Doesn't anyone do the ships excursions??

[gsb]

If you like to throw away bucks, go with the ships'.

The old scare line about "what if you don't get back on time" is getting old--how many times have you seen it happen.

Just my thoughts after 27 cruises and many "do it on your own" excursions.;)

[AllyCat81]

The two excursions we did on our cruise we booked through Carnival. The snorkling we did in Grand Turk was amazing!! Def. worth the money. The snuba we did in St. Thomas wasn't bad, but the lady who ran the whole thing was VERY rude. We tried to ask her a very simple question and we were totally blown of. She seemed more concerned with the people going on the scuba excursion (who were on the same bus as us). Also, it didn't say exactly where the snuba was on the island, and it wound up being at Coral world... which we really didn't want to go to in the first place. If we had known it was going to be there, we would've done something else (I think we had read bad reviews about that place which is why we weren't really keen on going there... but I don't really remember).

 

But I def. feel safer going through the cruise line incase the excursion runs later then planned or something. Plus you don't have to worry about transportation and what not. It's just more convenient. :)

[cruisecastle]

Having 20 cruises under my belt, I can safely say that USUALLY it is a better experience to go with a NON-Cruise ship excursion. Why? Well:

 

1) much (I've heard 80%) of the cost of the excursion charged by the cruiseline is kept by the cruiseline, and very little is given to the local tour operator;

 

2) tour operators tend to pester/annoy you more on cruise-connected excursions (begging for tips) because of reason #1;

 

3) private (non-cruise) tours are always less crowded, which means that you have less wasted time waiting around, and you are usually less crowded and packed into vehicles;

 

4) private (non-cruise) tours are USUALLY cheaper than what the cruise ship offers.

 

The ONLY exceptions that I have experienced have been on very long excursions in countries where transportation is not consistent. For example, when one of our ports was Merida, Mexico and we wanted to see the ruins of Chichan Itza, we looked into doing it on our own. However, the travel time was about 2 hours by bus each way, and there were a lot of road problems that I had read about and even renting a car ended up costing about the same. Obviously when such a situation arises, then you risk missing the ship.

 

Also, if a new port opens (such as Grand Turk) and there has been no previous tours, then it will be difficult to even find any tours other than what is offered by the ship.

 

In general, if you want to just do a tour of the city, it is always a complete waste of money to use the cruise excursion. You can always find a taxi driver willing to offer such a tour for much less. Of course, if you are only a couple (2 people) and you can manage to find another couple to join you in the taxi, you can get even a better rate.

 

The final "exception" is when you are in a port that is not safe. There are only a handful of such ports in the Caribbean in my opinion, but when you read multiple people warning you about how unsafe it is and that you should only go on an organized tour, then that will be a place where you would be wise to do so.

 

In general, I feel that probably 95% of all excursions on Caribbean cruises can be cheaper and better when you spend a few hours researching it before your cruise and booking it ahead of time. There really are very few exceptions.

 

Granted, if you are ultra-conservative and would worry about missing the ship the entire time, you should stick to the cruise-ship excursions because it isn't worth the loss of enjoyment.

 

Well 1-3 are complete lies but 4 is accurate

[jpg1747]

I almost always take the ship excursions. I'm a single, solo, senior cruiser. If I'm not familiar with the port I don't want to be wandering around alone, nor do I want to join up with a group of strangers going off on their own. On my next cruise, I'll use the ship's excursions to go horseback riding on HMC, the catamaran trip to St. John and snorkeling on Grand Turk. I've been to San Juan before so I'm comfortable doing a self-guided walking tour there. One of the reasons I'm going on Carnival is because I save so much on the price of the cruise that I can afford to spend more on other things, including the excursions.

[CarnivalCruising]

I always book the ship's excursions. I feel safer taking the ones that the ship offers.

[gtalum]

We do Carnival excursions in some ports and go on our own in others. Carnival's excursions offer you peace of mind. That's what you pay the extra for, though often it's not really much or any more than other methods. In some ports, the stress of getting to the excursion, doing it, and getting back to the ship on time can ruin the excursion. This maximum acceptable level of stress will be different for everyone. Some folks should probably do ship excursions everywhere they go, some will be like me and comfortable going on their own in some ports and happier with a ship's excursion in others, and still others will only be happy doing everything on their own.

[vjmatty]

We are on the Destiny this September... I have found that some excursion such as BOSS are only bookable through the ship. Others, it depends on the price difference and transportation issues. For example, we are doing the Aeral Tram in Dominica through the ship because it includes transportation and the Tram is nowhere near the port. However, in St. Thomas we booked the Champagne Catamaran independently because we saved $35 per person. If it were only a 5 or 10 dollar difference we would book through the ship for convenience.

[momof4boys]

We always book through the ship. We have loved each excursion we have been on. :) (The only thing we ever do privately is visit Paradise Beach in Cozumel.)

 

Last year at Dunn's River in Jamaica, we hit terrible rainstorms on the way back. The roads (honestly I thought some were dirt!!!) were muddy, slick, and crowded. :eek: We arrived about 25 minutes late and the ship was slightly delayed in leaving the port......but all of us were aboard!

