Excursions --- just for fun, what have been your top 3 excursions ever?

[OCruisers]

While we have been fortunate enough to have cruised  to many  "far away places", so should say our best excursions were at them ... but the ones we have actually most enjoyed have been FUN excursions in the Caribbean.  

[cruisemom42]

3rd:  Private tour from Ephesus Turkey to visit Didyma, Priene and Miletus, all fabulous ancient ruins (Hellenic, Greek, Roman).

 

2nd:  Baalbek, Lebanon -- some of the most amazing and monumental ancient ruins I've ever seen outside of the pyramids.

 

1st:  Overnight tour to visit Palmyra's ruins in the deserts of Syria. Now -- completely destroyed by ISIS.  So glad I saw it.

 

[cheeseclan]

Top 3 in USA:

1. Private whale watching in AK with private tour guide.  Whales under the boat would come up and look right at us.  Awesome.

2. Helicopter to glacier to go ice climbing.  Scary but exhilarating at same time.

3.  Helicopter to remote landing site to get private boat to glacier.  Absolutely fabulous and worth every penny.

 

Top 3 in Europe:

1.  Dinner and tattoo package at Edinburgh Castle.  Amazing.

2.  Normandy Beaches and cemetery with museum which was so emotional.

3.  Estonia to visit the war museum.  Absolutely amazing to take it all in.

 

Top 3 in Caribbean:

1.  Riding top race horse in St Lucia.  Ended up swimming in ocean with El Diablo.

2.  Driving electric hummers around Turks and Caicos.  I wanted to take one home!

2.  Getting to go to a chefs house in Dominica to help her cook and then eat the great food.   Hope ships do more of that!

[Bizmark'sMom]

The area around Lake Myvatn in Iceland.  It was a long day from Akureyri, but so worthwhile!

 

Drift snorkeling off of Klein Bonaire. 

 

Climbing up to a Wandjina cave near Broome and having the honor of speaking with the man who maintains the paintings.  Later, i purchased a painting done by his niece, and she allowed me to take her photo, holding the painting she made.  It's one of my favorite souveniers.

[Bookish Angel]

All non-ship excursions:

 

Private local guide and driver in Havana.  

 

Swimming on the Ningaloo Reef in Australia.  Rough water and small sharks but fun and so beautiful.

 

Walking a steepish incline to a meteorological station in the Galapagos. Lovely views and a decent workout.

 

 

Edited March 30, 2019 by Bookish Angel

[Hlitner]

This is a very easy question for us :).  Our top 3 excursions were all the same......NO EXCURSION!  I am very serious.  More then 40 years (and over 1000 days) of cruising all over the world has taught us that we do not like Excursions!  The lesson we learned (about 35 years ago) was that we do not take any excursion unless it does something we want to do and it is nearly impossible to do it any other way.  Our normal preference (just about anywhere in the world) is to do our own thing (usually by ourselves) with our 2nd preference being a very small group private tour.  Personally I would rather go to my dentist then be stuck on a large tour bus with 50+ other cruisers.  Perhaps that is why after a lifetime of extensive travel and cruising...our love of both travel and cruising remains unabated.  To us, every port (or land trip) is still an adventure.  Unlike many cruisers we will often have no specific plan or itinerary for a port, but will simply do what feels right at the time.  Of course this means doing some homework so that we are aware of the various options (i.e. public transit, rental cars, trains, places to go, restaurants to try, etc).  But we have often walked off ships in ports all over the world without knowing exactly what we were going to do...and just fall into neat and adventurous things.  Some of our most amazing travel days have been when we had absolutely no plans...and good things just happen.

 

Even simple things can make a big difference.  I recall docking in Naples during an awful heat wave (it felt like it was over 100 F) and feeling very sorry for all those excursion takers who were off to Pompeii (the worst place to be on a very hot humid day).  Because it was so hot we simply walked over to the nearby ferry port (Molo Beverello) and looked at the boat schedule.   Rather then dying in the heat of Pompeii we were soon on a fast moving boat (with a refreshing breeze) on our way to Ischia....where the sea breeze kept it relatively comfy.  And its the same if we get awful weather.  Those on bus tours to mostly outdoor places are often miserable...but we would likely take advantage of the bad weather to visit a museum or perhaps enjoy a very long lunch in a special restaurant.  And imagine spending day after day in port after port and never having to wait for 10 people to go to the single stall bathroom, or the lady that is always late because she has to shop in one more store, etc. 

