NCL excursions vs on your own.

Hi everyone, looking for a snorkeling excursion from the Escape in April. I found a price for a boat called the fury, and it sounds just like what NCL has advertised, but it is $10 less. But there is another snorkeling excursion that looks really good on NCL's website, Powercat snorkle and beach. This looks really good as well, and is alittle longer, and the same price. The reviews (only 6) were good. Just wondering if anyone else has been on it, don't want to be packed like sardines, but really interested in it. Anyone??

Hi everyone, looking for a snorkeling excursion from the Escape in April. I found a price for a boat called the fury, and it sounds just like what NCL has advertised, but it is $10 less. But there is another snorkeling excursion that looks really good on NCL's website, Powercat snorkle and beach. This looks really good as well, and is alittle longer, and the same price. The reviews (only 6) were good. Just wondering if anyone else has been on it, don't want to be packed like sardines, but really interested in it. Anyone??

Did you read the reviews on the ncl site? They're pretty on point.

Hi everyone, looking for a snorkeling excursion from the Escape in April. I found a price for a boat called the fury, and it sounds just like what NCL has advertised, but it is $10 less. But there is another snorkeling excursion that looks really good on NCL's website, Powercat snorkle and beach. This looks really good as well, and is alittle longer, and the same price. The reviews (only 6) were good. Just wondering if anyone else has been on it, don't want to be packed like sardines, but really interested in it. Anyone??

I would figure on cattle. I try and do things on my own all the time. Just walking off I get asked to take a tour.

Remember, more people filling a boat more money. Also look at number of tours, less tours more people to take the ones available.

I never book ship excursions and always book independently. Typically I pay 30% to 50% less than ship prices and group sizes are usually much smaller. Haven't been unhappy yet.

We did the Fury on a previous cruise and enjoyed it.

On our cruise last month we did a private charter

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g147405-d3209311-r466333555-Caribbean_Blue_Boat_Charters_Day_Tours-Charlotte_Amalie_St_Thomas_U_S_Virgin_Isl.html#REVIEWS

Has anyone missed the ship leaving port by doing an outside excursion? That's what I am always afraid of...especially if the excursion takes us too far away from the ship.

what port are you looking at for doing Fury? I have used them in the past in multiple locations which is why i'm asking

I prefer ship ex, because the ship waited for our delayed snorkeling boat. Also, my sister and her husband went on a fishing sh. ex.,, when they were delayed, the ship waited for them.

Has anyone missed the ship leaving port by doing an outside excursion? That's what I am always afraid of...especially if the excursion takes us too far away from the ship.

Excursions that go far from the ship are generally very expensive if you go through the ship. These are the often the tours that you can save the most on by booking independently. But if you know that you will be worrying about missing the ship all day and unable to enjoy the tour, don't do it.

It happens, but very rarely. If anything, independent excursions tend to get you back to the ship too early, because they can't take as many chances as a ship-sponsored tour. They know that this is the #1 fear that people have when they book with them, so they can't afford to screw it up.

 

Excursions that go far from the ship are generally very expensive if you go through the ship. These are the often the tours that you can save the most on by booking independently. But if you know that you will be worrying about missing the ship all day and unable to enjoy the tour, don't do it.

We have cruised for 10 years and always book our own tours and have never had a problem getting back to the ship. Most of the tours have been great. And the ones that weren't have been good for laughs.

Has anyone missed the ship leaving port by doing an outside excursion? That's what I am always afraid of...especially if the excursion takes us too far away from the ship.

No, when this happens it's big news, since soooo many people book independent excursions. Not going to say it's never happened, but every post I've seen from someone who admitted they missed the ship was exploring on their own, not with an independent excursion.

in my experience even when the price is the same or near the same as the ships excursion, the quality of the independent excursion is much better. That happened on our last trip, we booked 2 independent excursions, both similar in price to the closest excursion the ship offered.

In Antigua we were on a powerboat instead of the ship's tour doing a catamaran. We circled the entire island with fantastic stops. Turned out to be one of the best tours I've ever done.

