cruisecritiquer Posted September 16, 2014 #1 Share Posted September 16, 2014 (edited) I know people frequently ask what are the best things to do at various places but I thought it might be helpful to have a list of the excursions we wish we had never embarked upon. Keep in mind that one person's misery is another person's day o' fun so no arguing please. Please name names and take numbers of any excursion that has you doing this everytime you reflect back on what happened. So please participate and list: 1. Ship/Date 2. Port 2. NCL title of excursion or 3rd party info. 3. What happened? Edited September 16, 2014 by cruisecritiquer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkgourmet Posted September 16, 2014 #2 Share Posted September 16, 2014 (edited) We avoid ship excursions. However, we made one excursion on our 21 day Mediterranean cruise on the Jade in january 2014. The port stop was Tunisia, which has limited public transport and few English speaking taxi drivers. Tourism is still new in this area and dicey, which was why we booked thru the ship. The four hour excursion was booked as a short city tour, then a trip into the mountains to see Siti Bou Said, a greek-like blue and white village. We were taken on a bus ride to a carpet seller and a perfume maker, where we spent nearly two hours trying to avoid listening to sales pitches and supposed demonstrations of "real hand weaving. " NONE of this shopping had been listed in the written details of the excursion. Then another hour on the bus where a tour guide (who was charming and spoke excellent English) told us about the political, economic and religious challenges in his country. While we found it interesting, MANY on the bus were offended by some of his remarks. Again, what was advertised was information about the history of the city, not the tour guide's personal biased opinions. In the end, we spent 45 minutes in our destination Sidi Bou Said. Yes, I get to put a pin in my map and say I've been to North Africa. But mostly it was a reminder that ship excursions are a rip off. BTW, NCL dropped Tunisia as a port stop just a few weeks later when the government refused to allow passengers holding israeli passoirts to disembark. Edited September 16, 2014 by jkgourmet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_sobe Posted September 16, 2014 #3 Share Posted September 16, 2014 (edited) I have been lucky and enjoyed almost every excursion booked through NCL except one. My favorite was the bike ride across Grand Bahama Island. My worst or least favorite is the only one I was majorly disappointed in. I expect to be be majorly flamed or attacked. Epic ship 2010; port: Nassau. ***Drum roll please**** Beach Break Blue Lagoon in Nassau There are several factors why I say this. I live in Miami Beach and was looking for a day at the beach for a half day....something simple to do in Nassau. I was disappointed the second we got off the transport ship. We were left off without anyone welcoming us or explaining where things were. In 2010 it looked like a run down resort that had not had any updates since 1974. Ok but where is the beach? There was no ocean front beach. Are you kidding? Oh yes there was some water like a small canal with some run down water toys for you to rent. I was so disappointed in myself for booking this excursion and wished I would have stayed on the ship. I wanted an ocean beach resort and instead got sand and a canal. The excursion included some sort of meal but when I saw the food stand, I passed and did not use the meal ticket. Lots of other passengers I was with that day were equally disappointed and we lined up to catch the first boat back to the ship. They line you up near the dolphins and to see them in their small water cages just topped off a bad excursion experience. I was not expecting a luxury resort. Just a day at the beach and waves. It just seemed like the biggest tourist trap ever. Other than this experience all other NCL excursions were wonderful. Edited September 16, 2014 by david_sobe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisecritiquer Posted September 16, 2014 Author #4 Share Posted September 16, 2014 (edited) deleted..... Edited September 16, 2014 by cruisecritiquer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkgourmet Posted September 16, 2014 #5 Share Posted September 16, 2014 deleted..... Ask in a new thread and add how many days priir to departure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisecritiquer Posted September 16, 2014 Author #6 Share Posted September 16, 2014 Ask in a new thread and add how many days priir to departure. That's what I was trying to do! