CRUISE SHORE EXCURSIONS

What is a shore excursion?  Well, the ship will arrive and depart several cruise ports of call during your cruise adventure.  When the ship docks at a port of call, there will be several, if not many, land tours or trips on land in and around the port of call and they call these "Shore Excursions".

It is never mandatory that you take a shore excursion and many people will either just stay on the ship to enjoy the crowds being gone, or just go into the town, city or countryside by themselves.  You can usually catch a taxi or private driver in most ports of call.  Note, that some of the ports of call in other parts of the world will be busy industrial shipping ports and it may be difficult to walk through these ports to get to the main town or to a taxi.  In most cases, the cruise ships will provide bus service several times per hour to a central point of interest, usually in the city center.

Depending on your itinerary and the ship, you will have a variety of choices when it comes to shore excursions.  You can visit beaches, go golfing, scuba diving, helicopter tours, private cars and public buses to any and all types of cultural places at your port of call.  The cruise lines will differ on how they provide shore excursions and you will get different amenities with the luxury and upscale lines.

All of the tour operators for the ships shore excursions will have been approved by that cruise line and are allowed to offer trips for the ships guests.  Not all companies make the grade and the cruise line only wants to use the best and more professional services available.

Before you book and pay for any shore excursion, make sure it works for you.  They will usually tell you how much physical exertion it will take and who should or should not take a certain shore excursion.  The time will be published to let you know how long you will be gone and the price per person.

If you are not sure about anything that is published about a certain excursion, call or visit the shore excursion desk and the staff can usually help you in the right direction.

It is important to remember that the best shore excursions usually sell out quickly.  If you want, visit your cruise lines webpage before you sail and see if they have a list of shore excursions being offered on your sailing, and if so, see if you can book it online before you get on the ship.  This way you are sure to get the excursion you want, without the chance of it being sold out.