Private Excursion or Carnival sponsored???

[1stTimeCruizer121]

My wife and I are sailing on the Valor on 3/16/08. This is our first cruise and I was wondering if anyone can tell me whether I should book our excursions through Carnival or privately. I have done some research and it seems like it will be a lot cheaper to book privately. Does anyone have any suggestions or guidance? Thanks.:D

[bookbabe]

My wife and I are sailing on the Valor on 3/16/08. This is our first cruise and I was wondering if anyone can tell me whether I should book our excursions through Carnival or privately. I have done some research and it seems like it will be a lot cheaper to book privately. Does anyone have any suggestions or guidance? Thanks.:D

 

You'll get lots of opinions...it's a favourite topic on the boards. :)

 

My opinion is that it depends on a few variables.

 

It depends on you and your comfort level. Are you comfortable with the idea of doing all your own planning and arranging transportation? There's also the issue of getting back to the ship on time in case of problems. I always treat the extra cost of the ship excursions as "insurance" since on a ship tour they'll take care of everything (including usually holding the ship for you) if there's a problem and you're late getting back. On a private excursion, you're on your own for that kind of thing, and it's up to you to make sure you don't miss the last tender.

 

It also depends on the island. Cayman, you're fine going off on your own. The island is clean and safe and the people are friendly. There are tons of good tour operators and you can get many recommendations by reading some of the reviews and other threads here in this forum. If you use normal common sense, you won't run into any problems. On some other islands, that's not the case. There are many islands where it's just not safe to go off on your own.

 

It also depends on what you plan to do. For Stingray City, I'd say go with one of the private tour operators, since you usually get a more personal excursion than the larger cruise ship ones (if that's important to you). For some of the other stuff, like island tours or the turtle farm, you're getting pretty much the identical experience either way, so it's up to you whether you buy it through the ship or privately. Beach days, I'd definitely just plan them yourself, since you can hop a taxi to Seven Mile Beach for much less than the cost of the ship tours, and there's lots of spots where you can purchase umbrellas, food & drinks, etc. yourself.

[1stTimeCruizer121]

Thanks for your thoughts. It really helps.