 

Hank

[gooch47]

#1  We took a seaplane inland in Alaska to see bears fishing for salmon.  Loved it except the smell was horrible.  The bears were only biting the belly out of the fish and leaving the rest to rot.

 

#2  The "Jumping Crocodiles" in Australia.  Can't remember which port.  It was on our circumnavigation cruise.

 

#3  Darn.  I am really getting old.  Can't remember which island but the Galapagos Island tour where we walked for a long time over lava rocks using a walking stick to keep from falling.  You had to be careful where you put your feet to avoid stepping on baby sea lions and birds.  The wildlife had absolutely no fear of humans.

[gooch47]

7 minutes ago, gooch47 said:

#1  We took a seaplane inland in Alaska to see bears fishing for salmon.  Loved it except the smell was horrible.  The bears were only biting the belly out of the fish and leaving the rest to rot.

 

#2  The "Jumping Crocodiles" in Australia.  Can't remember which port.  It was on our circumnavigation cruise.

 

#3  Darn.  I am really getting old.  Can't remember which island but the Galapagos Island tour where we walked for a long time over lava rocks using a walking stick to keep from falling.  You had to be careful where you put your feet to avoid stepping on baby sea lions and birds.  The wildlife had absolutely no fear of humans.

I posted mine before I read everyone else's and they brought back many wonderful memories.  Before I was married I had never been out of the state of Ohio.  Now when I think back to all the things we've seen it boggles the mind.

[slidergirl]

The only time I've done excursions was on my Adventure Women trip to Egypt and Jordan.  Otherwise, I'm like Hank - no excursions.   This trip was a once-in-a-lifetime for me as I always wanted to see Petra.  There were only 14 of us.   So, the 3 highlights for me were:

1. Petra.  This was part of the land portion of our 2 week trip.  But, it was the reason I ponied up for this trip.  As amazing as I had hoped.  To walk down that slot canyon and have it open up at the end and have The Treasury right there in front of you was breathtaking.  

 

2.  Abu Simbel.  This was on the last day of our Nile cruise.  We flew there from Aswan.  I remembered learning about Abu Simbel as a child when the Aswan dam was being built.  Abu Simbel are 2 temples built by Ramses II.  They were going to be destroyed by the lake created by the dam.  A huge engineering undertaking was done (I remember donating my dimes to the United Nations fund to help save it) to dismantle the temples and rebuild them upland.  An important part of the one temple was that there was a portal in it that the sun shined through and landed on a specific spot on the time of Ramses's birth.  Engineers measured everything to recreate it.  When you look at the temples now, you cannot tell they were taken apart except for one spot where they showed how they marked every piece.  AND, they missed that sun spot timing by just seconds.  

 

3.  Valley of the Kings.  It was 109 degrees that day in a desert location with no shade.  But, I LOVED walking around that area, knowing all that Egyptian nobility was buried there.  I got over my claustrophobia enough to go into one tomb - I wasn't thrilled but I had to do it.  Beautiful inside!!!

Edited March 30, 2019 by slidergirl

[nybumpkin]

Number 1 would have to be a 15-person Alla Tour in St. Petersburg. Absolutely an unbelievable experience. And our sons were able to go back to school in the fall and say they were in Russia on their summer vacation.😊

 

Number 2 is the Tracy Arm Fjord catamaran tour with Allen Tours. Taking a small boat right up to the Sawyer Glaciers was amazing.

 

Number 3 is Hartley's Helmet Dive in Bermuda. You don't need to be a strong swimmer, and Greg will make sure you see lots of underwater life.

[Bizmark'sMom]

I count the private tours I take as "excursions."  Snorkeling on Bonaire wasn't booked through anybody - I caught a water taxi from the dock. But I still count that as an excursion.

