Cruise Excursions - Cruise Line or Private?

ONE OF my frequent comments here, and a primary tenet of our cruising experience, is how important itinerary is to our cruising choices. We make our choice of cruise lines and ships, as much based on itinerary as other factors (although we do draw a line at certain cruise ship lines). Our one and only (so far) cruise on the Oceania cruise line was, for example, based almost completely on itinerary.

IF ITINERARY is important, (to me, that means where the ship cruises and where it stops), it follows that excursions are also going to be important. Discussion of whether to book excursions through the cruise line or independently seems to be a recurring topic on the media I frequent. It often starts with the question by a new poster: "should I book my XYZ excursion through the cruise line or use a third-party purveyor. How would I answer that question? Those who have followed the blog for a while, probably know which way I "lean." However, to the direct question posed by this post, I will give you the most definitive answer I can: "It Depends."😖

We make our choice of cruise lines and ships, as much based on itinerary as other factors

IF YOU spend any time reading on places like Cruisecritic.com or any of the FB (or other, I suppose) social media pages, read blogs, or watch YouTube videos (my newest favorite source of cruise info), you will observe that there seem to be 4 distinct viewpoints. I adhere to the third one, and think I am probably in the majority. There are a rather vocal group of cruiser/commentors that preach, in some cases pedantically, to never book a cruise with an independent. The most common premise for this assertion is the certainty that the ship will always wait for you and will never leave without you. That is (mostly) true. Other reasons asserted are convenience (you will usually qeue onboard and go as a group to your vehicle of conveyance, your payment will be refunded if the tour/excursion is cancelled, you can use onboard credits, etc).

There are some common sense things to consider when booking a third-party tour

A SECOND school of thought espouses always booking an independent cruise. I suspect the group with this "always" thinking is the minority group of the three. Cheaper pricing, smaller groups and generally "better" tours are the most commonly given reason. I think this group always tries to book independent tours if possible. Closely related to this group is a third, "we always explore on our own" group who rarely, if ever pre-book an excursion. My understanding from reading comments is that this group mostly just  explores the destination on their own, or finds an excursion from the many that are usually being offered right on shore.

THERE IS no "right or wrong" view here. The only "wrong" thing I see is that some parties who espouse these views are often rigid in those views, and in many cases are (at least partly) misinformed. More on that below.

THE FINAL of my 4 groups is the one I belong to. It is probably the largest group and probably the most diverse in terms of differing views within the group. As a general rule, we look at the whole excursion thing pragmatically. To our way of thinking, the primary question is who will provide us with what we are looking for, and that means we have to be open to any of the above options as they fit the circumstances. As  members of that school of thought, we have taken part in cruise-sponsored excursions, third-party excursions, and at times have just walked off the ship and either explored on our own, or negotiated with one of the local purveyors for a tour. While in my mind the last one is perhaps the most risky, we have had good success by keeping our expectations reasonable.

you are actually paying for the third-party, but instead of choosing your own, you are taking what the cruise line chooses

AS I have said here before, we lean toward third-party tours. In our experience they are almost always a better experience. This is because they are generally available in smaller groups (though we have been on a couple of large - bus based private tours), the tour guides are usually very knowledgeable of the geographic area and its history, and their licensing often gets us "skip the line" privileges and in to places we might not otherwise get to. Our experience has also been that the cost of the third party tours are not significantly higher than the cruise-based tours (and sometimes are even less) and you get so much more "bang for the buck" in these small group situations. We are not "married" to them, however. There are times, however, when we choose the cruise-based tours. Sometimes we are "comped" a ship excursion, and unless we have already booked a better option, we often will take advantage of them. There are times when there do not appear to be any better alternatives than the ship tour and we will take them. When we were in Japan, for example, we had a difficult time finding private tours in many places (particularly outside the major cities). We are seeing the same thing with our fall, Norwegian Fjords cruise. Many very small stops and apparently no thriving third-party tour operations there.

