We Tried It: Third-Party Shore Excursions

This article is the second in the "We Tried It" series, where I share my experience of breaking out of my comfort zone and using third-party excursions. Some links in this article are affiliate links. If you make a purchase or booking through them, Blue Fusion Travel may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

On my first couple of cruises, we didn’t even plan shore excursions.  For some reason, we had the misconception that they were restrictive; you don’t really get to see anything, and the value wasn’t there.  We were those people who got off the ship and only went as far as our legs would take us, or hoped we would find a reputable taxi driver to take us somewhere.  I cringe now thinking about how a couple of times we just jumped into taxis with the person at the port, and once we made arrangements with a local while on the tender headed to shore! 

Things have drastically changed for us.  I love planning shore excursions and having something to look forward to at each stop.  I usually book my shore excursions directly with the cruise line.  I have always preferred the peace of mind cruise line excursions bring me over third-party excursions.  This was solidified when a family member had a terrible experience using a third-party shore excursion company a few years ago, and you can read about it in, Why I'll Never Trust a Third-Party Excursions Again.  But in the unplanned spirit of the “we tried it” trip, third-party excursions only made sense.

Why I Chose Third-Party Shore Excursions

When I booked my cruise, I had every intention of booking cruise line-sponsored excursions.  Especially since I was sailing with Carnival, I wanted to experience their process for excursions.  I looked at them, reviewed them, and saved favorites for future reference, even though none of them really piqued my interest. 

In the meantime, my daughter had taken to her research and shared a dune buggy excursion that got good reviews in the Dominican Republic.  I decided to do some research outside of the cruise line to see what was out there.  I found that many people like to rent golf carts in Grand Turk and tootle (is this a real word?) around in them.  We had a lot of experience in tootling around in golf carts when we rented one in Isla Mujeres, Mexico, earlier this year, so it seemed fitting.  I’ve been to Nassau before, but we were whisked off to a snorkeling trip that was, you guessed it, scheduled with the cruise line.  We thought about doing a day pass to a resort, but I wanted to explore a little more of the city this time, and paying to sit at a resort isn’t at the top of things to do at any port for me.

Carnival had a van you could rent in Nassau and create your own tour, which was very appealing, but it sold out by the time I was ready to purchase excursions.  They had golf carts, but the time frame was limited, and if I recall, it was guided.  They had dune buggy options for the Dominican Republic, but it was part of another experience that we weren’t interested in doing.  So, if we were going to do dune buggies the way we wanted,  we were entirely on our own.  So, we went rogue on everything. 

What Was Booked

After much research, we rented a golf cart in Grand Turk. I found a company that was recommended by many other cruisers.   I was comfortable with this because we were in complete control of our schedule and itinerary.  I created a map in advance of points of interest, giving us plenty of time to see everything and return to the ship with plenty of time to spare.

We booked dune buggies in the Dominican Republic, which was my favorite activity.  We did have to pivot when the original company I wanted to use only had an afternoon tour available.  He assured me others from my ship were going at that time, and there was plenty of time.  Nope, no thank you.  It was too close for comfort for me, and I found another option that had a morning tour, but not too early, after all, it is vacation, allowing us to be back on the ship in plenty of time.

I found a tour van operated by a husband and wife in Nassau that was similar to the one Carnival had, but it was 4 hours instead of 7. I was completely okay with 4 hours because that gave us plenty of time to get back to the ship on time.  Are you noticing a common theme with my choices?

I felt 100% comfortable with the excursions I booked, and we did them all without any issues.  Each one ended at a time that allowed us to be back on the ship well before sail-away. 

Will I Do It Again?

Since this experience went so smoothly, will I do it again?  I’d rather not.  Why?  This is partially my fault.  I booked most of the excursions using Viator’s book now pay later option, which I love.  Viator is a great platform, but I noticed that none of the tickets confirmed the meeting time. I take partial blame for not noting the time I selected when I originally booked each excursion. Because of this, I felt like there was a lot of back and forth during my trip, trying to confirm everything. 

I had to book the dune buggy directly with the tour company because Viator didn’t have an option for a 4-person booking.  Again, there was a lot of back and forth and confirming the meeting place and time while already on the cruise.  I prefer having everything already in order and not having to worry about it once my trip starts.  When you book an excursion through the cruise line, your tickets are waiting for you in your cabin the day you arrive.  I love that!  Call me a cruise geek, but that’s all part of the cruise experience I love.  All was not lost on this trip, however.  I did book a cabana for Celebration Key, so that ticket was waiting for me inside my cabin.

Also, if any excursions booked through the cruise line change, they will notify you. Depending on the change, the details may already be finalized, or you might need to communicate with the shore excursion desk. Either way, they will still take care of it for you.

Another reason I would hesitate to book third-party excursions again is that, since these weren’t cruise line excursions, most companies cannot enter the cruise port area, which means we had to walk to our meeting points. In the summer heat, these walks felt exceptionally long. I am used to cruise line excursions where you get off the ship, walk a short distance, and hop on an air-conditioned bus to your destination, and that’s what I prefer.  No trying to read maps that were texted to me, wondering if I’ve gone the right way, taxi drivers asking if I want a ride as I make my way to my meeting point.  I’d just rather not.

Pro tip:  If you are going to use third-party shore excursions, use a travel advisor.  Your travel advisor can handle all the confirming for you if any needs to be done while you’re traveling.  Your advisor can then update your travel app itinerary with the essential details.  I was my client in this scenario, so I didn’t have such a luxury.

Final Thoughts

I’m not saying I will never use a third-party shore excursion again, but my preference, hands down, is to stick with the cruise line.  With proper research and planning, third-party excursions aren’t scary, but there’s still risk involved with anything done outside of the cruise line.   If you want to use third-party excursions, plan carefully and follow my tips, 10 Tips for Booking Worry-Free Excursions.

Also, we (I use we loosely as I had nothing to do with it) left our GoPro on one of our excursions. We reached out for assistance with locating it, but were told they didn’t find it.  I can’t help but wonder if we would have had a different outcome if we had used a company sponsored and vetted by the cruise line. 

If you want help booking your next cruise and choosing the best options for excursions, reach out to me.  I love helping people create vacation memories.