Ask Dave

You want to be immersed, educated, and feel like you have left your destination armed with knowledge and memories… so how should you book your shore excursion? The answer to this is evolving. Before COVID, it was easy and usually very effective both in product and price, to purchase a shore excursion from an online company or as you exited the ship. This is still possible in some destinations. The change is this: the whole travel industry was brought to its knees by the pandemic, including shore excursion operators. Many of them closed their businesses and moved away, especially in seasonal destinations. So now what? The cruise lines recognized this issue and have snapped up a lot of the capacity in the destination and if you wait until arrival, you may not have anything available to you. If you are lucky and there is availability, it maybe with a company that has no track record. We are recommending that you make your plans early.

If you do choose to do a shore excursion other than through the cruise line, make sure that the company is reputable, that they are a registered company, have liability insurance, and a “back to ship” guarantee. Do note that if you are late returning, you have a chance when booked through the cruise line that they will wait for you, and none at all if not.  

All of this is to say – there’s a balance here that can only be achieved by adhering to your comfort level. Some of the tour operators you can book separately offer a more in-depth experience, are less costly andthose advantages add up. Cruise line shore excursions may cost more, but have more built-in assurances and offer exactly the experience that you want.