When do you book your shore excursions?

[Scratchrat]

How far in advance before your cruise do you tend to book excursions?

 

Or do you wait til on board?

 

Maybe you don't book at all and just do things on your own? 

 

Eager to hear!

[SarahHben]

Our cruise was due to be on June 27th this year and the P&O excursions became available to book sometime around the new year, so we booked a couple then that we knew we wouldn't want to miss, and planned to do our own thing in 2 other ports. As we are new to cruising we wanted the peace of mind that the ship wouldn't sail without us which is why we booked with P&O not independent companies.

[zap99]

40 minutes ago, Scratchrat said:

How far in advance before your cruise do you tend to book excursions?

 

Or do you wait til on board?

 

Maybe you don't book at all and just do things on your own? 

 

Eager to hear!

We mainly book local tours, but if we wanted to do a ships tour, like really,really wanted we would book as soon as it's available. The good ones can fill up fast.

[jeanlyon]

We never do excursions.  half the fun for me is finding out all about the place before we go and doing our own thing.  Local transport, buses and trains are often really good.  We must save hundreds of pounds and have a better time.

 

One instance was getting the train from Messina to Taormina.  6 Euros for the train and then 2 for the bus up to the town.  had a lovely day, super lunch and got back well in time for a sunbathe before she sailed.

[Scratchrat]

Just now, zap99 said:

We mainly book local tours, but if we wanted to do a ships tour, like really,really wanted we would book as soon as it's available. The good ones can fill up fast.

I've noticed the P&O ones are a lot cheaper than I expected compared to Carnival.

[Eddie99]

Popular tours do fill early 

You can cancel & get the money back on your card right up to a day or two before boarding, or perhaps even after boarding.  I’m unsure of details

Plus, excursions are often a few pounds more expensive on board

 

There doesn’t seem much point in hanging around

[Scratchrat]

Just now, Eddie99 said:

Popular tours do fill early 

You can cancel & get the money back on your card right up to a day or two before boarding, or perhaps even after boarding.  I’m unsure of details

Plus, excursions are often a few pounds more expensive on board

 

There doesn’t seem much point in hanging around

Do more get added later? 

 

I know for my Carnival one in June there are only a few currently available but more appear closer to the time.

[zap99]

5 minutes ago, Scratchrat said:

I've noticed the P&O ones are a lot cheaper than I expected compared to Carnival.

We have had an Alaska cruise cancelled ( going this Thursday, 7 night cruise, 14 nights Rockies 😪😪). Celebrity excursions are silly prices, but we had 😪lots of OBC and drinks and tips........☹️.

[zap99]

3 minutes ago, Scratchrat said:

Do more get added later? 

 

I know for my Carnival one in June there are only a few currently available but more appear closer to the time.

Sometimes and when they do, can often be better. You can always cancel and book the new one.

 

[Eddie99]

Yes

Often there are just a few showing and then more get added

 

You can still do the book/review/cancel/book something else thing though

[wowzz]

Very, very rarely do we do P&O tours. If there is a tour or sight we especially want to do, we find a private company or individual and book with them in advance. I know it's "snobby" but walking past everybody lined up in queues to get on a bus, while we get into a private car, gives me a certain "frisson" !

[Scratchrat]

10 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Very, very rarely do we do P&O tours. If there is a tour or sight we especially want to do, we find a private company or individual and book with them in advance. I know it's "snobby" but walking past everybody lined up in queues to get on a bus, while we get into a private car, gives me a certain "frisson" !

For me it's more that if I book with the ship, Im guaranteed not to get back late and miss the ship lol

 

Also, if I don't like the tour or something went wrong, I can get it resolved onboard right away rather than have to wait a week and contact the tour company and go through that rigmarole 

[mercury7289]

16 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Very, very rarely do we do P&O tours. If there is a tour or sight we especially want to do, we find a private company or individual and book with them in advance. I know it's "snobby" but walking past everybody lined up in queues to get on a bus, while we get into a private car, gives me a certain "frisson" !

We do it that way as well, but never notice other people, mind we have breakfast first and do not rush about.

 

So I guess the queues are gone.

