Planning a cruise? Get The Ultimate Cruise Planner. It's a 47 page cruise travel planner with packing checklists, shore excursion planning forms and much more! ($10 off for a limted time). Details here: lifewellcruised.com/ultimate-cruise-planner/
Yeah Ilana, the new 2024 top 10 cruise youtubers subscribers list was just released, and " Life Well Cruised" jumped up from # 8 to # 4. How wonderful to see you rewarded for all the ah-mazing work you do. Take a bow, you've earned it. You and your husband, should be very proud.
@@LifeWellCruised Very true, Ilana. You're welcome! What it does show is, the content creators who put that much dedication in to their craft, are duly appreciated by their audience; and your following enjoys what you bring!
I am a museum guy. One of the VERY best museums I went on, was during our port day in Halifax. The Halifax Maritime Museum. Super fascinating. Learned about the Halifax Explosion which blew my mind. Never heard of it before. Alot of Titanic artifacts as well.
Larry right next door to the port shops is the Canadian Version of Ellis island check it out next trip We lucked out one of our enrichment me speakers spoke on the Explosion part of the cemetery with Titanic victims has an explosion area too
P.S. I believe we will enjoy further reviews of your excursions. They really do help us decide for ourselves when we get a clearer picture of an excursion.
MINE TOOO!! After I went climbing the Dunn's River falls which was sooooooooooo fun and unique BUT the sales people were sooo pushy to the point they were dang near holding my arm back. Will never go there again because of the pushy sales people that will not take a "NO" or "LEAVE ME THE EFF ALONE" nor can I ignore them because they will grab your arm. Just stay on the boat for safety!!
Great video!! In the Caribbean, we saw a lot of tours with glass bottomed boats. However, for our stop in January in Barbados, we took the Atlantis Submarine, which dove down 150' below the surface and along a coral reef. I would never go on a glass-bottom boat after that excursion. Everyone had porthole windows, and the fish came right up to look inside the sub. It was terrific! The real deal!
We were just at the sloth sanctuary last week and had a totally different experience. Our bus was the only one there at the time so things went very smoothly. Saw the sloths, got our canoe ride , got immediately back on the bus and then had a short stop at a plantation on the way back to the ship. Very enjoyable excursion.
Simply loved the Alexander G.Bell Museum in Sydney but it was only a part of an excursion which included a restored village walk and a great lunch at a local eatery. The land area outside the museum is beautiful also. There is a short boardwalk in Sydney that has relaxing views and dining ops.
Whenever I book a cruise, I always go to the websites of the ports we will be visiting and see how many ships will be there on the day we will be there. If it’s more that 2 ships, we don’t book an excursion. Early in our cruising life, we found out real quick how unrelenting crowds and traffic can ruin an excursion. I’m older now and I just cannot stand crowds and big buses. Especially when it’s HOT outside. Not a fan of tendering either.
Man, about to take my first cruise ever in September with my family, many of whom taking their first cruise ever as well. Short and inexpensive cruise, just the 4-day Coco Cay/Nassau cruise on Allure. Been watching a ton of your videos to get prepped for what to expect. I honestly think whatever we end up doing is gonna be a blast regardless. Love it or hate it, we're getting out of the house and out of the country for once! Even if only slightly lol
If you don't mind a suggestion,I always book Atlantis hotel.the locker rooms are clean,we can swim in all the different pools and I love the aquarium! Slightly pricey but worth it
We took a Princess cruise to the Caribbean in January. For our St. Thomas visit, we took an excursion to St. John, and I liked it MUCH better than St. Thomas. It was absolutely beautiful and much less busy.
We're also taking a Princess Cruise in March 2025 to the Caribbean and are looking for a good snorkling adventure - if you have any suggestions I'd appreciate it!
St. John has a snorkle trail, open water requires strong swimming ability. Grand Cayman has clear water, lots of fish, several great sites. Belize has the second largest reef system, second to Australias great barrier reef.did a Belize excursion that offered snorkeling inside the reef, or outside for strong swmmers and larger fish!
