Booking your own excursions

[Anchors Away 2016]

To your second question, about availability, Shmoo is right, keep checking; you will probably get what you want. One other tip in that regard if you search for an excursion for your whole family (what are you 4 people?), and it comes up full, try booking 3, 2, 1 people etc. until it allows you. Remember, all of these bookings are fully refundable until 3 days out, so if you don't get the spots you need you can always cancel later on. But if two are available today and two more come available in a week, then you will have the 4 you need, whereas if you always search for 4, you may never see any if the first two get snatched up by someone else. We had 9 people and for one excursion we booked 5 initially (at 75 days) and then over the next week got the other 4 one or two at a time.

As to your original question, since people seem to be back to that, I won't dispute there reasons for booking outside of DCL, but I will say, we were on the same itinerary you are on, and I checked out independent bookings in search of BIG SAVINGS that I had heard people here talk about. Once I factored in transportation costs, etc. I was saving like $10-20 a person or about 10%. I suppose that does add up, but for me, it wasn't the big discounts I was expecting. Of course, maybe some ports and some trips have better discounts to be had, but for the excursions I looked at in the Western Caribbean, I didn't see much savings.

 

[tlprice]

Now that my DD is 10 and Disney charges adult prices for 10 year-olds, I have planned more non-Disney excursions. Most non-Disney excursions have child prices at least to age 12, but some up to 16, which does save me a lot of money. Also, sometimes there are excursions we would like to do that Disney doesn't offer, like horseback riding in Aruba so we book those with non-Disney vendors.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

It really depends on what you're trying to do if transport cost gets you.

On GC, several of the quality providers are walk g distance from the tender (5-8 minute walk). Cozumel, I know a lot of people are itchier about the taxis.

On the Eastern itineraries, something like going to most of the beaches on St. Thomas is going to be lots cheaper solo, because taxis tend to charge fixed rates, and the admission fee for somewhere like Magens Bay is what it is; ends up about $21 per person running your own to MB, versus $55/44 via Disney. (Disney may include a beach chair, but I renting one of those is not going to be $30.)

Where people get nervous tends to be for things like the ferry to St. John and that schedule.

You really just have to do your homework. TripAdvisor and CruiseCritic will be very honest about the walk from the cruise ship to an excursion, or how hard a taxi is to grab.

 

[NEDisney]

Thanks for all the great feedback! I have 5 people with me so I will book as many as i can to an excursion and add others later when available. That's a great tip! ty! If my daughter doesn't get to swim with a dolphin I may very well be thrown overboard. hehe

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

Thanks for all the great feedback! I have 5 people with me so I will book as many as i can to an excursion and add others later when available. That's a great tip! ty! If my daughter doesn't get to swim with a dolphin I may very well be thrown overboard. hehe

Well....

That's ONE WAY to swim with a Dolphin....

 

[Minnie & Daisy]

And if you don't get to go on all of your preferred excursions this time, there is always a next time! It gives you a reason to cruise again! And, after you've sailed with DCL one time, you will become a silver castaway club member and will be able to book even earlier on your next cruise.

 

[fredandkell]

Weighing in with a different perspective. I had considered booking non-DCL excursions for my Sept. 23-Irma-Cruise-that-wasn't and I'm so glad I didn't. The ones we were looking at had great prices, but they were non-refundable. Well, we ended up not going on that cruise all together due to Irma, so I would have been out of pocket for those excursions. We had booked DCL excursions and they just magically went away once those ports were damaged--I didn't have to do anything to cancel and it was penalty-free.

Maybe one way to do it is to reserve the DCL excursions on opening day, then relax and spend some time researching the 3rd-party providers. If you find better deals, maybe wait and book the 3rd-party ones less than 2 weeks out (but before the cancellation penalty for DCL). That way, if there is a threat of bad weather, you may know about it by then and it would be safer to use the DCL excursions. If weather is looking crystal clear, you probably could use the 3rd-party ones no problem. Of course a lot of it depends where and when you're cruising, too.

 

[fredandkell]

If you're careful you should be just fine booking independent excursions. Check the reputation of the vendor, their refund policies, & leave at least 2 hours of cushion time in case of delays. Just booked an independent excursion for our Alaska cruise that is less than 1/2 the price of DCL's for the same experience, same provider. Saved $250 that way & not worried at all. During our Fantasy cruise, we had a much better experience independently taking a local taxi to the beach at St. Thomas than we did with our miserable DCL-booked "Beach Break" in Tortola.

Another reason to consider independent bookings is if you're new to DCL or a silver CC member. Some of the most popular & limited-availability excursions available via DCL might already be booked up for your cruise by the time your booking window opens.

I agree that Alaska is a great place to book the private tours - just because the ports are right there in town and you can walk from the ship to many destinations in Alaska. We did a couple of private tours in Alaska no problem (seaplane flight, excursion to Mendenhall). Where I would be worried about the privates is in places like Jamaica, or Cozumel, or the Mediterranean, etc. where there is often a LENGTHY bus ride to/from the site you want to see, which could throw a wrench in the whole thing.

 

[mareed]

Weighing in with a different perspective. I had considered booking non-DCL excursions for my Sept. 23-Irma-Cruise-that-wasn't and I'm so glad I didn't. The ones we were looking at had great prices, but they were non-refundable. Well, we ended up not going on that cruise all together due to Irma, so I would have been out of pocket for those excursions. We had booked DCL excursions and they just magically went away once those ports were damaged--I didn't have to do anything to cancel and it was penalty-free.

I would not consider a company that is non-refundable even if the ship doesn't make the port to be reputable! Every independent company I've booked with offers a deposit refund and "free" cancellation of the reservation balance if the ship doesn't make port. These reputable companies monitor the ship's schedule and they know if your ship isn't going to make port, though you may need to contact them via email afterwards to officially request a deposit refund.

 

[jeepnjudy]

We booked a Disney excursion once and have not gone that route since. The bus was overcrowded with rude people and not exciting to tour with. Since then we have booked all our own excursions or private drivers and have enjoyed many amazing experiences with only our family that would not have been included in the cruise's excursions. It can be done with excellent planning and some research.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I agree -- finding companies that will cancel/refund if you don't make port is part of the research process, and absolutely possible to find these companies.

 

[RedStars]

We did DCL excursions last time but we're going private this time. For me, it was a combination of cost, convenience and size (I felt like cattle on the DCL excursions).

I only booked things that were refundable (ie if we don't actually port) and had great reviews. I also have travel insurance which includes excursions so I'm covered that way too.

 

[mmmears]

We've done both. Simple ones we've done through DCL. But there are amazing private tours you can book in places (we kayaked to Mendenhall Glacier and then walked up the glacier and did some snow climbing) that you simply cannot do with a busload of people. Our next cruise will likely be a combination of the two, with us leaning more towards booking independently at most of the ports. We are also purchasing insurance that will cover us if we don't get to a port.

 

[Shanti]

And if you don't get to go on all of your preferred excursions this time, there is always a next time! It gives you a reason to cruise again! And, after you've sailed with DCL one time, you will become a silver castaway club member and will be able to book even earlier on your next cruise.

That's a bit glib when you consider the steep cost of many DCL cruises, especially the cost of cruising DCL to faraway port-intensive locations like Alaska or Europe. With that kind of money invested in the cruise, I wouldn't be okay with my desired excursions being booked up just because of my lower Castaway Club status, and think, "there's always next time". With a cruise that expensive, there would likely not be a next time, and I wouldn't want to waste my money with sub-par excursions in any case. That's why I've taken the initiative to book excursions independently & early on (way before my DCL booking window even opens) for our Alaska cruise.