Excursions via Ship or Independently?

There has been difference of opinions on whether to book excursions via the ship or once you get off and utilize a number of tour operators at Port. The ship as we know makes a tremendous amount of profit with excursions. They scare or warn (if you prefer) to alert us that the ship will only wait if you are on one of their scheduled adventures. I have taken independent tours and even patronized a cab to take me around. I have also utilized ship arranged excursions. I have found that you can save at least half if you don't utilize the ships booking. One recent example is the Cape Kennedy tour. Without going into specifics at this writing. If interested, compare the price of the ship tour against going on your own. What a savings. I know all cruise lines do the same so I am not "picking on" Carnival. My inquiry is to solicit the opinion of other "cruisers" and I have recently booked a cruise with this line. Thanks in advance.

Carnival has a shore excursion price match policy. If you find the same excursion cheaper than Carnival they will match the price. Having said that I'm not sure how it works and if they have ton's of loop holes.

We used to always book independent and had many great trips. But as we have gotten older we have started switching to cruise line excursions. Mainly it is just less stressful. We never had a issue but there was always a higher stress level when making our own reservations, (finding and meeting the excursion, What if the ship doesn't make port how will I get my deposit back, getting back to the ship on time,)

Like i said we never had a problem, but with the ship excursion it is way more relaxing to us.

IMHO

now if the ship does not have what we want to do that's a different story.

PS

When i made my final payment this weekend for our conquest cruise a screen popped up offering 20% off carnival shore excursion if we booked multiple excursion. I have never seen this before.

I hope it is a new thing.

Private excursions are generally cheaper, better and less crowded.

Even if the cruise lines matches would rather do a tour in a van than in a 50 passenger bus.

Not all are savings of half as you have stated. Depends on where you are at and what you are doing. I always check to see what the ship offers, check the port of call boards to see who are recommended private tours and compare. Sometimes the difference is very nominal and if the excursion I want to do is far from the ship or tight in time schedule, I will choose the ship tour.

Example: In 2012 in Belize, I priced out going to Altun Ha Maya with private tour companies and could have saved $10 pp by going that route. Good thing we went through Carnival because that $10 insurance paid off when our tour was 1 1/2 hours late returning (45 minutes after sail time). A Carnival officer was on shore waiting for our bus to return. We hurried onto a ferry and got to the ship which waited for us and that would not had happened had we been on a private tour.

Bottom line is I do both, but don't hesitate to take the Ship excursion when my comfort level is sketchy with a private just to save a few bucks.

We have used both. Depends on the excursions and price to determine which we use.

Thanks for all of your input.

Depends on the situation. We have done both. We prefer to do private, utilizing trip advisor and the port of call boards here to find reputable vendors.

Last November, we took a ship excursion for snorkeling because we were with the in-laws, and the boat used for the excursion had the steps where one could walk right into the water - best for mobility issues for MIL. We booked privately for two other excursions on the same trip.

I always suggest to my virgin cruising friends that they use ship excursions exclusively on their first cruise, as I feel like there is a learning curve and a comfort level to be achieved by doing this.

There has been difference of opinions on whether to book excursions via the ship or once you get off and utilize a number of tour operators at Port. The ship as we know makes a tremendous amount of profit with excursions. They scare or warn (if you prefer) to alert us that the ship will only wait if you are on one of their scheduled adventures. I have taken independent tours and even patronized a cab to take me around. I have also utilized ship arranged excursions. I have found that you can save at least half if you don't utilize the ships booking. One recent example is the Cape Kennedy tour. Without going into specifics at this writing. If interested, compare the price of the ship tour against going on your own. What a savings. I know all cruise lines do the same so I am not "picking on" Carnival. My inquiry is to solicit the opinion of other "cruisers" and I have recently booked a cruise with this line. Thanks in advance.

Let me say that we have almost exclusively booked through the cruise line. If you are comfortable with a port and a location, it is probably OK to book with a private operator. But....

We just cruised on the Magic in March, and ran into a couple in Belize with two children who were getting on our tender. Upon talking to them, we learned they had been on the Sunshine, and were left in Belize the day before. They hired a local guy to take them on a tour and he got them back to the port 1-1/2 hrs late. The Sunshine had left them.... At least Carnival had their room steward pack a small suitcase for them, and contacted the Magic to let them onboard and get them back to Galveston. This couple lived in Florida, and was on their own to get back there from Texas. Also, Sunshine was to leave their belongings in Roatan for them to pick up the next day when Magic stopped, but we missed the port due to high winds, so not sure what happened there.

A hard lesson learned and they didn't have travel insurance either...as one of our tablemates said at dinner that night, "they no longer have a vacation, they have a story"!:D:D

I go Carnival if I am not comfortable with the port and independent if I find a great deal and it's somewhere I trust and know!