[Darstime]

Swimming with sting rays

 

cave tubing in Belize

 

ATV riding in jungle and on the sad next to the sea 

 

the reason for repetition is that theses are the best

[Aquahound]

1.  The "Godfather" tour - a private excursion we booked in Sicily that took as to different places the move was shot.  

 

2.  Misty Bay Whale Watching - a private boat we booked out of Hoonah (Icy Strait Point).  Only 6 of us on board.  

 

3.  White Pass train and bike tour in Skagway - train up, and rode mountain bikes down.

[jagsfan]

I have two favorites,

8 of us in St Petersburg, and I was blown away. 

4 of us in Istanbul where we saw and felt so much. Incredible. 

And I have to include a tiny portion of a visit to

Taormina. On the way down the mountain, it was just getting dark. As we came around each bend, we could see lights coming on in the homes in the rocky promontories extending into the sea. Blooming, lush bougainvilleas were hanging over the walls as we passed. A little darker, and our driver put in a Pavarotti tape. 

I think that was the most intense moment of my life. 

[jagsfan]

Reading all these wonderful memories just brings home how very fortunate we all are!

[lenquixote66]

22 hours ago, Hlitner said:

This is a very easy question for us :).  Our top 3 excursions were all the same......NO EXCURSION!  I am very serious.  More then 40 years (and over 1000 days) of cruising all over the world has taught us that we do not like Excursions!  The lesson we learned (about 35 years ago) was that we do not take any excursion unless it does something we want to do and it is nearly impossible to do it any other way.  Our normal preference (just about anywhere in the world) is to do our own thing (usually by ourselves) with our 2nd preference being a very small group private tour.  Personally I would rather go to my dentist then be stuck on a large tour bus with 50+ other cruisers.  Perhaps that is why after a lifetime of extensive travel and cruising...our love of both travel and cruising remains unabated.  To us, every port (or land trip) is still an adventure.  Unlike many cruisers we will often have no specific plan or itinerary for a port, but will simply do what feels right at the time.  Of course this means doing some homework so that we are aware of the various options (i.e. public transit, rental cars, trains, places to go, restaurants to try, etc).  But we have often walked off ships in ports all over the world without knowing exactly what we were going to do...and just fall into neat and adventurous things.  Some of our most amazing travel days have been when we had absolutely no plans...and good things just happen.

 

Even simple things can make a big difference.  I recall docking in Naples during an awful heat wave (it felt like it was over 100 F) and feeling very sorry for all those excursion takers who were off to Pompeii (the worst place to be on a very hot humid day).  Because it was so hot we simply walked over to the nearby ferry port (Molo Beverello) and looked at the boat schedule.   Rather then dying in the heat of Pompeii we were soon on a fast moving boat (with a refreshing breeze) on our way to Ischia....where the sea breeze kept it relatively comfy.  And its the same if we get awful weather.  Those on bus tours to mostly outdoor places are often miserable...but we would likely take advantage of the bad weather to visit a museum or perhaps enjoy a very long lunch in a special restaurant.  And imagine spending day after day in port after port and never having to wait for 10 people to go to the single stall bathroom, or the lady that is always late because she has to shop in one more store, etc. 

 

Hank

Many years ago my wife and I went off by ourselves on a Caribbean island.I happened to look at my watch and realized that unless we did something fast we would likely miss the ship.We hitchhiked and got back on time.Later that evening  we heard that there was an attempted assassination on a government leader.

We believe that the guy who drove us to the ship may have been him.

[Hlitner]

15 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

Many years ago my wife and I went off by ourselves on a Caribbean island.I happened to look at my watch and realized that unless we did something fast we would likely miss the ship.We hitchhiked and got back on time.Later that evening  we heard that there was an attempted assassination on a government leader.

We believe that the guy who drove us to the ship may have been him.

WOW.  Can't say we can match that experience.  But we have met some very interesting Uber drivers :).  Hopefully, none of them were assassins.

