Shore excursions for 6 port days?

Do people normally do shore excursions for every single day they are in port? I have a family of four if we did an excursion every port that we went into all six of them, it could cost me up to $2500[emoji16] what are some of the things that you experience cruisers do for your port days?

Thanks

First myth of cruising...you have do a ship's excursion in any port, not to mention you have to do a ship's excursion in every port.

Some ports can be visited simply by walking around. Some by public transit or taxis. Some by renting a car. Some by private tours. There is rarely one single option in any port. Your final decision takes some research. The cruise line is hoping you don't want to do the research. On Cruise Critic, research starts on the Ports boards. Roll Call boards are helpful, as is guide books.

So, no, you aren't required to even get off the ship in every port. We certainly don't.

A lot of people do an excursion in every port. However there are inexpensive things to do like take a cab to a beach

Figure out what you want to do in each port. If you just want to go to the beach, just grab a taxi, no need to do an excursion.

If there is nothing in the port that looks of interest, nothing wrong with staying on the ship.

Do people normally do shore excursions for every single day they are in port? I have a family of four if we did an excursion every port that we went into all six of them, it could cost me up to $2500[emoji16] what are some of the things that you experience cruisers do for your port days?

 

Thanks

We join our CC roll call and for some of the ports join an excursion someone is organizing, cheaper than ship's excursion.

However, since we are usually on tight budget, if ship docks/tenders near town we just walk around on our own.

Sometimes we accept a taxi sightseeing, agreeing on price beforehand.

Do people normally do shore excursions for every single day they are in port? I have a family of four if we did an excursion every port that we went into all six of them, it could cost me up to $2500[emoji16] what are some of the things that you experience cruisers do for your port days?

 

Thanks

For us, it depends on the port, and what excursions are available. It might be a beach day, or it might be something adventurous. I would suggest making a list of the things you think you'd like to see or do at each port. Then narrow down your choices based on what the majority wants to do, and what your budget will allow. Since you didn't mention what ports you'll be visiting, we can't offer any specific suggestions. If you go to the "Ports of Call" board on here, you can see what others have done at each port, and their recommendations. Another good source for visitors' comments and reviews is Trip Advisor.

Ty all for the advice! We will be visiting

San Juan / St Thomas / Tortola / Barbados / St Kitt / St Lucia

Anyone have any great ideas what to do in these ports? Me and the DW like more adventurous things while the two teenage girls like the water...

I'm trying to plan a budget and it's a wee bit overwhelming with all of these "extras" sailing on the ncl breakaway end of November... I already have purchased UBP and Sdp and soda package for the kids and Also prepaid the gratuities ..

You really need to quote your ports for us to give you any specific advice.

But I think you'll find that most contributors to Cruise Critic only use ship's excursions occasionally. And not only because of cost - DIY is more fun, more flexible, more adventurous.

Reasons for taking ship' excursion can include

- a long distance from the port with unreliable or non-existent alternative transport

- a tight time-frame, especially when for instance ship's coaches are given a police escort through the traffic.

- a group activity, such as river-tubing which can't always be done independently.

- a tour which can only be done on a ship's excursion because the cruise line has nailed down the only operator (eg the sugar train on St Kitts, or a partial Panama Canal transit by ferry-boat)

- unsafe areas. That's a pretty rare one, but there are a few places worth visiting, but only in the safety of an organised group.

Quote your ports, and we'll tell you no, it depends, yes, no, maybe, no.

JB :)

Read above post # 7 for ports of call

A guidebook is your best friend. It will show all there is to do in each place, and even suggest how to get there!

There is rarely a reason to PAY someone to show you a good time, especially in the Caribbean or other ports where English is the common language! A bit of research will save your family HUGE amounts of money!

 

San Juan / St Thomas / Tortola / Barbados / St Kitt / St Lucia

 

...

 

Quote your ports, and we'll tell you no, it depends, yes, no, maybe, no.