Carnival has a shore excursion price match policy. If you find the same excursion cheaper than Carnival they will match the price. Having said that I'm not sure how it works and if they have ton's of loop holes.

 

We used to always book independent and had many great trips. But as we have gotten older we have started switching to cruise line excursions. Mainly it is just less stressful. We never had a issue but there was always a higher stress level when making our own reservations, (finding and meeting the excursion, What if the ship doesn't make port how will I get my deposit back, getting back to the ship on time,)

Like i said we never had a problem, but with the ship excursion it is way more relaxing to us.

IMHO

now if the ship does not have what we want to do that's a different story.

PS

When i made my final payment this weekend for our conquest cruise a screen popped up offering 20% off carnival shore excursion if we booked multiple excursion. I have never seen this before.

I hope it is a new thing.

That is interesting. I just made my final payment for our Conquest cruise in July and I did not get that offer.

Sometimes the price to do independent tours is a huge savings over what Carnival offers. Sometimes, it's not. If price is comparable (I've seen it almost even on occasion), I'll usually go with Carnival's excursion. I know from experience that private excursions are usually better, but Carnival's excursions are much less stressful.

For my upcoming cruise on the Legend to Alaska I have some private and one booked with Carnival.

I booked the Tracy Arm Fjord Explorer with Carnival as that's the only way to book that tour.

In Skagway I booked privately to take a train to the Yukon and explore. Its a 7.5 hour tour that offers everything Carnival offers. The price was $45 cheaper per person. It also has the last train car which won't bs as full and I will be in a small group while in the shuttle bus. It will give more options to stop for photos that we wouldn't be able to do on a big 50 person bus. Were in port until 9:00 pm so missing the ship isn't a concern for me.

In Juneau I also booked privately. I set up a group with our roll call for a Whale Watching/Mendenhall Glacier/City combo tour that was originally $125 pp and Carnival charges $199.99 pp. We also got 10% off since there was 6 in our group. This company also guarantees they will get you make it back to the ship or they will pay to get you to the next port. Again it will be a small group and I'm not worried about the risk as they guarantee to get us to next port.

It all comes down to finding reputable companies and booking before the cruise.

When I booked privately in Belize the cab driver tried to rob my group and ditch us on a dirt road. Luckily were assertive people and stood up to him and didn't allow him to proceed with his attempt. This scared me from booking private while in port until just recently. Just be aware of where you are, your surroundings and conscious of the time and all should go well. Just be prepared if it doesn't, the guys at the port don't care about reputation where companies that boom online do.

Why risk it ? We've been on several cruises where people.were left behind. That just scares the bejeebies out of me!!! Carnival only tours for us, thank you. My secretary's son and new bride finished their honeymoon cruise by having to make other arrangements out of St. Thomas. That was a big fat hairy deal. Different tour provider got stuck in traffic due to a truck roll over, on the far side of the island. That would give me nightmares!!

I always check to see what the ship offers, check the port of call boards to see who are recommended private tours and compare.

I use both, reputation of the vendor and familiarity with the port. Many tour operators livelihood is dependant on cruise ship passengers. Missing the ship once would be all over the internet and possibly kill their business for years. Hence, they will get you to the ship on time. They know the area traffic and where pitfalls are likely to occur. There is no guarantee but far safer than say taking a cab

Many excursions will not book cruise passengers because of arrangements with the cruise line. So if there is something in particular you want to do, you have to go through the cruise line

Tom

We check out the tour company and also make sure the tour is scheduled to get back at least 90 minutes before sailing time.

Is there a risk we get left behind yes but it is very small.

We always book with the cruiseline. It is just peace of mind for us and I don't mind spending a little more (if at all) for that. When I am in a foreign country I want someone to know where I am :-)

I have found, for example in Cozumel. You can go snorkeling for 1/2 the price as CCL charges. They all snorkel in same general area.

Just walk past all the signs and you will see better deals. We have done it

I use both, reputation of the vendor and familiarity with the port. Many tour operators livelihood is dependant on cruise ship passengers. Missing the ship once would be all over the internet and possibly kill their business for years. Hence, they will get you to the ship on time. They know the area traffic and where pitfalls are likely to occur. There is no guarantee but far safer than say taking a cab

Many excursions will not book cruise passengers because of arrangements with the cruise line. So if there is something in particular you want to do, you have to go through the cruise line

 

Tom

I was going to say this. When we were in Nassau a couple years ago we wanted to book an excursion privately. I called the location to see if we could book a time and they told us that particular day had a few ships in port and we could only book through our cruise line. Snorkeling or something like that where the excursion is to an open area there may be more excursion companies to choose from, but if you are going to a specific location to swim with dolphins or a location that deals with very set times, you may need to go through the cruise line.

In Progreso, Playa del Carmen and Cozumel we have done all private excurtions except one through the ship. We will do private ones because there has never been a problem with them and they are cheaper.

I have always booked independent.