I agree about the fitness aspect - and being prepared for the weather! On an excursion to Cinque Terre, several folks boarded the bus that morning in high heels and very light clothing. The forecast that autumn day was cold, windy, and chances of rain, and most of us onboard had apparently read the memo. These people were shocked at the weather when we arrived, upset over having to walk down a steep cliff to access the first town, and were more livid that it was raining when we got down there. Completely unprepared, they began making the excursion uncomfortable for everyone with the constant complaints. They demanded that the excursion be cancelled and that everyone should go back to the ship. They were told they could head back themselves if they wanted, at their expense, which caused more shouting. Several of us thought there was going to be a physical fight, these people were that angry! Eventually, the group split off and went elsewhere for the better part of the day. If people want to ruin an excursion for themselves, fine. But to not fully read the fitness requirements or look at the weather for the destination that day -- and expect the rest of us to cancel because of their lack of preparedness - is completely foolish and narcissistic.
My group excursion to the Coliseum in Rome included some elderly parents of guests who complained about the exertion level and wanted to just cut the tour short and head back to the bus! The guide was sympathetic but fortunately allowed me the time to look at Constantine's Arch and go to the souvenir shop, that we otherwise were being pressured to skip.
@@noname-JS His complaint was more about being prepared than being older & unfit. They didn't realize that it was going to rain and wore heels which is ridiculous! Cinque Terra is very hilly. I spent several days there years ago.
I second checking the required fitness level. We had an excursion cut short because most of the people were not capable of the excursion. I did get a credit back and apologies but it was incredibly frustrating for everyone.
I was on one that had been rated by the locals because they hadn’t been to the port previously. It also had a typo in it, but it was corrected before the tour. There is a difference between .5 miles and 5 miles!
@@ilovesparky13 This description did describe a billygoat type scramble trail, but you had about 2.5 hours to do it. I could crawl a half mile in that length of time! When it was corrected to 5 miles and still described as moderate is when I found out that the rating was not the cruise ships!
@@ilovesparky13 On Celebrity, Oceania, Holland, and Az they always indicate if it is flat or hilly surfaces (with lots or some steps), in their write ups.)
Fred Olsen are terrible for that. Did a couple of walking tours with them. So many people couldn't physically keep up and tour was cut short. Guide spent all his time bringing up the rear.
I just don’t understand why “meet up” times are so hard for people to adhere to. Why would anyone want to hold up their group by being late? This kind of inconsiderate behavior would deter me from doing any group excursions. I’d rather explore on my own if this kind of behavior is common.
Because these days, people are late for work, leave early to go home, take longer breaks, talk on the phone when they're supposed to be working, late for appointments, leave drivers waiting....BUT when someone does it to THEM... they have a meltdown. 🙄
Thank you, thank you for asking people to look at the activity level and read the description of the tour!! We have been on two different excursions where people were barely able to walk or climb stairs and yet insisted on doing a demanding tour, even when the guide suggested to them otherwise. Needless to say, they held up the entire group and we missed seeing several sites that were on my list. Very disappointing for us, our group and very inconsiderate of them! Wasted our money and ruined our day!
Gary, have you ever read "Innocents Abroad" by Mark Twain? It was about his "cruise" on the USS Quaker City to Europe, the Mediterranean, Holy Land and the Black Sea. Although Twain wrote it 150 years ago, you will notice a lot of similarities to today.
My daughter and I took a 5-hour tour of Bermuda through Norwegian. Our driver was fantastic! He had an itinerary, but we were the 5th of 5 buses. He reversed the order of the attractions we visited so we wouldn't run into crowds at every attraction. He added in little extra areas, like his own neighborhood so he could explain specific instances of life on Bermuda. Lastly, because we were all prompt in getting back to the bus on time (I say bus, it was more the size of an airport shuttle), we got an unscheduled stop at a small beach area to step in the water for a few minutes. Easily the best tour I've ever taken. We wouldn't have had him if we'd booked on our own, because his company contract with Norwegian only on cruise visit days. No private tours. It worked out beautifully for us.
