**Shore Excursion Providers

Click on the following links to check out excurions available to you via our preferred excursion suppliers

Shore Excursion Supplier FAQ's

I don’t know this company.  I don’t want to book from a company I don’t know.

All of our suppliers are well respected shore excursions companies.  These companies are comprised of industry veterans with significant excursions experience.  They are very focused on delivering great excursions for their customers.

If I don’t book with the cruise line, the ship will leave without me if I’m late

The cruise lines have used this threat as an extremely effective way to convince customers not to use independent shore excursion companies.  In reality of course, the cruise lines never want to leave a customer behind.   They will certainly wait a considerable amount of time before resorting to that extreme action.  These companies each have over 50 years of experience working for cruise lines.  They are aware of only one case over that time when a passenger was left behind.  Two ladies in Cozumel went shopping and completely lost track of time.  They tried to return to the ship hours after the scheduled departure.  In summary, while the cruise lines use this scare tactic, it essentially never occurs.  In the event this did occur, these companies will work with you to get you to the next port of call - some including accommodations, meals, and transportation.  

I know and trust the cruise line.  I’d rather just book with them.

The cruise lines excursions are more costly and lower quality than those provided by our suppliers.  Their tours travel in smaller, more personalized groups which customers tend to greatly enjoy.

I’d rather book from a local operator when I arrive at the port because I’ll get a better price.

In some cases, customers are able to buy less costly excursions from tour operators on the pier when they arrive.  There are two material risks to this approach.  First, they do not know who they are buying from.  Many customers have bought directly on the pier only to have a terrible experience.  Examples include a very bad guide or transportation, not actually getting the excursion they paid for, being taken to a particular shop where there is pressure to buy something, and facing additional charges not disclosed on the pier.  The second issue associated with buying at the pier is availability.  In many ports, excursions sell out well in advance of the ship’s arrival.  Those who wait may be stuck wandering an undesirable port town and not seeing the area’s best attractions and experiences.

I’d rather wait and think it over.

Again, shore excursions often sell out in advance (particularly the best ones).  By waiting, you may be left without an excursion.  Since the ports are a major part of the overall vacation, having a subpar experience in a port will certainly detract from the vacation experience.

I prefer to explore on my own.

Many of you may be visiting a destination for the first time and, therefore, are not familiar with port.  The ship pier is often located in an undesirable or uninteresting location.  Passengers who go off on their own are often disappointed because they do not know where the best attractions are or how to get there.  In many cases the best attractions are actually activities, not locations.  Again, if you go off on your own, you usually miss out on the activities.  For those customers that have been to a port before (and enjoyed exploring on their own) you may not realize all of the other things you could do via a shore excursion that you might enjoy even more.