Independant Shore Excursions caution

On a recent Mediterranean cruise we joined an excursion organized through the roll call. The other members made no mention that they had a special interest variation to the itinerary prior to us joining. As it turned out this consumed an hour of our time in the location that was of no interest to us and we had to wait for them with nothing to do as there were no alternatives nearby and they indicated they would only be a few minutes. This is probably a rare occurrence but raises the question should people divulge such intentions when arranging excursions on Roll Calls? Has anyone else had this experience? :confused:

It seems to me that the organizer of the tour should outline exactly what they have discussed with the tour operator to the roll call members and allow them to decide if that's something that they want to do. I have organized several independent tours and I'm very careful to divulge every detail, up to and including copying them on the emails. The last thing I want, as the organizer of the tour, is to have unhappy participants!

I don't blame you for being unhappy with the situation!

I know this thread is about saving money on a cruise but saving money to do an independent shore excursion (in my opinion) isn't worth it. Things like your experience occur and when the excursion isn't through the cruise line, they really have no responsibility to get you back on time. I will save $ in other ways to cruise but will always book excursions through the cruiseline.

I agree with Jan

Everything about the tour should be spelled out upfront ..small deviations should be discussed with everyone on the tour BEFORE the change is made

I have done many private tours & only once had a problem ...one person tried to add in a shopping stop

I overheard the conversation with her & the guide & put a stop to it at that point

I had arranged the tour & people signed up based on what was on the tour & shopping was not involved ;)

I would be upset as well a 5-10 min stop is one thing but 1 hr

I know this thread is about saving money on a cruise but saving money to do an independent shore excursion (in my opinion) isn't worth it. Things like your experience occur and when the excursion isn't through the cruise line, they really have no responsibility to get you back on time. I will save $ in other ways to cruise but will always book excursions through the cruiseline.

Everyone needs to keep to their own comfort level, but I can assure you, you're missing out on a great experience! Have you noticed on ship's tours there's always that one person that thinks the rules and times don't apply to them? That doesn't happen in a small group. We become a group of friends and agree to make the most of our experience. I should point out that it takes much less time to get 6-8 people loaded and moved from place to place than it does 30 something! Which is one of the reasons we have come and gone from an attraction before the buses get there.

Of course, you do take the risk of being left if you aren't aware of the time. We usually go to the most distant or most important site first and work our way back, with the closest things last. If you use a guide that is well reviewed and respected on the ports of call threads and TripAdvisor, it is unlikely that they will get you back late. Their business would be over with that review on either site! We also request being back on the ship an hour before requested boarding time.

We've done some truly amazing private tours, seeing twice as much and paying half of the ship's tours. AND no obligatory shopping stops! :)

This can happen when you tour with others.

Good post so others realize this.

Keith

Thank you all for your responses, as I indicated this is probably a rare occurrence but can be quite negative when it happens. We have done excursions through the Cruise lines and independently and all the points made are valid. The Cruise Lines do play on the fear of being left behind to push their product but if you deal with reputably off ship operators this is unlikely.

My hope in this posting is that the message filter out that if organizers of these excursions have a special interest that impacts on the stated itinerary

they should divulge it in their postings. Further that potential members of groups ask if there are any changes to the state itinerary. Our experience is that besides this situation, independent tours other than potentially saving money are better experiences than the product offered by the cruise lines.

Again many thanks and hopefully the word will spread that this practice is not OK.

In all fairness, I've had the same experience with a ship's excursion. They schedule shopping stops in places that don't interest me in the least, and I've been forced to waste limited shore time there. That, not the cost, was the main thing that made me decide never to take a ship's excursion again.

Anytime you book an excursion, it's your responsibility to know what's going to happen on that trip. It didn't take me long to learn that lesson!

Our experience is that besides this situation, independent tours other than potentially saving money are better experiences than the product offered by the cruise lines.

Yep, that's been my experience too.

In all fairness, I've had the same experience with a ship's excursion. They schedule shopping stops in places that don't interest me in the least, and I've been forced to waste limited shore time there. That, not the cost, was the main thing that made me decide never to take a ship's excursion again.

 

Anytime you book an excursion, it's your responsibility to know what's going to happen on that trip. It didn't take me long to learn that lesson!

