Excursions through the ship?

[dreday3]

Do most of you do you own excursions? Any drawback of going through the ship?

 

We are looking at the Secret Sands Excursion for St. Thomas - $50 per person, goes to Smith Bay beach, has some drinks (bring our own food) - drive on skyline drive. We will apparently be at beach for 2 hours, but for us that's plenty - especially since we will be at beach all day for Coco Cay and St. Martin. It's supposed to be pretty, quiet (no bars), we get a lounger and not a ton of people.

 

It seems it's a little less than 4 hours - would that leave time to do a little shopping?

 

Do you meet at the ship?

 

It's our first time - we want to do one excursion, thought this may work...

 

thanks!

[blackshirt]

The only drawback I can think of is ship excursions generally are more expensive. The big drawback of doing a private excursion is the risk of something going wrong and not getting back to the ship on time. If you are on a private excursion, they won't wait for you. If on a ship excursion, they will.

[shanley]

I've done quite a few excursions through the ship, I have also done things on my own and with a private excursion company.

 

Through the ship, they usually cost more. You maybe with a very large group. On the positive side, you have the security of knowing you will not miss the ship and the tour companies are reputable, overall very low risk.

 

Private tours can offer more flexibility. Usually smaller groups or private for one family. You have to do your own research. You could loose your deposit if the ship misses a port or has a change in arrival times. Make sure your company is aware of ship time and all aboard times. Some companies offer a guarantee of return on time, but you never really know.

 

For me, I am quite risk adverse, and I would only do a private tour that would finish long before my all aboard time and with a company I researched thoroughly.

 

I do enjoy walking around, taking the taxi into town or the beach and doing things on my own time, rather than a tour.

[dreday3]

Thanks!

 

We decided to go ahead and book it as it says space is limited?

 

We shall see!

 

_ do they give you directions on where/when to meet once you are on the ship?

Edited July 25, 2015 by dreday3

[barbon2]

I've done quite a few excursions through the ship, I have also done things on my own and with a private excursion company.

 

Through the ship, they usually cost more. You maybe with a very large group. On the positive side, you have the security of knowing you will not miss the ship and the tour companies are reputable, overall very low risk.

 

Private tours can offer more flexibility. Usually smaller groups or private for one family. You have to do your own research. You could loose your deposit if the ship misses a port or has a change in arrival times. Make sure your company is aware of ship time and all aboard times. Some companies offer a guarantee of return on time, but you never really know.

 

For me, I am quite risk adverse, and I would only do a private tour that would finish long before my all aboard time and with a company I researched thoroughly.

 

I do enjoy walking around, taking the taxi into town or the beach and doing things on my own time, rather than a tour.

 

Agree !!

Would reply exactly the same way.

[Ren1216]

We've done our fair share of both, ship sponsored excursions and private tours. We prefer to go private for a few reasons. Private tours are usually cheaper than a comparable tour with the cruise line, they can often be customized, and if you travel in a group like we do (usually 8-12 people), your tour can actually be "private" (some guides may require 4 minimum). Whereas the cruise line excursions can have 20-30 people on a bus for an island tour, you'll spend time waiting on those people throughout your day, and you are restricted to a set schedule. But on the positive side, you may get to chatting with a few of your fellow cruisers and make some new friends, that can actually be kinda cool.

 

Now, my mom in particular, always feels a bit uneasy about losing that security when stepping away from the cruise line (worries about not getting back to the ship on time). Therefore, I purposely choose a tour early in the day that will end with lots of time to spare, we can then use that time to shop or hit the beach nearby the port. So far, all the private tours that we have taken have been perfect, not a single dud. We are now to the point of re-hiring our favorite guides when we return to certain ports based on previous experience. If you do some research here on these boards (might also check TripAdvisor), you can safely choose a reputable guide or tour outfit. Your fellow CCer's will share contact info and such. Only one time did I agree to a deposit up front, it turned out fine, but I tend to avoid that stipulation (though I DO understand the premise).

 

If you feel more comfortable staying with the cruise line on your first cruise, by all means do so -- you'll have a good time (and they will instruct you on where to meet). But maybe take a look at the St Thomas board to see what some other options are. You didn't say how long you will be in port, but most itineraries are in St Thomas for several hours, you should have plenty of time after any tour to do some shopping. Don't think I've been in a port yet that didn't offer some shopping right near the ship.

