Shore Excursions, to be or not to be?

It is a question I am often asked when booking cruising and while working on board, guests would ask for advice on what to do in each port, should they take an organised excursion from the ship or head out independently. So I am going to talk today about just that, shore excursion or independent days ashore.

The first part to consider is the port of call, what would you like to see in that destination and are they easily accessible from the port. If you are looking to meander around the local port or town, perhaps have a coffee or an ice cream and enjoy some people watching before heading back to the ship for lunchtime and an afternoon relaxing by the pool or in a quiet spot with your book, then you can likely skip the planned excursions for the day. The same could apply if you are comfortable to leave the ship independently, often the taxis will be ready and waiting to take those independent guests to the beaches or on a local tour for a negotiable charge and the day is yours to do as you wish and spend as long as you wanted to in each spot. While I do enjoy this option, it does come with some considerations, such as ensuring you are back to the ship in time. Unlike a planned excursion from the ship, where the ship will wait should the tour be delayed, if you are independent, the ship will be required to keep to its scheduled departure, meaning you are in charge of keeping to your timing and trust that the driver will get you back to the ship in time.

Keeping with the ports of call it is worth considering some ports will only allow guests from the ship if they are on a planned shore excursion from the ship, unless they have arranged a tourist visa prior to the cruise, for example Russia. Ports such as St Petersburg, you must be on a planned excursion and show this to the port authorities as you are leaving the ship. I absolutely loved my visit to St Petersburg, the architecture is just stunning and there really is so much to experience, from Catherine Palace with the iconic amber room, The Hermitage museum filled with history and culture of Russia and the one that struck me the most, the Church of Spilled Blood, a stunning building and the attention to detail both inside and out, is like nothing I have seen before. To bring this point together, there is an endless list of things to see and experience in a port like this and you will want to make the most of the time, by have a shore excursion booked you skip the entry queues and are guided around, maximising every moment and ensuring you see as much as possible.

Another consideration when choosing how to spend your day, cities such as Rome are in land and can be some distance from the port, it is better to take a planned excursion or at least the ships transfer service, firstly this will be the most cost effective but also offers the peace of mind for getting to where you want to be and returning to the ship on time. While we are on the topic of the ships transfers, particularly in the Mediterranean ports of call, a free shuttle service to the local town is often provided by the ship, some ports do not offer a pedestrian walk or if it is longer distance from the ship a shuttle is provided to save you the walk. This doesn’t usually need to be pre-booked, but keep in mind peak times can bring a bit of a wait for the shuttles.

I spent much of my time on board in the Caribbean and this does often have people unsure what to do regarding a planned trip. Again, this much depends on the day you would like to have. Many are in search of the best beach, to relax swim in the clear blue sea and enjoy a cocktail or two and outside the terminal you will find many taxis offering their services and I would say if you are a confident traveller, this option is fine. However, bear in mind you are heading out to a mass of drivers wanting to look after you, they usually will all be offering the same price so don’t waste too much time haggling the fare, most of the time they have a section where registered drivers are allowed to stand and I do suggest heading for those over the ones outside the terminal, they are usually more experienced, trustworthy to come back at the agreed pick up time from the beach and know to be back to the ship in time for departure. There are some great tours I would highly recommend in the Caribbean. Places such as Antigua, to visit Shirley Highs with amazing views over English Harbour and down to Nelsons Dockyard, filled with history. St Kitts Railway is another fantastic experience, the train takes you on a tour of the island while being served cocktails. For the thrill seekers, St Lucia has a zipline experience through the rainforest. All of these can be booked through the ships shore excursions and are so well organised and safe.

I could talk all day about the wonderful things you could do in each port of call, I wanted to share just a few things to consider when planning your day. While there is a place for the independent guests to head out and explore, I think there can be a real benefit to taking shore excursions and sometimes is the better option to ensure you really do make the best of every moment in some of the most amazing locations in the World!