Help with shore excursions please

[Beemer46]

We are sailing on Celebrity Solstice from Auckland to Fremantle Feb 4. Is it worth booking shore excursions ourselves and if so does anyone have recommendations of places to go and companies to use?

[MicCanberra]

We are sailing on Celebrity Solstice from Auckland to Fremantle Feb 4. Is it worth booking shore excursions ourselves and if so does anyone have recommendations of places to go and companies to use?

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic.:D

Check out the Australia and NZ forums, there are a couple of threads that may help. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=712

 

Also check out to see if there are nay roll calls for your cruise. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=206

these forums may be better placed to help you.:D

Edited January 10, 2014 by MicCanberra

[PennyB]

We got off the Solstice just before Christmas. We did the 12 night cruise from Auckland to Sydney. We booked two excursions thru Celebrity (Akaroa, NZ and Hobart, Tasmania) and three as a package with Shore Excursions Group (Tauranga, Wellington and Dunedin, NZ). Shore Excursions is just a middle man to hire local excursion companies, but they did a great job with the ones they hired, the buses/vans were new, clean and the drivers were very knowledgeable. BUT if for some reason the excursion is delayed (more on that) the ship will not wait for a non Celebrity excursion. The 'guarantee' is to get you to the next port. Big deal as that could be several days later if you have some sea days in there. On our Celebrity sponsored excursion in Akaroa the bus broke down and we got back 2 hours AFTER the ship was set to sail. Not only did the ship wait for us, but many of the ship's officers were at the tender to meet us and welcome us back. Nice touch Celebrity :) Lesson learned for me that I will not take non ship sponsored all day or afternoon excursion again. Maybe morning as there would me ample time to return even with a breakdown.

[MicCanberra]

We got off the Solstice just before Christmas. We did the 12 night cruise from Auckland to Sydney. We booked two excursions thru Celebrity (Akaroa, NZ and Hobart, Tasmania) and three as a package with Shore Excursions Group (Tauranga, Wellington and Dunedin, NZ). Shore Excursions is just a middle man to hire local excursion companies, but they did a great job with the ones they hired, the buses/vans were new, clean and the drivers were very knowledgeable. BUT if for some reason the excursion is delayed (more on that) the ship will not wait for a non Celebrity excursion. The 'guarantee' is to get you to the next port. Big deal as that could be several days later if you have some sea days in there. On our Celebrity sponsored excursion in Akaroa the bus broke down and we got back 2 hours AFTER the ship was set to sail. Not only did the ship wait for us, but many of the ship's officers were at the tender to meet us and welcome us back. Nice touch Celebrity :) Lesson learned for me that I will not take non ship sponsored all day or afternoon excursion again. Maybe morning as there would me ample time to return even with a breakdown.

 

This is exactly why the ship's excursions can still be value despite the higher prices. even if the ship does not wait, they will wear the costs of getting you back to the ship including the accommodation and meals. We always pick and choose when it is sensible to do a private excursion and when not to.:D

[20pluscruises]

Since our taxi drivers flat tire...and then the second flat tire...we always book excursions through the ship.

[heathluvsing]

Since we love in Australia and have done the cruise in NZ and OZ, I would book privately. There is always an "I" centre around (for information and your bookings) and they are super helpful. Additionally, you will save money as the cruise often charges in UsD and the AUD can be lower. So look online or just rock up and plan your day. Also, when we booked on our own, we would notice that the cruise tour was heaps later to arrive and didn't have as much personal time.

 

We are doing a Holy Lands cruise this year and so we will book through Celebrity for safety and peace of mind (different culture, languages etc...). But in the Southern Hemisphere I wouldn't bother as much.

 

You're going to love your cruise as Australia is so beautiful. I'm a NYer by birth and now Australian by choice. You won't regret this trip.

[heathluvsing]

Also with these cruises often the ports are so close that if you were to miss it, it would t be that big of a deal to get to the next place.

 

Keep in mind that tour operators takes cruisers all the time and don't want them to be late either. So I would avoid paying higher rates because people put fear in you that "maybe you might not make it on time."

[OCruisers]

When we find an excursion offered through the ship that we like at a time we want, we prefer to book it because it's EASY. No advanced planning on our part. :D

 

Sure, we take taxis sometimes ... just not tours by private operators.

 

LuLu

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