Hiking over museums any day! I appreciate this video and I'd love to see more of this opinion based type video from your experiences. It helps so much when planning what to do while cruising. Thanks! 🙂
I agree with those folks who said that long bus tours are a waste of time for me. Not being a shopper that too does not appeal to me. When you have seen so many gift shops they get very tiresome. I love tours where I can be more active.
Don't book alligator boat tour with HAL out of Fort Lauderdale. None seen from crowded air boats. Just ones in cages on land. Plus really long line ups for everything
On my most recent cruise (Southampton to Cape Town on QM2) we did a mix of ship excursions and private excursions booked through Viator. The private excursions (booking a car and driver) were Soooo much better than the ship excursions - it was just the two of us and the driver in a regular car - no waiting around for all those other people and much easier on the knees than all those bus steps. We could go where we wanted, stay the amount of time we wanted, and were able to see so much more than the people on the bus did.
I do not like going on excursions on buses when the guide is not miked and if you are in the back of the bus and cannot hear anything, the excursion is a bust. I take very few excursions on buses anymore (especially in the Caribbean) where that is a real possibility.
I'm absolutely a museum person! I spent several hours at the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science, on my own, while in Miami during a recent cruise on the MSC Meravligia. It was fabulous!
Skip the Bioluminescence kayaking in Puerto Rico. Its not like advertised. They take out a huge group and chain all the kayaks together. Then throw a dirty tarp over your head to see very little bioluminescence. It was very disappointing.
Just returned from my very first cruise aboard MSC Seascape, and LOVED IT! The ship was gorgeous, spotless, food & drinks were amazing & was the hot stone massage I had ! There was all kinds of things going on, casino, shows, or just lounging on deck - it was a great experience - I'd do it again in a heartbeat! I love your videos, I started watching them before we booked, and they are VERY informative, helpful, and much appreciated> Keep them coming Ilana, I am planning a Mediterranean cruise next! Thanks!
We booked a private excursion in Cartagena so we could go to the Gold Museum. It's not very large but very interesting (and free). The video on the ground floor was about a current archeological project dealing with ceramic flutes. Had never heard of these before. Absolutely fascinating!
There was an excursion in Saguenay, Quebec with NCL It was "Discover the Fjord Secrets". The excursion had two different groups, one took the boat first and one group took the bus first. The boat ride went down the exact river, location that the cruise ship came on, so saw the same scenery. Then it ended in a small small town with one place to eat. Picture the buses from the one group and the boat from the other group arriving at the same time and needing to eat at the same time. Not long enough for everyone to stand in line at the one eating place and get food.
I find any of the excursions where you leave the ship, just to sit on a beach a waste, since I can do that on the ship, at the pool. Though, I do love the shopping excursions where you can grab lunch and eat local food, then do some shopping. Museums are okay, especially if it’s a hot day and they’re cool inside. But really, I’m a ship-body, and I prefer to explore activities when everyone else is off the ship.
I agree about the glass bottom boat. We took one in Bermuda at night, to see "coral and fish." Everything was grey. Sunset on the way out was gorgeous, and seeing the ship all lit up from the water on the way back was beautiful, but I'll skip the boat in the future. Was also too crowded with everyone smooshed together to see the glass.
Boo! I'm going to Bermuda in a few months and have a glass-bottomed Bermuda Triangle excursion booked. Should I cancel? I was imagining a large portion of the boat being made of glass, guess that's not the case. It's also at night (like 10PM, way after sunset - I have a sunset rum cruise booked as well!)
@@jds2001nyc Oh no. It's very squished and uncomfortable and there isn't anything to see at night. I would certainly not do it again. I'd choose something else.
I prefer walking tours. Especially those that include food tastings and even cooking experiences. My fave in Cozumel is the one at IxCool right outside the port. It was lots of fun and food was great.
That would have been so much better than the Mayan ruins walk in high heat and humidity with a walk thru area of shops---FYI the advertised shuttle up to the ruins has been out of service and unavailable for over a year now, but Princess has it as a 'part' of the tour and available for $2. Complained at cruise desk but they really don't care!