In st Martin we did an ATV excursion. We started with the ship's tour (all the tours use the same ATV rental, which provides the guides also). Starting out our group was 20+ ATVs deep, with many people who clearly didn't know how to ride them. So they were constantly stopping and starting for everyone to catch up. At the first stop we broke off to join a smaller group (5 ATVs) which was our group for the day. We circled the entire island. We went off road up to a fantastic overlook (there's no way that original group would have made that, it was truly off road and some of them slowed to a crawl when going over gravel). While the ship's tour just went up one side of the island and then back down.

The companies that provide these tours make their livelihood off getting you back on time. Not to say it couldn't happen, but you are looking at over a 99% chance of making it back on time whether you book a ship excursion or independent. Once you get into those tiny tiny probabilities, anything could happen. You could get injured, your bus could hit and kill someone (which would tie you up for hours), a disaster could knock out the only road to get you back to the ship.... nothing in life is guaranteed; but I wouldn't consider the slight possibility of missing the ship a reason to not take the tour I want to take.

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Has anyone missed the ship leaving port by doing an outside excursion? That's what I am always afraid of...especially if the excursion takes us too far away from the ship.

Ships have left passengers on ship tours before. Don't let them kid you otherwise. I have 1st hand knowledge of it. It was on a Big cruise line,probably the biggest (not NCL) Scuba excursion in Costa Maya. It was a Cenote dive 3 1/2 hours from port. Vehicle broke down near cenote and ship left them stranded.Took them almost 10 hours to get back. They had very little money, very little anything. Only thing that saved them was he remembered all his credit card info. The ship had 1 last stop in Cozumel before heading back to Miami and they could not make it back in time.

This is where I learned if you want to take legal action, you must use mediation. Its in the passenger ticket.

I never book ship excursions and always book independently. Typically I pay 30% to 50% less than ship prices and group sizes are usually much smaller. Haven't been unhappy yet.

I agree that private tours are almost always cheaper and better than the ship's excursions. Also, we cruise on Celebrity and compared to NCL, NCL's excursion prices are always higher than Celebrity's.

I have been able to save even more than 50% by going private.

However, there are a few occasions where I opt for the NCL excursions:

1) If I find that the port is a tender port that generally inefficient and slow. If you have an NCL excursion, you generally tender prior to others. Some tender ports can delay the non ship tour passengers by as much as two hours.

2) If the tour that I want involves extensive travel a considerable distance from the port and the possibility of being late is higher (don't want to miss the ship). Some private tours have a don't miss the ship guarantee, but it still happens and depending on the port, if the price of the NCL tour is about the same of slightly higher, it makes good sense to do the NCL.

This is especially true if the port is on a country different from the country that you plan to take the tour.

I use independent excursions about 90-95% of the time. As mentioned, they are normally less people and sometimes less expensive. You also have a lot more variety and ability to customize what you want to do. The ship normally only has a dozen or less options per port.

I've sailed with Fury both times I was in St Thomas (the sea turtle snorkel tour). Captain Mike and his crew are wonderful and informative and funny - I adore them!! :)

Personally i have done both;

If the i can get a 4 hour excursion in the morning time i will book independently, however if the excursion get back close tot the time that the ship leave i will sometimes book that through the ship.

I use shoreexcursions.com through Costco, they actually give you a guarantee in case you miss the ship.

Ships have left passengers on ship tours before. Don't let them kid you otherwise. I have 1st hand knowledge of it. It was on a Big cruise line,probably the biggest (not NCL) Scuba excursion in Costa Maya. It was a Cenote dive 3 1/2 hours from port. Vehicle broke down near cenote and ship left them stranded.Took them almost 10 hours to get back. They had very little money, very little anything. Only thing that saved them was he remembered all his credit card info. The ship had 1 last stop in Cozumel before heading back to Miami and they could not make it back in time.

This is where I learned if you want to take legal action, you must use mediation. Its in the passenger ticket.

Wow....that is unacceptable! Never knew they's leave without you on one of their own excursions. Not good.

I use ship excursion about 25% of the time when the port time is short. during one of my first cruises I used the ships excursion for a sting ray city trip because I was concerned that boat tours could break down and make you miss the ship. we were the last excursions back and were cheered on by the people on the balconies!