One exception to booking excursions outside the cruise line is when timing is very tight. You really WANT to book through the cruise line since they WILL wait for you to return. Best example of this I can think of is visiting the ruins of Tulum if making port in Cozumel. It's a long ride over on a ferry to the mainland, then a long bus ride to the ruins, then reverse it all. The cruise line won't even offer it on shorter port-stops, and with good reason. Even with a long stop, say 8 hours, the timing is tricky and I've seen the returning ferry pull up directly at our ship and return the passengers back onboard through the tender gangway, on the other side from the dock, to save time.
Soooo true, I just got back from a cruise & booked all excursions via cruise ship. On the Belize excursion to Mayan ruins we were one hour late returning to ship, but ship waited of course. & on our stop at Grand Cayman the waves were big so many excursions were cancelled, so we got a full refund. Can’t say that would be the case if booked independently. I feel like it just makes things easier & less worry to book with the cruise line, even if it’s more pricey:-)
@@michelleperry7774 most independent tour operators will give a full refund if the excursion is cancelled due to weather (and many will guarantee it on their websites)...but there is no guarantee and it can be hard to find recourse if they decline.
1st Tip: so true, what the cruise lines themselves offer heavily relies on the availability of local guides and sights and how many people at once can be taken there. And definitely make sure it is accessible to all your needs, be they physical or merely interest-focused. You can have an amazing time on land with just a bit of research. 2nd Tip: I cannot stress this point enough. Check the info given for the excursion. The cruise line can't do more than right out tell you. Can lead a horse to water, can't make it drink. And generally read everything they send you. It solves so many problems and answers so many questions before they even come up. Especially if you check before you pack your bags, you can decide about things like whether to pack sturdy shoes based on the excursion offerings. 3rd: True lol 4th: Yes yes yes yes yes! By the time you get on board, a lot of stuff might be completely booked.
At 10:30, I totally agree with you about respecting meet-up times, especially if the tour/excursion has multiple stops. Each delay waiting for tardy passengers only eats away from the time allocated to upcoming stops, and it's extremely disrespectful to all those other passengers who somehow managed to get to the bus on time. I confess that I smiled a little inside when you said this particular family had to bear the additional expense to get back to the ship, though I suppose they were only annoyed and didn't have the decency to be embarrassed or shamed.
The reason I don't like to book a tour BEFORE boarding ship is the cruise line IMMEDIATELY charges my Credit-Card. We usually receive generous amount of OBC and would like to use our OBC to pay for the tours. Conversely... most private tour operators don't require pre-payment.
I’m amazed how little people read all the info available (and using basic things like map to check distance) I have some mobility issues so am very wary of any excursion labels above low activity level. One my current cruise I only booked one cruise excursion transfer to the beach as I want the security of transport later in the trip when I know I will have less energy to do that myself. I have use the cruise excursions to give me ideas, I found there are cable cars in one port from the cruise excursion list so I’m planning to doing that but not with the cruise line and the cable car are only one part of a much more energetic trip I know I won’t be able to do.
I have sailed on 80 cruises since 1972 and think I am savvy but this video has given me more insight. I like that you not only tell us dos and don’ts but especially the resources we can use..like Whats in Port..thx🙂🚢
@@gratefultube no not that skilled..old school, i have pictures dating back to 1972 when i first started. I said when I retired i would organize all those pics..still haven’t but still cruising😂🚢
We are still planning both our first Princess Cruise and our First Alaskan Cruise in June 2024. None of the offered excursions appeal to us yet but we still have time. Most are way overpriced for the value but, in general, gems can be found. I think one of the largest mistakes people make is believing they have to take an excursion to begin with. Cruise ships are rarely in port long enough to really appreciate the port destination. You can still have an unforgettable cruise without adding on excursions.
Actually for Ketchikan you do not really need an excursion, but I recommend the Mendenhall Glacier tour in Juneau, it is only a 20 minute drive from town, so an independent operator would be fine or you can take a regular bus. In Skagway do what Gary says and take the White Pass Rail Tour. Enjoy. We have done 3 round trip Vancouver Alaska cruises and a southbound one from Seward to Vancouver. So now we don’t ever book an excursion.