[dreday3]

I think we are there noon until 7. And I think there are 5 ships in port that day. Noon is a strange time, kind of late to get anything going really and we didn't want to waste time finding our way...

 

I feel okay with this excursion - it's the exact beach we wanted to go to and just long enough of a tour for our tastes. The only other part of this excursion is skyline drive? Not sure what that is. There's 2 of us.

 

St. Martin is going to be us on our own. Yikes! :D:eek::D We plan to just hit a couple beaches that day - I've been reading you can walk between a couple and we love to walk.

Edited July 25, 2015 by dreday3

[Ren1216]

I *think* Skyline drive is just going to be a scenic road, possibly the one from which you can see Magens Bay. Pretty sure the high point for viewing the port area is called Moutaintop - or something similar.

[cb at sea]

There is really no reason to do an excursion to go to a beach on St. Thomas. Now, if you wanted to go to St. John, an excursion is the foolproof, easy way to do that....since it involves several different modes of transportation..but the beaches there are so totally worth it...gorgeous!!!

 

Read a guidebook from your local library...and you'll see how easy it is to DIY most things!

[OCruisers]

We never have a problem booking excursions through the ship when they are doing something we wish and the timing works for us. So easy and worth it! :D

Our on-our-own things really are ... Taxis to take us to do exactly what we want to do and not having to deal with independent operators in advance.

 

LuLu

[ColoradoGurl]

I think youre wasting your money taking a ship tour for a beach day if all it Includes is transportation. You're paying $35/person for something that would cost you $10/person each way at the most if you took a taxi. If you take your own taxi you can stay as long as you want (or come back sooner). And with the extra $15 you can buy a drink or two at the beach.

 

The only time I'll take a tour with the ship again is if there is a major time crunch and I'm worried about making it back on time. Otherwise, it's usually half the price to take a taxi, or book a tour separately from the ship. If you have enough time before your cruise to read these boards thoroughly and back up the suggestions by reading reviews on trip advisor, you should be fine.

[milhouse0506]

We did the secret sands excursion on our Allure cruise back in March. We had OBC we wanted to use so we waited to book the excursion we wanted until we boarded, the snorkel tour we originally wanted to do ended being sold out so we did the beach trip instead.

 

We absolutely loved the beach, it was the best beach I've ever been on ( have you seen the Direct TV commercial with the talking horse? That's the beach!) The there is endless rum punch and beer included in the price. You also get lounge chairs to use. It is a little pricey but it is nice that it is limited to 50? total people so the beach won't be busy. We had absolutely no regrets on this excursion.

 

 

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[gibbycat]

When you book through the cruise line, do they charge your credit card immediately or do they just need the credit card to hold the reservation?

 

Thanks!

[milhouse0506]

Anything booked before the cruise is paid for at that time.

 

 

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[gibbycat]

Thank you!

[Ashland]

Thanks!

 

We decided to go ahead and book it as it says space is limited?

 

We shall see!

 

_ do they give you directions on where/when to meet once you are on the ship?

Yes...once onboard there will be tickets and all the info you need to do the ship booked excursions left in your cabin...if it's not there contact the excursion desk next to guest relations.

[swsf99a]

dreday3, For your first cruise, do it through the cruise line.....safe and easy, once you have done a few cruises you will know what to expect. Then go out on your own. As stated , your tickets should be in your stateroom, if not just ask the stateroom attendant first, then go to excursion desk second. The ticket will tell you where to meet, maybe it will say 800am in the theatre and you all go off the ship in a group.....or you may all meet dockside by the ship at a certain time. There may be signs held up or on a pole with your excursion name on it. Just have fun....an excursion booked through the ship means the ship will have to wait for you...in case of traffic!! Been there!

[dacsmom]

I do both ship and private excursions. If I sail solo I tend to book more through the ship and also if I want to see something that is far from the port, I feel more secure and know the ship will wait for me. In St. Maarten I really enjoyed Bernard's Tours, they went to both sides of the island and gave a really good tour that was well worth the price.

[cruiseapril]

The last time we were in St. Thomas, we were glad we had a ship's excursion booked as the traffic was very, very busy.

 

Have a great cruise and enjoy your excursions.