I don’t have a specific excursion that was bad but I will say I’ve learned to stay away from ones that include either a lunch or a restaurant of their choosing. Not that there was anything particularly wrong with the food but I always feel like they are places tourists go and I really like experiencing where the locals eat.
I just got back from Explorer of the Sea, Royal Caribbean ship and a 9 day Eastern Caribbean cruise. It was amazing. There were a couple of excursions that disappointed though. The first one was the zip line in Puerto Plata. It was fun but not much different than other zip lines and the views were minimal, just the country side. The next, was the eBike tour on St Maarten. 2 Countries on an eBike. The views were great but you have to share the road with big buses and trucks. It was scary. The other thing is the steep hills and the extremely hot weather combined with the fact that my eBike wasn't working well in Turbo mode which made me have to peddle very hard. I was so exhausted we couldn't complete the tour and took a bus back to the cruise port. The next was our snorkeling in St Kitts. The masks weren't in good condition and the areas they took us to were underwhelming. I was extremely disappointed as when I signed up through my travel agent, it said I would be snorkeling with sea turtles. I was told on the excursion that had we gone in the morning, I might have seen a sea turtle but not in the afternoon. I wasn't given a morning option to sign up for. It felt like a scam. My favorite excursion was in Antigua where we snorkeled with sting ray! They were wild, coming in from the ocean on their own because they are used to getting fed. We were able to feed them and they loved being petted. They were so gentle. It was wonderful. When we returned to Miami, we did an excursion through the ship that was a tour of the Everglades and then a bus ride to the airport when done. That was the absolute worst. There were so many busses from many different ships (there were 5 in port when we disembarked) that the lines were so long it was insane. The airboat tour was worthless. They took you out for 15 minutes in the same route as all the other boats and told about the Everglades but didn't even try to find alligators. Most of the time we stood around in the hot sun, waiting our turn. We did get to see the alligator show, which was the only positive thing about the tour but even that made us stand around what felt like forever. The show lasted 25 minutes or a little less, the airboat ride was 15 minutes and we were there for 4 hours. I'll never do that again.
I do NOT recommend the snuba in Cozumel Carnival tour ($89) !! My friend had snuba 2 times in the past but ended up staying at the top because she did not get a patient dive guide to help her w/ getting comfortable w/ regulator. Divemaster guide took out 6 people 2 of which stayed at the top and he ignored them and his 6 people and just pulled the raft as a 4 of us followed. My friend struggled to stay at the top holding onto the raft and could not use her regulator while others pulled her under as her feet got caught in the lines and struggled to try to drop her weight belt that was pulling her under. I did not surface to assist her because I thought she just decided to hold onto the raft and not dive but come to find out she was screaming for help and holding onto the raft trying not to be pulled under by the lines and weight belt. As for me I thought the "reef" was manmade and felt as if I was in a black & white show w/ no color in the reef or fish! I am a certified diver and felt this tour was unsafe and managed poorly that could have ended in tragedy. It is a Carnival sponsored tour recommended to us by the excursion desk.
We are not too much on the museums. We are finding that the ship excursions are getting worse every time we cruise. A guide for excursions and companies that are trustworthy would be greatly appreciated.
I grew up going to museums in Boston (The Peabody Museum [now Peabody-Essex], The Science Museum [The Planetarium & Omni Theatre included], The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum & The Museum of Fine Arts).
We went to a different sloth sanctuary in Costa Rica with Holland America. It was much smaller and even though we couldn't hold the sloths we really enjoyed it.
I agree with your thoughts on the Magen's Bay excursion. I instinctively did the same thing you recommended--walked all the way down to the left where it was much less crowded! We finally found an open picnic table there where we could enjoy our lunch. Unfortunately, by the time we got to splash around in the water for a while, and get drinks and food (at the VERY busy pizza place & bar), it was almost time to leave! I'm not sorry I went, but will probably do things a little differently if I ever go back to St. Thomas.
I love the Bell Museum in Nova Scotia. I had no idea what all he did. I am a museum person. I listened to his biography after we got back. I have several excursions I didn’t enjoy. One in Iceland we didn’t get to spend enough time in a thermal area and too much time at a restaurant.