Great tips as always Gary. It seems like every excursion we go on has some people on it that cannot keep up or are not in good enough physical shape for the excursion.
This video is perfect. Our last cruise was a simple Pacific Coastal cruise. It seemed like my husband and I were the only ones that packed for fifties and rain. We saw a lot of people who were dressed for 70-80s and sun. It can get cold, sometimes very cold in even California.
Good point about the fitness level. We did a Viking River Cruise and were grouped with people with walkers on a strenuous tour. It was a complete waste of time.
Gary, I think you've just saved me £2000 for family excursions on our first cruise. If I ever meet you onboard I definitely owe you a drink. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
As a solo, female cruiser I always take the cruise line excursions. I’m not as adventurous as many are to book outside the cruise line. I’m aware of companies like Viator and Shipmate Shore Excursions, and I learned that they use the same companies as the cruise line, so maybe one day I’ll try one of them.
I agree with all you have said. I am off to Iceland next June. Before I booked the Puffin island tour which was very expensive I researched which months the Puffins were there. The cost is worth it as I know I will see them
Another vote for checking the details. We did a Snuba excursion in the Caribbean and a woman in my group was shocked that she was expected to get her face wet! Luckily an instructor went with our group or we would have been stuck on shore.
I watch a LOT of your video's and this was one of the very best and most helpful I've seen so far. Side Note: In Puerto Rico we booked a walking tour that was billed as sternuous. We were a little bit in denial of our age and ended up having a hard time keeping up. Was both humbling for us and a little anoying to some of the others who were younger. Moral, be realistic about what you can do. LOL
Great video as always. The one thing I have noticed is that the description of the excursions offered by the cruise line don’t always go into great enough detail or are not totally accurate. Sometimes even Guest Services is not sure about every aspect of the excursion. So it’s good to research as much as possible beforehand. Just FYI: In this video you point to another follow up video, but the video link doesn’t appear in this video. I don’t know if you’re aware of that.
We took an excursion in Cozumel. The ride to the sites was a flatbed truck with wooden seats bolted in. No seat belts. The driver of the truck drove very very fast.
All good points especially the weight limit one. Always check to see if there is a weight limit for any activity you want to do and know that it will be enforced. Also look to see if it is handicapped ♿ accessible if you are in need of assistance.
The problem with checking if something is handicap accessible, is that there is usually very little information on accessibility, at least IME. Not all cruise lines mention anything about it on their websites, even if it is a drop down option, and many private operators don't mention it either.
That's what has stopped my Mum and Aunt continuing their cruising. Both are now on walkers and cannot do the excursions; although they love being on ship.
In Gibraltar the shore people explicitly asked the tour company if they’d take my wheelchair. When we got to the buses they wouldn’t! They did offer to help us arrange a taxi tour, but they are harder to get in and out of. We chose just not to go as we’d been there a couple of times and I’d just found a piece that we hadn’t been to. Nbd.
I've now been on a P&O cruise and a Marella, and found the marella excursions so much cheaper and better all round- the only issue being that you can't choose your departure time, and when there were delays disembarking the ship this cut into the excursion time and was not extended, despite not needing to be back at the ship for hours, but this was mainly to do with the tour guides needing to collect another group. Marella is more expensive than P&O for most cruises, but has a lot more inclusions and cheaper add ons like excursions so I was pleased with the price overall. I guess this is obvious but you can also have wildly different experiences on the same tour as others on different buses, depending on the guide. I did a full day tour to ancient ruins and the guide talked a lot, and then only gave us around a minute at each point to actually look around and take photos- it was great that he was so knowledgeable and passionate, and others really enjoyed this, but I needed more time to look around and experience things for myself.
Great points but there are exceptions to every rule. My recent windstar cruise changed its itinerary in Colombia a few weeks beforehand but did not have the excursions available for the new date until embarkation si I booked with shore excursions group for the extra day in Cartagena. It turned out the tour was actually $10 less thru windstar!
