New cruiser!

Hi everyone I am planning on going on my first cruise in September [emoji3][emoji3] yay!! But I have some questions regarding excursions:

Our ports are

St.Thomas

Tortola

Nassau

Now the ship offers many excursions but for a very hefty price, so my question is has anyone done excursions without using the boats excursions? Are they easy to find at the ports? And are they more affordable than those offered on board?

Thank you!!

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You would enjoy going to the Ports of Call Board here on Cruise Critic and checking under each of your port stops where there's info on what others have done either independently or with the ship.

Also, be sure your Roll Call to see what others who are cruising with you have planned. :)

Great thank you!! Where would I find these on here? I'm fairly new and still learning all this

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Go to your library and get a guidebook..most things don't require an excursion at all..depends what you want to do! find out what is in each port...then decide HOW to do what interests you!

You can save a bundle if things you want to do, you do on your own!

By walking into port and booking tours on your own, you can save up to 50% as opposed to booking thru your tour desk on the ship. The one advantage to booking it thru the ship, if your tour gets delayed coming back to the ship (i.e.: bus breaks down), the ship will wait. If you book the tour on your own and you get delayed. You are "stuff" out of luck

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Great thank you!! Where would I find these on here? I'm fairly new and still learning all this

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Hi - welcome to Cruise Critic.

All these boards can be found on the Cruise Critic Boards page.

Caribbean Ports of Call boards:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587

Bahamas Port of Call board:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=58

Roll Call for your cruise:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=49775261#post49775261

Here is the Miami forum also:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=495

And the Family Cruises board:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49

You can definitely save money by booking independent excursions - just be careful and do your homework. Look for recommendations on the Port of Call boards and on Trip Advisor. Check the Roll Call for your cruise to see if any independent tours have been set up.

It looks like you are scheduled to dock at Havensight in St. Thomas. You can walk to the Paradise Point Skyride - the tram goes up the mountain and there is a spectacular view at the top.

At all the ports there will undoubtedly be people at the end of the pier offering you "the best tour of the island" - not always the best way to go. If you set up an independent tour, make certain any payment is refundable if the ship is unable to stop in that port (it does happen). Be aware that if your independent tour is delayed, the ship will not wait for you. Allow yourself plenty of time for any activity.

We took an "end of the pier" tour in St. Lucia and it was one of the most stressful days I've ever had as we were so very late in getting back to the dock. (There were also very few opportunities to get beverages/snacks or visit restrooms on this independent tour - not a good situation for a 4 hour tour.)

Best of luck researching your options and have a wonderful cruise.

I also visit other travel sites to read up about the ports including http://www.frommers.com

Keith

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

Definitely join your Roll Call and see what excursions others are doing. Private excursions can only be talked about there. Roll Call at this link:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2155141

You will find lots of vendors on the pier that you can arrange tours once you get off the ship.

In St. Thomas, we usually just take a local bus or van to Megan's Bay. Less than $10 per person.

A few years ago my Wife set up a Cruise to Alaska and then invited her brother and sister to come along with their husband and wife.

One Brother-in-law told the other Brother-in-law that the ship tours were too expensive, he knew a better way to go on tours and save a bag full of money.

He explained that at port there will be "lots" of vendors waiting to offer tours to ship passengers. What they would do was wait a little while and then contact one of the vendors. His idea was that the vendors would then sell them a tour at a cheaper price just to fill up the tour.

So, they walked into town, looked around for a little while, and then headed back to the pier.

They found that all of the vendors had closed up shop and gone home.:eek:

At dinner I asked about their day. They just mumbled a lot.

Moral of this story, don't wait until the last minute.

Bob

Go to your library and get a guidebook..most things don't require an excursion at all..depends what you want to do! find out what is in each port...then decide HOW to do what interests you!

 

You can save a bundle if things you want to do, you do on your own!

...or if you live in the 21st century and have access to a computer, look up your ports of call and what is available at each one. :D;)

We've always booked our own excursions and tours separately from the cruise line. I've been able to visit the same places and do the same activities for less money and usually in a much smaller, more personal tour. As other have recommended, use the port of call boards and your roll call on this sight, along with Google. The port of call boards here have given us some of the best excursions and typically a fraction of the cost.

...or if you live in the 21st century and have access to a computer, look up your ports of call and what is available at each one. :D;)

...I tell CB that all the time when this all to frequent post is made. Problem is they never come back to a thread twice to see the comments made about their equally all to frequent misleading and erroneous posts. :rolleyes:

Just too interested in increasing their post count I guess....;)

I go to my public library and check out a couple of guidebooks for wherever we're going, then take notes on possible things to go or see. If I find a book particularly useful (especially with good maps), I might try to buy the latest edition. I also will google each port and usually there's many tourism sites for each one.

Then I'll tell my hubby (and our daughter) what I've found. Sometimes we'll just go to a beach, sometimes come up with a list of places to sightsee. Sometimes we might actually book a ship's tour. Hubby's major rule is no renting of cars while on a cruise (he wants to relax in port and leave any driving to others...plus, there's the time involved with getting to the rental agency and then returning the car later on).

The one time we did buy a tour at the pier, my hubby found it disappointing and declared right then, no more with getting an excursion that way.

Enjoy.

Also Google each port.