Enjoying tours on port days is some of the most fun experiences you will have. Deciding whether to book through your ship or on your own can be mind-boggling. This travel guide reveals why independent cruise excursions can be your best choice. The tips you need to know to save money, and time, and have a memorable experience.
One of the most enjoyable parts of the cruising experience is discovering new destinations and shore excursions are a great way of doing that. When your cruise ship arrives at the port, it is up to you to figure out how to spend your time in port. Spend your time wisely. It goes by quickly.
A wide variety of choices are available at each destination, something for everyone. Tours can be booked effortlessly through your cruise ship or with just a bit of planning unaided. Here are 11 simple reasons cruisers should consider independent tours over ship excursions.
During port days, when you ship docs for a set time period, you are free to get off the ship and see or do whatever activities you are interested in.
Some people will do a bit of shopping, others will want to hang out at the ship’s pool and pretend it’s another sea day, while others will take a cab to the nearest beach. You have many choices during your short visit. Try and make the most of your limited time.
What is an independent tour?
- Any tour or activities that you organize yourself
- Booking your own itinerary as opposed to booking a tour through your cruise line
Independent tours can be guided or solo. If going solo, you are not paying anyone to escort you to take you to see any particular place.
Example of a solo tour: Taking a cab to the beach or shopping near the port. These same activities can be purchased as cruise shore excursions, at a cost.
What are independent tour operators?
Independent tour operators are responsible for delivering or performing the service specified in the tour being purchased.
They provide the service themselves. Some have their own vehicle or arrange to rent a vehicle. They may also have guides that regularly work with them as part of their team
Tour operators may offer a variety of tours to cater to the needs of cruise travelers or local guests.
Save money
Are independent tours cheaper than ship tours?
Although this may not always be the case, many times you can find the same tour that the ship is offering at a lesser cost if you book on your own.
For those who are budget conscience, booking your own tours might be the difference between doing one or more excursions at your port of call, or doing none at all.
Price Comparison
To show the difference in costs on a very similar tour I will use the port of San Juan, Puerto Rico with example shore excursions that were available on Carnival Cruise Lines.
Carnival offers an excursion called Fortresses of Old San Juan. Here are the details: $64.99 / Adult (ages 13 and over) and $54.99 / Child (ages up to 12). The excursion will last 3.5 hours.
“This tour takes you back in history where the air conditioned transportation goes through the fascinating streets of Old San Juan while you learn about the history and heritage.
Your first stop will take place at the oldest Spanish fort in the New World, Fort San Felipe Del Morro, built in 1539 to guard the entrance and defend the harbor of San Juan bay.
This impressive result of Spanish engineering was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 and is part of the United States National Park Service.
El Morro covers over 70 acres and has six levels that rise from sea level to 145 feet. Your next stop will be Castillo de San Cristóbal the largest fortification built by the Spanish in the New World, where you will spend another hour exploring this fine feat of engineering.
When it was finished in 1783, it covered about 27 acres of land and basically wrapped around the city of San Juan.”
This tour sounds could be appealing to cruisers who home-school their children or anyone that wants to learn more about history.
Caveat: your travel budget is tight. For a family of four, this tour is going to be expensive.
Looking for alternatives you do a bit of research and check out websites like Cruise Critic and Trip Advisor and find out that Old San Juan is the perfect port to go on your own. You can easily walk the entire downtown area as it is only seven square blocks.
Googling Castillo de San Cristobal to find out that it is a National Park. Admission is $7.00* per person for adults and free for children under age 15 and Includes admission to both the forts of San Cristobal and El Morrow. Please check the website for up-to-date pricing.
Using the prices we found on the National Parks website, we find it is $14 total for the entire family to visit both of the forts compared to the ship shore excursion price of $64.99 for one adult.
You can walk at a leisurely pace stopping to take photographs, shop, or check out local eateries along the way. When we get tired, we can go back to the ship.
Stopping whenever you would not be an option if we booked the tour through the ship.
Offer private or small groups
I am not a fan of being crammed into a bus with 70+ other passengers and then waiting for passengers to use the restroom or hoping that these people will quiet down enough to hear the guide. Independent tours provide the option to have smaller groups traveling together or private tours.
Often times I have been able to find the same tours that the big busses are going to but without the feeling of being a sardine in a can.
Independent tours can be completely private, just your family or group, or they can be a small group that may not know one another.
You can book a tour like this with your Facebook roll call, or you can get off your ship and walk out of the port area and hire a tour on the spot.
We have done this in ports like Colombia, and in Nassau where we stopped unexpectedly as a last-minute stop on or MSC Cruise.
Originally, we were to port for two days at their private island, Ocean Cay, but was changed to stopping in the Bahamas instead.
