When to Book Excursions through Your Cruise Line

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The debate is long and wide when it comes to whether or not to book excursions through your cruise line. There are cruisers that ONLY book excursions through the cruise line and an equally large number of cruisers that NEVER do.

So who is right? Should YOU book your excursions through your cruise line?

On cruise line Facebook groups, seeing someone is “ALWAYS” right only takes a few minutes. Does that drive you crazy, too?  Even discussions involving privileges such as beach vacations and planning an adventure can turn nasty.

If your head is shaking, you are welcome in our POSITIVE little travel Facebook Community.

But… back to the topic of this post. Is there a “right” method for booking your excursions?

I have been on 25+ cruises and still feel the answer is… it depends. While we book activities on our own for most port days, there certainly have been times, even recently, when we felt it was best to book through the cruise line.

So, let’s explore some of the important things to consider so that you can make the best decision for YOU.

Popular Reasons People Book Excursions Through Your Cruise Line.

Guaranteed Ship Return 

Search any message board; this is likely the #1 reason for booking excursions through the cruise line.  If you are out on a bus tour and the bus breaks down, your cruise line will either hold the ship for your group or provide you with transportation to meet the ship in the next port of call.

Many outside vendors will also offer this guarantee, but many cruisers simply don’t want to take the chance.  They want the security of knowing everything will be fine, or that their cruise line will make it right.  This seems to be the case more so in situations when a more lengthy amount of travel is involved.

Personal Example: We just returned from a Western Caribbean Cruise, including a Costa Maya, Mexico port.  Our daughter wants to visit a Mayan Ruin site, and we decided on the Chachobun Mayan Ruin site, located about an hour from Costa Maya.    

We could have saved up to $20 per person booking with a third party, but, given our group of 8 included four senior citizens, I decided the “safe” option was best.  I simply didn’t want to take any chances, given it was an unknown port and that our group had some mobility issues.  

It all worked out great, and we made the right decision for this situation.

 Convenience

When you book excursions through your cruise line, your tickets are delivered to your stateroom.  If you have questions, there is a specific location onboard for you to do so.

Additionally, if your port schedule changes or the excursion gets canceled, you don’t have to depend on a means of communication with the third-party vendor. Internet packages onboard can be quite expensive.

Personal Example:  This happened to my mother-in-law, who booked an excursion with an outside provider.  Unbeknownst to her, the excursion was canceled the night before, and they sent her a cancellation email.  However, she didn’t have an internet package, and mid-vacation didn’t think about needing to check her email for potential cancellations.  

She received a full refund but still wasted her port day traveling to her meet-up location before discovering it had been canceled.

 Travel Anxiety

I have cruised several times, so my anxiety has decreased with every sailing.  But, I understand that worrier mind.  For many cruisers, there is peace of mind when booking excursions through the cruise line. Discussing the excursion in person with a cruise line employee and having any potential questions answered.

You can read about our first visit to Dominica and why we booked through the cruise line.

Solve a Problem

You may feel quite comfortable in an area, but you have a need that you just can’t quite figure out on your own.

Personal Example:  This happened to us, quite recently, on our disembarkation day in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  We wanted to explore Old San Juan on our own but didn’t have a solution for our luggage.  Booking the “Old San Juan on your own – with airport drop off” excursion through Royal Caribbean solved our “need.”  They handled our luggage and gave us a ride from the port to Old San Juan, then picked us up later and delivered us safely to the airport.  WIN!

Now…

A Few Reasons  NOT to Book Excursions through your cruise line.

Shore Excursion Cost

Cost is a big reason many cruisers book excursions on their own.  Do some comparison shopping, and you will see that booking excursions through your cruise line will almost always be more expensive than a similar excursion with a third-party provider.

Cruise lines justify this added cost by reminding cruisers of not only ALL of the reasons noted above but also their pledge that they have handpicked the top tour providers available.

Example:  Our Ruins tour through the cruise line was $86 per person.  A similar tour was offered on the ShipMate App for $79.  I find this to be a nominal difference, but I did purchase the excursion during a pre-cruise sale (original price $94).  I have seen price differences exceed $20 per person.

Quantity and Variety of Available Options

While most cruise lines offer several options for each port of call, the quantity never seems to compare with all third-party options.  Spend some time on Pinterest, the ShipMate app, or a few Facebook groups, and you’ll have more options than you know what to do with.

Not to mention most tourist locations and tour providers rely heavily on their TripAdvisor recommendations.

Where’s Your Sense of Adventure? 😉

We often just want to be in charge of our own time. We do not enjoy being stuffed in a van or a tour bus and shuttled off to the next tourist spot.

Adhering to “Ship Time” is vital, but we love exploring on our own.  You never know what you may find.

I am a worrier, so I research everything I can ahead of time.  I have a general plan A and B for each port of call while staying flexible to pop-up opportunities.

You can read about our cruise port days booking outside the cruise line in Cozumel, St. Maarten, St. Kitts, and more.

In my estimation, we book about 10-20% of our excursions through the cruise line.  Again…like everyone, we just try and make the best decision for us given the circumstances.

What About You?

Do you ALWAYS book excursions through your cruise line?  Do you NEVER book excursions through your cruise line?

Whichever path you choose, may you always have smooth sailing!

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