 

JB :)

San Juan - Sorry, don't know

St Thomas - Shops & beaches easy-peasy

Tortola - if you want to go to the Baths of Virgin Gorda (beach & rock formation on adjacent island) you have the choice of cheap local ferry or over-priced ship's excursion. The problem with taking the ferry is that there's no Plan B if the return ferry is cancelled due to mechanical or weather issues, whereas if you're on ship's excursion getting you back to the ship is the cruise line's responsibility. Do you feel lucky? Tortola to Barbados is a very long swim if you miss your sailing. This is one I'd chicken-out & take ship's excursion, others may disagree.

Or forget Virgin Gorda, & take a local shuttle-van from the pier to Cane Garden beach. IIRC $9 each-way.

Barbados - lots of options. Tours available at the pier. Taxis to the nearby West Coast beaches. Walk into town, about 20 minute. Rent a car or buggy (pre-book to avoid disappointment) & explore the interior and the wild east coast (no swimming there). Pre-book places on a catamaran to go snorkelling with turtles.

St Kitts - as my previous post, the Sugar Train is only available on ship's excursion. Expensive, at an average of about 10 mph it's hardly a thrill ride, scenery can be replicated by van. And only about a third of the tour is by train, the rest is by van. Those who've taken it reckon it worthwhile for the party atmosphere.

If you don't rate party-atmosphere worth that sort of money, you can take a van tour, circumnavigating the island. Lots of vans offering tours - don't take the cheapest (about $9), its very very limited. Take one at about $14 which covers most of the coastline, including alongside the rail line, with a couple or three stops and ending up at a beach (so take your beach gear)

St Lucia - take a van tour to the "drive-in volcano" at Soufriere. Quite a long tour, through Castries & up Morne Rouge, past Marigot Bay (Dr Doolittle), through the rain forest & past the famous Pitons to the "volcano" (in all honesty it's more an area of bubbling mud-pools with the horrible smell of rotten eggs - the kids will love it :D). On your way back mebbe cool off under a waterfall, or explore a fishing village. Cost I guess around $25 plus minor admission charges to volcano & waterfall. Or pre-book with Cosul (google Cosul St Lucia). Exceptional reputation, costing about twice as much but with inclusions & highly rated by those who've used him. If you want to do this trip one way by van & the other way by catamaran that's usually available as a fairly expensive ship's excursion (choose out by van, back by catamaran), I don't think it can be fixed up independently.

So no need to take a ship's excursion at any of those ports, unless you want to.

JB :)

Ty JB! Quite informative.. Much appreciated

As suggested above, check the Ports boards and a guide. You will find far more information there then you will here.

Do people normally do shore excursions for every single day they are in port? I have a family of four if we did an excursion every port that we went into all six of them, it could cost me up to $2500[emoji16] what are some of the things that you experience cruisers do for your port days?

 

Thanks

1) You don't have to do a shore excursion in every port.

2) If your kids like swimming they will find the pools a lot less crowded on port days while two thirds of the passengers are on land.

3) Six ports in a row can be tiring, this would be a good time to catch up on some rest.

4) Just walk around in the port area (which is free).

5) Go to the beach (the beach is free, the taxi is not that expensive).

6) Do some research and see if there are less expensive alternatives offered by vendors not paying a fee to the cruise line.

7) You can leave the kids in the kids club and take an adult shore excursion.

8) If there is more than one ship in port, you can wait until nobody is looking and shuffle the ships around and then watch as everyone tries to figure out where their ship is. :)

Ty all for the advice! We will be visiting

 

San Juan / St Thomas / Tortola / Barbados / St Kitt / St Lucia

 

Anyone have any great ideas what to do in these ports? Me and the DW like more adventurous things while the two teenage girls like the water...

San Juan -- go to the forts & walk around Old San Juan

St. Thomas -- take a cab to a beach

Tortola -- I love the excursion to the the baths

Barbados -- take a cab to a beach

St. Kitts - -the fort is awesome

St. Lucia -- spring for the excursion there is one I loved called land & sea to the Pitons; you go to a botanical garden, you go to an active volcano & you snorkel

Ty everyone for the great tips! Much appreciated

Before every cruise, the family planner (me) gets some guide books (public libraries have them, and you can always buy the latest edition at a bookstore if there's any near you or on Amazon, etc.). I go through and see if there's any place of interest for my family. Then the three of us go over the possibilities. If we've been there before (our last three cruises have been to the same port), we might decide to repeat something we like or add something new.

