12 cruise ship shore excursions you should skip!

With only so many hours in each port of call, it is important that you figure out how to best spend your time so you're not left with any regrets.

Will you feel as though you maximized your day if it's spent on an excursion where you are sitting for half of the time? What about if you paid for an overpriced beach transfer?

Some shore excursions are well worth your money and time, others aren't.

Here are 12 shore excursions that you should skip on your next cruise.

[MrClickitorTicket]

Appreciate the research you did to produce this video! I have never gone swimming with dolphins but thank you for letting us know that things are not as they are portrayed to be.
I have done a couple of Segway tours on land and found them to be a great way to cover a lot of ground, see a lot of things with minimal effort. Looked at a Segway excursion on a cruise but did not get around to booking it. Going forward I will scrutinize any Segway tours I am considering from the list of cruise excursions.

Great points about traveling hours to get to where the excursion or point of interest actually takes place. Thanks again and keep up the great work! You are appreciated!

[GetOutofHereTravels]

I think the main take away is to do your research. Which... is always good advice. Many of these tours can be done with 3rd parties, which are more affordable and often much more interesting than the ones with the cruise line. In cozumel (my favorite port), I always take a cab to one of the all inclusive resorts and spend the day there.

[gatoreuph]

Your video evoked so many memories, mostly unpleasant. Seems like we have done all of the excursions you mention at least once. Those sightseeing tours that are mostly excuses to take you to shopping venues are the worst! Maybe we're learning, though. On our last cruise a couple of weeks ago, we didn't do ANY excursions.

[calilove]

Thank you so much for wild life Reserve. Because I felt so bed about the dolphins tour.

[jackiebyers]

We love riding Segways. We agree with your recommendation for booking with a third-party vendor

[tikiyacanty]

Can you please give us another video that shows the opposite, what you actually recommend?

[judithmitchell]

I can confirm the Tulum excursion. It definitely was almost entirely spent going there and back. Only 20 minutes to actually look around and soldiers with machine guns lining the road there and back. Nerve racking trip.

[jeffreyantell]

Disagree about Cozumel - visited there this January and the boat to Playa Del Carmen met us right at the ship and returned us to directly to the ship to see Rio Secreto and was perfect with maybe a 30 minute boat ride each way.

[zoestewart]

Thank you for adding that some of the animal encounter tours the animals aren’t treated well! A lot of people don’t know this!

[shughes]

A few years ago, we took an NCL America cruise in Hawaii. Two of the ports were two-days. It was wonderful. We rented cars at these locations and had a great time. I would love to see more two-day port visits. I would definitely cruise more often.

[debbieserwe]

Agree with not going to excurison to Disney. NOT enough time to do much of anything at Disney, or any of the other parks.

[alabamaal]

In all too many ports it is not feasible, or even possible, to obtain a rental car. But in those ports where it is, getting a rental and seeing the sites on your own is highly recommended.

Word of warning, though — don't expect to rent the latest model cars; usually they are compacts with few features and a good many miles on them. Also, make sure the rental office/lot is close by to the port. Some ports may ostensibly have rentals available. However, you may have to get a taxi go to the local airport to pick-up/return it; not practical at all. Additionally, some rental offices operate on "island time", which can be quite frustrating.

[d.]

So glad I saw this! Our cruise disembarks at Vancouver 7am and our flight out isn't until 10:30 pm. I know we will be exhausted but with that much time to kill...thought a post cruise tour was only option. Any chance of your recommendations for an all day stay?

[dannypeters]

My favorite when it was in Cozumel was the Americas Cup Regatta..

[pagrant]

We did a poor shore excursion last day, as this took us straight back to the airport, we would have stayed on board ship to departed time as we will still get transfer to the airport, we would have ate better on board,

[dutchman]

Any suggestions on visiting Nassau in the Bahamas

[lynnfranklin]

Local taxis can be iffyWe have had friends with horror stories

[valerieruddy]

Disagree with the excursion/airport drop as often in Europe you may want to see a historic Monastery & excursion provides this with airport drop

[AMC-eqjr]

Never helicopter tours - too dangerous.

[leyley]

Sorry I already booked to swim with dolphins.