Private Company to Book Excursions

[RichardW]

Has anyone used a private company to book their shore excursions such as Shore Excursions Group or Shore Trips. Wondering if there are any advantages or cost savings.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[AshleyDillo]

I've booked through Viatour.  They source out to tour operators and I went with them because they have a good reputation and frankly when I searched for something they popped up with exactly what I was looking for.  The tour operator that they used offers the same thing directly but I was able to pay upfront with Viatour and felt I had more protections going through them.  Next time for this particular tour (an ATV rental in Aruba) since I had a great experience I would book directly with the tour operator.  The similar excursions with the cruiseline were guided tours and I wanted to DIY it and have the freedom to do what I wanted.

Going directly with the tour operators is even more of a cost savings typically.  Advantages are usually more customization and smaller tours along with the cheaper prices.

The disadvantage is that you will be responsible for meeting up with the tour and making it back to the ship on time.

[Brobbins246]

Island Marketing Ltd has been great in my experience.  They have excursions in several Caribbean locations, with the web addresses named for the different places like this one for Roatan.

https://roatancruiseexcursions.com/

You can link to their other locations thru each website. 

 

[JLMoran]

I've indirectly used Viator for one shore excursion, as they are the booking partner for TripAdvisor. Easy-peasy to book, and pricing was reasonable.

Can't say the same for Shore Excursions Group or Shore Trips. I was looking at them for excursion options on an upcoming cruise to Iceland & Greenland, and their pricing was much higher than anything I was finding for direct bookings with various tour operators in those countries. You definitely have to do your homework with any third-party agency vs. direct booking with the tour operators.

The other option to consider, if you have a decent-sized group to book with, is Royal's Private Journeys. They seem to charge a relatively small markup vs. the cost of directly booking with the tour operator, and you get the benefits of any other Royal-offered excursion -- guarantee that the ship will wait if you're late getting back, or if running really late will cover transportation so you can meet back up with the ship. You also get the ability to combine various options at the port you're visiting, like doing a private guided walking tour followed by a whale watching expedition. It's definitely expensive with smaller groups (4-6 people), but if you can put together a group of 8 or more (being on a cruise roll call helps here) it becomes pretty reasonable when compared with directly booking with the operator.