The arrival of winter in the Northern Hemisphere means one thing for cruisers - time to hit the Caribbean! Taking a cruise is often championed as a great way to have a budget friendly holiday. Having been on a cruise, I won’t generally argue with that - there’s no hotel to pay for, quite a lot of often great food is included, and a island hopping trip through the Caribbean would be ludicrously expensive by air or charter boat.
But I will say that not all aspects of cruising are cheap. Optional expenses like spa treatments, or alcoholic drinks (one could argue not really optional when cruising with your family!) or even soda are not included in the price. And of course, there’s the most notoriously expensive cruise add on - the Caribbean shore excursion.
St Lucia Shore Excursion - Catamaran Day Sail
For a week long cruise a couple could easily spend the cost of their Caribbean cruise all over again in shore excursion fees. The cruise lines charge a premium for shore excursions, though frankly, in most cases, you could save time and money by not booking the tour through the cruise line. Avoiding the hoards of passengers being organized into the cruise line shore excursions and having a smaller group experience leaves more time for fun, which is why you’re in the Caribbean in the first place.
On the saving money front, let’s compare Viator versus two major cruise lines for a couple of Caribbean shore excursions:
St. Thomas, USVI Shore Excursion - St. John Champagne Catamaran Sail and Snorkel
Viator $61.99
Princess Cruises: $89
Royal Caribbean: $79
Grand Cayman Shore Excursion - Atlantis Submarine Expedition
Viator $88
Princess Cruises: $99
Royal Caribbean: $105
Dominica Shore Excursion - River Tubing Safari
Viator: $60
Princess Cruises: $74
Royal Caribbean: $69
I could go on, but I think you get the idea, Viator’s Caribbean shore excursions are generally much less expensive than a major cruise line. In many cases, the operator of the tour is the same, so there’s no difference in quality, just a cheaper price. In some cases, the Viator group will be smaller in size than the giant cruise line group, which often leads to a better shore excursion experience. You might even meet people who you aren’t seeing every day on your cruise!
The cruise lines use scare tactics like, you might miss getting back to the boat on time if you don’t book the cruise line shore excursion, but really, any professional operator is going to have you back in plenty of time for sailing. I recommend checking out Caribbean shore excursion reviews on Viator or any of the reputable cruise forums on the web for more advice. There’s one thing I’ve learned from reading the forums, veteran cruisers never book the cruise line shore excursions.
Happy sailing!
Taking a cruise somewhere else? Check out more Caribbean shore excursions in Aruba, the Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin Islands (BVI), Cayman Islands, Dominica, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, St Lucia, St Maarten, US Virgin Islands, and Mexico over on Viator.com.
February 25th, 2009 at 9:46 am
Suhweet! Thanks for the info