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There is seldom a reason to pay ship's prices to do anything in most ports. A guidebook will allow you to see how difficult any place or activity might be.....we almost NEVER do ANY excursion, whether thru the ship, or privately. We read up on our ports, and do our own thing, without fear of "missing the ship", or whatever leads folks to paying for a "guide". 99% of the time, things are quite easy on your own!...especially in the Caribbean!

Wow....that is unacceptable! Never knew they's leave without you on one of their own excursions. Not good.

It's not good, but they can't hold the whole ship for 10 hours; that would be unacceptable. There is this myth that the ship promises always to wait for all of its own excursions to get back, but you won't find that promise anywhere in the contract/terms. They may be able to wait a couple of hours for late arrivals, but beyond that, it just creates more problems and incurs more costs, and they have to make the decision to sail without those guests.

I have never heard of a ship leaving passengers behind when they were on a ship's excursion, until today. I would expect that the cruise line arranges for transport of those passengers to the ship. If not, I can see a lawsuit coming as well as a lot of bad publicity for the cruise line.

Missing the ship in some places would be a huge problem for a passenger. Imagine missing the ship in St. Petersburg, Russia, Shanghai, China, the Azores or Fiji.

We took a ship's excursion while in Le Harve, France that went some distance to the Normandy beaches, Bayeux and involved considerable driving. Traffic coming back to the port was terrible and we just made it at the so called drop dead time. We heard that some people on private tours didn't make it. Apparently, there was a bad traffic accident on the major road into the port.

I have never heard of a ship leaving passengers behind when they were on a ship's excursion, until today. I would expect that the cruise line arranges for transport of those passengers to the ship. If not, I can see a lawsuit coming as well as a lot of bad publicity for the cruise line.

 

Missing the ship in some places would be a huge problem for a passenger. Imagine missing the ship in St. Petersburg, Russia, Shanghai, China, the Azores or Fiji.

 

We took a ship's excursion while in Le Harve, France that went some distance to the Normandy beaches, Bayeux and involved considerable driving. Traffic coming back to the port was terrible and we just made it at the so called drop dead time. We heard that some people on private tours didn't make it. Apparently, there was a bad traffic accident on the major road into the port.

I don't have first hand knowledge but have heard of people on ships tours being left also. If it's simply an issue of bad traffic or a car break down it shouldn't be an issue (they should send a new car to pick you up). They can and will wait some amount of time for you. But if there's a major delay of several hours all they usually guarantee is that they will get you back to the ship at the next port. And some independent excursions offer this too. Yes, if something goes wrong on a ship's excursion they will know it and wait if they can, but believing you should do the ships excursion because you don't have a passport or have left kids on the ship and they won't leave without you is a myth.

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Hi everyone, looking for a snorkeling excursion from the Escape in April. I found a price for a boat called the fury, and it sounds just like what NCL has advertised, but it is $10 less. But there is another snorkeling excursion that looks really good on NCL's website, Powercat snorkle and beach. This looks really good as well, and is alittle longer, and the same price. The reviews (only 6) were good. Just wondering if anyone else has been on it, don't want to be packed like sardines, but really interested in it. Anyone??

As suggested, I did read the reviews, but like I said there were only 6 of them. I think I will go with the Fury, I know from experience you are moved along like cattle and usually on each other's laps with the ship excursions. The Fury seems to have gotten some good reviews. Thanks everyone!.

Following. We are sailing in two weeks on Gem . I tend to walk off the ship and find my own. Trying to do the homework. And ideas ? San Juan, St Thomas, St. Martin , Tortola. Thanks in advance

Andy

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Following. We are sailing in two weeks on Gem . I tend to walk off the ship and find my own. Trying to do the homework. And ideas ? San Juan, St Thomas, St. Martin , Tortola. Thanks in advance

Andy

 

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San Juan is a good port to just walk around. Can sightsee in the city center, visit the fortresses, eat lunch, shop, etc.

In Tortola we did the baths at virgin gorda on our own. If you go to the ports of call board there are several threads on how to do this. It requires a ferry and short taxi ride so up to you if you are comfortable doing that on your own.

Has anyone missed the ship leaving port by doing an outside excursion? That's what I am always afraid of...especially if the excursion takes us too far away from the ship.

Don't be afraid, be brave.

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