My family loves the cruise vacation. If given the choice, we
will always pick a cruise vacation over the alternative. One of the most hidden
costs of a cruise vacation are the destination excursions. Many people will argue
that you don’t have to spend anything once you get to a port. You can just get
off the ship and explore the area on your own, or for some just stay on the
ship and enjoy it while most others are on shore. My family has been on
multiple cruises and we have always visited our ports of call. From my past
three cruise experiences, the ports of call have always been more enjoyable
with an organized excursion. Most people would read that and think no more and
book all of their excursions through their cruise lines. And indeed there are
some cruises where that is not only recommended but may be your only option,
such as Alaska cruises. But most of the time, I recommend doing your own
research and booking on your own.
For our previous cruise to the western Caribbean, I booked
all of our excursions privately. Our stops were Cozumel, Mexico; Belize City,
Belize; Roatan, Honduras; and Costa Maya, Mexico. When we cruise, oftentimes my
research leads me to CruiseCritic.com. The site has a great summary page for
most ports of call. Between the cruise line offered excursions and
CruiseCritic, I have a fairly good idea of what to expect in terms of port
excursions. From there, I have my trusty Google search engine and off I go to
find fun things to do for my family in port.
In Belize, I found that cave tubing was a very popular
excursion. The sites I visited also included ziplines and ATV rides as add-on
activities.
For $65/adult, I got cave tubing, zipline, lunch, and all ground
transportation. By comparison, booking through the cruise line would have ended
up costing me $79/adult, and did not include zipline and lunch.
In Roatan, I found an excursion that took us to see an
iguana farm, allowed us to handfeed rhesus monkeys and macaus, hug a three-toed
sloth, and spend a few hours in a private resort beach lagoon for $40/person. A
similar cruise ship excursion would have set me back $69/per.
I think that having planned excursions makes for a better
trip to your ports of call. But you certainly do not have to book them through
the cruise line and by doing your own research, you could end up saving
significantly.