 

There are always 13 -15 of us in our group. If we got left behind, we would be in a world of hurt. Flying to the next port would hurt us financially. We all feel safer taking the ship's tours.

 

I do know there are many private operators who do fantastic jobs and are very knowledgable. Check the port of call boards for info.

 

Have a great cruise!!:)

[tomboyy]

we are doing both. In Freeport the ship docks from like 7 till 4 so we opted for a carnival excursion, in nassua we're there all day and night plus I wanted to do something ( shark dive ) that carnival doesn't offer so I booked it on my own.

 

Tom

[JennLynn]

We did ship excursions several times until we realized we could book our own stuff for a fraction of the cost. We have had great luck and never been disappointed with any of the choices we have made. We always have felt like we got much more for our money booking our own excursions.

[pe4all]

On our first Carnival cruise (Liberty) we did mostly ship excursions, as the ports were new and exotic. I took a chance and did Costa Maya (Majahual) on our own - we had plenty of time, and no problems, but I was still nervous on our own. Our second cruise (Destiny) we did all ship excursions, except Barbados, where we did the Boatyard on our own. Our next cruise we have 3 ship excursions booked, with Costa Maya on our own again. Our Dec. cruise (Freedom) we will probably do all ship excursions, with Paradise Beach on our own. (Cozumel) Moral - yes, we can save plenty of money booking on our own, but I am a big chicken. We have seen people left behind (in at least 3 different ports) and I don't want to be one of them. Some things you just can't control. Even leaving a ton of time to get back to the ship, I am still nervous till I step on board. Peace of mind is worth the extra money to me.:)

[golf43]

We always use the ships excursions. We cruised in April of this year. We were on an excursion through Carnival. I fell down and hurt myself. Had to go to the infirmary. They took xrays, gave me pain medication, and put a splint on my hand. Since I was on a Carnival excursion it was no charge for all of this.

[joepeka]

As others have posted, we've done both and never had a problem missing the ship or even coming close. When using non-ship excursions, we've done our homework and relied heavily on the experiences of CC members to guide us in tour operator choice. Independant operators are usually less expensive, less crowded and more flexible than cruise line excursion operators. I would agree that for relatively short port stops that cruise line tours be used just to be safe.

[we2cruze]

We've done both, independent and ship excursions. The key is to research the excursions and see what you are paying for and what transportation issues are involved. There are some excursions that the price is so super inflated it just seems ridiculous. Others are more in line. If you can't relax unless you are on a ship excursion, then by all means go on a ship excursion. But if you can take reasonable measures to insure you will be back at the ship in plenty of time, then relax and enjoy your independent excursion, you may find that it is not only less expensive, but also more enjoyable to make your own tailor-made plans onshore. Also, we have come to the conclusion that there are some islands that are better enjoyed on a ship excursion due to the aggressiveness of the locals. That is also a personal decision. One more thing, we always take the Carnival Caper which contains the name and address of the ships agent, a credit card and our passports ashore, just in case something happens and we do miss the ship. Better safe than sorry.

[BillnBobbi]

You will see both sides of this issue. Some think saving a few bucks by scheduling their own excursions is worth it - and thats OK. Others would not even think of not using the ship excursions. Been on 8 Carnival cruises and have 9th scheduled. We always use ships excursions - its just too easy and don't have to worry about being late back to the ship.

 

 

We feel the same way. I've been watching the message board for the cruise we're taking in August, and people seem to be spending an awful lot of their time researching which one is this, and which one is that, and how much they can save off of the price of the ship sponsored one.

 

Frankly, I think that's a tremendous amount of effort going into saving a couple of bucks. I'd really like people to simply think about what the % of money it is against the cost of the entire cruise that they are actually saving.

My guess is that it winds up being less than 5%.

 

All you have to do is compare the price of the ship sponsored tour vs. the same tour independently,and compare that difference against the entire cost of the cruise. Then take the same differences for all the rest of the tours.

 

If you add airfare, (or even carfare and parking fees for a week), cabin cost, drinks estimate, gambling estimate, and misc. Say it comes to $10,000 for two people. Say you save (i'll be generous) - $150 per tour differential and in a one week cruise you take four tours. You've saved $600. That's 6% over the cost of the entire cruise. Some people will say "well $600 is $600 for something else".

 

OK, but peace of mind is worth that intangible to us. #1 We don't spend hours looking things up. #2 I'm sure some tour guides are better than others. Frankly, we wind up seeing just about the same thing - I'm not that concerned. And WHO IS IT who says the private is better than the ship offering? #3 If something should happen on a ship sponsored cruise and you don't make it back at the time the ship is scheduled to leave, THEY WON'T LEAVE WITHOUT YOU. If you are going independent then they might just do so, and have.

 

We prefer the "no-brainer" way and just about always have gone with the ship tours. The only times we go it alone, WE ACTUALLY DO GO IT ALONE.

