada, full refund if the ship fails to dock or you are denied landing, and  in the unlikely event that you miss the ship TBL will pay to get you to the next port.

I recall that tour you and the Boss found in Nassau! It was a lovely way to spend time away from the madding crowd! Not a TBL tour, but your research led to it- I think through the Heritage Society?

Our next booking with ToursByLocals is in Lucerne! 

Edited February 1, 2023 by TMLAalum

[Georgia_Peaches]

We always use Vi***r.com. I’m sorry I’m not sure if naming them is allowed. We have never been led awry even as far as Vatican City, Italy. Look them up!  We booked a Segway tour of Mazatlan for March. Will meet them at the pier.   

[NutsAboutGolf]

Clearly, it depends on the port.  Sometimes renting a car is best if it allows you get on the road and beat the crowds and other times booking a semi-private independent tour is the best.  If using independent tours, worth knowing what happens if the ship arrives to the port late or cancels the port.  Some may only offer you a raincheck

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

I know people rent a car and go off on their own but I find that a tour guide provides you so much more information than just looking at a building. The amount of history and folklore and personal stories we were given for our visit to Sagrada Família for instance could never have been read in a book. 

[the penguins]

8 hours ago, TMLAalum said:

I recall that tour you and the Boss found in Nassau! It was a lovely way to spend time away from the madding crowd! Not a TBL tour, but your research led to it- I think through the Heritage Society?

Our next booking with ToursByLocals is in Lucerne! 

Indeed a memorable tour to the Ancient Forest. Even though the taxi driver  that took us there had never heard of the place and didn't believe it actually existed. We only found it after we got the Forest Manager on his cell phone and he gave the driver turn by turn instructions. 

Lucerne seems a long way from the sea - are you on a train tour or travelling alone? The boss Anita says hello, Geoff

[scokely]

I've had good experience with Lokafy and Air B and B experiences. Both tend to be relatively casual and often smaller groups so you can customize the experience a bit. 

[cruisemom42]

(Warning: the info below applies mainly to cruises in Europe; I rarely cruise from the US)

 

My first inclination when researching a port is "Can I do it on my own?"  I don't like to rent a car or drive, but I am comfortable using trains, buses, taxis or even ferries to get around. I disagree with those who say a guide is essential. I know quite a bit about history, art, archaeology -- a study of mine since childhood -- so I am happy to do the research and guide myself. (I am that rare, annoying person who has been on plenty of tours where guides get it wrong, or don't actually provide the information you want, only a canned spiel...)

 

If I can't DIY, I look for a good local guide.

 

Viator is not a good fit for me. It is a middleman agency for one thing; for another, I've been on enough of their tours to know it is a rather a crapshoot. My ratio of good to bad experiences is about 50/50.  Some of their tours are given in more than one language, which takes time while everyone is standing around. Once, one of my tours with the local agency was canceled at the last minute and no one contacted me until I showed up at the appointed meeting place (which luckily was the local agency). Then they argued regarding giving me a refund -- wanted to sell me a tour to places I'd already been. On yet a different tour, the guide/driver left out one (out of four) scheduled stops altogether, with no explanation.

 

Tours by Locals -- can be okay. I try to vet them carefully. When on a tour I want someone who is more than just enthusiastic, has a car, and has some local knowledge. It's a start, but....  I used them once in Israel for a particular tour that was difficult to arrange otherwise. The guide spent at least 20 minutes haranguing me because I hadn't booked him privately instead of thru TBL -- apparently it IS true that they make quite a bit less using the consortium.

 

And a word on ship tours -- I avoid them altogether when possible. Since the restart after COVID I have taken a few, only because in some places the tourism infrastructure has been so disrupted and isn't back to normal. But they are usually a pretty low baseline and, if possible, I choose those that allow me to wander off on my own and only join the tour for transportation and paid tickets, lol.

 

Sorry if this sounds negative, but I cruise mainly for the ports and having a good experience ashore is much more critical to my enjoyment of the trip than having a good day at sea.

 

[Texed]

Cruisemom,

Great post. 😊

[Jeremiah1212]

17 hours ago, TMLAalum said:

At least with ToursByLocals you can choose your guide and be in direct contact with her. But I didn't realize there's an upcharge for booking with them. I am aware that Viator is a middleman so have never booked through them.

 

It takes research to find private tour guides - often several pages into Google. 

 

Aside from the Ports forums, I have been stalking the roll calls for this year's Celebrity Iceland/Greenland cruises and last year's as well to find the private tour guides those cruisers have booked! Thanks to them, I have 8 good leads bookmarked for 2024!

 

It may be dated info but at one point TBL had at least a 20% commission since they are acting as the broker. They're going to make money off the booking somehow. 

 

Viator (owned by TripAdvisor who owns Cruise Critic) has even more fees and is a little more sketchy. They allow vendors to adjust their commission to boost their ranking in the search results among other things. Basically the big guys eat the little guys.