5 cruise ship shore excursions I tried and instantly regretted

Five times I took a cruise ship shore excursion and reconsidered my decision making almost immediately.

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[dawnpowers]

I took a cruise to Bermuda with my daughter this past June. We took an evening tour on a "glass bottomed boat" to see the most northern coral reef. Not colorful, saw just grey fish. We also saw the tip of ONE shipwreck. The best part of the tour was seeing Norwegian Pearl lit up at night from the boat, but it was not worth the cost.
The BEST excursion we took was a 5 hour tour of the island and it was because of our tour guide (whose name I can no longer remember). We were the last bus to leave the ship and he decided to do the tour in reverse, so NONE of the places we went to were crowded with other bus loads of people. Brilliant move on his part.

[michelleridgway]

We've been on over 80 cruises, and are Diamond Plus with Royal Caribbean. Due to my disability, we create our own shore excursions. We get a private taxi, so I can transfer out of my scooter chair and my husband can place the chair in the trunk.
Then, we head to a 4 or 5 star hotel, preferably one that allows a day pass. There's usually very few guests and we enjoy the infinity pools and private beaches practically to ourselves. We pack snorkel gear for hubby and an inner tube for me!

[daniellemaddie]

I just got back from a royal Caribbean cruise last week and as someone who was raised on a non touristy island in the Bahamas I was very frustrated with these shore excursions on all the southern Caribbean islands we visited. They were all tacky and didn’t give us an authentic experience of each island. For the prices we paid it wasn’t worth it. I guess because I’m used to residential Bahamas this why I don’t appreciate these excursions as much but either way I think anyone can agree that on these touristy excursions you don’t get a good feel for the places. With all that to say, I’d recommend just finding a taxi driver to drive you around to where you want to go and some quieter areas as well. We did this a few days on the cruise and not only did we see a lot more, it was also a lot cheaper as well.

[ModernMyths]

After all the cruises I've been to. I have to say I have 3 that I was upset with.
1. Alaska Gold Panning. I did a tour in Skagway that did a train ride through the mountains, dog sledding, and gold panning. The Train Ride was amazing, the Dog Sledding was ok. But the Gold Panning was HORRIBLE! 1st beware the words "Everyone Guaranteed Gold". Pretty much they give you pans with dirt already in it. Then, after you shift through it and get 1 or 2 specks. That's it. You can't try again or try at the side of the river or anything. It was an hour long scheduled for it and everyone got done in 5 minutes. I did a couple others that let you do more. I just felt incredibly ripped off.
2. Falmouth Jamaica Waterfall climb. I did a Spelunking and Waterfall climb in Jamaica that made me feel disappointed. The spelunking was amazing but the waterfall was sad. Like your experiences Matt, it was just so overcrowded. Worse we had to climb the waterfall holding hands with everyone in a line up it. It felt like a preschool field trip then a shore excursion. Worse, we couldn't really enjoy the waterfalls themselves with 20 or 30 other tours doing the same thing.
3. St Maarten Dolphin experience. This one I have to say was the saddest and cruelest excursion I've ever seen and I'm so glad that I' didn't see it being advertised anymore the next few times I went there. I've one of those dolphin excursions where you meet the dolphins and interact with them and stuff. And on this one I went with my parents. We took an hour long boat ride to it (in super rough waters that EVERYONE got sick on). Then when we got The best way I can describe it was that it was like a dog kennel. It was a literal square of chain link fence by the shore. Their noses were all cut up from them and it just felt so horrible. I still upset about it all after so many years. Then after that, we had to take the hour long trip back to the boat in the same rough waters that everyone got even more sick on.... Like I said, I'm so glad they stopped that shore excursion

[taloncalif]

None of the aruba shore excursions were appealing to us so we decided to visit the town on our own. However when getting off the ship, a lady caught our attention and told us she could give us an island tour. I know total crapshoot and could have gone really wrong. Instead it was an awesome tour and at end of tour she dropped us off at a great beach. She told us which bus to take back to the port. It all worked out great at half the cost of a cruise backed tour. I don't recommend this for everyone. For some overpaying for a sure tour is a better way to go.

[sdmakeupandentertainment]

I want an excursion where you get off ship, go directly to beach, are served lunch and drinks under your own umbrella and someone is playing music right there. No walking around, no standing. Hang out maybe 3 hours to 4 hours. Then you get picked up and get taken back to ship. The end. Oh dare to dream. Lol

[rodneyelylesrealestate]

Our worst excursion ever was horseback riding in Jamaica. It looked great, riding through clear blue water. It was actually a dangerous ride through an unattractive area of beach with horse poop all around us! I had not anticipated swimming through horse poop on horseback. The guides were pushy for tips and the whole experience was just awful!

