Shore excursions
Half the fun of a cruise is enjoying the wonderful activities offered when your ship pulls into port. While you are free to explore destinations on your own, cruise lines and private vendors offer a wide variety of excursions suitable for every level of physical ability and every budget.
What Type of Activities are Available?
Every type of activity is available, depending on the location and climate of your destination. A list of tours will often include shopping excursions, island and city tours, visits to museums and points of historical interest, visits to breweries, plantations, restaurants and nightclubs, trips to pristine beaches, kayaking, snorkling, all manner of water sports and boat cruises, atv and off road excursions, mountain biking, hiking, climbing, bungee jumping, safaris and tours of volcanoes. While the cruise itself is relaxing, shore excursions are often colorful, exciting, and exhilarating.
Finding Shore Excursions
Shore excursions are best booked through your travel agent, as they have access to the wide variety of tours offered by many tour operators, they can recommend reliable and safe providers and steer you away from scam operators, they will be able to cross check the tour with your ship's time in port to be sure it works with your itinerary, and they can arrange payment and print out vouchers for you.
You can also book directly through your cruise line, which will provide you with information about shore excursions when you book your trip. Shore excursions, even those you book on board your cruise, are provided through private operators. These operators do not work for the cruise line, but will often have arrangements with the cruise line to provide trips designed specifically for their passengers. An added benefit to booking excursions with the cruise line is, if the shore excursion is delayed in returning the ship will not leave port without out you.
If you are the adventurous type and feel comfortable making your own travel arrangements you can find private companies that focus exclusively on shore excursions through online search engines. If you prefer to travel in smaller groups, or would like personalized or specialized services, their prices are generally competitive and often cheaper than excursions offered through your cruise line.
When to Book
Book your shore excursions 7 to 21 days prior to your trip. The best excursions fill up quickly so if you plan on a popular activity, it's a good idea to book as soon as you have your cruise confirmed.
If you are booking through a private company, most need 48 hours advance notice to confirm your reservation and take payment. If you are booking on board your cruise ship, you can often book up to the very last minute as long as space is still available.
What if the Ship is Late Getting into Port, or that Port of Call is Cancelled?
Since excursions are operated by private companies, they have different cancellation policies. In general, if your excursion is cancelled due to circumstances beyond your control, such as inclement weather, or your ship arriving late or not at all at that port of call, then you should get a full refund. But do check specific cancellation policies with the excursion operator and get all guarantees in writing.
What if I Have to Cancel?
Again, you must check with the excursion operator to learn about their specific policies. But in general, most will allow you to cancel and get a refund no later than 14 days prior to the date of the excursion. Cancellations at the last minute will usually not result in a refund as they cannot rebook your seat. Please check with your tour operator for their specific refund policies and get a copy in writing prior to your trip.
How do I Get From the Ship to the Shore Excursion?
Cruise ships pull into a dock where you can disembark on foot, or they anchor in the port and tenders (small passenger boats) will ferry you into the dock. Once there your tour operator will meet you and unless otherwise arranged they will provide transportation to your activity.
What is a Voucher?
A voucher is a receipt saying you have booked and paid for a shore excursion. You may be instructed to print out a form online, or you will be sent a voucher through the mail within a few days of payment for your activity, or if you have booked while on your cruise it will be printed out and handed to you at the courtesy desk. Instructions such as time and place of meeting, and the name of your tour guide, will appear on your voucher. Bring TWO copies of your voucher with you. Keep one for your records and bring the other when you disembark for your shore excursion.
Explain "local time' vs 'ship time'
Some cruise lines will change the ship's clocks to reflect local time as you cross different time zones. Others maintain "ship time" which is the same timezone as the port of departure. To complicate matters some ports and destinations follow Daylight Savings Time while others do not. When you book a shore excursion, you book it in local time, sometimes called "island time" or named according to the actual time zone, rather than ship time. The agent booking your shore excursion will be able to help you determine whether or not their tour will coordinate with your ship's time in port. For additional help with world time zones, consult www.worldtimeserver.com .
What if I Get Lost or Fail to Return to the Ship Before it Departs?
It is your tour operator's job to make sure everyone on the shore excursion returns to their ship on time. Do NOT leave your group or you may be responsible for any problems you cause getting lost or missing your cruise ship. If you are with your group and it fails to return on time due to negligence on their part, many tour operators will pay the cost of transporting you to the ship's next port of call. If you have booked through your cruise line, the ship will not leave port until the passengers on the shore excursion return. However, the laws covering tour operator's responsiblities vary from country to country, it is up to you to check your tour operator's policy to be sure they accept responsibility for your safe return.
