My shore excursions aren't available for my cruise!

[sweetp09]

I am sailing on Reflection with DH on December 6th (our fist X cruise and the first cruise for DH). I picked out some shore excursions and have been trying to book them for months. I finally called and they said they aren't available! The ones we wanted to go on are:

 

St. Thomas-5 star island tour: I really had my heart set on this one the most. I had been to the mountain top on a previous cruise and want to go back, plus I really want to go to Magen's bay as we both love the beach (we live in the Midwest and don't see it much) and hear it is breathtaking. This tour really encompassed everything we wanted to do here.

 

San Juan-Bacardi distillery museum tour: we have gone to breweries and thought it would be interesting to go to a rum distillery, plus DH really enjoys Bacardi rum.

 

St. Maarten-st. Maarten beach rendezvous: we really wanted to go to the beach again to soak up the sun.

 

Is there a company that we can book independently with to enjoy these tours or a way to experience some of the features of these tours ourselves?

[hypercafe]

Have you looked at the roll call for your trip or the port of call boards? We have been to these places many times and I believe worst comes to worst you could get a cab when you get off the ship to do these. There are always lots offing island tours in these ports. Have fun!

 

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[Lois R]

I am sailing on Reflection with DH on December 6th (our fist X cruise and the first cruise for DH). I picked out some shore excursions and have been trying to book them for months. I finally called and they said they aren't available! The ones we wanted to go on are:

 

St. Thomas-5 star island tour: I really had my heart set on this one the most. I had been to the mountain top on a previous cruise and want to go back, plus I really want to go to Magen's bay as we both love the beach (we live in the Midwest and don't see it much) and hear it is breathtaking. This tour really encompassed everything we wanted to do here.

 

San Juan-Bacardi distillery museum tour: we have gone to breweries and thought it would be interesting to go to a rum distillery, plus DH really enjoys Bacardi rum.

 

St. Maarten-st. Maarten beach rendezvous: we really wanted to go to the beach again to soak up the sun.

 

Is there a company that we can book independently with to enjoy these tours or a way to experience some of the features of these tours ourselves?

 

I agree, go over to the ports of call boards......each one has good

information about all kinds of independent tours.

 

AND, when you say you have been trying to book for months? There

are times when they are offered at the 90 day point...that would be

next month for a December cruise. I would check in 2-3 weeks. (during

the month of Sept) AND they will have plenty of tours available at

the Excursion Desk on board the ship.

[sweetp09]

I agree, go over to the ports of call boards......each one has good

information about all kinds of independent tours.

 

AND, when you say you have been trying to book for months? There

are times when they are offered at the 90 day point...that would be

next month for a December cruise. I would check in 2-3 weeks. (during

the month of Sept) AND they will have plenty of tours available at

the Excursion Desk on board the ship.

 

Thanks for the tips. I have been trying to book for months...I am a bit of am early bird when planning a vacation.

[Lois R]

Thanks for the tips. I have been trying to book for months...I am a bit of am early bird when planning a vacation.

 

Glad to help. I am sailing a month before you.....going on Nov 8th

and they didn't offer excursions to some of our ports till earlier

this month.

I really wouldn't worry about it though. There are usually loads

of tours to be found. I would also suggest going over to your roll

call and seeing if other folks are doing private tours that still have

spaces available. See if you can join them:)

[sweetp09]

The st. Maarten excursion we want is actually available right now so I booked it. Hopefully the others will show up.

[wvufan]

Your bad luck is the best thing that could have happened :).

 

Independent tours are available at all those places that are cheaper, longer, and less crowded.

 

In PR, you can take the ferry to Catano and and go to the Bacardi place from there. Tell your husband Don Q is better ;).

 

Happy Sails to You

 

OOOEEE :D:D Bob and Phyl

[sweetp09]

Your bad luck is the best thing that could have happened :).

 

Independent tours are available at all those places that are cheaper, longer, and less crowded.

 

In PR, you can take the ferry to Catano and and go to the Bacardi place from there. Tell your husband Don Q is better ;).

 

Happy Sails to You

 

OOOEEE :D:D Bob and Phyl

 

Can you recommend an independent tour on St. Thomas that is similar to the one I mentioned? Is going independent risky (not getting back on time, safe, etc.)? Is that a long trek to the distillery? How much would our own transportation cost? Any other suggestions to instead of or as well in PR (never been there)? I will let him know! ;) thanks so much for your help!

[Sloop-JohnB]

We did this same itinerary on The Solstice for our first in 2012.