A month before my cruise balance is due and one of the excursions in my shopping cart was already sold out, i was able to choose a later departure time, thanks for the heads up Gary.
We had actually paid our final balance to go to Alaska with Viking in June, a lot of our chosen excursions were sold out because timing of booking excursions is related to your status of cabin, we chose to cancel and lost a lot of money.
Hey Gary, another great video, I have been on 17 cruises on four different cruise lines. I never use cruise ship excursions anymore because they take you places that are a waste of time. They drag you to shops that I don’t want to spend money in, they drag you to see a Hokey farm or lifestyle setting somewhere whether it’s Iceland, or New Zealand. Or have tea at some shop somewhere. I have for the last two cruises purchased my shore excursions exclusively on my own and saved thousands. More importantly, it targets those things of interest to me while saving money.
On our first Hawaii cruise we wanted to do whale watching. The cruise line offered it but I decided to wait until we got there and see if such a trip was available. I found one at the dock and booked it. It was on a larger boat than the ones the cruise line used and lunch was included. I don't recall the price difference but it was a better experience. On that same cruise we rented a car in Hilo and drove to the volcano park. I made sure we would return to the ship 1 hour before the time they wanted us back - very important of you go on your own.
Once again wonderful information. I feel it’s always the Great Debate wether to choose what the cruise lines are offering or roll the dice and go with an independent. We are in the middle of this decision as we cruise to the Mediterranean this year and have so many choices to choose from. I really appreciated your detailed points on why or why not to go with the cruise or independent company. We really enjoy your videos and your information which helps us make better choices on our trips. 😊
Having multiple languages (Spanish, English, French, Italian, Portuguese) that I can understand eases the tour dilemas … I’ve walked everywhere incl into an elementary school in China. BUT will readily say that THE port I will never again venture off is: Colon Panama. As-per-usual I got off the protected tourist area, and while walking I could see that the area looked devastated. So I went looking for a church to explore. ( I’m not religious but usually churches are interesting. While I walked looking for such, locals would warn me that “lady you should not be walking around here”… so us 2 ladies decided to head back. Meanwhile a young couple from the ship also joined us in heading back. If you look at your books, the ones that are about 10 yrs old say “”we recommend you don’t walk the town”… the more recent ones say “if you venture out, you are taking your life chances”… so don’t!
I have to limit my choices because of some issues. I can also say that the fine print tells more about the actual activities. I don’t want to be miserable. I want to have fun.
I've run into major problems with tours when people are "allowed" on and they clearly were not physically fit enough to participate. Rather than excluding them, the tour held everyone up while we waited at each location for the people to catchup. The ship provided NO reimbursement for the tour. Another common issue is dealing with groups that are too large. Our solution is now to book with local tour groups having smaller group size. The only time we consider ship excursions is when travel to the location is quite distant and you need assurance that you will return before departure time.
The cruise ship is a very nice mobile hotel, but the shore excursions are the reason for traveling. Outside of US locations and English speaking locations, I would say that trying to do your own shore excursions require a lot of work, planning and timing. With the Shors Excursions through the cruise line, my only experience is with Holland America and I feel the disclosures provide the right amount of detail, without being fine print requiring legal training to read. Pretty much what Gary said tests with the tourist not paying attention or narcissistic in not being on time (set a.arms on your phones for every timed point).
Having worked for a few years as a coach driver, the point about peoples timekeeping is spot on. I have had dozens of experiences where people have been late back to the Bus. On every trip there is ALWAYS the one couple or family that are late every single time. I have had to leave people behind on a ferry before because we were the lead vehicle and if we didnt move the whole ferry was going to be waiting behind us. Then in Barcelona on a school tour, the group leader went awol at Camp Nou and ended up having to get a taxi to our next visit. As you say it is infuriating. My sister recently had a cruise in Asia and she was telling me that when a certain couple boarded the excursion bus, the other passengers bood them at the start of the day because they were notorious for holding up the tours (it wasn't my sister by the way, she is the most on time person i have ever met)
One problem is that the cruise lines' excursions' ratings are extremely variable. For example, on our recent Oceania cruise Pompeii was listed as "strenuous" or the equivalent. Although there was a great deal of walking and movement, it wasn't as strenuous as others I've seen. There was another excursion listed as "moderate" that was much more strenuous!