The most disappointing excursion we did was from Allure of the Seas last January; it was at Cozumel and we were going to tour the Mayan Ruins at Tulum. Between the Ferry Ride (they were LITERALLY passing out motion sickness bags...which were being utilized in abundance!), the 10 block (give or take) walk from the ferry (in the rain!) to where we got on the buses to be taken to the ruins, there was absolutely NO TIME to shop for souvenirs or even take pictures with monkees or iguanas. We barely had enough time to go the the bathroom before we were paraded about a mile through the jungle to the ruins. At the ruins, we didn't even have enough time to see everything and never got NEAR the Temple. Same rushed agenda on the way back, though with 1.5 hour stop for lunch and swimming time. We got back to the ferry but had to wait FORTY-FIVE MINUTES for two women who decided to shop for souvenirs m, but since they were on a ship's excursion, we had to wait for them. There were three ship's in Port that day so we don't know what ship they were from, but they caused the Allure to depart almost an hour later than scheduled! Thankfully, we HAD booked the excursion through RCCL, so the ship couldn't leave without us! It was just too rushed, even if we didn't have to wait for the two women!
You are so right about Halifax excursion - we had a combo of the fortress and Bell museum. It didnt help it was raining that way. And fortress is at one end and Bell museum is at another. So we were mostly on the bus and saw looooooots of wet pine trees on the sides of the road. The one amazing thing that day - we stumbled upon some tiny inn that had a restaurant - our guide said it was closed so most people went for a bite at the supermarket across the road, but I called and the inn people said they are open. We had lobster rolls to die for! Amazing!!! and they were a fraction of cost of what the restaurant in Bar Harbor wanted (like 15CAD vs 30+usd)
Yup, all the way left for Magen's Bay -- which is unfortunately the opposite direction from probably the best painkiller I ever drank lol! But plan ahead, bring bottled water, and stay left and it's a great visit.
We loved Magens bay, took a taxi on our own, and yes walked left, beautiful and much less crowded, there was a woman who would bring drinks from the bar, or we sent our hubby's, and then that bar/snack place was much less crowded at the end of the day.
😂 do not go back and order another pain killer!! Made that mistake. Thank God our cab driver was a good guy-4 people hardly remember getting back to the ship. He even stopped and took pics of us at some look out 😂
Went to the blow hole (LA bufadora) Ensanada, Mexico. It was supposed to be a three hour excursion. Upon arrival, we had to go through an open market and was bothered by the different shop workers on the way to and back. The excursion lasted 5 hours instead. The blow hole was about 10 minutes for us to see and want to go back. Waited hours to get on the bus back to the cruise port.
We did that tour to Ensenada also. Blow hole wasn’t even functioning very much the day we went. A complete bust. Just vendors selling junk or overpriced jewelry. I probably would just stay on the ship if we ever went back
thanks for the info about Magens Bay. We were considering going but didn't want to pay that excursion price. and I believe we would be docking very early so I think we'll just go on our own before it gets too crowded.
In St. Thomas, I can’t recommend Seas the Day charters enough. We had a group of 6 total. They picked us up right from the pier and took us out to a snorkeling spot. I felt completely safe as there were 3 staff members with us. After an hour or two of snorkeling, we spent a couple hours at Water Island which was not crowded at all. We ate lunch there and had some quality beach time. They have several pre-planned trips you can take or you can customize your trip. They were so friendly and accommodating. They also got in touch with us the day before while we were in port in San Juan the day before to alert us of some changes. One of the best excursions I’ve ever taken!
St. John is our absolute favorite but it's become challenging to get there with ferry times, port times, taxi's not wanting to take people to Red Hook until they are PACKED in. It's such a bummer because it's gorgeous but I don't think the St. John is eager to have the cruise traffic either.
