Shore excursions question

What's the most unusual shore excursion you've ever taken? Share the details with us! (Cruise line, port of call, tell us a bit about the tour).

Carolyn

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor in Chief

Cruise Critic

Two come to mind. One was in St. Kitts when we were on Celebrity Millennium. We thought we had booked with a well reviewed guide only to find his cousin waiting for us. Instead of an air-conditioned van, his car had a cracked windshield, you could see the ground through the floor, there were no seat belts, and no windows. Other guides apparently knew this man as they were smiling and waving to him. After a fast debate over the wisdom of taking this tour, we climbed in to see the island. The guide took us past his house, showed us his two dogs, the public showers, and the cemetery. We did stop by one spot on the original tour listing, but then went on to more unique highlights. Our guide drove out onto a black sand beach, where we promptly became stuck in the sand. We went into a sugarcane field (no road there!) where he stopped the car so we could hear the wind and nature sounds. Then we learned the lunch we were supposed to have wasn't served on Sundays. Sorry, no food. The guide really wanted us to see the island from a high vantage point. There were barriers marking the road he wanted to take as closed due to falling rocks. He drove around the barrier, around boulders, and up a very steep winding road. The view was breathtaking. The car had to back down the hill to reach a turn around. At that point we decided we had had enough adventure for one day and requested to return to the ship. The tour was a little hair raising and not what we expected but we had a great time.

The other tour was at Alexandria, Egypt. We were on the first cruise back to Egypt on the Pacific Princess after the first uprising. Since we had been to see the pyramids on a previous cruise we opted for something different. We hired a guide and driver from Ramses to show us around Alexandria. They brought a female guide in training with us. There was a set list of things we wanted to see but that quickly changed with their recommendations. The guides took us down into the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa. The way down the steps was by the light of our guide's cell phone. The blending of Roman, Greek, and Egyptian cultures was fascinating. Note: Underground should have been cool, but it was very hot. We visited several other archeological sites and a market. We ate freshly caught fish for lunch along with several dips and breads. Everything we saw was so interesting, but the high point was a visit to a mosque for evening prayers. I was taken through the women's entrance with my female guide. She quietly explained what was happening and what I should do so not to disturb others in prayer. It was an experience I'm unlikely to ever have again and was so grateful to have had the chance. It was the second time we used guides from Ramses and can give them a very high recommendation.

Assuming you are looking for ship-sponsored tours:

Latakia, Syria: Overnight trip to Palmyra to visit the fantastic ruins in the middle of the desert. A truly unforgettable experience, not least because it is now impossible to repeat. (Voyages to Antiquity).

Honorable mention: Evening private opening and performance at Catherine's Palace in St. Petersburg, followed by dinner (Princess).

Another Honorable mention: Private evening opening of St. Marks in Venice (people rarely get to see the mosaics with the lights on) and the grotto beneath. (Voyages to Antiquity).

I don't suppose getting off the ship in an ambulance and spending time in a Caribbean Island hospital quite counts as a shore excursion.

But honestly, apart from DH almost dying, it was an amazing experience, and makes us both feel like we've "lived" in St. Maarten even though it was only 3 days.

What do people expect from an excursion? Excitement? Well the ride through the narrow streets with the siren going was exciting. I think our drivers had watched the Jamaican Olympic bob sled team as their training video.

The rush through the hospital hallways on the gurney with the doctor pushing because he didn't want to wait for an order - very exciting. Doctors are not the best gurney drivers?

Learning local culture - trust me we both know more about local culture than anyone would after even a cultural tour.

Meeting locals? I met many people who helped me while DH was in the hospital, and DH met his ward-mates, nurses, doctors (and of course the billing people).

My point in bringing this up is that a big part of an excursion is what you bring too it, and how you remember it.

Our best traditional tour was a sea plane trip out of Ketchikan to the Misty Fjords area.

I've flown in smaller planes so that wasn't scary for me. But at one point we were flying in thick cloud cover. OK, I'm sure the pilot is rated to fly by instruments. No biggie... until OMG, the clouds parted and we were flying right into a mountain side... well except there was a small cut between two mountains and we slide right through there. That was exciting.

I didn't take a picture when we were in the thick cloud cover, but you can picture that - it's grey on grey. And I didn't get a picture of us flying straight into the mountain side because I was grabbing DH's, not my camera. But this is when the mountain is just beginning to peek through the clouds.

But that was nothing compared with the thrill, which I don't have the writing chops to describe, of getting out of the plane and standing on the pontoon on some unknown lake in heaven knows where in the total silence. It was incredible

Still makes my heart go pitter patter

Our most unusual was also one of our first. Back in 1981, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, while "Baby Doc" was still president - we signed up for a ship sponsored tour to a rum factory near the top of the mountain overlooking the port - 19 flavors of rum! Transportation was to be by private taxi. I won't give all the details, some of which were life-threatening, but only give some of the highlights (lowlights?). For new cruisers....this could not happen today with a ship sponsored tour!

We watched from an open deck as the "taxis" lined up on the dock. The "taxis" were apparently any auto that was operational on the island, all converging on the port in order to pick up their 'guests' for the day and obtain a much-prized $5 gas voucher. There was such a crowd that armed guards were beating some of the drivers with clubs trying to keep order. You'd think we would have quickly decided to remain on the ship, but we were young and foolish at that point of our lives!