Without any notice that we were going to a new port and had no internet access, we could either book a shore excursion with our ship or see what we could find when we got off the ship.
We chose to walk off the ship and see what tours were offered. We found many tour guides offering tours for snorkeling, hiking, and boat tours, but we wanted a tour of the city since this was our first visit to Nassau. We found a gentleman selling simple city tours.
The price was acceptable, and we waited for the tour operator to fill the rest of his small van.
During the 3-hour tour and learned about the Bahamian culture, stopped and sampled some local food, learned how conch is caught, and even got to stop at Atlantus for about an hour.
This tour was a good introduction to the Bahamas and its culture. Exactly what we were looking for in an independent tour.
When we cruised to Belize. I found a great private tour company and guide, David Castillo who I hired to take our group of 7 adults to see the Altun Ha Mayan Ruins.
The local tour companies can offer advice on what sights are not to be missed and how to make the best use of your short time in port.
By following King David’s instructions to get off the ship ASAP, we were able to get into the private air-conditioned van and arrive at the site long before any of the large tours.
It was nice being there when the ruins were empty, and we were able to take photos without others that were not in our group.
Customizable
Because I had booked a private tour, I was able to tailor it to suit our family’s wants and needs. We not only got to see Altun Ha, but we got to eat an authentic Belizean lunch special, stop by a beach area to grab some sand, and then take pictures at the Belize sign.
Our tour guide was happy to take us to where ever we wanted to go, so when enquiring about booking your own tour, ask if you are able to customize the tour to meet your family’s needs.
When we stopped at Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, we booked transportation to the Teleferico also known as Puerto Plata Cable Car.
I found a driver named Jesus, that would take us to the cable car, wait while we did a DIY tour, take us to a spot for lunch, and get us back to the cruise ship.
I doubt any other of our cruise passengers even knew the cable car existed. Most were at the beach or doing the ship tour to Damaja Waterfalls.
Control your day
Travelers that enjoy planning details do better with independent tours. They can let spontaneity rule their tour or have every minute of the travel itinerary planned out.
It is up to you. This is just one of the many reasons why independent tours are the best choice.
Choices
When doing private excursions, you have more choices. Your ship might only be going to the ruin site X or snorkeling at one particular spot, but an independent tour can go to any of the ruins that are close enough to be safe and back to your ship on time.
Go at your own pace
Not having to wait on 60 other travelers gives you the chance to go as slow or quickly as you like. Want to take the same photo from 5 different angles? No problem. Your private guide does not mind. He is there for your group or family alone. The only thing he must worry about is getting you back to the ship in time.
Two roads diverged in a wood and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost
See hidden gems
Another benefit of going independently is getting to see hidden places that have not yet been discovered or ruined. Get away from the tourist spots. Cruise ships pick the most popular tours that the majority of their passengers will want to see.
Never taking into consideration that one family is very interested in geology and that there is an archeological dig sight just miles from town. Because you did research and booked a tour on your own, you found a tour guide that will easily make it happen.
Best for experienced travelers
Being an experienced traveler, you have been there and done that. You need to see things that cruisers don’t normally see.
Especially in the Caribbean, it is very safe and easy to set up your own tours, have a more intimate experience, and potentially stretch your travel dollars.
In Cozumel, we arranged for a driver to take you to the Wild Side of the island on a private jeep tour.
With no electricity, most cruise ship passengers never venture there, but since you are experienced, you take advantage of the lack of popularity on this side of the island.
Just want shopping or a beach
With the close proximity to many beaches and tons of shopping opportunities, it is silly to pay high prices for someone to drive you a few blocks and then tell you to be back on the bus in two hours.
Instead of paying over $60 per person on a shore excursion, catch a low-cost taxi or a public bus. This is a much more budget-friendly way for a family to spend time at the beach or shopping without breaking the budget.
Do I need to speak the language to go on a tour by myself?
Many locals speak enough English and will be willing to help you plan your independent beach or shopping excursion. They are more than happy to offer suggestions for places to eat or where you can buy a T-shirt or sunscreen.
Taking advantage of being able to go to the beach or shopping independently will be a great choice and help your pocketbook.
Ideal for engaging in local culture
Some cruisers will be looking for an genuine experience. They want to see the real Mexico, Belize, or Thailand.
It can be very hard to find a ship excursion able to fulfill this experience.
You might find tours that claim to be authentic such as Authentic Coffee Tour, Making Chocolate in the Mayan Village or Tequila Tasting in Puerto Vallarta. That is great if this is what you are looking for.
We prefer to eat where locals eat and try to stay out of the big chain restaurants and tourist traps.
