Thread: Private/Independent Excursions

Patty, you're right, highly unlikely at a ship's tour would go to a place that was not open!

Awkward situation. Several hours wasted and I bet that the cab driver still demanded payment.

Had a client who pre-booked a rental car and did their own thing - for 4 people, cost less and they had more fun. Got to see and do everything they wanted to do in Hilo.

Pete

And they drive on the correct side of the road. I know a couple that did the same thing for a week. In England.

Driving on the 'correct' side of the road, as they like to say in Jolly Old England, is a real hoot!!

We did it in Barbados and every time we made a turn, the co-pilot would immediately start yelling, "Left side! Left side!!!"

Everything was reversed! I went to signal a left turn and the windshield wipers came on!! It started to rain and I signaled a right turn!

Talk about having a good reason to hire a taxi!

Pete

We have gotten a few excursions at the pier (have only cruises the Carribbean) and have had very good luck. Three of our best were at Tortola, St Lucia and Cartenaga. Got tours that were also ones offered on the ship and ended up paying a lot less and actually had better tours.

We have also taken tours with the ship and some were okay others not so much. But definitely if the tour is one that is a full day we always go with the ship.

If time is tight we'll book through the ship but otherwise we prefer to book independently. Now, of course, we read reviews and check out who we're booking with to make sure they're reputable but as far as how far away the excursion is from the ship...makes no difference to us...just get us back in time of course!

Lots of people do get rental cars in Hawaiian ports (we did for our land trip there), but my hubby wasn't interested in doing any driving on our last cruise.

Originally Posted by Cruise Planner

In 38 cruises we've only booked 2 excursions through the cruise lines - much prefer to do our own thing. We will use independents as well as just wing it when we get to port, depending on where and when.

Some places we don't go far, whle others we've gone quite a distance. For example, in Europe, there are several ports that are quite a distance from the city - Paris, Athens, Berlin, London, Cairo, etc, just to mention a few. If you don't want to go far, you won't get to see much of anything.

Pete

I agree with Pete, I've only done one from the cruise line. Everything else I've done on my own. To me it's just to easy to do and you don't get herded around.