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Due to travel time required, we recommend booking an excursion to Chichén Itzá through Royal Caribbean directly. Excursions run around $104 to Chichén Itzá per adult and $164 for a combined trip to Chichén Itzá and a nearby cenote. As one of the world’s best diving locations, many cruisers explore underwater to spot the coral reefs and marine life that make this island a diver’s paradise. Tubing the cave system is a popular excursion choice in Belize and can be booked through Royal Caribbean or independent tour companies. Royal Caribbean offers the Swim with Turtles, Shipwrecks, Snorkel, and Beach excursion, during which visitors take a boat ride to Turtle Bay where they can observe sea turtles in their natural habitat.
Travel agents continue to book independent cruise excursions - Travel Weekly
Travel agents continue to book independent cruise excursions.
Posted: Mon, 22 Apr 2024 11:09:35 GMT [source]
Full vs. Half-Day Tours:
When my parents traveled on a luxury Regent Seven Seas cruise, they said that waiting until the next morning to book tours meant that some of their choices were sold out. 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. To browse shore excursions from Shore Excursions Group (The Cruise Web's 3rd party tour partner), please CLICK HERE.
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Waiting might be a good idea if you're not inspired by the shore excursions you're seeing on your cruise. Some cruise lines charge penalty fees for canceling shore excursions onboard or within 24 to 48 hours of the port call, so you might want to wait to see how the weather is before booking. You may also get some good word-of-mouth tips on board the ship that change your mind about what tour you'd like to do.
Cruise Shore Excursions: Are They Worth It? - Matador Network
Cruise Shore Excursions: Are They Worth It?.
Posted: Wed, 13 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Cruise Travel Trends: Bookings, Value, & Destinations
You'll be instructed where to go on the day of your tour, sometimes on the ticket itself. Small to mid-sized ships may publish meet-up instructions in the daily cruise bulletin. The fun of a cruise is equal parts what you do on board and what you do on shore. Cruise lines offer a full schedule of shore excursions to help you make the most of your time in port. However, the process of choosing and booking tours can be overwhelming for new cruisers.
Also, if you have a particular interest, the ship might not offer a tour for the activity or attraction you're excited about. The ship’s excursions get you to the markets, often with some city highlights along the way, then leave you with a few hours of shopping time. You are then free to make your way back to the ship or to a meeting point for the return trip as a group.
Walking across the Queen Emma Pontoon Bridge is a highlight for many visitors in addition to visiting local shops, cafes, and restaurants and taking a trip to a nearby beach. Adrenaline seekers will love the opportunity to tube down the Cave Branch River, an underground cave system in Belize. Following a 45 minute hike through the rainforest, visitors can explore the cave's unique geology and ecosystem while cruising down the river. The excursion also includes snorkeling above a shipwreck and time to chill out at a nearby beach.
Cabanas include a cabana attendant, bottled water, snorkel gear, floating mats, and more. If scuba diving is of interest to you but you’re not certified, consider booking a Discover Scuba tour. This tour will give you the necessary skills to partake in an assisted dive with an instructor. You're issued with a cool "access all areas" pass and then whisked down to see the mooring deck where you can marvel at the massive anchor winches, followed by a visit to the medical center. You'll check out waste management, inspect the engine control room with the chief engineer and visit the food stores. Then it's off to the galley with the executive chef and backstage with the production staff.
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Several lines do offer tours specifically geared toward children and teens; other excursions have age, height or weight restrictions that might rule out younger cruisers. Also, if your independent tour is late returning to the pier, the ship is not required to wait for you. You can disembark and explore each port on your own if you'd like -- on foot or by cab, public transit or rental car.
ADVENTURE IS A SHORE THING
The ship also won't leave until all of its tour buses have returned -- even the tardy ones. If you've ever wondered what goes on below decks, cruise ship tours offer an interesting peek behind the curtain. Sometimes, going off on your own is better than pre-booking an excursion, whether it is through the cruise line or another vendor. In the Caribbean and Bahamas, for instance, there are tons of beaches within a short drive of just about every port, and cruise lines will overcharge you for transportation. Shore excursions are available through our partnerships with local suppliers and guides, in the majority of ports we visit. A shore excursion is a group tour or activity aimed at cruise travelers who can only spend a limited time in each port they're visiting on their itinerary.
To give you the skills to make the most of your days in port, read on for our advice on what to expect from shore excursions and maximize the fun on your cruise vacation. It's helpful to join the Roll Call thread for your ship and sail date to "meet" your fellow cruisers and arrange to share tour costs. You can also see what real cruisers thought of their tours by reading shore excursion reviews. The types of shore excursions offered usually depend on the cruise itinerary. For example, you are likely to find more choices of water sports in warm destinations like the Caribbean, and more tours to historic sites in European cruise ports.
Many tours will include some sort of meal or snack, particularly ones that last for longer periods of time. If it's important to you, be sure to read the description of your tour thoroughly to see what's included or ask someone at the shore excursions desk on your ship. If you've booked independently, be sure to ask your provider where you should meet. If you're not meeting in the immediate port area, find out in advance the best way to get to where you need to be. If you've booked a shore excursion through your cruise line, tickets will either be delivered to your stateroom or picked up by you at the shore excursions desk onboard.
Sometimes an excursion will take you to sites within walking distance of your cruise; on other occasions, they might take you on a day trip to a nearby city. Another option for shore excursions are intimate tours that are limited to 25 or so passengers. Many lines offer these boutique-sized excursions, which could be cooking classes at a renowned French cooking school or visits to Native American villages in Alaska. Many lines also offer car-and-driver packages (so you can customize your own tour) or have concierges to arrange shoreside activities exclusively for your travel party.
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