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HokiePoq Posted September 16, 2014 #7 Share Posted September 16, 2014 (edited) I wrote a paragraph and then realized it was not a NCL excursion. In fact I've never been on a NCL excursion (or a HAL one for that matter) that was not acceptable. Some are better than others of course. That usually depends on what's available at that port and the diligence of the cruise line in providing a safe and enjoyable experience. My horror stories are all off of one itinerary which was on RCCL. Fortunately we had already toured Egypt with NCL. We had great security and safety was of first concern. We went on one ship's excursion in Egypt off Legend of the Seas and were shocked to have NO security. When asked about this at the excursion desk, the reply was that it was up to the locals to provide that! Not only was there no convoy as mentioned in the description, but no guards, unlike what we had with NCL. Our bus drove 50% over the speed limit on a deserted desert road in the pitch dark where locals consider headlights optional and debris was seen on the road in the daylight. We canceled the trip into Cairo after excursions would not guarantee a security guard. After getting home DH put all this on his computer survey and did receive a call from corporate. Recently we've read about a tour bus crash on the very road I described with multiple fatalities. NCL has never let us down in terms of safety and I applaud this. I am not fond of shopping stops but realize that in many places, these are the only "rest areas" that exist that western tourists would find acceptable. P.S. If pushed, I could say our NCL "Valencia on your own" one this past April off the Jade was less than great. We were never in any danger, but the excursion attendant had not arrived and the driver spoke no English. We were left at the drop spot not knowing where to go and were not given the map promised at guest relations. However, one from our bus, a fearless Aussie (love to travel with the Aussies...always prepared and lots of fun) led us with her internet map to the visitors' center, so no harm done and we had a great day. Attendant was there for the return trip. If anyone takes this, print your own map of the historic area ahead of time just in case. Edited September 16, 2014 by HokiePoq Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HokiePoq Posted September 16, 2014 #8 Share Posted September 16, 2014 (edited) We avoid ship excursions. However, we made one excursion on our 21 day Mediterranean cruise on the Jade in january 2014. The port stop was Tunisia, which has limited public transport and few English speaking taxi drivers. Tourism is still new in this area and dicey, which was why we booked thru the ship. The four hour excursion was booked as a short city tour, then a trip into the mountains to see Siti Bou Said, a greek-like blue and white village. We were taken on a bus ride to a carpet seller and a perfume maker, where we spent nearly two hours trying to avoid listening to sales pitches and supposed demonstrations of "real hand weaving. " NONE of this shopping had been listed in the written details of the excursion. Then another hour on the bus where a tour guide (who was charming and spoke excellent English) told us about the political, economic and religious challenges in his country. While we found it interesting, MANY on the bus were offended by some of his remarks. Again, what was advertised was information about the history of the city, not the tour guide's personal biased opinions. In the end, we spent 45 minutes in our destination Sidi Bou Said. Yes, I get to put a pin in my map and say I've been to North Africa. But mostly it was a reminder that ship excursions are a rip off. BTW, NCL dropped Tunisia as a port stop just a few weeks later when the government refused to allow passengers holding israeli passoirts to disembark. You've made me feel better about our April Jade cruise which we booked to go to Tunisia and see Carthage. We were very disappointed not to go there and realize we probably never will. Later news has raised safety issues, not just the diplomatic one, that makes NCL's decision not to go there even more justifiable. Thanks for this report. Edited September 16, 2014 by HokiePoq Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruzn Bills Fan Posted September 16, 2014 #9 Share Posted September 16, 2014 This is an easy one to answer. It was last December on Pearl and it was a snorkle excursion on Grand Cayman. The snorkle spot was literally within 100 yards of the tender pier which meant boat traffic. First there was a 10-15 minute walk to the double decker boat. Second there was a 5-10 minute boat ride to the snorkle spot. The water/visability was great. The problem was boat traffic. The Captain of the snorkle boat would blow a whistle to let you know a boat was coming! I did complain to the excursion desk once we were back aboard Pearl. I haven't checked but I hope NCL dropped this excursion from their list of choices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisecritiquer Posted September 16, 2014 Author #10 Share Posted September 16, 2014 This is an easy one to answer. It was last December on Pearl and it was a snorkle excursion on Grand Cayman. The snorkle spot was literally within 100 yards of the tender pier which meant boat traffic. First there was a 10-15 minute