 

Hank

[BillOh]

1.  Taxing taxi to Orient Beach and spending the day on the south end for the first time.

2.  Calabassas (sp)  catamaran in Barbados. Best paid excursion ever.

3.  One actually through Royal -  Catamaran to Nevis with beach lunch from St Kitts. 

[ontheweb]

23 hours ago, Hlitner said:

This is a very easy question for us :).  Our top 3 excursions were all the same......NO EXCURSION!  I am very serious.  More then 40 years (and over 1000 days) of cruising all over the world has taught us that we do not like Excursions!  The lesson we learned (about 35 years ago) was that we do not take any excursion unless it does something we want to do and it is nearly impossible to do it any other way.  Our normal preference (just about anywhere in the world) is to do our own thing (usually by ourselves) with our 2nd preference being a very small group private tour.  Personally I would rather go to my dentist then be stuck on a large tour bus with 50+ other cruisers.  Perhaps that is why after a lifetime of extensive travel and cruising...our love of both travel and cruising remains unabated.  To us, every port (or land trip) is still an adventure.  Unlike many cruisers we will often have no specific plan or itinerary for a port, but will simply do what feels right at the time.  Of course this means doing some homework so that we are aware of the various options (i.e. public transit, rental cars, trains, places to go, restaurants to try, etc).  But we have often walked off ships in ports all over the world without knowing exactly what we were going to do...and just fall into neat and adventurous things.  Some of our most amazing travel days have been when we had absolutely no plans...and good things just happen.

 

Even simple things can make a big difference.  I recall docking in Naples during an awful heat wave (it felt like it was over 100 F) and feeling very sorry for all those excursion takers who were off to Pompeii (the worst place to be on a very hot humid day).  Because it was so hot we simply walked over to the nearby ferry port (Molo Beverello) and looked at the boat schedule.   Rather then dying in the heat of Pompeii we were soon on a fast moving boat (with a refreshing breeze) on our way to Ischia....where the sea breeze kept it relatively comfy.  And its the same if we get awful weather.  Those on bus tours to mostly outdoor places are often miserable...but we would likely take advantage of the bad weather to visit a museum or perhaps enjoy a very long lunch in a special restaurant.  And imagine spending day after day in port after port and never having to wait for 10 people to go to the single stall bathroom, or the lady that is always late because she has to shop in one more store, etc. 

 

Hank

Let me say that we also in general like to do our own exploring. In fact on our very first ever port stop, Villefrance (probably spelled wrong), we went to Nice and visited the Chagall and Matisse Museums. (DW is an elementary art teacher) Later she swam in the Mediterranean while I watched our stuff. (My head was melting, but it did help that she plopped us down right behind a group of topless French women.) And to mention another, in Oslo we started our exploring with the Munch Museum that did not seem to be on any excursion we found.

 

But let me disagree at least partially with what you said. Let's look at the 3 favorites I posted previously. The first was an organized, personalized Alla tour in St. Petersburg. I do remember a previous thread in which you also wrote of going off on your own was always better, and I replied how about St. Petersburg where the local tour operators all seemed to get excellent reviews and the hassle and expense of obtaining a Russian visa was eliminated. You replied to me that St. Petersburg could be an exception to the rule. My second listed excursion was the Bob Marley bus in Jamaica. I guess you could rent on a car and go to the Marley site on your own, but you would have to be crazy to drive the winding one lane highway on your own. (On every curve, our driver beeped the horn to warn any driver coming the other way.) Plus we would have missed all the music on the bus. My last one listed was getting back to Heathrow from the port of Dover with time to explore Canterbury. Yes, this was the dreaded 50 passenger bus, but there were only about a dozen of us aboard. And I guess we could have rented a car, but we would have worried about how long we could stay in Canterbury, and would have also missed a wonderful guide.

 

And then there is the problem of not all of us are as experienced as you guys. On our first cruise, I screwed up royally and got us on the train going the wrong way from Livorno. (Hey, the signs are in Italian.)  Luckily, DW figured out what I had done and we got off the train, but we still missed Florence. Ten  years later, we did a similar cruise and did a Florence on your Own with DW pre-purchasing timed museum tickets to the major museums. It was more expensive that going on our own, but at least we did finally get there. And it was a very hot summer making the air conditioned bus a very good thing. In fact on that same cruise we did Rome on our own. And the train coming back was extremely packed and hot, and that was even before the fight broke out on the train. After Florence with the  air conditioned bus, DW commented that maybe we should have spent the money and taken an excursion for Rome.

 

I did find the point you made at the end interesting. Maybe we over plan. As I said that was a very hot summer. We did not go to Pompei, but we did go to Herculaneum. And it was extremely hot and maybe something less strenuous would have been better.