SOMETIMES WHEN we are in a familiar destination and/or one that does not necessarily lend itself to a formal tour, we will just go ashore and either explore on our own, or find an on shore touring experience. We have been to Naples many times. We think we have probably seen all the major attractions (Pompei, Amalfi Coast, etc.) On a recent trip to Naples we decided to take a ferry to the Isle of Capri and explore a bit on our own. We got off the ship, found the nearby ferry terminal, and spent a nice day on Capri. In South Africa, we stopped in Namibia. It did not appear that there was a lot to do there, and the ship-based excursions were sold out, so we walked on shore and found a local 2-hour drive-around tour. It worked out just fine. In 2023, we were cruising with some friends in the Southern Caribbean, with multiple stops. Having been in the Caribbean countless times now, we rarely book excursions there. It is probably the one exception to the "choose by itinerary" rule. In the Caribbean, we are much more driven by the ship and line and the onboard experience. On this cruise, we "negotiated" with the hawkers on shore several times, basically for just a "circle the island" tour. They all worked out pretty well. Enough so that we did it again in Tortola, B.V.I., the following year. We are booked again on a Southern Caribbean cruise with some friends in late March and suspect that will be our M.O. this time, too. For this school, I think flexibility and willingness to look for the right "fit" is the primary driver.

make it crystal clear when you want to be back in port

LET's DISPELL some of the narrative while we are talking about excursions. While it is mostly true that a ship won't leave passengers behind who are late back to the ship on a ship-sponsored excursion. There was a widely publicized exception on a Norwegian Cruise Line just this year, of a family who was on a cruise-sponsored excursion in Ketchikan, Alaska. There was a problem with transportation back to the shipl. All kind of understandable. But the ship did leave without these 9 passengers. The ship must have known the passengers were on a ship-sponsorer excursion. What followed for the family was nothing less of a nightmare, and the ship line could not have handled things any more incompetently. Is this a very unusual ocurrence? You bet. Lets not say it never happens though.

PERHAPS MORE, it is a rare ocurrence for legitimate third-party operators not to get passengers back to the ship on time (it does happen - we know from personal experience). Think about it. If they are legitimate businesses, and they want to stay in business and protect their own reputation, they are going to do everything in their power to get their customer back to the ship! On the extremely off chance that they don't, most of the legitimate operators have some kind of guarantee and will defray expenses and work to get you back to the ship's next stop.

we lean toward third-party tours

IT IS really kind of a "sky is falling" argument for a lot of us. There are some common sense things to consider when booking a third-party tour. Book the tours through a legitimate source (we use Viator and/or TripAdvisor to find reliable, mainline tour operators). We also try to check them out by seeking other opions on FB pages and CruiseCritic, if we have not already had experience with them. Above all else, communication is critical. Our one close call involved - more than any other factor - a lack of communication between all parties. We joined another couple on an excursion during our South Africa cruise. We did not set up the excursion, and I was kind of "lax" about any communication with the drivers, thinking the other guy had it covered. I learned a valuable lesson that day. Never take for granted that the other guy(s) have it covered. Talk to the people yourselves and make it crystal clear when you want to be back in port! In this case, we contacted the ship and let them know exactly where we were and when we expected to arrive back at the ship. Fortunately, that was 30 minutes before the scheduled departure (but 30 minutes late for the all-aboard time). They didn't have the opportunity to leave without us, but they probably would have. Indeed we were scheduled to join the same couple on a second excursion the next day and I make clear to the other guy (he was in complete agreement) that I was going to have a conversation with our driver about the time we wanted to be back at the ship. We always try to beat the all aboard time by at least 30 minutes - more depending on how far away we might be from the ship. Other than that experience, we have been on many, many third-party operated excursions and they always are very cognizant of all aboard times, and go out of their way to make sure we are back with some cushion.

all of the risk of failure to get back on time is on you

IN BARCELONA one year they had a huge demonstration going on and our tour-operator actually cut our tour short to get us back to the ship (they refunded us a pro-rata portion of our fees, of course). We don't worry about it. We do try to plan realistically. In addition to choosing legitimate operators, it is worth thinking about where you are. In South Africa, we were in the proverbial "middle of nowhere" and in that case the risks are probably higher. This year in April, a group of passengers on another NCL cruise (tough year, Norwegian, but your own conduct probably brings you some deserved angst about cruising with you these days) were late back to the port. Reading between the lines from the information I could find, it appears that the third-party operator was at fault and significantly misjudged conditions for getting the passengers back to the ship. There are places in the world where I would be a little more careful about third-party operators. In some cases, they are very different cultures and may not feel the need to take responsibility. We have used them without any incident in most parts of Europe, and in Turkey and Japan, though.