 

I did a lot of reading & research beforehand:

 

Here on CC = This the Celebrity Forum - The Ports of Call Forum - and your Roll Call. If you haven't do sign up for that lots of helpful info & tips from others on your sailing... And a great way to save money too. Look for the link at the top of this page just above your Question

 

Other great sources:

 

TripAdvisor (CCs sister website for land based vacations)

 

And the official Tourism Websites for each island

 

Armed with this knowledge we did our own excursions in all of these 3 Ports

 

San Juan - Sightseeing in Old San Juan

Sint Maarten - Sightseeing & Shopping in Philipsburg

St Thomas - a DIY Snorkelling day

 

All were great. And we saved a ton of money. We were just very aware of the clock, and planned our return to the ship with plenty of time to spare.

 

All of these Islands are very safe... Just use your usual street smarts / travel awareness.

 

The only places we'd now do Ship Excursions were if the Ports weren't particularly safe... Or doings self touring would be hard to organize (or complex transport connections). Otherwise we'll always be doing our win thing.

 

If you organize a sightseeing tour on your own, be aware that most of the Cos that do these are very familiar with the ships... And will aim to get you back safe & sound in plenty of time. And in some cases you may find your fellow Pax on the Tour actually bought their tickets thru the ship and paid a lot more.

 

The day we went Snorkelling in St Thomas, we ended up saving close to $ 100 vs the price the ship wanted for essentially the same thing (they were more like $ 100 each).

 

Hope this helps,

 

Cheers!

 

Ps... Best spot to answer your specific costing Questions is going to be the Ports of Call Forum, your Roll Call & TripAdvisor

Edited August 24, 2014 by Sloop-JohnB

[hcat]

We almost always takes ship's excursions...unless staying in the immed pier area,,,ship won't sail without you, easy refund if ship can't port, they send a replacement bus if one you are on breaks down, etc Mostly depends on the port. We do not feel we have missed out following this plan,

 

as Lois R said..they only recently posted choices for some ports on our Nov cruise...and for awhile they even listed the wrong ports for our itin

 

you can call Cap Club. Shore ex dept or e mail them...but if they are not avaiable just have to check back...we even booked one for an all inclusive in Jamaica that has a title but no description....guess we'll find out when they post or when we get there!

 

Not sure why things seem more last minute with these excursions recently...

[CHEZMARYLOU]

It's really strange that they are not showing excursions for these cruises. I've already seen them for our Panama Canal cruise in April 2016.

 

Mary Lou

[Lois R]

It's really strange that they are not showing excursions for these cruises. I've already seen them for our Panama Canal cruise in April 2016.

 

Mary Lou

 

Hi Mary Lou:)...does anything on the site really surprise you anymore?:rolleyes::eek:.......you know how that thing works (or doesn't work).

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Hi Mary Lou:)...does anything on the site really surprise you anymore?:rolleyes::eek:.......you know how that thing works (or doesn't work).

 

So true Lois. :D

 

Mary Lou

[Lsimon]

All of the tours you mentioned can be easily done on your own and some, like going to the beach, are best done on your own and not with a ship tour.

 

St. Maarten-st. Maarten beach rendezvous

In St. Martin your best bet is to just take a taxi to the beach!! Head to the taxi dispatch there and just load into a taxi to Orient Beach. The rates are posted on a sign right there and will be less expensive if you're sharing the taxi with several others. You can either arrange a pickup with the same driver or not as there are always taxi's there to bring you back. Just leave the beach with plenty of time to get back to the ship. We normally leave a couple hours and get dropped off in town for some shopping before heading to the ship. Orient beach is lined with beach clubs of varying expense. Some have gormet French food, some just burgers and others are inbetween. Cost of renting a couple chairs & umbrella can range from $20 for two at mid beach to to $15 including a couple drinks at the more basic places at the south end of the beach (to your far right when facing the water).

 

St. Thomas-5 star island tour

The taxi dispatchers will be setting people who want tours up with drivers. Tell them what you want to do and you can even print out the itinerary for your tour and tell them you want a driver who will do the same tour. You can also head to the St. Thomas port of call forum here on Cruise Critic and look for recommendations of drivers and tour guides to contact in advance so everything is pre-arraigned. If you do wait to hire a taxi tour when you disembark it will likely be shared with others - most taxi hires in St. Thomas are for shared cabs even for tours.

San Juan-Bacardi distillery museum tour

Check out the Cruise Critic San Juan or Puerto Rico port of call forum and look for postings about doing this tour on your own.

Edited August 25, 2014 by Lsimon