Most of the time we just go into the port and look on our own. If shopping, we usually ignore the stores with the big "cruiseship recommended" signs -- just means they paid a cruiseline or two to be mentioned on board in the port talks.

If you google each port, you'll find a ton of tourism sites that will have plenty of info. You can go on google maps and see how far the cruise dock is from the places you want to go to.

My hubby's rule is that we won't be renting cars, but others on CC will do so. Another rule for us is if we do book an excursion, it will be through the cruise line as we seem to have better luck with them. But others would rather book through independent operators.

No matter what you do, if getting off the ship, take along the ship's newsletter as it will have the time to be back on board. Check a reliable watch (even better, two of you have one) against the ship's time before you leave the ship.

San Juan: Haven't been there in decades, but I would be interested in the old part of the city, like the fort.

St. Thomas: skip the shopping, it's not worth it. Over-priced, over-crowded, aggressive salespeople. If you are determined to buy electronics or jewelry, price things you like before you leave home. Most of the big "bargains" in St. Thomas...aren't. Might be a good beach day, but the beaches on St. John's are better.

St. Lucia: the Pitons are beautiful, but the beaches at the Pitons aren't great. The drive-in volcano is pretty cool. If you or your family like batik, there is a Caribelle Batik there, but there is a nicer one on St. Kitts. There are apparently some fairly sketchy areas in the main town so be sure you know where you should and should not go.

St. Kitts: I loved the sugar train. The views are great and the rum drinks are fun. You can sit upstairs in an open air car and get great views. Brimstone Hill fortress is worth a visit, as are the Romney Gardens/Caribelle Batik. If you like glass, there is or was a great little shop, Glass Island Designz, on Independence Square. They were talking about moving to a location closer to the airport, though, so you'd need to check. Lovely jewelry, ornaments, plates, bowls...

There are some nice beaches there but there is so much else to do on this island that IMO a beach day there is a waste.

Tortola: really not much there, but the Baths on Virgin Gorda are nice. Might be worth a ship's excursion there.

Barbados: I rented a mini-moke and had a ball. Got hopelessly lost several times; be sure you have a good map because the road signs are kind of...sparse...and often involve a hand-written sign nailed to a palm tree. Barbados is beautiful and the locals I met were super-friendly; I had no problem driving around (single woman) so I think a family would be fine.

Ty all for the advice! We will be visiting

 

San Juan / St Thomas / Tortola / Barbados / St Kitt / St Lucia

 

Anyone have any great ideas what to do in these ports? Me and the DW like more adventurous things while the two teenage girls like the water...

San Juan - the ships dock right at Old Juan, walk around, go to the fort, if you bring a kite from home, fly it on the expansive lawn in front of the fort

St.Thomas - go to the beach - I am sure s.o will provide details

Barbados - we walked to town and back, beach option available

St.Kitts - funky litte town, very Caribbean, good on market day

St.Lucia - an excursion to the Pitons

These are not very adventurous but low cost options.

There is no norm! For example, DW and moi would never do an excursion/tour in any port of the Caribbean or Western Europe. Others would not get off the ship unless they were on an organized excursions in every port. Most folks tend to do a mix of excursions and some ports on their own. And then there is the issue of the cruise line excursions versus private excursions. For example, on the island of Bonaire most who enjoy snorkeling would call a private tour on the "Woodwind" the best tour on the island.

Hank

i am going to NZ for the first time and i know i could have probably done it cheaper at times etc by not doing via the boat but i decided i would specially where a tender was being used , if i had booked a dolphin cruise [way cheaper if i had] and could not get there by the time it left etc i would be out of pocket , so thought i would do it all by the boat , if i do another cruise to nz i will probably do it differently