non ship excursions

[P&Bcrew]

Has anyone had good luck booking excursions not through Princess?? We are going on the crown, southern itinerary Nov 25th and want to book some off ship excursions. Also looking for anyone who has taken a cab to a beach. Does it work to ask the cabbie to come back for you at a certain time. The islands that I am interested in are St Kitts, Grenada, and Aruba

Thank you !!!!:o

[PescadoAmarillo]

Yes, you can get a cab to the beach on all those islands. It might help for you to do some research to determine just which beach you really want to go to; otherwise, you might end up on a small strip of sand where the taxi driver's brother-in-law has a "beach bar", selling beers out of a cooler. :D

 

As for the return...our favorite way to do it is to not pay for the outgoing trip, arrange our return and pay for the roundtrip on the return. It doesn't usually work out that way (but I mention it because it is what we were able to do on St. Kitts). Usually, if it is a popular beach, there is a line of taxis waiting to take people back to the ship. Even better, you can share one and split the cost. And on some islands, the cabs are really open air backs of trucks, and there will be 8-10 people joining you on the way to the beach.

 

Aruba is VERY fussy about not allowing wet swimwear in the taxis, so allow yourself time to dry off and maybe bring some dry shorts along also.

[sueandkent]

We always book non-Princess excursions. Check out the Ports Of Call boards for info on your ports.

[islandersx4]

Check out the Ports of Call on this board and look at the specific destinations you're interested in. LOADS of information. I have booked most of our excursions privately, cheaper and fewer people. Just make sure you get back to the ship on time, they won't wait for you if you are not on one of their excursions.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Besides making sure you get back to the ship on time, also check out the company's cancellation policy if you pre-book. Weather conditions and mechanical problems could cause your ship to have to skip a port. You don't want to get charged for an excursion you can't even get to.

[P&Bcrew]

We checked the port of calls board and Grenada and St Kitts are not listed at all. That is why I am asking the question. Thank you all for your advice. Keep it coming.

:cool:

[chrysalis]

We checked the port of calls board and Grenada and St Kitts are not listed at all. That is why I am asking the question. Thank you all for your advice. Keep it coming.

:cool:

 

you will find them here.......

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=68

[SingerEsq]

Check out:

 

Welcome to ShoreTrips® - Your Guide to Shore Excursions - CARIBBEAN & BAHAMAS

 

Used them last month. Very pleased.

[P&Bcrew]

thank you for the links to those web sites . We will check them out.:o

[Colo Cruiser]

We do that all the time, lots of options. :)

[willysgrandma]

Besides making sure you get back to the ship on time, also check out the company's cancellation policy if you pre-book. Weather conditions and mechanical problems could cause your ship to have to skip a port. You don't want to get charged for an excursion you can't even get to.

 

That is so true! We had a group nearly lose all the money they paid for a dolphin swim they booked themselves from an RCCL cruise we were on. The ship arrived in port two hours late and they had exactly 15 minutes from when the ship was finally in port to get to the shuttle bus to the dolphin swim or lose all their money.

 

They notified the desk and they were escorted by RCCL off the ship before anyone else to make sure they got the shuttle. RCCL was accomodating, but if the ship got into portr any later, the money was non-refundable.

[P&Bcrew]

Very good point !!!

[GloriaF]

Some of the islands on the ports of call board just do not have enough posts to gain any info from them - St Lucia is one of these. When the POC board is not active, there is little choice but to post on the main board.

 

Good Luck with your research!

[2boyzmom]

I'm shocked at the price of the shore excursion to Nevis- over $100 pp. (there are 6 of us). Apparently the tour that offers it privately for 1/2 the price has contracted with Princess and princess doubled the price! Tempted to just take a ferry to Nevis on our own, but concerned with Ferry times and missing the return back :(

[catsdinner]

In Grenada, just off the ship there are water taxis going to the beach for about $3.00 per person. We told our water taxi driver to pick us back up at a specific time and he was there. But it would have been easy enough to get another one as there were lots there. Grand Anse Beach is a beautiful beach and you can see the ship from there. We had a great time there last year. Lots of people trying to sell you stuff though. We got one guy to bring us drinks and then just told the rest of them that we had someone taking care of us. That was enough for most of them.

[sleeky]

Mandoo at Grenada tours (search mandoo and grenada on google) looked after us. We had a great time with him and would do the same tour again.

Kay

[sunshine3360]

We did the trip to Nevis on the Shore Trips web site. You are right, it is half the price. When we went, the ship next to us was the a princess tour. Same trip, but half the price. Check there.

[sunshine3360]

Sorry. Checked Shore Trips and didn't see the Nevis trip. When we did it , it was nice but not that greatest. We are there for a shorter time this trip so are just going to take a cab to White House Bay and then the beach. The shore trips are being taken over by the ships. It's not even the money but the length and the crowds on the excursions that is upsetting. Keep looking. There has to be some one that does it for a good price.

[VonS]

I'm shocked at the price of the shore excursion to Nevis- over $100 pp. (there are 6 of us). Apparently the tour that offers it privately for 1/2 the price has contracted with Princess and princess doubled the price! Tempted to just take a ferry to Nevis on our own, but concerned with Ferry times and missing the return back :(

 

You think THAT price is bad? Take a look at the Princess "Harley's in Paradise" shore excursion on St. Maarten! Princess charges $499:eek: . On Island, the Harley rental price was $149 when we were there last month.

[2boyzmom]

We have always done our own excursions. Last year , at stingray city in grand cayman- we were on a catamaran with 4 other people, while the NCL excursion had 100 people on their boat - yuck!