One of our most memorable experiences was on our Mexican Riveria Cruise. We were in Mazatlan where our Pulmonia driver brought us to visit tide pools, Mega (a local grocery store) to buy candy and then to an orphanage to drop off the candy.
Seeing how excited the children became when they got to meet new friends who brought them candies was priceless.
Ship-sponsored excursions just can’t offer a genuine experience or make connections with the local people like private tours give.
Because we had hired a private tour, on the spot in Mazatlan, unaided, we had a great time and found a more true experience while in Mexico, immersing ourselves in the local culture.
Another tour where we really got an authentic experience was in Antigua, Guatemala. We walked through the local street market, experienced the inside of a cathedral, and rode local transportation: The Chicken Bus.
What is a chicken bus?
A Chicken bus is what foreigners call the buses in Guatemala. They are old retired school buses that have been sold off and driven down to Central America. These lively buses are often referred to as chicken buses because that is one of the items that you might see on your bus tour ride.
I could write an entire post on Antigua but will save that for later. Let me say that the Chicken bus was one of my favorite parts of the entire day!
Music played, and a young man stood at the bus entrance hanging outside spotting potential fares, whistling, letting them know the bus was nearing. Some folks had animals in cages like chickens. Others were dressed as going to work or church.
Ship-sponsored tours did go to Antigua, but they came in large 60+ passengers and walked around in line. I am sure that none of these guests received as personable of a tour as the 7 guests got the day we decided on an independent tour.
Best choice if you speak the language
The final reason that independent excursions are the best choice is for someone who can speak the language. When you can speak the local language, you can go places that other people cannot go.
You can hop on a public bus without hesitation. Hail a taxi and easily tell them where you want to go. When you speak the language, you aren’t at the mercy of cruise line tours.
Independent excursions and tours are a great opportunity to practice your language skills and venture out on your own.
While in Antigua, I was able to practice Spanish with a local woman who was trying to sell me some goods. I was not interested in buying blankets, but we enjoyed our time as we conversed together.
During our Panama Canal cruise, we stopped in Puntarenas Costa Rica. We went on the most off the wall tour to the Alcatraz of Costa Rica and have the most romantic beach picnic by booking our own tour.
In Puerto Vallarta, while our roll call on Facebook took part in a crowded boat ride for four hours, we booked an entire sailboat for just the four of us for just a bit more.
We could conduct this because I was willing to do the legwork and find local tour options and speak the local language and we have lots of experience getting off the beaten path.
For the sailboat charter above, I took to Facebook and searched for local tours and tour operators.
Originally, we were going to do a city tour, but when I came across this charter for a 35-foot sailboat called Navagante, I jumped at the opportunity.
You can email the crew of Navagante at [email protected] or on their Facebook page Renta Segura
Be sure to ask for Ricardo as your deck hand and guide and Cappy Jose.
How do you connect with local tour operators internationally? When you find these tour companies online or on Facebook, they will either have a phone number or email listed.
Just like you and I, some folks are more tech-savvy than others. While one guide has an entire website, another might only have an email. Still, another might only have a phone.
You can use WhatsApp. On this app, you can phone and text internally at no cost. This is helpful when concerned about long-distance charges adding up.
Final thoughts
If having a say in where you will go while in port, saving money, or finding a genuine experience is important to you, then booking your own tours may be the best choice for you.
What are some examples of independent tours that you can do on a cruise?
City tours, water sports, dolphin swims, jeep tours, historical fort or ruin tours, culinary and beverage tours, trips to orphanages and dog shelters, and even speed boat tours that will make you want to wet your pants…this just a part of the shore excursions available to you when you book on your own.
One word of caution though. Do not attempt independent tours if you are not prepared or willing to accept the responsibility.
Unlike tours offered through your ship, there may not be a back-to-the-ship guarantee. Some larger tour companies can offer this guarantee, but it is up to you to manage your time and your family.
What would you do if you missed your ship? Are you prepared to take on the expense of finding your own lodging and getting to the next port of call or back home? If not, you should opt for booking excursions through your ship or staying on board the ship.
If you are willing to plan ahead when you can by doing research, hiring tours on the spot, or taking public transportation on your own, self-reliant excursions are a great way to save money, find authentic experiences, and practice your language skill.
By all means, jump in and hire one of the many independent tour operators around the world as we did with Yousseff in Cozumel, Winston Gayle in Jamaica, Perry Mcphee in Nassau, or others around the world.
Are you a private tour guide and want Gallivanting Souls to come to see what kind of tours you have to offer? Let us know, so we can share with other travelers looking for a hidden gem tour experience.
Do you prefer ship tours or independent tours? Let me know. Drop me a line
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