Dirk Posted March 28, 2014 Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 Hello friends of RCCL, just four more weeks for us until embarkation and time has come to think about the cruise details and the things we want do do and see in the different port of calls. I was wondering what the favorite form of shore excursion would be among the community. Do you prefer organized tours or do you go on your own? For ourselves we prefer the individual approach. Yes, it takes more time to plan and prepare the excursion but I always have the good feeling that the I really can do and see things I really want to see. And I can take my time if a special place is of more interest than expected, nobody forces us tu hurry up and we are not depending on a group. Sometimes we do something together with other people we have met on board that share the same interests. I just have the feeling that one have a deeper experience when you are traveling around buy feet, with public transportation or a rented car than driving around with a tour bus. In some places organized tour are making perfectly sense, for example in Ephesus/Turkey (too far away from the port or St. Petersburg/Russia (without a purchased tour ticket you won't cross the russian boarder (if you don't have a valid visa), but most places can be explored individually, just give it a try! What do you think about it? Greetings from Germany Dirk Sychkin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted March 28, 2014 Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 Great question Dirk and it usually comes down to each person's personality. I agree with you and usually plan my own excursions. I like to move to my own pace and while I've enjoyed the group tours I've taken, I've preferred to go on my own. DAVE(Darkcabbie) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rekkie Posted April 1, 2014 Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 For my partner and I we personally prefer ships tours. You get to go further, all the planning is taken care of and you are covered should anything go wrong. There are some ports where we have done our own thing but I get highly paranoid about getting back on the ship and not being left behind. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcarney Posted April 1, 2014 Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 For my partner and I we personally prefer ships tours. You get to go further, all the planning is taken care of and you are covered should anything go wrong. There are some ports where we have done our own thing but I get highly paranoid about getting back on the ship and not being left behind. LOL We start with excursions through the ship, and then if nothing appeals to us we start looking at non-ship excursions. Thus far we have found any "duds" other than one on our first cruise in Martinique (on Carnival). I'm convinced Martinique is French for "don't come here". That said, there's a murder/mystery TV show on the BBC called "Death in Paradise" which is filmed in Martinique, and if I have the chance to go there again I would stop at the sites the program was filmed at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted April 2, 2014 Report Share Posted April 2, 2014 There are some ports where we have done our own thing but I get highly paranoid about getting back on the ship and not being left behind. LOL We do our own thing usually but are VERY cognizant of this possibility. We always make sure we plan on being back at least 2-3 hours before we have to so we pad extra time for unforeseen delays. DAVE(Darkcabbie) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Posted April 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2014 We do our own thing usually but are VERY cognizant of this possibility. We always make sure we plan on being back at least 2-3 hours before we have to so we pad extra time for unforeseen delays. Until our visit to Stockholm we planned to be back one our before the scheduled departure time. When we were there sitting in a bar in Stockholm and enjoying our drinks I suddenly looked at a clock above the counter and realized that we had entered another time zone the night before and we had forgotten to set our watches to the correct time! I literally felt the adrenaline pumping! So we hurried back and arrived at the pier 5 minutes before departure! Lessons learned? 1. Read the cruise compass and don't forget so set the watches to the correct time! 2. Plan to back 2 hours before departure! Matt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted April 2, 2014 Report Share Posted April 2, 2014 Glad you made it back in time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVE(Darkcabbie) Posted May 27, 2014 Report Share Posted May 27, 2014 For us we definitely prefer to plan our own trips unless there is a tour that RC are doing that really appeals to us. I find that I can see a lot more of a port of call if we do it on our own as usually the organised trips tend to only see a few things on each tour in the hope that you may book 2 . The other bonus is you can save a lotta bucks over the course of your cruise which means more to spend on the good stuff. It may take a lot of planning but it's fun doing it :) :) . Matt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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