The selfishness of people turning up late for meet-up times drives me CRAZY! Do they have NO understanding of how their actions are affecting everyone else? And to do it not just once, but several times! Grrrrr! (At least they got their comeuppance in the end). Loving your vids, by the way, Gary. I have only ever done one 'cruise', and that wasn't really one in the traditional sense (it was going on the Hurtigruten from Bergen to Honningsvåg in Norway). But I'm thinking about doing another, and your channel is really helping me navigate the options and the pitfalls. Thanks!
So relieved to see that Shore Excursions Group guarantees an on-time return, since I had booked a shore excursion with them for an upcoming cruise. The snorkeling option through them better fit our needs, and for a better price, than the luxury sailboat (with a little snorkeling) excursion offered through the cruise line.
They do this to instil fear. Always back well before but some long haul trips shoukd be booked with care. On a RCCL cruise to north qld we know three boats were late from reef and this ship had to depart due to tides. Two days later they rejoined. The ship cant always wait
I checked the White Pass direct. It was $5 cheaper than the Princess cruise - which took me direct from the ship to the train station! Plus Princess had booked most of the train well ahead.
When we went with celebrity our friends went with the celebrity booked trip and paid twice what we paid. They got a cheap glass of bubbly wine and a seperate carriage which was same as others. There is one train! Have never seen a ship exclusive tour yet. Most passengers get hered to same bus that waits for others who book on pier
One exception to booking excursions as soon as they're available is for charter cruises. To give one example, one of the charters I have currently booked opened up regular ship excursions about 4 months ago for a March 2024 sailing. But there are special charter-related activities that opened up much later, some of which had conflicts with the excursions offered by the cruise line. And there are regular events that are also offered by the charter company (concerts, Q&A's, etc.) that are only announced a few weeks prior to sailing. So on those type of charter cruises, I have found it best to wait for the tentative schedule to come out before booking any excursions.
Sadly as a travel advisor I can tell you people DO NOT read ANYTHING! We sent them things, we ask questions that we need answered, too many times we are stuck chasing them! Then because they did not read the details, we get complaints.
We rarely, if ever, go on cruise line excursions, but like you I review several web sites months in advance as to what are the must see places in ports and close by cities.
I guess the only risk you have when booking a tour separate from the cruise line is that the ship will wait if their own tour is late but not for yours 😅 So if you go with a separate tour independently, make absolutely sure that you are back well before boarding deadline, they will not wait!
The worst excursion we did was the first cruise we did, the last day of first Caribbean we did, we decided to do one in Barbados, which took us straight to the airport afterwards, we should have stayed on board until it was our time to get off to use the transport laid on for us to take to the airport, we would have ate better on board . The Asian cruises we did buffet style lunch was included both international style or local so people have the choice of both, and a drink was included
My cruise is in June 2024. I booked all of my excursions already. The June cruise is a quick 7 day Alaska cruise, where some of the time in some of the ports is rather limited. Because of that, I booked excursions with the cruise line. I didn't want to take a chance of missing the ship. I haven't started booking the excursions on my three week October cruise.
Consider the activities based on your party and interests. I had my kids on a cruise and had to select things they would like, beach, swimming, etc. However, tours highlighting history, museums, and the like interest me and my oldest, but not the younger ones.
Thank you. Very good point about height restrictions - normally one (well, someone of my age) associates those with rides but at 6'4" I'm clearly too tall to fit in some of those caves. How do they set the baselines for fitness levels? The fitness level of an average 60-year old is going to be a lot less than that of an average 30-year old. BTW your link to the next video is missing for me.
Sometimes I do wait until getting on the ship to book my excursion because I want to use onboard credit... And they won't let me spend on board credit if I book befor embarking.