[kevintemerowski]

Mr.Sanchos is fantastic. Been there twice, never an issue.

[Severine]

We went to Falmouth in March 2023 on the Odyssey. We did the River Rafting tour. We had ages 10 thru 70 and we all loved the tour. Also enjoyed the lunch and pool at Good Hope Estate after the rafting tour.

[mercyrodriguez]

To go on a pool, we rather stay on the ship, I’ll go to the beach, we have been cruising since 1986, have visited every island in the Caribbean, one of the best excursions we took, was in Falmouth, we were on Princess, they took us to an old Estate up on top of a mountain, it had been the home of the old founders of the island, it is a museum now, we stood on a terrace and it was so high that we could see the curve of the earth, it was breath taking.

[TheJonas]

I went to San Juan, Puerto Rico a couple years ago with my family and we did a self guided tour using a map of the city and Del Morro Castle which was great so I knew exactly where to take my girlfriend for her first time in PR when our MSC cruise docked there last year. What I thought was funny is that we were basically followed by an MSC walking tour excursion (a tour which I saw was about $35 pp) and all they did differently was have a guide tell them about the history of the castle which you can read on various plaques throughout the trail. So these people basically paid for a tour they easily could've done on their own. I always advise people to research their destinations before sailing so they have an idea of what they want to do and it makes it easier to determine whether you should book through the ship or not.

[appleforever]

We did a 7-night stay at WDW first and then a 7-night Disney Cruise. Best trip ever!

[rovermiles]

All of my Royal Caribbean excusions have met or exceeded expectations. I can only recall one excursion with another cruise line that was a little bit on the disappointing side. The reason I book excursions through the cruise is to not have a day where not getting on the right bus to a destination kills a port day. Some might look at these excursions and have a better idea, but the economy of scale and careful vetting g done by Royal Caribbean has kept me and countless others sated for the taste of adventure at a price that is very affordable.

[gbgentleman]

I absolutely loved the ATV excursion in Aruba. Expensive, but my kids and I loved doing something we normally wouldn't do and seeing a place in a way most tourist never will.

[kendeas]

Spot on with Walt Disney/Universal. There’s no way to enjoy what those parks offer in such little time.

[JessieGerhardt]

I was recently on Harmony (Sept 25 - Oct 2) that had a Falmouth, Jamaica stop. I chose the Accessible Ocho Rios to Konoko Falls because I read that it was not as overcrowded as Dunn's. I think two tour buses of about 16 people each ended up going - so it was not crowded at all! Yes, it was an hour ride there but the amazing tour guide talked the entire way about the fascinating history, culture, religion, economy, etc of Jamaica. The sights along the way were absolutely stunning. Once there, we had a short walk through the rain forest with a guide that showed us different plants, followed by a small zoo of native animals, and then a climb up some absolutely gorgeous falls. On the way back, we stopped for lunch with a choice of jerk pork or chicken (both were good!) then shopped at a local souvenir shop that also served rum, punch and coffee samples. Jamaica was the hands down highlight of an absolutely wonderful cruise and I highly recommend this excursion.

[Rhuidian]

The wife and I took our first cruise in December out of Port Canaveral. One Shore excursion was the Jeep tour on Nassau. The excursion made it sound like this great ride with each group getting their own Jeep to drive. Drive on the beach and all that (as pictured in the excursion ad). Not so, as we were grouped with another couple, and I got crammed into the back of a wrangler TJ. Anyone familiar with those 2000's wranglers knows that the 2door offers limited space. It's a tight squeeze for a 5'11" guy like me. It was a fast paced drive through the streets with only 3 stops. One at a cave filled with bats, one at a beach, then to lunch.

[nyisles]

I did not enjoy Thrill Waterpark at Coco Cay. When I left there to go to Oasis Lagoon, I found my happiness at Coco Cay. Lesson learned.

[FishProductions]

went on a cruise and had a catamaran and snorkeling excursion and got extremely sea sick I will be doing another one but make sure if you even get remotely motion sick just plan ahead get prescription motion sickness medicine and make sure to take the medicine ahead of time.

[TripBloggers]

We did an excursion to Disney World on the Disney Magic out of NYC. It was amazing. The ship got in at 6am and left the next day at 2am so we had an entire day in the park and they provided us anytime Fast Passes, hoppers, transportation, and park passes all included with our cruise fare. I wish that itinerary still existed.