ANOTHER THING to think about if you are going to use third-party tour operators is to know that all of the risk of failure to get back on time is on you. If you find that too stressful, or if you do not have the financial wherewithall (I don't mean this as an elitist statement - just as a blunt reality) to "cover" when it does happen, then you probably shouldn't take the risk, however slim I believe it is. Generally, we are philosophical about it and we (fortunately for us) have the ability to cover in the event it does happen.

DESPITE ALL of these "risks," on balance, we prefer a well-operated third party excursion. The "convenience" thing usually isn't an issue. Although we have on occasion had to take a taxi, uber or public transportation to meet our tour/guide, more often our guide has met us right in the port, and brought us back at the end. Obviously the time and logisitics involved when you do have a site away from the port is part of your planning and responsibility. Give yourself plenty of time on both sides of the scheduled tour. All too often when we have joined one of the cruiselline sponsored excursions, we find they just don't do it very well. And though this may come as a surprise to some, in most cases, they are actually being conducted by some kind of third-party operator anyway, who is contracted by the cruise. Now you are actually paying for the third-party, but instead of choosing your own, you are taking what the cruise line chooses. I am confident that their criteria for choosing the third-party is not the same as mine. 😏

IN THE end, it is going to depend on your own tolerance for risk and budget. My advice is to consider the (again, I believe very small) risks above, and using common sense, do not hesitate to book onshore excursions with legitimate third-party operators. In most instances, I think you will be glad you did so.

Cruise Ship Dress Codes: Much Ado about Nothing?

BEING AN avid and frequent cruiser, I read blogs, follow social media groups, and watch YouTube videos about cruising topics. A lot. One of the topics that consistently and repeatedly  comes up for discussion is cruise ship dress codes.

 "When in Rome . . . "

HONESTLY, I cannot think of a more "nothing" issue. Yet we waste gigabytes of digital "ink" and an equal amount of angst and energy over this. You might (legitimately) wonder: if it is such a nothing topic, why am I writing about it? Not sure I have a good answer. It came to mind and I thought I would "weigh in." That's what bloggers do? Call me hypocritical (though I think I am just being "critical).😅

WHATEVER THE justification, before delving too deeply into this, I want to put it in the perspective I try to keep whenever I travel. Growing up, the ancient saying credited to St. Ambrose: "When in Rome . . . " (you know the rest) was oft heard in my home. The gist of this comment was that when you are a guest of someone else, you honor their rules and customs. This is true even when you are a paying guest, in my view. The difference is that your visit is contractual, and there are obligations both parties must honor. One of your rights is to decline the service. If you choose to partake, however, you follow the rules. It really doesn't matter to the rest of us that you may disagree with them; even feel they are stupid, and in fairness, they generally have reasons behind them.

I cannot think of a more "nothing" issue

WHY THEN, is it such a controversial and apparently for some folks - vital -  issue? I don't really know. Some of it is no doubt driven by our modern "entitlement culture." What I do know is that if you join any one of the cruise groups on Facebook, you will daily see someone new coming on and posting a question about the dress code; many of them openly questioning it. What I find incredible is not that they are asking questions. It is the questions they are asking. In many cases it seems like a passive-aggressive venting, rather than an honest question seeking an answer. What astonishes me is that most of these people have already booked a cruise, or have certainly (hopefully) done a fair amount of research. It seems like the most common controversy arises over jeans, hats and flipflops. Really? Those are the hills you want to die on? I cringe when I read stuff like: "Can my husband wear jeans in the MDR? He never wears anything else." Hmmn. A turn on a common saying comes to mind: "Get a pair" 😁 (of khakis or something). Or, "I see the rule about no flipflops for men in the MDR, but my husbands are "designer" flipflops, so surely they are allowed?"" Seriously, read the cruise line's rules. If the rules say no jeans in the MDR, you either wear something else, or don't go there (and this from a guy who eschews shoes, and socks in every possible instance, and lives in flipflops at home). Pretty simple. Another one that really tickled me recently: "We are from Wyoming. My husband always wears a cowboy hat when he goes out. Will he be allowed to wear his cowboy hat in the MDR?" Seriously? Do the rules say no hats? Is a cowboy hat a hat? But then, they are from Wyoming. 😃 Can't you enjoy a meal without a hat and/jeans? If so, maybe a cruise just isn't for you.

Why . .  is it such a controversial and apparently for some folk, vital issue?

EVERY CRUISE line has a published dress code. It is easy to find. Why not read the rules published by the cruise line? I realize they are sometimes ambigous. That's when you ask questions of experienced cruisers on online. Years ago, I was an adjunct college professor. I used to tell my students there were no stupid questions. That was before I started spending time on social media. 