Make sure a certain event is open. On an excursion we missed The Grand Bazaar!!! Closed on Sunday. But the excursion made sure to take us to a vendor who sold rugs for at least an hour. Coming all the way from the US to miss this event!!!
regarding fitness levels. i went snorkeling in Tortola. It said it was the highest fitness needed. Nope. It neede just standard snorkeling fitness. There were several obese who did it with no problem
We ran into the opposite problem. The excursion said it was mild activity and we thought it would work for my husband who had just had surgery. Nope. There were rocks to climb and even a rope ladder to navigate. It was certainly disappointing and he had to return to the bus.
I do have one warning about Shore Excursions Group. We booked a tour out of Sydney Nova Scotia with them. The tour operator never showed up and didn't answer their local phone. I had a fight with Shore Excursions Group for over a month for a refund only to find out the operator had not been running the tour for at least a month and neither the local company nor Shore Excursions Group bothered to tell us so we could make other plans. Furthermore SEG fought the refund for a month. Very Disappointing.
I don't getbthe weight limts on zip line. Ive seen huge people getting on these zip lines that are way over the weight limit. I've also seen the same excursions with a max weight limit of 225 and then another one with same excursion has 300 lb weight limit for the same excursion. Don't get it.
Hey Gary, there was no video that popped up when you referred to the video where you'll always go with the cruise line at the end of this video. Could you send me that link please?
Not sure if you sell merch or affiliates... but you know what I would love to buy? a paper atlas book with maps of all common ports in the Caribbean... expansive enough to include many popular excursion areas. I can think of several other helpful pages to include too, but paper maps in a regular-sized book would be great!
One issue with doing independent operator excursions is if the ship for some reason cancels a port at the last minute . Can you always get your money back? This happened to us last October on a Canada /Nee England cruise when da port stop was cancelled due to a bad storm . Fortunately our excursion was via the cruise line so we got a refund . Not sure what would have happen with an independent operator .
When you are disabled, using the cruse line excursions can be the best options because you start and end on the ship and have a guide who is going to be making sure you get back.
On the "must see" issue: everyone has their own individual "must see" items in each port. You might want to see a great cathedral, someone else on the tour wants to see a religious ossuary, and I'm more a third wants to examine the cobblestones for their geological features. No one tour can satisfy all three interests.
There must be a lot of people who need to go to the gym, not on a cruise because I'm a spherical heifer and I've never had a problem keeping up with a tour group so if someone has issues with that they should stay away from the buffet.
I have a question Gary. I’ll be in London for 3 days at the end of February. Do you recommend the hop on hop off bus there? I see mixed reviews for this because of wait times, etc. Thank you!
thanks Gary, love your videos, I just went on a China tour with "trip a deal" and it was horrendous, we were dropped at least 1klm from each activity and had to walk, also, even though our 'tours' were finished for the day, they dropped us at an ultrs expensive shopping centre, for 1.5 hrs, so that we could only get into our accommodation by 5.30/6pm ... this is a very heavily discounted tour company, how they even thought we'd buy Chloe, Valentino, Chanel to Tiffany and Co. Fendi, Givenchy and Dior Homme.....???? this was not a cruise, but WARNING do not book this ... from the queues to see terracotta warriors (I gave up it was just so horrendiously packed, even on a week day) food on Air China was absolutely dreadful .... and I love asian cuisine. Maybe you should do some really good 'tours' this was the worst. I'm never going back to china ... other activities were of the money making kind without telling us, eg., the tea plantation, whereby they sat us down and tried to make us (not me) drink this drEADFUL 'tea' my travel companion was actually sic for 2 days. Then the rest of the gullible bought Bags and Bags of this abomiable brew... pus the visit to a chinese medicine 'university' OMG which I unfortunately succumed to,, more fool me, NEVER AGAIN
I understand what you say about checking the physical level one needs to have for each excursion, but I use a walker and need to sit periodically, plus I cannot walk too far. But often there is no excursion that I want in my “easy” level, so I do struggle to go on the “moderate” excursion level. There is very little choice in the Easy level.
I'm very unfit. I'd not be able to manage any of the walking and steps. Shame. I'll have to make do with looking at youtube travel blogs and google earth to see the sights.
