Pre-purchase excursion or wait on land

[mighty13]

I was wondering if anyone had experience on benefits of pre-purchasing a land excursion as opposed to waiting until you arrive at the port to purchase.

 

A little background, I was on the Dream last year and purchased every excursion through carnival and it was NOT cheap so this go round I am checking my options with either an online company or seeing if it is easier to just wait until we make land fall. I am cruising on the Glory July 19th. Thanks for any and all help.

[Luluwa]

Purchase ahead of time if you really care otherwise just so it onboard after looking over the info

 

 

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[sjcruiser]

It depends on the port and excursion. We research on here, Tripadvisor or other sites, and then check out what's being offered and the price onboard. If its a popular tour, or time sensitive we book onboard. If its something thats not, like an island tour with shopping and beach time, or a combination of two of the three, and we have enough time in port, we get the tour after getting off the ship from one of the vendors on the pier. When the two of us travel without other family or friends, we always find others on the ship doing the same, and get a tour together, and were often able to negotiate price, and the same goes for when we travel with family which can range from 9-15.

[Budget Queen]

I am very picky about the vendors I use, so I most always book my tours ahead, independently. There are a few cases where I go with Carnival, but mostly I do not. If you don't care what you do, you can wait, but for me, my time is valuable and I don't feel like wasting any trying to set up tours. :)

[hirent]

I was wondering if anyone had experience on benefits of pre-purchasing a land excursion as opposed to waiting until you arrive at the port to purchase.

 

A little background, I was on the Dream last year and purchased every excursion through carnival and it was NOT cheap so this go round I am checking my options with either an online company or seeing if it is easier to just wait until we make land fall. I am cruising on the Glory July 19th. Thanks for any and all help.

 

We purchased Carnival excursions on our first cruise; and never again. It will always cost more to purchase it from the cruise line. Although the benefit is that the ship will wait for you if the excursion runs late. They also have some sort of insurance built into the price (not sure what good it is though).

On our cruise on the Valor we visited 5 ports and we did an island tour in every one of them. Only in two of them did we plan ahead; the rest we just winged it.

 

On a side note:

 

Be careful about Honduras; there is a travel advisory released by the government.

http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/alertswarnings/honduras-travel-warning.html

Recently a NCL ship crew member was shot & killed a short distance from the ship.

 

[Cruise a holic]

I was wondering if anyone had experience on benefits of pre-purchasing a land excursion as opposed to waiting until you arrive at the port to purchase.

 

A little background, I was on the Dream last year and purchased every excursion through carnival and it was NOT cheap so this go round I am checking my options with either an online company or seeing if it is easier to just wait until we make land fall. I am cruising on the Glory July 19th. Thanks for any and all help.

 

The advantage of booking early is that you get a space on the excursion. If it is a popular excursion, you could be closed out if you wait. If however, the weather isn't good and you book in advance, you might be going for example to the beach in the rain- Really depends- If I really want the excursion and know it's popular I risk it and book in advance. While sometimes the cruise ship excursions cost a little more- consider it insurance as the ship will wait for you. I have heard stories of people that missed the boat due to a private tour company bringing them late to the pier.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

Edited June 27, 2014 by Cruise a holic

[caribsun]

I mostly book at the port right off the ship just research the island 1st. :)

[mighty13]

Thanks to all for the great responses. I don't see a need to pay $80 a person just to be taken to the beach, and oh while their at they will give a brief history of the island. I am still researching other reputable companies to go with but I worry about a port being cancelled and then that once 'reputable' company says "Sucks for you, we have your money"

 

Honduras did seem like a strange place to dock because I was aware of its terrible crime rate, but the more I researched it seems like Roatan is a buffer for that crime rate. At any rate we will be vigilant.

 

Thanks for all the help. I appreciate it and can not wait to step on board the ship and leave everything behind, for a week at least.

[TerReuv]

Thanks to all for the great responses. I don't see a need to pay $80 a person just to be taken to the beach, and oh while their at they will give a brief history of the island. I am still researching other reputable companies to go with but I worry about a port being cancelled and then that once 'reputable' company says "Sucks for you, we have your money"

 

Honduras did seem like a strange place to dock because I was aware of its terrible crime rate, but the more I researched it seems like Roatan is a buffer for that crime rate. At any rate we will be vigilant.

 

Thanks for all the help. I appreciate it and can not wait to step on board the ship and leave everything behind, for a week at least.

 

What I have found is that most of the reputable tour companies will either require a small deposit or no deposit. Also, if your ship does not make it to port, they will refund the deposit.

 

I also read a lot on TripAdvisor and on the ports board here and have gotten great info on vendors for tours. Research is your friend! Personally, I am a planner and like to have it all planned out before we go. But you can do either. Just do your homework ahead of time.

[kellylw]

I book before I go, but I don't book carnival. I always research on the ports forums then do as much additional research as I can. We've never had a problem while on an excursion.

[RWolver672]

If you book ahead of time with a private firm, make sure that if for some reason you don't make that port, you will not be charged for the excursion.

 

As an example, we booked with Captain Marvin for the stingray excursion in Grand Cayman. They took our credit card number to hold the reservation but didn't charge on it until the day we did the excursion.

[Nic6318]

as you said there no reason to pay $$$ just to go ta a beach.

If that is what you like to do you can easily research which are the preferred or more secluded beaches/beach resorts etc...and simply get into a cab and go. You are on your own schedule, no rush, leave when you want and you will save money. (the more people in your group, the more you save)

 

If you want to do an organized tour this site is a great resource. Decide what you want to do and just ask for opinions. You will get many opinions about tour operators. It's not like going into something blind, you are communicating with people who have been on the tour you choose. They wont hold back if they found the operator lacking in any way.

 

Just make sure that they will refund any deposit if the ship cant make the port. Tender ports make this more of a possibility.

 

One caution, I would seriously consider a Carnival tour for an all day tour to a more remote area as opposed to something that's just a few miles from the port.

 

Have a great day and make the most of your tour dollars

Edited June 27, 2014 by Nic6318