What I find incredible is not that they are asking questions. It is the questions they are asking

I APPRECIATE that most of the mainstream cruise lines have evolved as our social cultures have. I spent 40 years in the professional world and 30 of them meant I wore a suit or at least a coat and tie every day. The last 10 saw a move toward what has been dubbed "business casual." I was able to skip the tie and often were a polo, dressy crew, or button-down collared shirt and a sport coat. I personally have never considered "jeans" of any kind to be "business casual" or in any way "dressy," but that is my own view. Even today, I have to wonder what the big deal is about two items of clothing that seem to touch off hot buttons: jeans and hats. I used to enjoy the formal nights and wore a tux for them. I never enjoyed schlepping all that formal stuff around though. Today, I don't even pack a jacket.

It really doesn't matter to the rest of us that you may disagree with them; even feel they are stupid

WHAT I do still do is uncomplainingly follow the dress code the cruise line has set out. I try to use common sense. I take one or two dressier shirts and at least one pair of nicer slacks (I don't travel with jeans - I don't find them comfortable, they are heavy to pack, and hard, in my view, to keep unwrinkled). It seems like common sense and good manners.

If you can't enjoy a meal without your hat and/or jeans then maybe a cruise isn't for you

THE MAIN thing here, is that we go on cruises to relax, have fun, and in many cases become enriched over world culture and history. So lets focus on that. Relax, enjoy the cruise, and don't get all knotted up about a dress code. Seems like you can spend an hour or so each day without having dinner without your favorite hat, jeans or flipflops. If not, they do have room service.

On a gentler note: this is the penultimate (god, I love using that word 😂) post for 2024, and more importantly, just days before Christmas. I hope for everyone who may be reading this that you have a joyful season and a very   Merry Christmas!

A Packing Checklist for Men ( a totally "copycat"post idea)

I RECENTLY read in one of the blogs I follow, a suggested "packing list" for men for warm weather cruising. I started following the Life Well Cruised Blog after discovering her on YouTube. I have learned a lot of good information, tips and suggestions from both her blogs and videos and would generally enthusiastically recommend both the blogs and the YouTube channel. Like anything your read online, it is not necessarily gospel and I think it is smart to read things with an open mind and sometimes even skeptically. It is also true that we all come to information sources (whether we are the seeker or the provider) with at least some subject bias, more often than not bounded by our own experiences. Having said that, I want to (gently) challenge some of the points in that blog - and make some suggestions to pare down that list. This post will make more sense if you follow the link about and look at that list (toward the end of her blog).

My shortened list almost guarantees you can get through a cruise with a carryon sized bag and a small personal bag

THE DESCRIPTION in the narrative for "non-formal" nights is perfectly fine for formal nights too. The post implies that you need to have something more for the formal or gala nights - like a jacket and maybe dressier shoes, shirt and slacks. I haven't taken a sport coat or suit on a cruise for years now (and I used to be a full tux guy). I have "chino" or similar pants that I take on cruises mainly for the MDR and nicer specialty dining venues. They are equally sufficient for normal nights and formal nights. I generally take at least one long-sleeved button down shirt which I do wear on formal nights, but I have to say that I see many men in the restaurants with nice golf/polo shirts on formal nights too. I also see guys with sport jackets over T-shirts that I would personally consider inappropriate even on a normal night. But they are wearing a jacket?😒 Based on my experience and observation, it is fine to wear slacks and a shirt without a jacket and I would estimate that 50-60 percent of other cruising men who frequent the MDR agree with me. I see lots of men without jackets. On the other non-formal nights I generally wear a nice golf shirt or a "camp" style shirt that is understated and would pass the "country club" casual test in my mind.