[Hlitner]

26 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Let me say that we also in general like to do our own exploring. In fact on our very first ever port stop, Villefrance (probably spelled wrong), we went to Nice and visited the Chagall and Matisse Museums. (DW is an elementary art teacher) Later she swam in the Mediterranean while I watched our stuff. (My head was melting, but it did help that she plopped us down right behind a group of topless French women.) And to mention another, in Oslo we started our exploring with the Munch Museum that did not seem to be on any excursion we found.

 

But let me disagree at least partially with what you said. Let's look at the 3 favorites I posted previously. The first was an organized, personalized Alla tour in St. Petersburg. I do remember a previous thread in which you also wrote of going off on your own was always better, and I replied how about St. Petersburg where the local tour operators all seemed to get excellent reviews and the hassle and expense of obtaining a Russian visa was eliminated. You replied to me that St. Petersburg could be an exception to the rule. My second listed excursion was the Bob Marley bus in Jamaica. I guess you could rent on a car and go to the Marley site on your own, but you would have to be crazy to drive the winding one lane highway on your own. (On every curve, our driver beeped the horn to warn any driver coming the other way.) Plus we would have missed all the music on the bus. My last one listed was getting back to Heathrow from the port of Dover with time to explore Canterbury. Yes, this was the dreaded 50 passenger bus, but there were only about a dozen of us aboard. And I guess we could have rented a car, but we would have worried about how long we could stay in Canterbury, and would have also missed a wonderful guide.

 

And then there is the problem of not all of us are as experienced as you guys. On our first cruise, I screwed up royally and got us on the train going the wrong way from Livorno. (Hey, the signs are in Italian.)  Luckily, DW figured out what I had done and we got off the train, but we still missed Florence. Ten  years later, we did a similar cruise and did a Florence on your Own with DW pre-purchasing timed museum tickets to the major museums. It was more expensive that going on our own, but at least we did finally get there. And it was a very hot summer making the air conditioned bus a very good thing. In fact on that same cruise we did Rome on our own. And the train coming back was extremely packed and hot, and that was even before the fight broke out on the train. After Florence with the  air conditioned bus, DW commented that maybe we should have spent the money and taken an excursion for Rome.

 

I did find the point you made at the end interesting. Maybe we over plan. As I said that was a very hot summer. We did not go to Pompei, but we did go to Herculaneum. And it was extremely hot and maybe something less strenuous would have been better.

I agree with you about St Petersburg (and we have posted this numerous times).  Given the Visa situation (at least for those of us with USA Passports) it no longer makes much sense to obtain a personal Visa and do things on your own.  Accordingly we have continued to suggest that folks book private tours (not cruise line excursions) and personally recommend both TJ Tours and Alla.    A place where one MUST take a ships excursion is the port of Murmansk.  When we visited that port there was no other alternative (no private tour companies with Visa waiver authority).  In Murmansk you either took the ship's excursion or stayed on the ship!   We once figured that we did book cruise ship excursions in about 1 out of 100 port calls :).  Bottom line is that if we cannot reasonably do something on our own and there are no reasonable private tours then we do consider cruise line excursions.  But to us, they are the last resort.

 

You mention the "experience" issue and it is a valid concern.  When we are not familiar with a port (or country) I will spend a lot of time (pre cruise) doing my homework, considering options, and often soliciting advice right here on CC :).  We also acknowledge that not everyone has the desire or ability to DIY....and those folks should certainly book cruise line excursions since we are stockholders and need them to contribute to the bottom line :).  We have actually met a few cruisers that are so risk adverse that they have an innate fear of getting off a ship (anywhere) unless they are being led by a guide.   For them, cruise line excursions are the only reasonable option...as many cannot even deal with their doubts about private tours.

 

Hank

P.S.  I will not even deal with your Jamaica issue.  That is an island that I detest....although we have actually vacationed there (in an All Inclusive).  It is a darn shame that such a beautiful place has been turned into a nest of crime!  But I do think that Jamaica has given us two great gifts, some terrific coffee and Bob Marley.  If we are on a cruise that docks in Jamaica (recently happened this past December) we view it as a wonderful sea day and enjoy the ship.  And by the way, according to some statistics the murder rate in the USVI is actually higher then in Jamaica.  Go figure.  Here is a link to a pretty recent article on the subject:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/caribbean/jamaica/articles/is-jamaica-safe-to-visit-crime/

 

 

 

[Heidi13]

Top 3 are - Petra (Jordan), Giza (Egypt) & St Petersburg

[TruckerDave]

In no order

 

Mt Vesuvius/Pompeii combo platter from Naples.

