Lessons learned - Excursions

I have quite a bit I feel I learned about excursion planning. So have a seat, get buckled in, hold on tight.......or at least get yourself a cup of coffee.

Yesterday, we discussed life ON the ship. What you do OFF the ship in port is the other major component impacting the success of your cruise. And the bottom line is, there's no one right answer. There is risk/rerward and a pro/con to every choice so knowing the ins and out of your choices is key. This blog isn't about whether you select the city tour excursion 105A or the wine & cheese excursion 109B. You need to select activities that will be fun for you. This blog is about HOW you book excursions and even WHETHER you book one at all. Each port is different. For each port, you have 4 main choices you need to make before you even decide on an actual port activity.

Choice #1 - are you a traveler or a tourist? I would recommend you read my blog "Travelers vs Tourists" before continuing. It will help you decide at a high level which type of cruiser you are.

Choice #2 - pre book or don't pre book excursions before getting on the cruise.

Choice #3 - if you make the decision to prebook an excursion, should you book through the cruise line or an online company like Viator, Trip Advisor and Tours by locals

Choice #4 - how much do you want to spend and how will cost impact your final activity choice.

One key to all this is knowing what your options are. To do this, you really need to know what's available in each port. The princess website of course offers good information about their ports and excursion options. Viator and other travel sites also offer independent excusions with great details to help you decide. But before you look at those, there's a wonderful website called whatsinport that will give you detailed information and maps about most ports on the itinerary. It's quite comprehensive and easy to navigate. It's the most independent source that will inform you if you even need an excursion in order to enjoy the port.

For me and my wife, if a port offered a lot of fun activities right off the ship, we often opted not to prebook an excursion. For example, Cartegena, Colombia had lots to see and do within a mile of the port and a HOHO (hop on hop off bus) so we didn't prebook an excursion there. On the other hand, Israel had nothing at the port and Jerusalem was about an hour inland, so we prebooked an excursion there. Due to general unrest in that part of the world, we booked through Princess.

Those are generally the two extremes, so how do you decide and what are the advantages/disadvantages of each extreme?

I'm going to jump to #4 since I believe cost drives a lot of decisions. Your most expensive excursion will almost always be booking an excursion thru Princess after embarkation. Once we boarded, prices went up $10-$30 per excursion. In addition, they fill up quickly so if you don't prebook (like 9 months before you embark), you're put on a waiting list. That's the worst since you're in limbo. Lastly, you can always cancel a prebooked princess excursion 48 hours in advance of a port. At least you've locked in the lower price. On the other hand, waiting to book excursions on the cruise gives you the opportunity to get a wealth of information from fellow cruisers to make your final decision. We prebooked just a few princess excursions. The advantage of a princess excursion is its the easiest with the least risk:

• It's all pre-arranged,

• You know the intensity level of activity (if there's a lot of walking or stairs etc) in case you're mobility challenged

• you're picked up and dropped off at the port,

• if the bus is late getting back, the ship will never leave without you.

• If there's an itinerary change because a port is canceled, your excursion fees are automatically refunded to your folio.

The downside is:

• Princess excursions are much more expensive (on avg, about double) than an apples to apples independent tour.

• Many people with ADL (activities of daily living) limitations ignore the intensity warnings. It's a real problem. Sites like Petra are physically taxing, several miles of walking on ancient uneven stone streets, uphill, in very hot weather. The entire group gets delayed ultimately limiting how much you can see in the window of time allotted. And it makes the tour guide's job exceedingly more difficult.

• The weather - let's "tawk" weather for a minute. We were lucky, we had great weather in all but 3 ports. Of course they cancelled 5 ports due to weather so we really had 8, but only 3 where we had the opportunity to disembark. If you're prebooked on a excursion, and you're docked, that excursion is happening with or without you. Seeing any city in the rain...er....um......sucks. So know that's a risk with any prebooked option.

We did princess excursions in Petra, Israel, Turkey, Casablanca, Malta and komodo island.

