Concerns missing ship with non-ship tour

[ekek]

Has anyone on a non-ship sponsored tour ever missed their ship due to problems directly associated with the tour, ie. vehicle breakdown, accident? I understand that none of these 'private' tours in Costa Rica offer any sort of initiatives to catch the ship at the next port, in our case Limon, Panama. Any comments would be appreciated.

[grandmato4]

Two of our own rules for booking private tours in most ports are that we only book with private guides that have consistantly recieved good reviews here on cc and we always book tours that are scheduled to return us to port with lots of extra time before we are scheduled to set sail to allow for those unplanned things that can delay returning to port. We look at how far away from the port our tour is going to take us as a guide to how much time we think we'll feel comfortable with as far as when we are scheduled to return to the ship. The majority of private tour opperators recommeded here on cc do a great job of returning their passengers to port in a timely fashion. If they didn't they wouldn't be reccomended here nor likely still be in business.

[ekek]

We have one hour at the end of the tour and are going no more than 30 minutes away. That might be cutting it close in case of issues. Do you know if the main tour operators carry cell phones?

[grandmato4]

We haven't been to Panama yet but we'll be visiting in Feb 09 but all tour operators that we've used in the past few years at all other ports have had cell phones. You'll be required to be back on board at least a half hour before your scheduled sailing time so I don't know if you've built that into your timing or not. From what I've read traffic and roads in Panama can be a problem so if as an example your port time is listed as 8 am to 4 pm and your tour should get you back by 2:30 then I'd be pretty comfortable but if you're not scheduled to get back until 3 and would need to be back on board at 3:30 then I would have concerns.

 

Private tour guides recommended here on cc understand the importance of getting their customers back to their ships on time and usually do a very good job so with very few exceptions we cruisers spent much more time worrying than we need to. Good Luck!

[arlodog]

I would second the above comments. We have been booking our own excursions on our past few cruises thanks to all the help we have gotten on this board regarding private tour operators. We have not had any problems and always come back and give feedback so that others can have their questions answered. We have always had a great experience with the private guides and feel that we get a better experience rather than being a part of a large group on the cruise ship excursions. We always make sure that we schedule to get back in plenty of time, but since the tours are generally just our family we have never had a problem as the tour guides usually know when the large groups are going to be at the main tourist sites and get you there to avoid the crowds. You also can cover a lot more ground on a small tour!

[I Love RCI]

I'm not sure it matters if the tour operator has a cell phone or not, the ship in most cases won't wait more than 15 minutes -- in part to stay on route and in part for pier fees they have already paid only allow certain time in port. We saw a family running for the ship on our last cruise as we pulled away...they were left behind in Key West.

 

Having said that, we have booked excursions on our own with recs from this board and from portreviews.com based on what people posted there. Just make sure to take your "daily compass" (or whatever your cruise line provides) with you -- it will have a number for the shore agent in each port in case you are left.

[TCF]

It's good to have your own set of rules for using private...non-ship... tours.

Here are ours:

1. Check the reputation of the tour operator here on CC! If no one here has heard of them or toured with them...we won't either!

2. Be back at the pier two hours prior to ship departure time. (Every pier we have been to has some form of 'pier market' to wander around in if you don't want to get on the ship right away. In fact, the pier markets in Limon, Costa Rica....Cristobol, Panama...Chiapas, Mexico...Manaus, Brasil...Huatulco, Mexico had some of the best quality local shopping we have encountered.) There is always something to do before sailing.

3. If the tour is cutting our rules on returning too close for comfort we will ask the operator to shorten the tour. If the shorter version is just as good, then we'll take it....but don't expect them to cut the price!

4. We will chose a tour that the cruise line is offering on the ship, then contract a local operator to do the same one. Then we make sure we are heading back to the ship at the same time the ship transportation is. (This is also a great way to save money. In Manaus Brasil we saved over $600US on two excursions and got exactly the same tours, with the same company, the ship used!!)

Just some suggestions.

[velvetred]

Be careful in Panama. We were over an hour late on our ship sponsored excursion because of traffic and wrecks on the highway. We had went to the Gatun locks and Panama City for the day and we were told there is only the one highway for the country. I have used both independent and ship excursions on my cruises. I deliberately booked ship excursions in Panama and Costa Rica because of the issues I had read on these boards. I would feel more comfortable in Costa Rica booking an independent tour based on the feedback from these boards than in Panama. Of course, others may be more of a risk taker than I am - I just want to make sure I am on the ship went it sails.