Planning excursions?!

[Nancyk529]

Help! I just read, on one of the threads, about pre-planning excursions. We are sailing August 2, 2004 on the Fascination to Key West and Cozumel and I was wondering if we can book excursions before we sail or do we wait until we board the ship? I see excursion info on the Carnival site for Cozumel but none for Key West. Why?

2. Does anybody recommend booking more than one excursion or should we book one and then go to a beach?

3. I was looking into the Jeep excursion on Cozumel. Do we drive it or are there a bunch of other people in the Jeep with us?

These boards have been a great help--thanks!

[cpayne]

We always pre-book our excursions for a number of reasons....

1. So excited I can't wait!
2. Some excursions may sell out and by booking ahead of time you have a better chance of getting the excursions you wanted.
3. I spend my time prior to my vacation researching the various things I want to do. That way on vacation I don't waste any "fun" time doing this. I get on the boa and am ready to go!
4. We don't book our excursions through the cruise line. We research tour operators on the internet and book through them. Many of them will give you a discount (usually 10%) if you book and pay in advance or if you pay with cash when you arrive. You usually have to ask for this discount, though. They don't typically advertise that.

As for booking more than one excursion per stop, that's entirely up to you and how busy you want to be. It also depends on the excursion and how much time each one takes.

[Boo's Mom]

Nancyk529...... It is possible that it may be too late to book an excursion through the internet. The cruiselines will have a deadline (like within 10 days of sail date)...in which you need to have the excursions purchased.

Otherwise, you will need to book them once onboard.

[cruisinqt]

I used to book through the cruise ship but now I book over the internet with private companies. I go to the ports of call section here on the CC boards and click on the ports of call I'm going to. I find lots of info. about what excursions are the best and which companies are more reliable. Then I go ahead and book. I don't like how the cruise ship excursions are so full. They pile you into a crowded bus and you don't get much individualized attention.

With an excursion through a private company you save money. You also ride in a small van with just a few people. You get more individualized attention and you don't have to wait your turn because of the large crowd. I enjoy these type of excursions better and I save money.

Carnival doesn't have as many excursions for Key West, but if you go to the ports of call sections here on the boards you will get some excursion info. there. You can book more than one excursion, just make sure how long each one takes. You don't want to miss the boat when it leaves. Most people just book one excursion because they want to leave some time for shopping, eating out, and the beach.

Carnival only books their excursions once you are on the ship. So you still do have time to book with them. Or you could start researching excursions on the ports of call section and book your excursions privately. It's up to you.

[Shelli]

Speaking of Key West, I have a vague recollection, when we sailed on Fascination a few years back, that the "Conch Train" excursion in Key West was priced significantly higher than one would pay buying it directly at the train (it's not really a train) depot itself. And the depot is smack dab in the middle of town, so it's really easy to find.

The same goes for the glass bottom boat, which we took (on our own)-- it was much cheaper than booking thru the cruise line, and you didn't need reservations or anything.

[serene56]

It may have been my thread asking about preplanning. I am an over planner and tend to get carried away. People that are cruising with me tell me I cant enjoy my cruise because I plan all my excursions. I plan because I like to know my options. On my first cruise we just winged it because I didnt know about these boards.
Now after reading I know that private excursions are cheaper then the cruise ships depending on what the excursion is. (like the Tulum tour- I did it using the cruiselines)
Port of calls board located here on cruise critic can give you wonderful information about whats available at the differnt ports.

There will be operators standing by on each pier once you get off the ship. Just know what youmay want to do when you get there so you can look for the vendor selling that excursion.

check out [url]www.cozumelinsider.com[/url] and look under activites.

Jeeps- we wanted to do jeeps but tey hold 4 people so we would have to share with two others and I didnt feel comfortable with someone else driving me. (I dont know when they had their last drink) I didnt feel safe-- that is only me and I have read where people had a ball

[Nancyk529]

Thanks for all of your help! I booked the Fury Cataran (sp?) I just noticed that my itinerary has changed. Fascination was scheduled for Key West, but now it just says "fun day at sea". Is this typical? I was hoping to go to Key West, but since Cozumel is the big prize, I guess I am not too disappointed.