At the other end of the cost spectrum is experiencing a port completely on your own, no paid tour, no HOHO, no taxi. Many ports offer great tourist info and services. Melbourne Australia is a great example. Melbourne offered a free shuttle from the port to downtown. Once in town, they offered a free trolly within the downtown (about 50 Sq blocks, maybe more). The tennis stadium was open and free, the royal gardens were open and free, the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) museum of was open and free. The list goes on. I'm so happy we chose that option because not only was it cost effective, but I truly believe we experienced the true flavor of the city, it's people, it's food, its vibe. When you do an excursion of any kind, it's generally very controlled so you may not be seeing a destination "without its make-up on". Again, no one right answer. We know we'll be returning to Melbourne someday. It was in our top 5.

We chose no excursion whatsoever in Las Palmas, Naples, Civitavecchia, Puntarenas, Puerto Vallarta, Hualtuco, Moreton island, Arlie Beach, and a few others.

So now you know about the 2 ends of the spectrum, the most expensive, most controlled, least risky and the complete opposite.

Now let's talk about all the great options in the middle. There are 3 in my estimation:

1. Prebooked excursions through a service like Viator, trip advisor and tours by locals

2. Finding a legit tour as soon as you disembark in port

3. Pre-planned with locals you know directly or friends of friends of friends. It's a 6 degrees of separation world and getting smaller everyday. We met friends of friends in Bay of Islands, NZ which we worked out ahead of time. It was one of our best days ever and also in our top 5 ports to return to.

Prebooked excursions through an independent tour operator.

These are a great option generally speaking. You get most of the advantages of a princess excursion at 25%-50% off. These tours often mimick the ship excursions as well so it's easy to compare apples to apples. They often have quality and refund guarantees to make them as appealing as the ship's excursions. We did a great one in Cairns, Australia thru Skyrail Rainforest Cableway Tours. For about $60 usd each, we got transportation from the ship to the cable car which glided us over the UNESCO certified Wet Tropics World Heritage Rainforest and a 2 hr narrated train ride back to port on a fascinating railway. Please refer to that blog for more details and pics; but suffice it to say, it was also in our top 5. AND the exact same tour thru Princess was $210 each.

The advantages of independent prebooked tours are:

• Lower cost

• Fewer mobility impaired people

• Smaller more flexible groups

• Most offer decent cancellation and refund terms

The disadvantages are:

• Itinerary changes create a huge hassle to cancel prebooked independent tours. If there's bad weather (and even if not), the internet was spotty. Email and wifi calling aren't always available. I think we had 7 itinerary changes out of 50 ports. That's 14%, so not rare but not common either.

• If your bus/van breaks down (for example) and you're late returning to the ship, it could leave without you. Some independents will absorb the cost to get you to the next port if it's their fault you missed your ship. Check the fine print.

• You're not guaranteed your money back if you cancel. Check terms and conditions, especially at 24 and 48 hr advance thresholds. In one port, Malaysia, they made a last minute port change from Langkawi to Penang due to strikes and road closures. I don't think we knew 24hrs in advance.

• The independent tour operators can't always pick you up at the port. So you potentially have some extra walking and coordination complexity. This happened to friends of ours in one port....they couldn't find their independent tour guide outside the port gate because there are multiple gates depending on where the ship berths. They eventually found him but they lost time AND had some angst.

Finding a legit tour as soon as you disembark

For us, this turned out to be our favorite option. It carries the greatest risk, but you can mitigate your risk based on certain choices. Rest assured, there will always be people to help you spend your money at every port. You also get to know the weather before you make your choice. Some sights are only fun in good weather. As mentioned above, we liked the HOHOs, but we wouldnt have done one in the rain. We'd have opted for an indoor venue or a taxi. That's the advantage of deciding in the moment. But in good weather, HOHOs were cost effective, you saw a lot, they were convenient and safe. They also all accepted credit cards, eliminating the need for local currency. If I recall properly, we did HOHOs in Cartegena, Sydney, Malaga, Auckland, Dubai and Barcelona. Here's our reflection on a HOHO in Malaga.

Another good option is to hire taxis to take you around. We were NEVER disappointed and always felt safe. My recommendations are:

• Interview the drivers to assess their command of English. Only hire fluent ones.

