Private taxi tours for solo female?

I'm in the planning stages for my first cruise, which will be solo. I've been researching Caribbean ports (including Nassau, Tortola, Ocho Rios, Cozumel, etc.) to determine which cruise I want to book. One thing that has struck me is that the group tours (whether booked through ship or independently) don't include everything I want to do, or include stops I'm not interested in.

I've read where some people (always 2 or more people) hire a private taxi to drive them around for several hours, and then they can do exactly what they want to do. Is that a safe option for a solo female? Have any of you done that? I figure that instead of grabbing a random taxi driver at the port, I would pre-book before my cruise with a company that comes highly recommended here on CC and TripAdvisor.

Maybe narrow down which cruise goes to which ports you want then find a roll call for it. If it is a popular cruise there are probably several single people who would be willing to share a taxi with you.

Having made contact you could plan an itinerary.

May even be someone with a partner who doesnt do excursions who would jump at the chance to go with someone but who wouldnt go alone. In any case, if you want to go alone, there will be others on your cruise roll call that are planning taxis and could maybe recommend one. Keep your options open maybe you will meet a couple who want the same taxi itinerary as you. Unable to comment on how safe a random taxi would be for a lady on her own in these places.

Thanks for the reply:-).

I think sharing a tour is an option I should definitely look into. I would feel safer with another person or two. Although I would *probably* be fine on my own, it's one of those things where if things went bad, they could go horribly bad.:o

I'm a solo woman traveler -- have done quite a few tours on my own with a pre-arranged driver (taxi or private car) all over the world including Greece, Turkey, Spain, Israel, even Egypt. I always am sure to book with a company or person who has many endorsements. I always have a working cell phone with me and often (especially if I'm on a longish tour) I will make sure that someone onboard ship knows what my plans for the day were.

I have never had an issue with this approach. Not sure I'd be so comfortable just finding a driver at the port on my own. (Except for a short point-to-point taxi ride.)

I went with cruise line excursions on my first cruise last month, but on my next I'm looking at alternatives and for one of the ports I'm looking at possibly grabbing a taxi to get to a park. I'm feeling a little unsure about it as there seems to be some issues in that country around security so I'd definitely be happier if there was someone willing to go along with me for that stop. I'm probably feeling more unsure because the local language is Spanish and my second language is French.

I haven't cruised the Caribbean in many years, but when I cruise to Europe and there's a tour I want to take I've never had trouble finding people on my roll call to share it with. I looked into some tours for a cruise last year that had I chosen to do a taxi tour, I would have had to pay for two people (there was a stated two-person minimum). TBH, I'd do that if it were something I really wanted to do.

An active roll call is by far the best way I've found to get to see and do what I actually want to! It helps that I'm usually the one who does the research and plans the tour. :D

It's rare I've felt unsafe when I've traveled solo, but I do take safety precautions (like wearing a money belt, paying attention to what's going on around me, etc.).

Have fun on your cruise!

I travel and cruise solo , too. As others said before to pre book a car is my favourite option also. I make sure to keep my phone with me and have the ships phone number and the emergency number programmed in it. I also leave a copy of the confirmation of the hired Company at guest service in the morning with my cell phone number on it. That makes me feel safe ;)

Happy Cruising