Table Of Content
- Active Excursions vs. Sightseeing Tours:
- How to Get the Most From Your Shore Excursion: Pro Tips for Your Tour
- How do I get the most from my cruise shore excursion?
- Day Caribbean Round-trip Miami: Great Stirrup Cay & Dominican Republic
- Why Book Your Shore Excursions with Norwegian
- First-Timers' Guide to Shore Excursions
Your cruise director or the daily newsletter will usually inform you if it's necessary to take your passport with you on a shore excursion. At a minimum, you need a photo ID and your cruise ship ID card. It’s also wise to take along the information provided by the ship about their agent in each port and the contact information for the local consulate. Are there instances where having a passport would help you? If you miss the ship’s departure, life will be easier with a passport. The same would be true if you are injured and unable to contact the ship.
Active Excursions vs. Sightseeing Tours:
Not all shore excursions involve busloads of tourists dutifully following flag- or umbrella-waving guides. You will find these types of sightseeing tours, as well as athletic endeavors overseen by dive masters or hike leaders. However, some tours simply bring you to a destination where you're free to explore until it's time to meet the bus to go home. Others feature guided components, followed by an hour or two of free time. Shore excursions are designed for all activitiy levels in almost any mainstream cruise destination. Active tours can include water sports, ziplining, hiking, biking, dog-sledding and more.
How to Get the Most From Your Shore Excursion: Pro Tips for Your Tour
The key to getting the most from your cruise shore excursion is to know what you want and make sure the tour description matches your expectations. I find that the more I cruise, the less I take ship-sponsored shore excursions because they don't offer exactly what I want. Most people organize these ahead of time through a tour operator or travel agent.
How do I get the most from my cruise shore excursion?
However, in popular cruise ports, there are often representatives waiting at the port or at a tourist office who can book you on same-day tours if space is available. I've taken shore excursions around the world, both ship-run and independent, and spent many days in port wandering on my own. Allow me to take you through the basics of cruise shore excursions, so you can learn to have the most fun no matter what your budget is.
Guided Excursions vs. Free Time:
Norwegian Cruise Line: The Complete Guide - NerdWallet
Norwegian Cruise Line: The Complete Guide.
Posted: Thu, 02 Nov 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Others focus on one destination or activity, like a trip to the Mayan ruins from Cozumel. It's up to you whether you'd prefer to see many things for short amounts of time or focus on one place in depth. There are instances when you might be limited to excursions provided by the ship. These usually are cases where local restrictions simply do not allow cruise passengers to freely wander the streets. Your cruise line will advise you in advance if this might be the case in any of your scheduled ports of call. Sometimes you also need an expert guide, such as in Pompeii, to know what you're seeing.
Norwegian Cruise Line Revises Sailing Due to Port Availability Concerns - Cruise Hive
Norwegian Cruise Line Revises Sailing Due to Port Availability Concerns.
Posted: Thu, 29 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
If you're a first-time cruiser, it can be helpful to have a few hacks to make your shore excursion experience amazing. Keep these tips in mind when booking, preparing for and embarking on your tour. If you plan to book shore excursions through your cruise line, you have a couple of options of how to book them.
A 3-hour gold panning activity and salmon bake costs $125, while a 2.25-hour tour to take a helicopter ride to the top of the glacier, where you can walk around on the ice for half an hour, costs $420. The knowledge and efficiency of tour operators vary, and some tour offerings are simply duds. You'll also pay a premium for letting the cruise line arrange your day. Ship-arranged excursions also tend to have broad appeal, so if you're interests in a given port are more specific or niche, you may want something outside of the cruise line's offerings. The downside to booking tours in advance is that some cruise lines require that you pay for the tours in full, rather than putting them on your final cruise bill.
Why Book Your Shore Excursions with Norwegian
In most cases, you don't need to book a shore excursion to explore a port of call. You can simply walk off the ship and stroll into town or catch a cab to take you wherever you want to go. Some shore excursions are targeted at families or can easily accommodate children. Some can accommodate passengers with mobility issues or other disabilities. Others may require a minimum level of fitness and are not suitable for everyone.
Typically, you’ll be going on Shore Excursions with like-minded people who enjoy the same interests as you. You might meet some new acquaintances to hang out with once you return to the ship, or maybe you’ll make some new life-long friends. One-stop shopping for all ports on your cruise itinerary. Now, think of the huge hassle of trying to make your own independent tour arrangements in 3, 4 or even 5 destinations. Norwegian Cruise Line has everything you need in Shore Excursions from A to Z, or better noted as every destination from Acapulco, Mexico, to Zadar, Croatia. And you can even print a list of Shore Excursions available for each port.
Better still, should an unexpected problem (traffic, a medical emergency) occur during your outing, the ship will not leave port until all of its own tours have returned. Whether you're on a cruise line sponsored or independent shore excursion, a best practice is to tip your tour guides at the end of the tour. Exceptions are if tips are included in the price or if you're visiting a country with a non-tipping culture, where offering cash would be awkward. Looking at Princess Cruises' shore excursions in Grand Cayman, a 2.5-hour stingray swim costs $70 per person, a 5-hour scenic island drive costs $100, and a 4-hour, two-tank scuba dive costs $180. In Juneau, Alaska, a 3-hour tour to the Mendenhall Glacier visitor center costs $50 per person.
Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information. If the tour takes place over lunchtime, check to see if a meal is included or if you have time to pick up something to eat. Photographs are for illustration purposes only used to represent the excursion experience and may not accurately depict the excursion, location, or activity indicated. You'll likely want to tip more for customized, private tours — consider 5 to 20% of the cost of the tour.
Shore excursions may be sold by your cruise line and organized with a partner provider. They can also be purchased through independent operators or third-party tour sellers. If you've done your research and have decided that you want to do a specific excursion offered on your cruise, think carefully about whether to book in advance or onboard.
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