I also agree with MrsPete. One of the reasons we avoid ship's excursions is the amount of time that is wasted shopping or waiting for people who come back late. That plus the time it takes to unload and load 40+ people and you see a lot more on a private tour.

Another of our pet peeves is the excursions where you are forced to waste an hour at a group dining venue. Often it is cafeteria type food. If I am going to eat off the ship, I prefer a more authentic regional experience.

We did 12 days around Europe this summer, and organized all our tours through a website that a CC member started.

Our group of 6 shared vans for 8 in both Rome and Marsailles, France with different couples, and then split up to join two different groups in Pisa/Florence, and then sold the 6 extra seats in our hired van in London at the end.

In Rome, we all went to the Coliseum, then dropped half the group at the Vatican while the rest went to the Trevai fountain, and picked them up again on the loop. In France, we had a loose itineiry, and made it up along the way -- our guide was fantastic -- olive grove, farmers market, candy making shop, then a picnic of all our goodies at a castle ruin on the top of a mountain. A couple of churches, Picasso's home, and, oh, I can't remember what else.

We saved a ton of money, enjoyed every minute, and never had to wait for 35 old ladies to browse the gift shop.

BUT we agreed to be flexible when we signed up together... and to be back to the meeting point/car on time. (Last one to the car at each stop had to put 5 euro in the kitty that was the drivers' tip at the end of the day!)

So -- decide first which are 'must see' stops, and give each person the chance to pick one.

I know I'm going ever so slightly off-topic based on the discussion thread, but I worry about the safety of going on a tour that is not organized by the cruise line. Not sure if anyone recalls, but in 2006 there was a cruise that stopped in Chile. A group of people from the cruise (about 15 total) went on a tour that they put together on their own. On that tour, the van carrying the entire group went down the side of a cliff. Two of the people on that van were friends of mine who had been looking forward to that cruise for over a year. I saw them just before they left and was in shock after what happened. It turned out that the tour operator was not licensed or insured in any way, it was questionable as to whether the driver had a legal driver's license, the van was uninsured, the list goes on. I'm not trying to be a downer, but PLEASE be very careful in considering whether or not it's worth it to save a few dollars by going with a tour that you really have no background on....

Here's a link to an article about the incident:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/2006/03/23/chilean-tour-bus-crash-kills-12-americans/

This can happen when you tour with others.

 

Good post so others realize this.

 

Keith

Agree with Keith on this. Yes, it can and does happen sometimes.

