Shore Excursions???

We have been on 3 Royal Caribbean cruises, and just booked a 4th for next year to celebrate our 5 yr anniversary (even though we just celebrated it last month). It will be our first trip without the kids too!! How much fun you will have!! We have always booked our excursions through the cruise company. We usually wait until we get on board so we can see what the weather will be like on the days we decide to go. If you do that, you do risk the excursion being sold out. If there is something you definitely want to do, book now. I think with RC, you can book online ahead of time. I think you can always switch it once on board. We didn't do excursions on every island. In Aruba, we decided to walk around and go to the casinos. We almost booked a horse back riding trip while on the street, and it seemed legit and safe. We loved Carlos and Charlies in Aruba, and I believe that is the one port RC stays at until 1 am. (That is the bar where that Natalie Holloway girl disappeared, but it seemed safe and right next to the cruise port). If you have never swimmed with stingrays, it is an adventure to try at least once. In Puerto Rico, we did the rainforest excursion. Unfortunately we did it on the last day of our trip, and ended up sleeping through 1/2 of it. Puerto Rico was not one of my favorite ports of call. HAVE FUN!!

Congratulations on your anniversary, and what a wonderful way to celebrate! My husband and I hope to go back to Jamaica, where we got married to celebrate an anniversary too. We have a few years to go yet... but I am already looking forward to it! :) I love my kids, God bless them, but sometimes you need to be a wife, and lover and not have to turn off the mommy side of us :)

Anywho :) Most of the time, the reason for the upcharge booking thru the cruise line, is for administrative reasons... actually booking it for you. sometimes, there is an upcharge becasue the cruise line provides transportation to the excursion site too, and the simple fact that it's more convenient to book it all in one place, they get ya for that too.

If it were me, I would book them direct. I've known people who have also done this without a problem, and it's the same as if you were staying in locations you are visiting, and taking the cruise ship from the equation.

When I took a cruise to the Bahamas, the only thing I used the ship card for was my drinks. I would figure in about 5-6 bucks a drink and budget accordingly. I believe my tab at the end of the week was about 200 bucks...????

Have fun!

Hi! We've taken several cruises and do many of the shore excursions. You only have to worry about the timing. When you book through the ship they'll wait for your group if you're running late. That's probably the biggest difference. So if you're not a worrier, go with the cheaper, but don't forget you'll probably have a cost to get to the excursion location, that is already included in the ship's charge. They often have "refreshments" on excursions too.

As for money, drinks are really expensive and then you also add tips. (can't remember how much they are, but your documents should show what is recommended). Keep in mind you can adjust those up or down as you think is appropriate. Back to the drinks...we usually bring a bottle of something with in our suitcase so we don't buy as much on board. Don't think you're suppose to, but we've never had a problem. If you buy bottles on board, they hold them and deliver to your stateroom the night before you return so you don't have access to it during the week. If you pickup something at a port, they usually take it when you reboard the ship and also deliver it at the end. At some ports, we've brought liquor back on and guess they didn't notice it, so we had it available. They also had pop packages that are a lot cheaper than buying individual pops all week if that's what you drink.

Hope this helps...I'm sure you'll have a great time.

My husband and I live for cruises, and actually my 3 year old daughter does too. She's only 3 but she's been on 4 cruises!! We've been to Cozumel, Grand Cayman and San Juan and out of these three places, we only did an excursion in Grand Cayman. It was the "swim with the stingrays" thing and it was about $60 per person, this was before my daughter was born. I think the price difference has to do with the fact that most of these tours are recommended by Carnival so there's probably some kind of extra charge for that, but that's just my thinking.

As for onboard expenses we ALWAYS bring with us about $300.00 in cash for little expenses here and there like gifts and taxi transfers, since we always take a cab from the airport to the port and back, since it is so much cheaper than having the cruise line pick you up and drop you off. We then use our credit card to fund all our onboard expenses. Our onboard expenses usually total around $500.00, which is not bad at all since that includes the $210.00 in gratuities for all 3 of us ($10 per day, per person). Most of our expenses are from alcohol. I'm not much of a drinker but my husband does enjoy drinking. You just have to know what your budget is and stick to it. We also take some liquor in our suitcases (which we are not supposed to do) but we've never had a problem. Enjoy your cruise!!

Hi K..
We just got back on Friday from a cruise to cozumel and progresso. We rented atv's on cozumel. we booked everything through carnival becuase in case there is a delay, teh company will notify carnival and they will hold the boat for you. It was $75/person I think. Well worth the money. We were in aruba last year and LOVED everything about it. Since we were there a week, we rented a car, but since you will only have a few hours, I reccomend going to babies beach to snorkel or going tot eh natural pool. It was absolutely breathtaking. As for cost, we found a cruise to be more expensive than all-inclusive. Beverages, both alchoholic and pop, are not included. There will be a casino on board, which can get pricey. I would definitely pop the money and book your excursions the day you get on the boat. They will only recomend "good" companies. Have a great time!
S.