How much you spend on excursion/2 people?

[ookpik]

I also mis-understood the poll question. I voted $100-200 per excursion. Sorry. Should I re-vote:confused:

 

Me too!!I voted $100/200 per excursion..for 2 people.

So for a 7 day cruise it is about $600.(And I think I'm being

frugal:D

[cruise_lover]

Sorry I voted per excursion per person. Change mine from under 100 to 300-400

[Akkarebear]

Misunderstood question also, we spent about $500.00 for 2 people on a 7 day cruise with 4 ports.

I think excursion are a great way to get out and do new things we don't normally do at home.

:)

[geoherb]

In Alaska, we spent around $250 per person for excursions--doing Juneau on our own, including the bus ride to the Mendenhall Glacier, state capitol, and state museum; kayaking in Haines on an independently arranged excursion (a lot cheaper and so much better than through the cruiseline); and snorkeling in Ketchikan.

 

In the Caribbean, we've kept the cost down lately. On our upcoming cruise, I've booked us three excursions out of six stops. On one island, there wasn't the option of doing it independently due to the time our ship docks. On the other two islands, the excursions I chose have been getting good reviews--and aren't too expensive.

[junior 1]

I like the ship excursions instead of the independent ones. On my next cruise our group will be going thru the Panama Canal. I understand it is about 8 hours, but I know that if there is a problem the Ship will wait on us. I like the peace of mind that that affords me. :)

[cb at sea]

We did a 10 night panama cruise--didn't spend a penny on excursions! Went to the beaches a couple times, shopping a couple times, ate dinner in Aruba....

[Cologal49]

I mis-understood the poll question as well. On our Alaska cruise we spent quite a bit on excursions, probably $1000 for the 11 day trip (cruise and land). On our Panama trip we are spending far less because the individual excursions are much cheaper.

They are? We are doing the train with dome at $199.00 each in Pamana, and the Tram in Costa Rica at $129.00 each. That is already $656.00, and we don't even have a Cabana booked yet!!!:eek:

[lovemylab]

I voted $400+.

 

On our last cruise we spent around $500 and will probably spend the same on our upcoming cruise. This includes the cost of any excursions we have booked and taxi fares if we are just doing a beach day.

[Julia Goolia]

Oops. I messed up too. I voted on how much I typically spend on one excursion for two people. Not the entire cruise. A total amount would depend on the length of the cruise, how many ports, which ports, who I am traveling with, etc. On my cruise in 30 days :D this is our excursion plan. BTW -- all excursions were booked privately. None through the ship.

 

Grand Cayman - Jet Ski tour to Sting Ray City with Fat Fish Adventures; 2 people on one ski ($175.00)

 

Cozumel (provided we can go there by then) - The Royal Dolphin Swim with Dolphin Discovery ($150/person -- $300.00 total)

 

Belize - Cave tubing with Major Tom ($50/person -- $100 total)

 

Roatan - Private Tour with Victor Bodden tours ($40/person - $80 total.)

 

So, for this cruise, I am spending $655.00 plus tips.

[G'ma]

I've never booked a ships excursion and never will. I do my own thing either using public transportation, taxi or rental car.

 

I refuse to be packed along in buses with a couple hundred other people all going to the same place, doing the same thing.

 

There have been a couple occassions over the past 35 years that I've used a local tour operator by making arrangments directly with them by phone. These have been the more "exotic" trips where it would be difficult or cumbersome to do it independently.

[janabm81]

For us it really depends on what type of excursion we're doing. For a normal sightseeing tour we won't pay more than $35 for a full day. Maybe $50 if it's a full day that includes lunch. On the other hand if we do a snorkel/catamaran tour we count on paying about $65 with out lunch (1/2 day) or $100+ for a full day with lunch. Hope this helps!:)

[cruisee<3]

for just two excurions for two people .. our total came out to $498 .. at least its under $500? :rolleyes: teheh.

[velotaco]

We normally don't do the cruise line excursion thing. My wife and I are in our forties, so it's easy for us to get around on our own.

 

In the ten cruises we have been on, we have only taken a handful of excursions. And these were in ports were we had no other options (St. Petersburg which was a visa issue, Israel and Egypt..security issues)

 

We usually rent a car in most ports. We have had the opertunity to have driven all over South America, Central America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. One of our best memories was the car we rented in Jamaica (That was an experiance). In many cities, the public transportation is quicker and more efficient than anything the cruise line offers (not to mention the cost savings).

 

As for doing activities in port, we had not had problems lining up scuba dives, fishing trips, rafting and other activities once we were in port.

 

Never have we "missed out" by not going with what the ship has to offer. We usually manage to get in the equivalent activities of what it would take two or three different cruise excursions to do. The secret is pre-planning and a bit of risk taking.

[EGG]

I am not getting a screen to vote.

