On average what do you spend on excursions

[oraf7]

What do you normally spend per person on excursions onboard? I know the last cruise between pictures tips and excursions for a family of 5 I almost passed out LOL

[CaptData]

This depends on the region you are going to, ie Alaska and Hawaii have more expensive excursions (even locals cost more on average) then the Caribbean.

 

Average in the Caribbean is around $50.00. Some as low as $35 or as high as $80. I use locals more except in cases where I am going to be a long way from the ship (Tulum).

 

Hawaii was about $100.00. Most excursions here are expensive due to importing alot of things.

 

Alaska is also expensive. Average here would be around $100.00.

 

If you want to do it cheap inquire about local beaches and hit the beach as in most cases it is only a short cab ride for four people would cost maybe $12.00 plus enterance fee if any ( some charge $10/person but you get a chair/umbrella or drinks with it.) . You might try an AI for the day with what is called a day pass which is any where from $30 - $50/per for the day but this includes food and drinks and in some cases water toys (non-motorized) such as snorkle equipment, float mats, little boats ect.

[mueller74us]

3 excursions for 2 people..about $500

[Krazy Kruizers]

Alaska, South America -- can be very expensive. We have spent sometimes $250 for the 2 of us for 1 tour.

[okbowler]

We cruise the Carib. & Mexico mostly. We are seniors and dw has had hip replacement, so we are not as active as we used to be. We usually take sightseeing tours or go to the beach. Rarely do we book our tours thru the ship. We average between $25.00 and $50.00. Bill

[cruisinbuddy]

For DW & I on our last cruise we spent $590.00 for excursions on 5 islands. Now when I took the family on a Disney cruise, well I forget what it was but I was kinda glad we didn't get to Grand Cayman which saved me @ $300.00.

[perkyblue]

DH and I spent $626 ($313 pp) on excursions for our upcoming cruise (Bermuda & Caribbean). We have 4 ports, and purchased a total of 5 excursions through the cruiseline (RCI). This is one area that I won't skimp on. I love the ship, but I cruise for the ports, and with such limited time at port, I want to enjoy each one to the fullest. We also tend to enjoy the more active (and pricey) excursions. I think that the discover scuba diving and helmet diving excursions were the most expensive we bought for this trip.

[caitlyn20]

I usually just buy one tour and wing the rest. I've done many western caribbean, and always go on the Stingray city tour. I've done them enough that I'm comfortable getting a local person.

 

This next cruise, I want to do a scuba tour. Because I'm going to be traveling alone, I'll take the one on the ship. They usually run $100 for the certified scuba. My problem with the ship tours is that you spend so much time waiting and getting to a place, that you don't get to enjoy the tour much.

 

For instance, we took a stingray city tour with Nativeway last time, and we had three stops AND lunch included for less than the cruise lines had for just the one stop at stingray city. Ours included the stingrays, a snorkel stop and the last was a stay at a beach for two hours. So, we felt it was well worth the $$.

 

If I feel I'll be short on time or uncomfortable setting it up with locals, I'll either take a cab to the beach, or book through the cruise line. I try not to have my expenses cost more than the cruise did. :)

[dforeigner]

My wife and I recently spent about $900.00 on excursions on our Western Caribbean cruise.

[mbmadeline]

Since there are so many options and they are so expensive, can someone just recommend the best of the best excursions in each port ... which ones are a must see/must do or best of the excursion companies ... Out of the seven day cruise with ports in Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, and Icy Strait Point ... if we can only afford to do one or maybe two port excursions ... which were the best ones to do in that one or two port towns? Thank you ... I'm just wasting too much time reading through too much material... and not getting anywhere but more confused. Thank you.

[GORDONCHICK]

It depends largely on what you're interested in and the location. We don't usually do many excursions in the Caribbean, but when we cruise to Alaska, that won't be the case. We are actually doing an excursion in all three ports.

[ldog]

We hardly ever do excursions in the Caribbean.

 

In Europe we do excursions if they promise to get us to someplace that would otherwise be a huge, timewasting lineup. We spent $150 each in Rome to see the Sistine Chapel (as well as a general tour of the city including Ancient and Papal Rome). That was dollars well spent.

 

In Egypt we booked a van with others from out roll call and saw way more than the people on the big bus tours for half as much money.

 

In Romania we took an excellent ship tour to ruins far away from the city that we could never have accessed on our own.

 

It's Research, research and gut feeling.

[sayaguru]

I think it depends largely on your finances.

Our first cruise was in the Pacific. We booked Saturday and left the next day (too cheap to pass up). The proviso was that we didn't spend much money. We basically lazed on the beach.

Our Alaskan trip had options from $30-500. Booking direct saved a lot.

One bus trip (Juneau) was $36 on board. When you departed there was a kiosk where it was $22. A 5 minute walk into town and you could get the local bus for $6 each way. The driver was great and very knowledgable. This actually worked out better because th tour was for 1 1/2 hours and I needed longer as I wanted to walk right up to the glacier and waterfall which took an hour. You just came back when you wanted. Buses run every half hour.

[Seago2]

Last four cruises- Caribbean and Mexico- I did all of the excursions myself. So in many ports it was just taxi fare (or bus fare) and entrance to the park or beach if there was a fee. In Belize we did cave tubing, which I booked separately on line ahead of time. That was $45 each- less for the kids. Now we've gotten to the point where we try to spend ZERO- in St. Maarten we walked to a resort beach and just cruised right in. There was a RCI group on a paid excursion there drinking rum punch, etc, and they probably paid $75 a head for it. Then we went into town and ate at a restaurant. St. Thomas we took a bus to Red Hook and took the ferry to St. John. $2.50 for the bus, $10 for the ferry, $15 for the ferry back (right to Charlotte Amalie). If I had the kids with me I probably would have had more of a "plan," but my kids always want to stay on the ship or go to the beach, period.