 

Rome city highlights tour (Coliseum, Forum, Trevi Fountain, Vatican)

 

Avignon France tour (from Marseille)

 

I'm a bit of a history nerd. 🤓

 

[Zach1213]

I've only done two cruises, both Caribbean, so my experiences are limited, but my top three (in no particular order) are clear:

 

1) In 2013 in Labadee, doing a small 25-person boat to a tiny island where we just floated in the water for 4 hours drinking Prestige and rum punch. Truly amazing, though I admit there are slight holes in my memory due to Prestige and rum punch. 

 

2) "Captain Bob" in St. Maarten. 

 

3) Not so much an excursion, since we did it ourselves, but hopping over to St. John when stopping in St. Thomas. Definitely sealed the deal that a land vacation to St. John is in the very, very near future. 

[lenquixote66]

9 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I agree with you about St Petersburg (and we have posted this numerous times).  Given the Visa situation (at least for those of us with USA Passports) it no longer makes much sense to obtain a personal Visa and do things on your own.  Accordingly we have continued to suggest that folks book private tours (not cruise line excursions) and personally recommend both TJ Tours and Alla.    A place where one MUST take a ships excursion is the port of Murmansk.  When we visited that port there was no other alternative (no private tour companies with Visa waiver authority).  In Murmansk you either took the ship's excursion or stayed on the ship!   We once figured that we did book cruise ship excursions in about 1 out of 100 port calls :).  Bottom line is that if we cannot reasonably do something on our own and there are no reasonable private tours then we do consider cruise line excursions.  But to us, they are the last resort.

 

You mention the "experience" issue and it is a valid concern.  When we are not familiar with a port (or country) I will spend a lot of time (pre cruise) doing my homework, considering options, and often soliciting advice right here on CC :).  We also acknowledge that not everyone has the desire or ability to DIY....and those folks should certainly book cruise line excursions since we are stockholders and need them to contribute to the bottom line :).  We have actually met a few cruisers that are so risk adverse that they have an innate fear of getting off a ship (anywhere) unless they are being led by a guide.   For them, cruise line excursions are the only reasonable option...as many cannot even deal with their doubts about private tours.

 

Hank

P.S.  I will not even deal with your Jamaica issue.  That is an island that I detest....although we have actually vacationed there (in an All Inclusive).  It is a darn shame that such a beautiful place has been turned into a nest of crime!  But I do think that Jamaica has given us two great gifts, some terrific coffee and Bob Marley.  If we are on a cruise that docks in Jamaica (recently happened this past December) we view it as a wonderful sea day and enjoy the ship.  And by the way, according to some statistics the murder rate in the USVI is actually higher then in Jamaica.  Go figure.  Here is a link to a pretty recent article on the subject:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/caribbean/jamaica/articles/is-jamaica-safe-to-visit-crime/

 

 

 

 Jamaica produced a beautiful woman who I dated for 2 years,Bob and Ziggy Marley

[printingchick]

Fun, but difficult question! Wow! Like others, I will caveat that these are in no particular order. All are Caribbean.

 

Dominica:

Treasures of Rouseau tour with Levi from Bumpiing Tours. Will be doing a different tour with him on my next cruise.

 

St. Kitts:

My Island Tour with Javin. I've visited St. Kitts three times and loved all my tours there, but Javin's was the best.

 

Roatan:

Booked a day at Fantasy Island (I think it was through Viator or similar agency). My son and I had an awesome day. We were left with lots of great photos and videos of the friendly monkeys. 

 

St. Croix:

Big Beard's full day catamaran excursion to Buck Island. Yes, I know this is four. I tried, but I just couldn't eliminate any of these!!!

 

I didn't list because it's not technically an excursion, but we also really love ferrying over to St. John when docked in St. Thomas. So beautiful there. Saving up to go there for a week! One of the many things on my bucket list!!

Edited April 1, 2019 by printingchick