Go with the flow or do it alone? How to handle excursions while in ports.

Where to even start? With our In It Forever principle we talk about how the most important part to anything is the EVER. Those last four letters in the word that stand for: Experience, Value, Engagement and Relevance. If an excursion while in port can fit into all of these areas then go for it! After all this trip is about making new experiences and seeing parts of the world you either haven’t been to before or finding new ones to check out. We’ll be talking a lot about various ports that our family have visited and what we’ve done in future posts not to mention interviewing you our readers on some of your favorite with tips and tricks thrown in.

Let’s start with the age old question of, “Do I need to book my excursion through the cruise line?”

There are pros and cons to booking your excursion through the cruise line. The pro’s being that someone else has done the work for you, you’ll be with others from the cruise that maybe you’ve gotten to know, you’ll most likely be seeing some of the best the island has to offer and most importantly you ARE guaranteed to not miss the ship! Now the cons. You’ll be with others from the cruise that maybe you’ve gotten to know (had to!), your excursion can be canceled for any number of reasons at the last minute (even when they don’t make sense to you), pricing is usually higher than if you did it on your own, and most importantly in this area you are NOT guaranteed to get back to the ship by the time it sails.

So that last one I talked about, the whole ARE/NOT guaranteed to get back to the ship, what is that about? When you do an excursion and it’s purchased through your cruise line you are guaranteed to not miss the boat when it sails away. Example: say you arrive in port at 7am. You will most likely be ready to disembark anytime between 8-9am and depending on your excursion will have a set time to do so. The cruise will tell you that you need to be back on board by 4pm for a 4:30 or 5pm sailing roughly. If your excursion is running late the boat will wait. If you did whatever excursion you wanted on your own you will be waving bon voyage from the dock if you miss it. We have actually seen people running to get on the ship! And if you’ve missed the boat ever, we definitely want to talk to you! Make sure to send us an email to contact@cruisingwiththefamily.com.

With all that we have done it BOTH ways. I’ve done more excursions through the cruise line as a first-time cruiser because I was so afraid to miss the boat. However, the more that I’ve visited the islands the more comfortable I’ve become in realizing that I can easily do it on my own for a fraction of the cost and I’ve never once been afraid of missing the boat. When it was just Dan and me cruising the cost didn’t matter as much yet when you start to add in the family the costs can skyrocket! One plus side to note (and check with your cruise line) kids under a certain age typically don’t need excursion tickets and are FREE. I have to admit our next cruises we now have to pay for our entire family of 4 and that’s going to be a tough one to swallow!

Know that no matter what you decide to do have FUN! It’s a personal preference. If budget matters look to the tours that cost a little less or use that onboard credit you may have gotten when booking the cruise! Find tours that will be age appropriate for all involved and make sure to do the research something as simple as glass bottom boats don’t always allow kids under a certain age (4 at one port we went to recently) to go on board so that was nixed off our list!  If you want to just relax on a beach when you get to whatever island in most cases you can do it on your own and that’s what we’ll be talking about!

We will touch base on excursions in coming posts on the following ports (and are always adding more):

1. Antigua
2. Baltimore, Maryland
3. Bermuda
4. Boston, Massachusetts
5. CocoCay (Royal Caribbean Private Island)
6. Costa Maya, Mexico
7. Cozumel, Mexico
8. Freeport/Grand Bahama Island
9. Grand Turk
10. Half Moon Cay (Carnival Private Island)
11. Halifax, Nova Scotia
12. Key West, Florida
13. Labadee, Haiti
14. Miami, Florida
15. Nassau, Bahamas
16. Port Canaveral, Florida
17. Roatan, Honduras
18. San Juan, Puerto Rico
19. St. John, New Brunswick
20. St. Kitts, West Indies (Lesser Antilles)
21. St. Lucia, West Indies (Lesser Antilles)
22. St. Maarten, West Indies (Lesser Antilles)
23. St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands
24. Tortola, British Virgin Islands

Smooth Sailing