 

For various reasons we never take excursions where we eat off the ship. That often eliminates many of the higher priced tours. We usually only take excursions that are farther from the ship and there is a definate time issue. We only take independent tours where the plan is to get us back to the ship at least 2 hours before sail time and/or do the farthest activities first and the closer ones, like the shopping stop, at the end.

[TMLAalum]

I've never booked a ships excursion and never will.

 

We have cruised only once (to Alaska r/t Seattle) and I booked for me the Misty Fiords cruise in Ketchikan @ $159. Not worth the charge, and there was no time to shop after the cruise. DH booked kayak fishing independently and had a great time for less $$.

 

For our other PoC, we met up w/ cousins who live in Juneau and went w/ them to St. Theresa's shrine, Mendenhall Glacier and out to dinner at the Twisted Fish Co., and in Skagway, DH & I rented a car and headed to the Yukon. Unfortunately, we didn't stop in Victoria due to a problem on the Norwegian Pearl, but my plan there was to see the buskers in the inner harbor after a meal at Barb's or Ferris' Oyster House. I so enjoyed our independent ventures compared to my cruise, that I never will book a ship's excursion again.

[Mrs.C05]

I don't think I could do an independent excursion/tour. I'd be way too nervous about making it back in time for the ship.

 

I too misunderstood your poll, I thought it was per excursion....that being said, last cruise with 7 days, we spent around $350 on 3 excursions. All were loads of fun!!!!

[gadaboutgal]

We've probably booked only 2 ship excursions on all our cruises. Half the pleasure of cruising for me is the advance planning. (Thank you cruise critic'rs:D) We use public transportation, car rentals, or cabs to get us to what we want to see or do. We can usually do three times as much as we would on a tour because we don't have to wait for the crowd.

[iancal]

Like others, we very seldom take tours. We do not like travelling with busloads of people. We arrange private tours, guides, rental cars what have you. It is not about the money-it is about the quality. Sometimes we spend the equivilent, often much less. For us, it started on our first cruise with our children to Alaska. RCI want a large dollar(in our opininon) for a 3 1/2 hr tour. A fellow passenger advised us to go private. Walked off the pier and met a teacher who did tours in the summer. We spent about 5 hours with her. Cost for four was less than half RCI. When we had dinner that night and compared notes with some of our tablemates it was evident that our private tour encompassed much more than the ship tour AND did not make those stops at the usual tourist traps. What I really liked was that all of the money stayed with the locals..it did not sail away to a cruise corporation. It has been this way ever since. But...we are very independent travellers. We do many land trips and never stay at tourist or business hotels.

[BroncosFan2010]

We easily spent over $700 on exursions for the two of us on our Southern Caribbean Cruise this past March. We did not book everything through the ship, but here was a list of what we did on a 7 day.

 

St. Thomas: Sail and Snorkel through RCCL $65 per person, plus $20 tip to ship's captain (It was a great time and well worth tipping that much). Total: $150

 

St. Maarten: Beach day $30 taxi Ride

 

Antigua: Eli's Eco-Tour with Adventure Antigua $90 Per Person plus $10 tip

Total: $200

 

St. Lucia: Cosol Island Tour (bad experience, would not do it again) $65 per person

Total: $130

 

Barbados: Zip Line Tourh through RCCL $89 Per Person Plus $20 tip

$200

 

San Juan: Bacardi Rum Tour through RCCL $24 per person

Total $50

 

Final Costs of excursions: $760 NOT including food and items purchased on these excursions.

[CanWeGoYet?]

I agree, it depends a lot on the itinerary. I payed more for excursions on the transatlantic than we would have on a mexican riviera or caribbean cruise. I guess we could have found less expensive tours even in France, but having never been I didn't want to cut corners.

[hazeleyez3]

It all depends... Alaska we probably spent around $500, sometimes we spend $100-$200 for the Caribbean.

 

Hawaii was the cheapest...just rented a car in the ports, bought some excellent books on the islands, had a GPS, and went about our way. It was perfect! We were able to see everything we wanted and at the speed we wanted

[Clinker1]

We check the tour descriptions on the ship and use that info to give the taxi driver so we hit the highlights...We always find taxi's to be less than half the price of ship tours and in most countries, taxi's are usually available.

[harleygal33]

I am asking the same questions. Our cruise alone is $5000+ and then you add shore excursions for 4 and it's a 10K cruise. I thought cruises were supposed to be affordable vacations. I am going to Alaska this month and was looking at shore excursion companies, other than RCCL and cannot find one that covers you like RCCL does. Are there any out there with money back guarantees in case of inclement weather or if the ship doesn't make it, or whatever other reasons?

[sappygirl]

I voted for 100 to 200 but that includes food and drink for both of us. It really depends on where we are going. DH is the more adventurist type so he costs more.:D Me I am happy sitting on the beach with a drink and just chilling while he is out doing his thing.