[wowzz]

10 minutes ago, Scratchrat said:

For me it's more that if I book with the ship, Im guaranteed not to get back late and miss the ship lol

 

Also, if I don't like the tour or something went wrong, I can get it resolved onboard right away rather than have to wait a week and contact the tour company and go through that rigmarole 

I can understand your concern, but unless you are going on a lengthy road journey (the trip to Kuala Lumpur springs to mind) I think that the chances of missing the ship are remote. 

As regards something going wrong, if you pick the right tour company/guide, read the reviews etc, it is highly unlikely that you will be disappointed. And you'll probably find that P&O,  like most cruise companies, do not help that much if things go wrong on one of their tours. Everything is sub-contracted out, P&O take an enormous cut, and to be honest, aren't all that bothered if things are not great. 

The other reason I hate organised tours, is that the timings are dictated to you. We like to spend as much or as little time in each place as we choose. Plus you don't have to suffer the obligatory visit to the souvenir shop!

 

[wowzz]

7 minutes ago, mercury7289 said:

We do it that way as well, but never notice other people, mind we have breakfast first and do not rush about.

 

So I guess the queues are gone.

Another reason to take a private tour - no rushing!

[Scratchrat]

Just now, wowzz said:

I can understand your concern, but unless you are going on a lengthy road journey (the trip to Kuala Lumpur springs to mind) I think that the chances of missing the ship are remote. 

As regards something going wrong, if you pick the right tour company/guide, read the reviews etc, it is highly unlikely that you will be disappointed. And you'll probably find that P&O,  like most cruise companies, do not help that much if things go wrong on one of their tours. Everything is sub-contracted out, P&O take an enormous cut, and to be honest, aren't all that bothered if things are not great. 

The other reason I hate organised tours, is that the timings are dictated to you. We like to spend as much or as little time in each place as we choose. Plus you don't have to suffer the obligatory visit to the souvenir shop!

 

considering my Iona cruise is going to many city destinations and I chose Select for the shuttles, I think I'm likely to just go do my own exploration. A couple of excursions do appeal though for the places harder to get to

[wowzz]

Just now, Scratchrat said:

considering my Iona cruise is going to many city destinations and I chose Select for the shuttles, I think I'm likely to just go do my own exploration. A couple of excursions do appeal though for the places harder to get to

Seems like a plan.  

[terrierjohn]

43 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Very, very rarely do we do P&O tours. If there is a tour or sight we especially want to do, we find a private company or individual and book with them in advance. I know it's "snobby" but walking past everybody lined up in queues to get on a bus, while we get into a private car, gives me a certain "frisson" !

That frisson will probably be the look of daggers from all the tour passengers.😁

[Eddie99]

For cities it might be worth doing an online search for Free Walking Tours.

We’ve done them in Dublin, Rotterdam and Amsterdam.  Book online but don’t pay anything - just tip your guide (well, I would advise)  at the end of the tour.

We’ve found them excellent 

 

Or just do some online research to allow you to find something you’ll love.

 

 

[wowzz]

8 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

That frisson will probably be the look of daggers from all the tour passengers.😁

They would be even angrier if they knew that our car and private driver cost less than their tour on a bus with 50 other people!

[zap99]

10 minutes ago, Eddie99 said:

For cities it might be worth doing an online search for Free Walking Tours.

We’ve done them in Dublin, Rotterdam and Amsterdam.  Book online but don’t pay anything - just tip your guide (well, I would advise)  at the end of the tour.

We’ve found them excellent 

 

Or just do some online research to allow you to find something you’ll love.

 

 

No everyone does research. We did a local tour in Antigua that went to Nelson's Dockyard. When we got there the driver said " we will be here for 45 minutes". Why asked the obnoxious American Lady,what's here. I said why come on a trip to English harbor if you don't know what's here. She said " it was only 25 bucks".

Edited June 9, 2020 by zap99
Spellcheck

[ohnonotmeagain]

I have found that once off the ship all the sights and attractions are covered by local tour operators at the dock side. These tend to be the same as P & O's just cheaper. We then do want we want, when we want. Aim to be back at least 1/ 1.5 hours before ship departs. 