SHOES? I am a 6 foot guy who wears 11-12 shoes. For men, shoes are the single most challenging item to pack as they take up tons of room (and add lots of weight) in bags. These days on a Caribbean Cruise I take a pair of casual shoes that will work for dressier ocassions, and flipflops (I am not a runner/walker on cruises, so no sneakers for me). I am wearing one pair and that makes the flips the only footwear that is in packed luggage.

nobody . . . is going to notice if you wear the same thing more than one time

 MY OWN approach to "formal" dress has nothing to do with disliking dressy clothes or being disrespectful of the rules of the cruise ship. That is why I do try to make my "business casual" attire as nice as possible. My reason has everything to do with packing and carrying. There are two issues I think we face (men and women) when packing "formal" clothing: keeping them wrinkle free, and packing light. When it comes to men, the average male is big enough that packing suits and shirts and trying to keep them wrinkle free; and then adding 2-3 pairs of shoes demands a fairly large bag in my experience. Before the dress codes were relaxed, I carryed the largest rolling garment bag I could buy, along with the largest carryon I could get onto an international flight. If you are flying, that is a hassle. They are ungainly and heavy. When you arrange for shore transportation, they take up scads of space in the Uber, taxi or other vehicle.

IN THE Caribbean, the balance of your time doesn't require heavy dress needs. It is warm weather, so you will generally be able to get along with shorts and T-shirts. The post concludes with a "packing list" specifically for warm-weather (essentially the Caribbean) cruises. I think (and I do) pare the suggested list down considerably. As noted above, I generally bring one pair of shoes that can be dressed up or down. I wear them. I only pack one other pair of footwear - my flipflops. I have several, but still, I am only going to need one of them for the cruise. The list says 3-4 pairs of shorts. I generally bring not more than 3 and could honestly get by just fine with 2. I don't swim or hot tub on cruise ships (another post for another day), and rarely go to the beach. But 3 pairs? C'mon. We are men. With modern cloth one should be sufficient (two if you are the cautious type). Most men I know don't wear pajamas to sleep in (usually gym shorts and maybe a t-shirt). Leave them home. Live dangerously.😄

For men, shoes are the single most challenging item to pack

AGAIN, I don't wear jeans very often, but when I do, I consider them cold weather wear. You are going to be in the Caribbean. Do you really need 2 pairs of jeans? They are heavy and bulky to pack. And in my experience, they don't travel well. On the off chance I will need casual long pants, I take a pair of "Columbia (or similar) ultralight, wrinkle resistant pants. They never come out of the packing cube. A suit? Nah. Not only have we gone casual, but you will be in the Caribbean. See above. Nope on the tie (unless that is important to you personally - likewise the suit and special dress shoes - but they are bulk that you may want, but don't need).

ONE ITEM I personally would add to the list is a couple long-sleeve T's. I usually pack the same material as my regular T's (some kind of synthetic/athletic blend), generally Columbia, Huk, Patagonia, or similar. They are essentially weightless, can be worn out on deck or on shore, and provide good sun protection.

EVERY SINGLE time I travel anywhere for an extended period, I come back and lament how much stuff I packed that I really didn't need (and in many cases use). Each time I get a little smarter and a little lighter. A couple things I have learned. First, and perhaps most important, nobody (well, maybe your spouse) is going to notice if you wear the same thing more than one time (multiple times even). That is why I don't think you need 4 pairs of shorts. I usually have a khaki and a navy blue pair. I do take a few t-shirts as they pack light and are the things for me that seem to get soiled most. The second thing is that we have a wonderful advantage these days with modern, ultra-lightweight, wrinkle free (or at least resistant), stain and sweat resistant clothing. All of my travel T-shirts are the "dry-fit" type (I personally prefer the Under Armor brand), and my shorts are generally the blended fabric that Columbia, and similar companies sell. They can all be handwashed if necessary and will hand-dry very quickly. A plus is that wrinkles really aren't an issue.

Because we don't fly, we are free to bring whatever we want

MY SHORTENED list almost guarantees you can get through a cruise with a carryon sized bag and a small personal bag.

DISCLAIMER: IT is easy for me to preach all this above. I do it when we travel to Europe, but there I generally need more, and greater variety of clothes. For that trip I use a larger (but still not huge) roller bag that is put in checked luggage. I can still get by with that and a hand-carry bag. The Caribbean Cruises have become more of an indulgence for us. We live in Clearwater, Florida. We really don't need that "winter break." Indeed we often find that our friends and family find winter a good excuse to come and visit us in our warm weather climate. Yet we still take Caribbean Cruises. Lots of reasons for that. Except for one time many years ago, we have never just gone on our own on a Caribbean Cruise. We are usually joining others and usually they are seeking a break from their frigid winters. We get it. We once did that too. Because it is an indulgence, and because we almost always cruise from a Florida cruise port, we don't fly. Because we don't fly, we are free to bring whatever we want (within reason, of course) and I do bring a larger bag - and more clothes. Because I can. 😉