Excursions

As usual, Great advice!

Outstanding recap of whats been posted in this thread and many others over the years. Love reading MARYREDS posts. The general "excuse" for failing to do any homework or research is a combination of ignorance and laziness. So when things don't go according to plan, and you're out on your own, things can go south in a hurry. Hyperbole, btw, is something like "extreme exaggeration" to make a point...the best one I found is "this bag weighs a ton" when all you wanted to say is "its very heavy".......well, certain situations lend themselves to hyperbole, and worse......as in how you and your family might feel when the tour you booked actually wasn't worth the time or the $$, or had an issue with a non-cruise line sanctioned tour and the ship is close to leaving. Allowing for those what/ifs are called "hope for the best, plan for the worst"......everything bit of information folks need to do it are really just a few minutes on line BEFORE jumping in....that could be asking alot...too much even....I believe most experienced cruisers observe it happening on virtually every single cruise...it can be entertaining...as long as you and your family aren't the object of the exercise....

You will have to do your own risk assessment vs. cost effectiveness analysis on a port by port basis.

Things to keep in mind... Does ship's time match local island time, or will you need to do conversions to insure you are on time?... Is the port being visited a docked or tender situation? (At tender ports in the Caribbean there are a few that it can take 25-45 minutes between the launch leaving the big ship to reach the dock area and early tenders will be for priority and ship's excursion passengers.)... How far away is the meeting point for the 3rd party tour from the port area (most leave from local resorts or their own office area)?... How will you get to the meeting point then back to the port later, and will that transport cost negate any savings over the cruise line offered tour leaving from the pier?... What is the refund/cancellation policy if the ship is late docking or has to skip that port?

So without getting into hyperbole what/if questions, if you're not ready to research at least those basic questions prior to researching possible private arrangement tours you are better served sticking with what the cruise line offers.

Now I'm not stating don't go off on your own, which is something we often do especially if just looking for a beach day. But at the very least we exhaustively look for info about local public transit and taxi companies that we have options before ay situation arises.

In Europe, my wife and I usually book on our own. We have taken trains from the port, UBER, and also have used Viator without any problems. In the islands however, I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing it. I’ve watched too many videos of people with bad experiences. Myself, well I’ve been harrassed too often in the Caribbean to trust the locals. Just my opinion.

As the others have said, the ship sponsored tours work best for us. We have many friends that do their own thing and have had good experiences. I'm just not willing to take the chance.

We have on 2 occasions booked an excursion through a 3rd party. Once was in the Bahamas where the excursion was not far from the ship, ended 4 hours before we were due back and was local enough that we could leave the excursion and get back. The second time was in Bermuda on the 2 day of a 3 day port visit.

I am in the same camp as the two previous honorable posters. I ONLY use the Cruise Line/Ship tours. IMO - an independent is NOT worth the risk.

Sooner or later you'll get advice from folks who have used "so-and-so's excursions" and "never had a problem"...that is, until there is one. As i have opined MANY times.......there you (and your family) are, in your swimmies, mebbe half in the bag, no $$....and no ship either..(its gone..with your luggage)...now you put yourself in the hands of the "ships agent" to help you do......something.........BUT...you saved a buck three eighty!!.....make your reservations at home from comfort...look up reviews from folks who have ACTUALLY taken a tour you're interested in..and not shilling for anybody's tour company...if you wait till you get onboard, you'll have 2000 of your newest friends waiting on line to help you...and they don't know much of anything either....this is a prerecorded announcement!! (well it ought to be)

Upon reflection...watching "pier runners" is great sport.................

We ONLY book excursions through the cruise lines. If anything happens that causes a delay in returning to the ship, they are contractually bound to wait for you. They have no such obligations for excursions booked through a 3rd party. And make no mistake, if you're not back in time they WILL leave you behind. My wife and I are too old to attempt to run down a long pier, desperately trying to get back to the ship before the gangplank is raised.

We just consider the additional cost for the excursions as "insurance".