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Hiking, and Tubing, and Ziplining...You Better "Belize" It!

March 24, 2017

We arrived in Belize early and had a ships shore excursion planned to do cave tubing, hiking and ziplining with what turned out to be 20 college kids about half our age!  We managed to keep up with them and lived to tell about it! You can see all the details and photos in the next chapter of on going trip report. 

Part 4 of Rhapsody of the Seas Cruise can be seen click here

This turned out to be one of the very best shore excursion we've ever taken!  Our guide, Peter, made all the bad "Belize', but was one of the best guides we've had in terms of guest management, providing cultural context and being fun...the metrics I use to determine what makes a great guide! Finding a good guide is step one in finding a good excursion while cruising.  What follows is a break down of the pros and cons of different offerings of cruise shore excursions and how to find the best excursion for you!

Types of Shore Excursions:

 

Ship's excursions -

Most cruise lines offer shore excursions. These are often available on line before sailing, or can be purchased at the Shore Excursion Desk on board.

Pros - 

  • You can charge them on your cruise card or use your credit card before sailing, you can often be the first off the ship for an early excursion.
  •  You'll be given a full refund if the ship doesn't make the port, you are guaranteed to be returned to the ship on time or caught up to it at the cruise line's expense in the case of emergency.
  • The excursion has generally been vetted for basic safety and insurance.
  • Priority disembarkation, first off the ship in port

Cons - 

  • You'll usually pay more than an independent excursion, as the cruise line will be taking their cut.
  • You'll usually be with a larger group, although generally the more active the excursion (biking, snorkeling, kayaking) will usually have fewer participants than coach tours.  
  • Sometimes we've found the guides are not the same quality as those who people who run their own local businesses and rely on word of mouth to sustain their business, and although some cruise lines offer reviews on their sites, it's often hard to find reviews of these excursions on popular travel review sites. 

 

 

Private excursions with local guides -

If you research the port, you can usually find reviews online of private local guides who will take you and your party or a small group of strangers on tour. 

Dora in Cartagena was the owner and an expert in Cartagena's history.  Her small group independent tour made our visit to the city extra special! 

Pros-

  • Private guides can take you on a longer more inclusive tour for the same money as the ships 1/2 day tours, or do a 1/2 day for less.
  • The group can be as small or as large as you like, we've often done private tours for the same cost as a ships excursion, or added a few fellow passengers to go with and saved money over a much larger ships excursion. You can find people share excursions by posting online on Cruise Critic on your ship's "roll call" of other passengers traveling the same time as you are. 
  • The guides themselves usually have a high level of hustle, since they are usually the owner or family of the owner, and rely on word of mouth (ie Trip Advisor) for good reviews to grow or sustain their business.
  • The best ones will let you book ahead and are quick to communicate via email or messaging and are happy to customize your tour. (as we found with Channin Boddin in Roatan)

Cons-

  • Because these guides aren't cruise line vetted, their equipment may not meet stringent safety standards the ship imposes. This can be good or bad...we wanted our 15 yo to be able to ride a Segway in St Martin, and with a private tour, she could, even though the ships tour had a 16 year old min.age restriction.
  • If a small operator has a problem with a broken down car or boat, there are no guarantees you will get back on time or fleet of other vehicles to get you back in time.  If you miss the ship, you are on your own. That said in more than 20 years of cruising and using private guides on cruises, we have never once come close to missing the ship!
  • If the ship is late or misses port, you could lose your deposit or the tour could leave without you.  My recommendation is look for private guides who work with ship passengers frequently, they will often not charge should you not make the port, and will monitor the ships arrival to make changes for pick up times without even having to contact them.   

 

 

 

Shore excursion companies

Excursion Companies offering tours for cruisers are a relatively new phenomenon, these are often the large tour companies that offer online excursions all over the world. Some companies that do this are Viatour and Context Tours (we have used Context Tours, read about our experiences here)  Royal Caribbean just announced today they are forming their own private shore excursion company, GoBe (click here)

Our Context guide provided excellent guiding, and we joined other travelers who had booked with Context to save money at the Louvre in Paris. 

Pros-

  • You can often join a slightly larger group in port for cost savings, without having to do the leg work to form the group yourself
  • They can cost less than ships excursions, and still be smaller groups or private.
  • Because they are larger companies, they usually offer safety vetting, easy customer services and full refunds should the ship miss port. 

Cons-

  • There is no assurance about the quality of the guiding, the guides are contractors, and can be hit or miss.  
  • You can have the the same concerns for missing the ship apply for companies as for private guides. 

 

 

 

Hiring a taxi or driver in port -

Nearly every port has a taxi drivers waiting just outside the main gates of the ship's port area, and they will negotiate a price with you and take you on the "standard" tour of their island, or to any place you wish to go. 

Taxis at the taxi stand will take you on a tour of the island in St Martin...the quality of your "guide" is hit or miss. 

Pros-

  • This can be the cheapest option, especially if you go in knowing what is standard and are willing to negotiate with the driver, and get them to compete over your business.
  • The driver is almost always a local with good knowledge of the area and can customize your tour.
  • Its easy to share with complete strangers at the taxi stand or new found friends you meet on board the ship.