We got in our "taxi" and the driver said that the first stop was to get gas. Unfortunately, every other driver on the dock had the same idea, and there were only 1 or 2 gas stations near the pier, so we had real life "Bumper Cars" trying to fight other taxis for access to the gas station.

We'll skip the stop at the living history display (spit upon by one of the participants when we took a picture and didn't tip enough) and the hat lost in the gutter filled with human waste and move on to our trip up the mountain. We soon began smelling smoke in our taxi (which by the way had no windows); driver pulls over and apparently the string holding the muffler on had caught on fire. That was the bad news, the good news was that our driver called a new taxi to pick us up and it was a Mercedes! Then more bad news, the Mercedes only went in reverse, so we backed all the way up the mountain.

We made it to the top, sampled all 19 flavors of rum, were chased around the parking lot by a man with a dead chicken who thought we would want our picture taken with it, and now headed back down the mountain - backwards.

When we got back to the point where our original taxi was waiting, we were told to get back in it for return to the ship. Our driver wanted us to stop and shop (his cousin's shop) but we insisted on going directly back to the ship. He insisted that he had to make one stop to "Check In" and left us in the car. That's when things got really ugly and I won't go into more detail. We eventually did make it back to the ship and literally kissed the deck when we boarded.

Strangely enough, at that time it never occurred to us to ask the cruise line to reimburse the cost of our tour.

The Bob Marley bus tour on the Carnival Freedom from Ochos Rios into the interior of Jamaica.

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First, you see a part of Jamaica not usually seen by tourists. The winding roads uphill and downhill are extremely narrow. The bus driver would hit his horn every time he entered a curve since they are all blind.

When you first get off the bus at the Bob Marley site, you are told that a certain product is illegal in Jamaica, but you can buy it over by the wall.

The tour visits Marley's original home before he moved to Kingston. His gravesite is also there.

And of course, there is a lot of fantastic music.

1978 Dominican Republic. We were on the island when the army decided it was time for a revolution.

We recently featured 5 Unusual Things To Do In The Dominican Republic, so we thought it would be fitting to share the feature with our fellow cruisers, based on the aforementioned great question.

5 UNUSUAL THINGS TO DO IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

http://wp.me/p5zQ06-Mj

The Bob Marley bus tour on the Carnival Freedom from Ochos Rios into the interior of Jamaica.

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First, you see a part of Jamaica not usually seen by tourists. The winding roads uphill and downhill are extremely narrow. The bus driver would hit his horn every time he entered a curve since they are all blind.

 

When you first get off the bus at the Bob Marley site, you are told that a certain product is illegal in Jamaica, but you can buy it over by the wall.

 

The tour visits Marley's original home before he moved to Kingston. His gravesite is also there.

 

And of course, there is a lot of fantastic music.

... I'll bet had any of your group decided to purchase any of that leafy green product, which is illegal in Jamaica, but you can buy..., the salesman would probably notify the local police of said purchase, and they would have met the buyer back at the ship.

Our best wasn't a ship's excursion, but it was while in Hawaii...the tour guides showed all all the interesting stuff, then took us to her mom's house...where we picked fruit from her trees! It was too cool...very friendly folks!!!

During our stop in Tahiti last year, several excursions were being sold on the dock. I booked an island tour. About 15 minutes into the tour, we were pulled over for speeding :eek: There were 7 of us in the van. The guide/driver talked the officer for a few minutes. The officer looked at each of us then let him off with a warning.

Don

... I'll bet had any of your group decided to purchase any of that leafy green product, which is illegal in Jamaica, but you can buy..., the salesman would probably notify the local police of said purchase, and they would have met the buyer back at the ship.

You would lose your bet; that did not happen.

Assuming you are looking for ship-sponsored tours:

 

Latakia, Syria: Overnight trip to Palmyra to visit the fantastic ruins in the middle of the desert. A truly unforgettable experience, not least because it is now impossible to repeat. (Voyages to Antiquity).

 

 

 

 

Honorable mention: Evening private opening and performance at Catherine's Palace in St. Petersburg, followed by dinner (Princess).

 

Another Honorable mention: Private evening opening of St. Marks in Venice (people rarely get to see the mosaics with the lights on) and the grotto beneath. (Voyages to Antiquity).

Heart-breaking news about Palmyra this week...lovely that you saw it.

With Louis Cruises, about 2006:

It was a new cruise tour, for English speaking people; just a small group who wanted to see alternative Istanbul, It included the famous underground cisterns, which are on some tours, but also visited a Greek Orthodox church where mass was being celebrated, and some of the smaller mosques, one with famous mosaics.

At our final small mosque, we were told to take hold of our shoes throughout.

On leaving the mosque, we noticed men sitting outside on the ground, selling a few second hand items spread on blankets. One item was a pair of men's shoes, in excellent condition, made by Cotton Traders, which as far as I know, is a UK brand sold only in Britain. We all wondered how they came to be there...:confused: :rolleyes: ;)

You would lose your bet; that did not happen.

So no one, to your knowledge, made a purchase, or again to your knowledge, got pinched?

So no one, to your knowledge, made a purchase, or again to your knowledge, got pinched?

I saw some others make purchases, and no one was apprehended at any point in Jamaica, or when we returned to the ship.