[serene56]

I see the facination flip-flopping every other week.. One week doing only cozumel and the other going to Cozumel and grand cayman.

[cruisinqt]

In my opinion, skipping Key West is no big loss. On our last cruise, it was our least favorite port.:( There weren't many excursions to choose from. We just ended up shopping for a while and then eating dinner. You can do that anywhere. I think Key West is more of a party place than anything else. Most of the people I talked to went to one of the local bars and got wasted. I didn't hear of any great excursion experiences. It may have just been the cruise we were on, but Key West didn't impress us much. :( I think RCI agrees because it just took Key West off of the Rhapsody's itinerary for 2005. Now they will be going to Montego Bay, Jamaica instead. :) We enjoyed the Rhapsody but thought Key West was a dud. But since they have switched over to Jamaica, I think I may try the Rhapsody again.:D

It is not the norm for a cruise ship to change it's itinerary like that. Most cruise ships keep the same itinerary for years. But Serene is right, the Fascination is a bit unusual and tends to change it's itinerary regularly. The good news is you will get to spend lots of extra time at Cozumel. And Cozumel is fantastic! It is one of our favorite ports. You will love it!:D

[Nancyk529]

Thanks crusinqt! I was sort of bummed about not seeing the Hemmingway home, but I'm really looking forward to Cozumel now. I booked a 2 reef snorkle trip and plan to go to Paradise Beach. What is a must see/do in Cozumel and what do I absolutely need to purchase from Cozumel? I have heard vanilla is good, but I don't go through that much vanilla in a year. Any ideas?

[ASM]

I, on the other hand, LOVE Key West. And no, I'm not really a party person. For those who are still going there, I recommend going to Key West on the internet and prebooking your own Conch tour. Not only is it cheaper than the ship's, it's cheaper than sold at the booth in Key West. There are also coupons good on such things as Key Lime pie-frozen on a stick. YUMMM!
And the Hemingway house is great-do the tour!

[smudge's mom]

I enjoyed Key West. We had vacationed in Key West 10 years prior to our port stop, but I found I saw a lot more things doing the ship excursion than I did when we vacationed there.

Key West is one place I would definitely do "on my own." Now, you have to understand that we hardly ever do anything on our own - we usually do ship sponsored excursions. We did a ship's excursion the last time we were in Key West, but found that everything we visited, we could've walked up to and did on our own - at our own pace.

Check out what the ship's excursion is about - what places they recommend seeing - and then do it all on your own. I doubt you would need to pre-plan any part of the day. All the venues had kiosks where you could buy your tickets and most places were near the port. They had an excursion bus with a kiosk near the port - you could buy your own ticket and have the same bus tour we did through the ship. We enjoyed the aquarium, too.

Don't forget your Key Lime pie. :D

[smudge's mom]

BTW - I forgot about the cats - Don't miss the Hemmingway house.

[Nancyk529]

Why have some ships opted out of Key West? I just wish they would have told me sooner so I would have had time to book another cruise or not have planned anything at Key West.

[smudge's mom]

I hadn't heard ships were "opting out" of Key West. I haven't heard about any problems.

When cruise lines, make itinerary changes, there could be any number of reasons.

Maybe port fees have increased to a ridiculous amount - maybe there are just too many ships docked on the day your ship wants to dock and there is no room - maybe it's just too much of a hassle if the ship needs to tender or dock at an off site dock - maybe the time in port isn't long enough for the ship's excursions to be profitable - maybe the tour companies are giving the cruise line trouble. With enough complaining from pax about problems, cruise lines probably decide it isn't worth the effort to stop at a problem port.

Or maybe the itinerary has just gotten "stale."

Change of itineraries after booking is a real problem - especially if you book your own excursions. I guess a word of caution would be to wait until the last minute to book excursions and only do so after checking into whether the itinerary has changed.

No matter what, I feel sorry for those pax whose favorite port is removed from their itinerary. What a disappointment for them.