• Go as 2 couples. The cost is the same whether you are 2 or 4 people and there's additional safety with 4.

• Negotiate - they'll start out high. In the end, we generally paid about $40 usd per hour split between 2 couples. In some cases, that was cheaper than the HOHO.

• The taxi drivers are professionals. They have brochures, flyers and information on attractions. They will offer 2hr, 3hr, 4hr and all day options with added attractions at each level. They are flexible, fun, knowledgeable, courteous, and experienced. We're their ideal clients (cruisers = rich) so they are very invested to ensure we're happy.

• While they mostly LOVE USD and EUROS (if dated within the last 5 years), some wanted local currency only and none accepted credit cards. Keep that in mind if you opt for a taxi.

We used taxi tours in Oman, Gythion, Lanzarote, Thailand and a few others. Technically we also did in Sri Lanka where the taxi was a TukTuk. That was an entirely different experience altogether and well worth it. Only $20 usd/hr.

Lastly, in Turanga, NZ, we found an independent tour operator at a kiosk in port with a roomy Mercedes van and a fantastic agenda to see the UNESCO certified Maori Village and other sights along the way. Just 2 couples including us signed up. From a professionally organized, rigid excursion perspective, it was halfway between a princess tour (extremely rigid) and a taxi (extremely flexible) It was 2 hrs each way which was far but worth it. Our guide made sure I was selected as "chief" in a reenactment, which was great fun. I milked the Chief Andy title for quite some time. That wouldn't have happened with any other type of excursion. It was another perfect day!!! And about 70% of the cost of the equivalent princess tour. For the record, we know one couple who only did this option or taxis at every port. They knew exactly what they wanted to see/do in every port and taxis or small independents are the only way to get that custom experience.

Local Friends of Friends.

If you're lucky, you know people who know people. A guy I work with is a kiwi, meaning from New Zealand. As soon as he knew we would be near his parents, he coordinated them giving us a tour of bay of islands. We had a fantastic day. They were wonderful hosts showing us around. As a thank you, we treated them to an outstanding lunch at a winery they chose. The overall cost was still less than the princess equivalent (by just a tad) and we had such a personal, wonderful, dare I say intimate tour of bay of islands, it was also one of our top 5. Note, I may have more than 5 top 5's. I get to do that. Don't judge 😉.

The Exceptions

There's one other option we had no idea was an option, but shockingly, lots of people did it. There were people who left the ship for 4-14 days and then rejoined at a later port. For example, our friend Hasida who is Israeli, left the ship in Dubai with her husband, flew to Israel and then rejoined the cruise when the ship arrived in Israel. This way she got to spend lots of quality time with her family. But there's no princess credit for the days missed and you have added expenses for flights, hotels and food. There's also another risk. The itinerary could change and the ship might not go to the port you were planning to rejoin at. This happened to 3 couples who left the ship in Bay of Islands, NZ, and planned to rejoin in Wellington, NZ, a long but manageable car ride away. But Wellington got cancelled due to the hurricanes so these couples had to fly (at their expense) to Melbourne Australia to rejoin the cruise. Lastly, over 200 passengers left the ship in Sri Lanka and rejoined in Dubai after going to (drumroll please)...the Taj Mahal. Most went thru a princess excursion that filled up immediately, at a cost of $5k each. Some did the same via an independent tour operator. They all raved about it when they rejoined. I'm still not sure if I'd make that choice, but I'm glad they had a good time. I don't think I would pay to leave paradise to go to a different paradise while still paying for the first paradise.

And there you have it. All my "wisdom" on excursion booking. Of everything I've written, this is the post I most wish I could have seen prior to our trip. If I knew then what I know now......there are about 6 ports we would have made different choices. In particular, Malta. That was a great on-you-own port or taxi. We did a princess excursion at $180 each. That was our most expensive mistake. Barcelona's HOHO also wasn't the best choice for that HUGE city. A 3hr taxi would have been better and then a half day strolling Las Ramblas. But as I said above, our absolute best experiences were with taxis, small and independent tour operators and friends of friends. We'll likely do that mostly in the future.