LuLu

~~~~

BUT we agreed to be flexible when we signed up together... and to be back to the meeting point/car on time. (Last one to the car at each stop had to put 5 euro in the kitty that was the drivers' tip at the end of the day!)

I really like this!

Everyone needs to keep to their own comfort level, but I can assure you, you're missing out on a great experience! Have you noticed on ship's tours there's always that one person that thinks the rules and times don't apply to them? That doesn't happen in a small group. We become a group of friends and agree to make the most of our experience. I should point out that it takes much less time to get 6-8 people loaded and moved from place to place than it does 30 something! Which is one of the reasons we have come and gone from an attraction before the buses get there.

 

Of course, you do take the risk of being left if you aren't aware of the time. We usually go to the most distant or most important site first and work our way back, with the closest things last. If you use a guide that is well reviewed and respected on the ports of call threads and TripAdvisor, it is unlikely that they will get you back late. Their business would be over with that review on either site! We also request being back on the ship an hour before requested boarding time.

 

We've done some truly amazing private tours, seeing twice as much and paying half of the ship's tours. AND no obligatory shopping stops! :)

Hmmm..nope. Still not worth it to me. But like you say, everyone has their own comfort level.

I never have and never will book a excursion through a cruise line. They are twice the price and and are by far more crowded and never see as much as my group does. With the information on sites such as this and a Trip Advisor there is zero reason why someone should be worried about independent tour operators. If you do just a tad of research you will find out how ridiculous some of your fears are. Although I do enjoy seeing the cruise tours herded like cattle from one place to the next while I am free to enjoy my time how I see fit.

I booked a tour in Jamaica and the driver had a bottle of whisky that he drank the entire time. We asked him to take us to where he ate, (not where all the tourists went) and asked him to drive us to 3 different destinations we had planned and:cool: We had a ball! They were a riot. It was the best tour I ever done.

I never have and never will book a excursion through a cruise line. They are twice the price and and are by far more crowded and never see as much as my group does. With the information on sites such as this and a Trip Advisor there is zero reason why someone should be worried about independent tour operators. If you do just a tad of research you will find out how ridiculous some of your fears are. Although I do enjoy seeing the cruise tours herded like cattle from one place to the next while I am free to enjoy my time how I see fit.

EXCEPT for the time when the Cruise Line PRE-Purchases ALL of the available seats, on selected transportation (ferry, bus, train, etc.) and then one is almost forced to select the Cruise Ship's tour. That's the position I'm in for a 7-4-14 HAL Alaska Cruise, which I wanted to book my own Fast Ferry tix from Haines to Skagway, RT. But HAL (and possibly other lines) have already pre-purchased ALL the tix.

I guess I should CALL Fast Ferry, see if they would sell two more, even though the web shows SO

We all know that the cruise lines own the shopping areas immediately next to the pier in many ports. They carefully control access to these areas, and keep private vendors back 'behind the line'. (It probably does make the area safer.)

In some ports, Carnival (and likely other lines) have partnered with local businesses to control access and pricing. One example was zip-lining -- we decided to find a vendor on the pier, rather than take the cruise line trip, hoping to save some money.

Out on the pier, we were told that we couldn't buy individual tours. Only the cruise ship tours had access to the venue. They had, essentially, bought out the facility for the day, and no other guests were allowed. The Carnival coordinator out on the pier accepted our S&S card, signed us up, and loaded us on the next bus.

Our first cruise was on Celebrity back in 2000. Being new at it, we booked all the excursions through the cruise line. We thoroughly enjoyed all the excursions and though they were well worth the price. In March of 2013 we flew directly to St Marten and stayed at a condo for a week with no plans and just a rental car. The downside was we did spend some time getting to know the island. The upside is we experienced the real St Marten. Visited many places a cruise day could not accommodate and obviously saw more of the island.

This past December we did a western Caribbean cruise on Norwegian. Figuring that we are now "seasoned" travelers, we thought that we don't need the planned excursions - we can do it on our own. ;)

First day is Jamaica. Got off the ship, flagged a taxi straight to the beach and had a great day. All totaled it probably cost about the same or maybe $10 more than the excursion. However we chose the beach and dining options. We also spent at least an hour or two more on the beach.

Day two - Grand Cayman. Tried to repeat the Jamaica plan. This time it was a total failure. :( All the taxis were tour vans so individual trips were shared with others. not a big problem though. They took us to the 7 mile beach before the excursions even left and we looked for a great spot. Upon asking for a chair, we quickly found out all the good spots were reserved for the cruise lines and there were ~6 ships in port. We finally found a spot. No umbrellas, but he could set us up under shady trees. This sounded even better. However the trees were full of trash. Bottles, cans and discarded food items. Well nothings perfect so we went swimming. Hardly a place to stand due to all the rocks. We were not having fun. :(

We went back to where the taxi driver said that taxis would be coming and going all day, and waited for about 20 minutes. Finally one showed up but was heading back to the ships. So we thought we would start over. Well after an hour of trying to find something to do, we started arguing and blaming each other as a married couple of 23 years tend to do. We about gave up and decided to get back on the ship. However across the street was a Margaritaville. ;) Hot and irritable we went in to get out of the sun. The first thing I saw was a towel with "A bad day on vacation is still better than a good day at work" written on it. My wife and I changed moods and sat down at the swim up bar and had a few margaritas. We left definitely in a better frame of mine than when we came in and went back to the boat. :D Grand Cayman looked like a beautiful island, unfortunately we did not see the best side. Spent probably double what a excursion would have been.