walk to the double decker boat. Second there was a 5-10 minute boat ride to the snorkle spot. The water/visability was great. The problem was boat traffic. The Captain of the snorkle boat would blow a whistle to let you know a boat was coming! I did complain to the excursion desk once we were back aboard Pearl. I haven't checked but I hope NCL dropped this excursion from their list of choices. Uhhh. Wow. That sounds like no fun at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gra2172 Posted September 16, 2014 #11 Share Posted September 16, 2014 I know people frequently ask what are the best things to do at various places but I thought it might be helpful to have a list of the excursions we wish we had never embarked upon. Keep in mind that one person's misery is another person's day o' fun so no arguing please. Please name names and take numbers of any excursion that has you doing this everytime you reflect back on what happened. So please participate and list: 1. Ship/Date 2. Port 2. NCL title of excursion or 3rd party info. 3. What happened? Star, 2013 Baltic capitals, St Petersburg. Hermitage and Gold room. The girl at the desk led us (and 12 of the 14 other people on the tour) to believe that it was a palace retreat. It was the biggest museum Ive ever been in. We weren't allowed to leave or even go outside. One girl found a chair and fell asleep in it. The gold room is a room full of gold objects that were taken from other places around the world, with very few Russian items. Seriously, this was the longest and most boring tour ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruising Golfer Posted September 16, 2014 #12 Share Posted September 16, 2014 The web site, worst in the industry...:cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EyeSeaEwe Posted September 16, 2014 #13 Share Posted September 16, 2014 We have never had anything close to a bad experience on NCL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinclaj Posted September 16, 2014 #14 Share Posted September 16, 2014 Med. cruise, summer of 2011(I think) from Barcelona, on the Epic. My daughter and I took all ship excursions for the ports in Italy. We loved how knowledgeable the tour guides were, all the wonderful places we got to see and even the great lunches that were included. The only bad part was that many of the tour guests did not speak English, so that when the tour guide was speaking English on the bus, they loudly conversed among themselves, making it hard to hear what was being said. Also, they seemed to think that at a stop, they should rush from the back of the bus to get off first, so they blocked everyone in the front seats until they emptied out. I was really impressed with the tours provided by NCL, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coyboy1971 Posted September 17, 2014 #15 Share Posted September 17, 2014 The "ultimate beach break" on the Jade in Mykonos in June 2011 was a dud. Long coach ride, awkward hours, closed beach concessions (except for Nigerian peddlers selling fake Prada bags and fake Gucci sunglasses). Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbryan5 Posted September 17, 2014 #16 Share Posted September 17, 2014 After a few cruises, I kinda learned that you can do pretty much the same things that NCL excursions offer, on your own, and much cheaper! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare richstowe Posted September 17, 2014 #17 Share Posted September 17, 2014 So far my worst NCL experience is the fact that I haven't been on a Norwegian cruise YET !;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
armwinder Posted September 17, 2014 #18 Share Posted September 17, 2014 We have never had a "bad" excursion or cruise. Some are just a little better than others. Think positive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snow bunny Posted September 17, 2014 #19 Share Posted September 17, 2014 NCL Dawn this past New Years cruise. Bumpy bus ride to Altha Ha and the bus died! No air conditioning since the bus was not working, could not open windows and you could not go outside of the bus without being eaten alive by bugs! Top it off, a poor little one was so hot and exhausted that he started to scream! My "adult kids" were recovering from a great NYE!:D snow bunny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
latebloomer56 Posted September 17, 2014 #20 Share Posted September 17, 2014 We have never had anything close to a bad experience on NCL. DITTO Once we realized they just let you hang around on your own from 30 mins. to an hour before you leave we were OK with NCL tours. We were used to Princess which is very well run. Yes you are like cattle being herded to your buses, but at least you have some direction. We always do ship tours on all trips. I like these because I'm on vacation so just tell them where I want to see (from the tours available) and no extra planning or work for me :). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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