The Lollipop Road

You can read more about this topic, as well as many other family cruising topics, in our new book–Cruising With Kids: A Guide To The Perfect Family Cruise Vacation. Visit our dedicated Cruising With Kids website for more details.

Probably one of the biggest boons for the cruise line is selling shore excursions. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve purchased them in the past too, but now we’re on our own most of the time. There are two major reasons that passengers book tours from the cruise line. One is convenience. The cruise line will arrange all of your transportation, activities and food (if applicable). You don’t have to worry about any of the logistics. You also don’t have to worry about getting lost, being subject to unscrupulous tour operators (although this too is debatable) or missing the ship. If a ship sponsored tour is late, the ship will wait; whereas if you are late, you’re out of luck.

The second reason is that passengers don’t realize that the cruise line marks up the cost of tours by as much as 30-40%. Case in point, yesterday, while in Nassau, we went to Blue Lagoon Island for the Beach Tour. The cruise line offers this tour with lunch for $75.95. This includes your day pass to the beach, lunch, transportation to and from the ship and a free rum punch on the return ferry. Compare this with a cost of $49 per person by booking direct with the tour operator and adding transportation a la carte. Now, there is no rum punch on the return ferry and you have to brave the taxis, but for a savings of $26.95 a person, I think it’s worth it. Booking on your own, you’re also not tied to the tour leaders schedule; which can be an important factor when you have kids.

By constructing your own tour, you can sometimes go to places that aren’t even offered by the cruise line. For example, on Monday we rented a car in Freeport to drive over to Lucayan National Park. There are some great little trails, caves and the crown jewel of all beaches in the Bahamas…Gold Rock Beach. The cruise line offers excursions to other beaches (the cheapest was $158 for our family-not including lunch), but they aren’t Gold Rock and we only spent $138 including a fantastic lunch.

We will be posting destination articles on both of these locations, so keep an eye out for them if you intend to cruise to the Bahamas.

Now, this wasn’t without its risk. They drive on the left side of the road in the Bahamas…no problem for me as I’ve done it many times before. You also have to be good with directions as it is 30 miles away…again, no problem, I had a navigator. Finally, you are responsible for returning on time. We were required to be onboard by 4:30 PM and we were returning the car at 4:20 PM; I may have actually been the last person to board. So, you have to feel confident that you can be in charge and still enjoy your excursion. Clearly, it isn’t for everyone, but it does provide an active family with a whole lot of flexibility, not to mention a whole lot of cost savings.

Now that I’ve convinced you to try it on your own, make sure that it is actually cheaper. Last year (in Alaska) we reserved two of our tours through the cruise line. The reason was quite simple – they were close enough in price that it didn’t make a difference. In that event, you should always go through the cruise line. Tours that are cost competitive tend to be those dubbed as “City Tours” or specific publicly offered services where there are no transport or other add-ons required. For example, the Duck Tour in Ketchikan (you’ve seen these vehicle/boats) was offered for the same exact price as you could buy direct as there was no complexity in putting the tour together. The aerial tramway in Juneau is another good example. City tours are often the same way and therefore competitively priced. On rare occasions, you may even find that the cruise lines offerings are cheaper!

More complex tours that require transportation and meal add-ons or that are to out of the way destinations are likely to have a higher mark-up. Book directly whenever it makes sense. If you have to book through a tour operator, be sure to look for reviews (Cruise Critic Boards is a good place to do this) or verify that the company is reputable (BBB, Chamber of Commerce or Tourist Board are good places to start). Confirm all prices in advance and understand all cancellation penalties. Get everything in writing and use a credit card for any deposits or advance payments so if you have a problem later you can always dispute the charge.

For families, going it on their own can mean a greater deal of flexibility, cost savings and a tour that suits them – not something that isn’t tailored (or sensitive) to families needs. Be practical and do your research. Most of all, do what feels comfortable to you…and enjoy your vacation!

Do you have any other examples? Have a question about a particular port or tour? I’ll answer all of your questions…just ask!

You can read more about this topic, as well as many other family cruising topics, in our new book–Cruising With Kids: A Guide To The Perfect Family Cruise Vacation. Visit our dedicated Cruising With Kids website for more details.

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