The third day was a Norwegian excursion from Cozumel to Tulum ruins. The ferry took us to busses. The busses stoped at a shopping area and the prices were reasonable. Then on to the ruins. The tour was moving slow so we broke away explored on our own, and went swimming. We had a great time. Then back to the ferry to the ship. A small front blew in and the seas were very rough (20' waves) This slowed down the ferry considerably and they were handing out the barf bags. We got back to the ship well over an hour late and were glad the ship waited for us. Had this not been one of the ships excursions, they might have left with out us due to the unexpected high waves.

So we will probably be leaning more to the ships excursions than planning our own trips on the next cruise. However we have another 9 day trip to St Marten coming up this April. At least this time we know the island better. :D

I am another fan of the non-cruise tours. I am also one of the ones that tends to be the 'organizer' of tours for whatever sailing that I am on. However, when I do look into those tours, I take past CCers input as well as TripAdvisor reviews into account...I am not booking with some no-name just to save a few dollars. I want a great experience for a small group - no gaggle of 35 to 50 behind someone holding a flag/umbrella/scarf/etc.

This has worked out fabulous and on the two Med cruises, in particular, most of us ended up touring together multiple times which really added to the family feel of the tours. It also limited anyone pulling any type of trick like the OP was witness to. The only time we had any discussion about side trips was when we were in the Cinque Terre from Livorno and wanted to do a quick side trip to Pisa enroute back to the port...we took a poll and majority won.

Obviously people have different levels of comfort but those that think people book non-ship excursions solely because of the cost savings are sadly mistaken....the experience I get on my smaller tours is infinitely preferable and (to be honest) worth the price of the cruise-ship excursions.

Everyone needs to keep to their own comfort level, but I can assure you, you're missing out on a great experience! Have you noticed on ship's tours there's always that one person that thinks the rules and times don't apply to them? That doesn't happen in a small group.

..... never will book a excursion through a cruise line. They are twice the price and and are by far more crowded and never see as much as my group does. With the information on sites such as this and a Trip Advisor there is zero reason why someone should be worried about independent tour operators. If you do just a tad of research you will find out how ridiculous some of your fears are. Although I do enjoy seeing the cruise tours herded like cattle from one place to the next while I am free to enjoy my time how I see fit.

I agree with the above. You pay more for the cruise excursions and there is too much "hurry up and wait!"

I know I'm going ever so slightly off-topic based on the discussion thread, but I worry about the safety of going on a tour that is not organized by the cruise line. Not sure if anyone recalls, but in 2006 there was a cruise that stopped in Chile. A group of people from the cruise (about 15 total) went on a tour that they put together on their own. On that tour, the van carrying the entire group went down the side of a cliff. Two of the people on that van were friends of mine who had been looking forward to that cruise for over a year. I saw them just before they left and was in shock after what happened. It turned out that the tour operator was not licensed or insured in any way, it was questionable as to whether the driver had a legal driver's license, the van was uninsured, the list goes on. I'm not trying to be a downer, but PLEASE be very careful in considering whether or not it's worth it to save a few dollars by going with a tour that you really have no background on....

 

Here's a link to an article about the incident:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/2006/03/23/chilean-tour-bus-crash-kills-12-americans/

Incidents also occur on ship-sponsored tours. I have read of several over the past few years here on Cruise Critic, including this one (on a Celebrity tour):

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2013/0415/Cruise-tourists-robbed-by-bandits-in-St.-Lucia

Similarly, a group of Carnival passengers were robbed at gunpoint on a ship tour in Mexico (can't find a link right now).

I completely agree with the original poster that anyone who is arranging a private tour should be completely transparent in providing ALL the details, whether that includes extra stops, meals, what sites will require you to purchase a ticket, etc.

I've arranged a few private tours and I always try to be really clear about what's included and so on. I also generally make it known if the tour will have a lot of walking and also (my pet peeve) that there will be NO shopping stops.

I know this thread is about saving money on a cruise but saving money to do an independent shore excursion (in my opinion) isn't worth it. Things like your experience occur and when the excursion isn't through the cruise line, they really have no responsibility to get you back on time. I will save $ in other ways to cruise but will always book excursions through the cruiseline.

I don't take private tours to save money necessarily. I take them to see more, or to see what I want to see (which is not always where the cruise line wants to take me), and to have a better experience. Sometimes I have paid for an entire private tour for one person, just because it was not possible to do what I wanted to do in any other way. (In Europe, it is also possible to do many ports via using public transportation and just getting around on your own, which I also highly recommend.)

While private tours may have no "responsibility" to get you back to the ship on time, they DO have a huge incentive -- private agencies absolutely depend on recommendations on sites like this one or by word of mouth. If an agency caused someone to miss the ship, it would be all over the internet and their business would be down the tubes in no time.