Excursions Through Virgin

[NickAndJessicaInMO]

Apologies as I was not sure where to post this question. We are debating whether to book an excursion during our cruise on valliant lady the 10th-17th versus booking on our own. Generally, I prefer to venture on my own as I do not like being tied to itineraries and want to cover more ground. That said, does anyone if there’s any consequence to not returning with the group if, for example, it saved travel time not having to return to port? Any help appreciated.

[cantgetin]

I think you are asking whether you could take an excursion that goes to a downtown area (for example) and would return you to the ship at 1pm, could you stay downtown and be responsible for getting yourself back to the ship by the "all aboard" time.  I have always been able to do that on other lines, simply by talking with the tour guide and letting him/her know that I was not returning on the bus.  Otherwise it will mess up their counts and they will be waiting for you.  VV or other cruise lines don't really get involved in this transaction as there is nothing that says you must get on the ship even if you take the bus back to the port area--you might choose to do a short walk on your own,  The third party vendor is responsible for getting you back to the port on time unless you notify them of other arrangements,  I've just always asked the guide if I could do this sometime during the excursion,

If I misunderstood your question, sorry.

[NickAndJessicaInMO]

14 minutes ago, cantgetin said:

I think you are asking whether you could take an excursion that goes to a downtown area (for example) and would return you to the ship at 1pm, could you stay downtown and be responsible for getting yourself back to the ship by the "all aboard" time.  I have always been able to do that on other lines, simply by talking with the tour guide and letting him/her know that I was not returning on the bus.  Otherwise it will mess up their counts and they will be waiting for you.  VV or other cruise lines don't really get involved in this transaction as there is nothing that says you must get on the ship even if you take the bus back to the port area--you might choose to do a short walk on your own,  The third party vendor is responsible for getting you back to the port on time unless you notify them of other arrangements,  I've just always asked the guide if I could do this sometime during the excursion,

If I misunderstood your question, sorry.

Not quite. Specifically looking at Antigua. We want to do the stingray tour and then also tour Nelson’s Dockyard. Given both attractions are on the same part of the island, it makes very little sense for us to conclude the stingray excursion and return to the cruiseport only to travel 30 minutes back to essentially the same location. So, the question is, instead of getting on the bus to return to port, can I just stay in my location and then get a taxi to take us to the dockyard and eventually back to port?

[cantgetin]

1. I don't see any reason that you would be required to return to port with the first excursion.  My concern would be the second one and whether they will allow you to get yourself to the dockyard or whether the company running that, whether private or thru VV would allow that.  For private, you can just ask them.  If booking thru VV, I don't know and I'd guess that VV won't be super motivated to find out.
   
   I recently had a question about an excursion using Shore Excursions Group.  They were great about getting back to me saying they were contacting the vendor for specifics and a few days giving me a final response.