Cons-

  • You have no idea what kind of tour you'll get, whether your driver speaks English well, and if his car is safe. Also, if he's unimaginative, you'll be in a long string of taxis seeing all the same over crowded "sights". 
  • Some of these drivers can steer you towards restaurants and stores run by their friends or relatives, even if you complain on line about the tour, there really isn't a "brand" to damage, so they just pick up another passenger on the next ship. It's hit or miss, sometimes you can get a great guide who is on his or her way to becoming a top notch guide or the BIL a better tour company fired because he's so awful!
  • Be sure to agree on a price for the whole tour, out and return, make sure it's written down on a piece of note paper so there is no "lost in translation" moment when it's time to return to the ship. 
In Belize, Ocean Cruising Tags Planning Tips, Touring Tips
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    • Oct 27, 2015 Planning a trip to Costa Rica? Oct 27, 2015
    • Oct 6, 2015 Why Should Planning College Visits Be Harder Than the SAT? Oct 6, 2015
    • Oct 1, 2015 Woodstock VT: A Bridge to Another Time Oct 1, 2015
  • August 2015
    • Aug 16, 2015 Schoodic Penisula Acadia National Park Maine Aug 16, 2015
    • Aug 7, 2015 Go See It Cuba Aug 7, 2015
    • Aug 1, 2015 A Colorful Tour of South Beach, Miami Aug 1, 2015
  • July 2015
    • Jul 29, 2015 A "Colorless" Tour of Colorful South Beach, Miami Jul 29, 2015
    • Jul 14, 2015 Cuba- Cars and Cigars! Part 2 Jul 14, 2015
    • Jul 10, 2015 Disney Bans Selfie Sticks!? Yes, and Thank You! Jul 10, 2015
    • Jul 9, 2015 Cuba- Cars and Cigars! Jul 9, 2015
    • Jul 1, 2015 Cuba- We Can All Agree on Change Jul 1, 2015
  • June 2015
    • Jun 2, 2015 The Power of Social Media for Social Good!! Jun 2, 2015
  • May 2015
    • May 30, 2015 Expecting the Best, Preparing for the Worst: Preparing a Travel Medical Kit May 30, 2015
    • May 19, 2015 A Little Trouble in Paradise (St Croix) May 19, 2015
    • May 13, 2015 New Ship Tour- Adventure of the Seas May 13, 2015
  • April 2015
    • Apr 28, 2015 Antigua: It's All About That Boat (with apologies to Meghan Trainor) Aboard Adventure of the Seas Apr 28, 2015
    • Apr 24, 2015 Flora and People of St Lucia (aboard Adventure of the Seas) Apr 24, 2015
    • Apr 23, 2015 What Happens on a Sea Day? (aboard Adventure of the Seas) Apr 23, 2015
    • Apr 19, 2015 San Juan at Night Apr 19, 2015
    • Apr 18, 2015 Viejo San Juan Apr 18, 2015
    • Apr 12, 2015 Title Town, Boston MA Apr 12, 2015
    • Apr 7, 2015 The Reset Button Apr 7, 2015
    • Apr 2, 2015 Autism and Travel Apr 2, 2015
  • March 2015
    • Mar 26, 2015 Pashmina, Scarf or Linus's Blankie? The Always Useful Wrap! Mar 26, 2015
    • Mar 17, 2015 Just Thinking Outloud: Public Transportation Mar 17, 2015
    • Mar 14, 2015 New Feature! Ship Tours Mar 14, 2015
    • Mar 9, 2015 Burlington Vermont Trip Report Mar 9, 2015
  • February 2015
    • Feb 26, 2015 What In The Air is Going Here? Surviving the Airlines Part 2 Feb 26, 2015
    • Feb 25, 2015 New Feature- Trip Reports! Feb 25, 2015
    • Feb 24, 2015 Successfully Hunting Down Flights Part 1 Feb 24, 2015
    • Feb 3, 2015 "Real" Florida Feb 3, 2015
  • January 2015
    • Jan 26, 2015 Disney Last Minute with Late Mornings...How's That Possible!? Jan 26, 2015
    • Jan 12, 2015 You Have to Take Steps To Fly! Jan 12, 2015
    • Jan 6, 2015 Where We've Been and Where We Are Going Jan 6, 2015
    • Jan 1, 2015 Resolved! Jan 1, 2015
  • October 2014
    • Oct 16, 2014 Why Bother With a Local Guide? Oct 16, 2014
    • Oct 3, 2014 To Market, To Market (the many markets of Istanbul) Oct 3, 2014
  • September 2014
    • Sep 30, 2014 Istanbul - A Crossroad for Humanity Sep 30, 2014
    • Sep 26, 2014 "It's Complicated" Sep 26, 2014
    • Sep 24, 2014 "It's Not An Adventure Until Peril Is Involved" Sep 24, 2014
    • Sep 24, 2014 Postcards From Budapest Sep 24, 2014
    • Sep 23, 2014 Goodbye to the Goulash City Sep 23, 2014
    • Sep 21, 2014 A Monumental Day In Budapest Sep 21, 2014
    • Sep 20, 2014 Arrival in Budapest Sep 20, 2014
    • Sep 20, 2014 13 Words You Do Not Want To Hear Immediately After Takeoff Sep 20, 2014
    • Sep 19, 2014 What camera gear am I bringing? Sep 19, 2014
    • Sep 19, 2014 Pre Trip Planning and Packing 9/19/2014 Sep 19, 2014
    • Sep 18, 2014 Why do we travel? Sep 18, 2014