Sometimes only want  a half day trip if feeling lazy or if pouring with rain, can't really do that if pre booked and paid for. 

[KnowTheScore]

1 hour ago, Scratchrat said:

How far in advance before your cruise do you tend to book excursions?  Or do you wait til on board?

Maybe you don't book at all and just do things on your own? Eager to hear!

 

First timers tend to book lots of excursions not realising either how good/bad they are nor what they can actually do themselves at ports.  That's how we started.

 

Today we don't take any excursions with P&O.   We have found that they are generally very poor value for money and good excursions are few and far between.  It wasn't always thus but over the years excursions have suffered quality loss the same as everything else.

 

Much depends on your specific cruise, where you are going, how long it takes to get to places and safely get back to the ship before it sails and so on.  Also depends on your personal circumstances, whether you can walk well etc.

 

If we do book an excursion, we do it before we sail because it will be one that we know books up quickly. 

 

If we are travelling to Livorno or Civitavecchia (for Pisa or Rome) then we generally take a P&O transfer excursion as the journey is 1.5 hrs each way and we would not want to risk taking public transport to get there ourselves.  Others do make their own way though on trains and have done so successfully and much cheaper than the excursion.

 

In Naples we would just get on the "tube" train down to Sorrento which is a very picturesque journey passing Vesuvius and Pompeii and costs just 6 euros for a ticket.   A P&O excursion by coach would cost you probably £40 a person.   A huge rip off imho.

 

Where ever we now go we generally walk off the ship and walk into towns / cities or take the free shuttle bus to local drop off points.   We've often taken taxis in Lisbon, Portugal when bus queues are long which helps support that local business.

 

We've done close to 40 P&O cruises and taken many excursion in that time and I can honestly say that probably no more than 3-5 of them have been stand-out memorable trips.  The rest are just "meh" and for us are no longer worth the money.

 

Of the standouts there is the "Taste Of Tuscany" trip which visits a farm/vineyard with plenty of fabulous wine and tapas put on.  Whether it still goes to the same place I don't know.

 

The "Bike Glide" at Alicante was excellent.  Free wheel cycling from the top of a mountain down windy roads with breath taking views then a bus to take you back to the top to then cycle down the other side and ending up in a local tavern for free local wine and tapas.

 

We have learned to avoid taking guided tour excursions which for us are painfully boring and mundane.  We were forced to take one last year when we wanted to visit Seville (from Cadiz) and all the basic transfer excursions had sold out.   The guide was adamant she was going to visit all the places and give us all the spiel and that we MUST go into the cathedral and endure more spiel.   We were desperate to just leave the group and roam free but the guide would not allow it.  By the time we had finished we only had about 1.5 hrs to explore the lovely place.  :-(

 

Roaming free is imho the best option. 

 

In Dubrovnik we jump straight onto a local ferry service costing £12 that takes you down the beautiful coast to the village of Cavtat.   Spend a few hours there, have lunch over-looking the bay and then come back, wander around the Dubrovnik city centre and then back on-board.  No need for any excursions.

 

Most places in the Mediterranean are simple walk-offs or shuttle bus rides.   Cadiz, Barcelona, Cartagena, Valencia, Malaga, Malta, Corfu, Dubrovnik, Split, Kortula, Koper, Kotor, Venice etc etc 

 

All depends what you are looking for and your personal circumstances.

 

A better way to acquire your information would be to post your itinerary here and ask others what they do in those ports.  You'll get a raft of great ideas of places to go, how to get there and what to do there.

 

Cheers

 

 

[zap99]

46 minutes ago, Scratchrat said:

considering my Iona cruise is going to many city destinations and I chose Select for the shuttles, I think I'm likely to just go do my own exploration. A couple of excursions do appeal though for the places harder to get to

If you have a look at " ports of call " on this site you will get a few good tips. You may also find some people on your roll call can assist.

[wowzz]

11 minutes ago, KnowTheScore said:

We were forced to take one last year when we wanted to visit Seville (from Cadiz) and all the basic transfer excursions had sold out.   

Seville is our favourite city in Spain, but been forced to walk around the Cathedral is just a waste of time. So many other fascinating places to see. That's whe we don't do tours either.