NCL Sun, excursions

[MJKennedy]

This our first ever cruise, very excited. Question about the excursions: is it better to book them ahead of time or on the ship? I heard somewhere that the ones from the ship always provide transportation to/from the ship, but if I book them through the agent they often don't. Is this true?

And is there a difference in price?

[Demonyte]

Hi and welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

You can also pre-purchase excursions sold by the cruise line, you don't need to wait until onboard with those.

 

What comes to transportation, it depends - we have never had a third party excursion where the tour didn't start from the port (or very near), personally I much rather pay directly to the local tour operator less, than purchase possibly the exact same tour via the cruise line for inflated price. So yes, there usually is a significant difference in price.

 

Only actual difference is that cruise line sponsored tours have somewhat better coverage instead the return is delayed, in other words if there are a lot of people on such tour, the captain might wait a bit longer for the delayed passengers. One might get the same result by calling the cruise line from a private excursion too, but in that case it's still the passenger's problem if the ship doesn't wait.

 

Booking an excursion through the cruise line still doesn't guarantee that the ship will wait, but at least the cruise line is responsible for getting you to the next port instead of your insurance (everybody should have one, we have an annual insurance that costs peanuts per trip when travelling more than once a year further than 100km (62mi) from our home).

Edited December 27, 2014 by Demonyte

[kmb4567]

The best thing booking thru cruise line is ship will wait for your return. Booking a trip thru an agent you are on your own if something goes wrong and your return to the ship is delayed. It,s a low probability but it does happen.

[Demonyte]

The best thing booking thru cruise line is ship will wait for your return.

 

 

Not true, there is no such guarantee written anywhere in the T&C of the excursions. They run a business and at some point it is cheaper for them to pay for a hotel and fly the missing passengers to the next port than waiting and having to run the ship at full speed thus burning tens of thousands of dollars worth of extra fuel.

Edited December 27, 2014 by Demonyte

[MJKennedy]

Thanks. I just talked to my DH and he would rather book through the cruise line for structure because we are bringing 2 small children and don't want to wing it when we get off the boat. And we certainly wouldn't want to be stuck in that situation either if we missed the boat.

[Demonyte]

Thanks. I just talked to my DH and he would rather book through the cruise line for structure because we are bringing 2 small children and don't want to wing it when we get off the boat. And we certainly wouldn't want to be stuck in that situation either if we missed the boat.

 

 

For first time cruises it is often more comfortable to book through the cruise line so nothing wrong going with that. :)

 

One correction though: we have never "winged it" but always had reservations for third party excursions made already in advance via web or email before even starting the vacation - Cruise Critic has very good subforums for different ports of call and Tripadvisor is also invaluable asset when researching tour operators.

 

But as said, whether using cruise line or tour operators directly is a personal choice and there is no right or wrong way to go. :)

Edited December 27, 2014 by Demonyte

[MJKennedy]

Thanks for your help, and for clarifying that.

[roger001]

I think it depends on what type tour you are considering as to whether to book with NCL or private operator. For any tour that travels very far from the port, we stick with NCL. And we have had buses break down twice on those tours. However, both times, the tour got new buses very quickly and only a small amount of time was lost. These were NCL tours. Had they been private, I don't know how fast they would have responded..and I would have been anxious. If a tour is going to be somewhat local (a cab ride back to the dock if something happens) then we will consider a local operator tour. For your first time, until you've had a chance to become more familiar with tours and ports, I'd stick with NCL sponsored tours. Go ahead if you wish and book ahead of time on the NCL web site. It will require a credit card purchase. You can then cancel a tour up to 48 hours (I believe that's still it) before the tour if you wish, which includes being able to cancel on the ship if you are before the 48 hours. However, most tours are still available for booking once you are on board...although a few do fill up quickly. At the port, the NCL tours are very well organized with plenty of assistance waiting to direct you to the appropriate tour beginning location.

 

By the way. The Sun is a very nice ship. She is one of the smaller ones and a bit older, but we love her. She is a very relaxed and comfortable ship with a super nice crew....but all NCL crew are super nice actually. She has a nice forward upper deck observation lounge, and behind the buffet, the Great Outdoors which is an open area that has a smaller more snack type buffet during much of the day and is a great place to have breakfast. On the port side and same deck forward from the Great Outdoors, one of the evening restaurants serves a pasta menu during the lunch hour (and breakfast items during breakfast).

Edited December 27, 2014 by roger001

[Budget Queen]

If you disclose your itinerary and what tours are of interest to you, you would be more detailed information, that may offer you better choices.

 

Some are quick to point out the "missing the ship", a myth, for most independent vendors. It all has to do with scheduling- and going with the vendor's recommendations. This is very location dependent/ports.

 

There are tours that simply are not good choices with the ship shore excursions- can be significantly more costly and not include as much as independent.

 

Trip Advisor can also be an excellent source of information with first hand visitor reports and the ability to message the poster.