No guides, just maps and our own brains. We will do that in countries in which we speak the language or are familiar with the places. If we go somewhere where we have no idea about the place, then we will go with the ship recommendations.

 

BnB

[addicted2cruizin]

As we take more and more cruises and start repeating ports I feel we can do some excursions on our own. We will be in Cozumel again this year. There's no question. We will grab a taxi and head to Paradise Beach. If we wanted to tour the ruins we would definately book through the ship.:D

[waiting4acruise]

As we take more and more cruises and start repeating ports I feel we can do some excursions on our own. We will be in Cozumel again this year. There's no question. We will grab a taxi and head to Paradise Beach. If we wanted to tour the ruins we would definately book through the ship.:D

 

I feel the same way. We took our first cruise on the Conquest last July. We booked ship excursions for Jamaca and Grand Cayman. This was important in Grand Cayman because we have to tender. If you did not have a ship tour, you could not get off the ship until the tour cruisers got off first.

 

We are taking the same cruise this August. We plan to a taxi to Sunset Beach in Jamaca. The cost will half of what the ship excursion will be to Rose Hall Beach. If you book a private tour, make shore it will get you back to the ship with 2 hours to spare.

[pholter]

Will be sailing on the Destiny (Southern Caribbean) in Jan 08 and was planning on going thru the ship for the excursions but after reading some posts I'm wondering if that is such a good idea?

 

Does anyone have any good experiences on any of the ships excursions for that ship?

 

I learned the hard way (paying too much and being herded like cattle) taking Cruiseline excursions and it was these boards that made my Destiny Southern sailing spectacular!! I would never do a ship excursion again, especially when so many recommended guides on these boards give much better excursions. The money I spend goes directly to the tour operator and his/her family rather than a ship sponsored tour lining the Cruiselines pockets even more with the operators having to take a cut.

 

Please do yourself a favor and just do a little research on the Ports of Call boards or the main Destiny Cruisers thread. Then, you decide what's best for your personal situation. If it's with the Cruiseline, then I'm sure you'll still have a wonderful time. Just go and enjoy!! :)

[bacm]

We usually do ship excursions and don't mind paying more for the piece of mind you get from knowing that you won't get left behind. Friends of ours went on an excursion once & were an hour late getting back to the ship due to a flat tire on the bus. Thank goodness it was a ship excursion & there were no problems. You just never know.

[PJBUCHEIT]

Will be sailing on the Destiny (Southern Caribbean) in Jan 08 and was planning on going thru the ship for the excursions but after reading some posts I'm wondering if that is such a good idea?

 

Does anyone have any good experiences on any of the ships excursions for that ship?

 

On our very first cruise, I was to worried about using non ship sponsored excursions. But, I did use Randi's in Mazatlan and was very happy with it. The rest of the ports, we did use ship excursions.

In Nov on the Spirit, we will do some ship excursions and some on our own. I feel more at easy the 3rd time around to go out on our own.

[DG2004]

it depends a lot on the port

 

Cozumel, Key West, PR, St Thomas etc....we do our own thing

 

 

Ocho Rios...we are booking through Carnival

[Doug&Suzy-Q]

I agree.....with OP's.....some ports we do it on our own, rent a car from Budget and off we go. Mostly we do this in "comfortable" ports......

Those countries/ports that we personally feel safe/confortable in...then again it depends on the circumstances...........

Two cruises in a row we are dealing with surgeries....the last cruise was a foot surgery. This was limiting so in St. Maartin & St. Thomas we rented a car. It was wonderful to have the freedom.....it was so much fun stopping where ever we wanted.....and one that would accommodate my limping, slow, bandaged foot.

Did the same in Cozumel the prior prior trip.....this year in Costa Rica & Panama we need the same accommodation. But this time we will have to rely on others and have booked both ports with Carnival excursion.

Hopefully, after this, we will be fit and healthy and won't have to worry about limping, and owies:eek:

So....basically...........we do both.......

[popcorngal]

We've done it both ways too. I always do my research, especially on the Ports of Call boards, and if the time frame or port is the least bit iffy, we go with the ship's excursion.

 

The bottom line is, it's hard to put a price tag on peace of mind, and you need to follow your gut instinct on what your comfort level is.

[jonathansburden]

We've done both. When we were in Grand Cayman, Belize, and Costa Maya we just got a cab and went to the beach. But on Isla Roatan (which seemed a lot less developed and kinda scary) my DH and I booked through Carnival to go to Gumbalaya park (best part of our trip!). However my sister and her best friend decided to try to go out alone and walk to the beach. It was a horrable experiance for them, they were forced into a cab by a strange man that wouldn't speak to them in english. They were both really scared and EXTREAMLY fortunate to see other people from our ship that helped them, who knows what would have happened if there wasn't someone to help her?

 

I'd say if you're going alone, book through a reputibal company. Just walking off into a foreign country probably isn't the best idea.

[MARRIEDATSEA]

we always do things "on our own" but I think we may start doing CCL excursions...the taxi cabs that you have to take "on your own" (not with private companies) scare the heck out of me...it's just not safe. CCL excursions are usually a nice AC'd bus!