Shore Excursions: Cruise Line VS. On Your Own! Pros & Cons— TA TALK # 10

Date Filmed: August 8, 2023

Hey Happy Travelers!

Welcome to the home office for our new reoccurring series: TA Talk! In these videos, Matt will be discussing perspectives surrounded around being a travel agent, and sharing his TA expertise on various travel topics! He will be answering frequently asked questions we receive from our travel agency and sharing them with you! If you want a certain topic covered, or have a question you want answered, leave a comment on this video and it may be featured in a future episode!

In today’s episode, Matt will be discussing the age-old question: do I book excursions through the cruise line or on my own? There are pros, cons, and things to think about with each option and Matt takes you through it all!

We hope this was helpful and fun for you! If you are interested in planing your own travels, we would love to assist you! As travel agents, our services are free to our clients, and we are here to help you with the planning and booking process! Please contact us via the travel agent information located below! Happy Travels! 🛳🎉🎊

TRAVEL AGENT INFORMATION:
Matt & Chelsy Hoffman
[phone]

Instagram:
@Hoffman.Happy.Travels

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Music Credit:

[brittanyc]

Thanks for sharing the info.! I always love learning more about cruise lines and excursions! ❤

[lboutard]

This was very thorough and informative! I’m a chicken but travel with others who are not. We have done both ways and I prefer paying more to get the peace of mind. It really to depends on how long the stay is. Longer the more adventurous we get. Short days we stay around the ship or do excursions with the cruise! Love the TA Talk! 😊 thank you

[cathyperry]

Lots of good info, Matt. In Nov. 2021, we partially ventured out on our own in Aruba thanks to your previous vlogs. One thing to mention, we waited too late to book via the cruise line for what we wanted to do and the excursion was full. We booked a private tour prior to sailing and it was stressful to me because of 1. The time in Aruba differed from ship time (it was 1 hour different). 2. We had to walk outside the port to find our tour waiting for us. All, in all it worked out and we had a great time. The ship was in port an extra long time, so that helped with not missing the ship. With our upcoming Mardi Gras cruise we booked via Carnival and receive a 10% credit because we have the Carnival credit card and booked the excursion prior to sailing. I will check out the cruise planner options too, since we have lots of fun cruises within the next 6 months.

[mercyrodriguez]

We always do ship excursions, feel safe!

[nanschmidt]

You must be psychic! We were just discussing this for our Mediterranean cruise next year. The ones through cruise planners look really interesting. Like the small group options and getting you back to the ship on time. Also, considering on our own at a couple of the ports. But do have that getting back to the ship on time anxiety. Don’t want to make the pier runner montage video on YouTube. 😂

[henryrosa]

Hello Hoffmans, I just love your channel and your TA talk. Question if you take a 3rd party excursion and get to the ship late, is it covered by your travel insurance?

[Mrcruisefever]

We do our own research, then do our own excursion.

[busymom]

We do both. We only had one problem a long time ago. We saw a dolphin encounter that was much cheaper than the cruise line since my daughter was the only one wanting to do it. When we gone there on our own, we found out the cruise purchased all the slots and we would have to pay the cruise price which included transportation. Otherwise we haven’t had any problems.

[starkathr]

One thing I have noticed with doing your own excursion is that if you talk to the third party, a lot of the time it will be a private tour. A lot of the time when you book with the cruise line, it’s a group tour so you end up with less time at each place. Just what I have found.

[dianeallen]

We've only recently become comfortable with booking directly with the vendor and it was our 6th cruise and our second time to the port.
We have a cruise coming up soon where we booked all but one with the vendor. I'm a little nervous about the one in Bar Harbor bc it's a tender port and NCL isn't the greatest at tendering their guests. I'm not worried about the vendor getting us back to the ship on time... I'm worried about the ship getting us to our excursion on time. 🙂

[dawnrusso]

I look at who offers what and then decide. As long as the business has guaranteed ship returns I have no problem using them. We still don't normally just explore completely on our own. I feel like we might miss something because we don't know anything and don't have a guide to tell us anything 😅

[JC-blbo]

Is it just me or is there music in the background? It's a bit distracting.