I agree about the glass boat. It was very underwhelming. Although I wouldn't say that I regretted it, I definitely wouldn't book this excursion again. As far as museums, I'm definitely a museum person!! 😊 I just don't know of many (haven't been to many ports). Does anyone know if there are any museums in Nassau or if it's worth booking excursions or just walking around? I have a cruise in June where Nassau is one of the ports.
Skip the Mt Liamuiga hike in St Kitts unless you are VERY fit. Only 1/2 of the bus made it a few hundred feet on the trail. By the end only about 8 of us made it to the top. Then you have to turn around and go back the same way. Grueling. The guide practically runs the whole way while you are dying to keep up. We can laugh about it now, but Never again.
Stay away from The Hermitage in St. Petersburg. Even if your ship gets "early" entry, there are still already thousands (literally) of people there. You can't just wander or choose what you want to see, and you can't linger at an interesting painting or exhibit. You are herded from room to room like cattle, and each room has "watchers" glaring at you as if you are a criminal. All this while you are crowded together (again, think cattle) shuffling forward through whichever few of the many, many rooms of The Hermitage the Russian authorities choose for your ship. Worst museum experience ever. In fact, the whole of St. Petersburg was disappointing. We thought it would be filled with beautiful, minaret topped buildings but, while there are a few of those, they are few and far apart. It is mostly a gray, industrial looking city. However, the Peterhof Palace, which was a separate, day long excursion, was very nice, but from chatting with others, I think the quality of your guide is probably paramount to your experience there.
Great video! The only "glass bottom boat" tour we ever really liked was the see through kayaks in Roatan. The guide sang while we followed in our kayaks and we could easily see the fish under us.
I like art museums. I can spend a happy day in the Prado in Spain. Otherwise, I skip museums. I am afraid of doing my own excursions because I am afraid of scams and of missing the ship. AAA recommends Shore Excursions Group, do you anything about them? Thanks for the great videos. ❤
When we did that cruise, we would get off the ship and go to where the tour busses waited and hired a local driver to drive us around for an hour for a tour. We would get them to drop us in the downtown area, where we would window shop and find an interesting restaurant for lunch. We found interaction with a local cab driver gave us more interesting and personalized information.
As I mentioned before, we are on Harmony and were late leaving Costa Maya yesterday because of 2 accidents. First a Zipline broke and a person was badly injured but did survive not sure if she will be ok or not. Second one was a crew member fell off the dock, they are fine but got tangled in the ships rigging. As I said he is fine now. DO NOT cruise without insurance!
Hi, Ilana! You are right about Magens Bay. It is a beautiful beach and I have had the chance of visiting it twice and, lucky me, it was not crowded. It was November and maybe that's why.
Doing back to back cruises and had an excursion in Fort Lauderdale with the airboats in the Everglades. Very disappointed , hoping to fly across the everglades in an airboat but instead 1 little jet run for about 1/2 a mile then just slow motion looking for wildlife in the everglades. If you are into birdwatching then this is for you but if you are looking for excitement then pass.
Unfortunately due to the popularity of cruising and the number of passengers each ship carries the OLD days of true cruising/exploring are gone! Might as well go to a shopping mall. The cruise lines better figure something out or cruisers will start bailing. Industry limits on the number of ships in a given area etc........... Its easy to kill a good thing.
The overcrowding on beach excursions is becoming a problem! Megan’s bay was very crowded . We were the second ship into GrandTurk, the island changed since our last trip. The chairs were so far away and the packed into crowded rows. I won’t visit there again. Museums are not for me . I went to Greece and saw every artifact/museum known to man. Long bus rides, hot weather not for me. The rest of my trip was great.
We didn't regret Magen's Bay but felt it was like a pond or lake beach, not an ocean beach. We also sat in the sand, not paying $20 per chair for the two hours we were there. Top beach in the world? Hmmm.....that is a huge stretch..........
I agree the sloth sanctuary Roatan was so much fun love being able to hold them and have them fall asleep in your arms. If you go to San Juan look online and book the old San Juan Segway tour. It's a great time and well worth the $96.00 for two hours.
We are going to Nassau in April on Carnival, and your channel has been so helpful! I've been trying to decide on whether to go to Margaritaville or Atlantis for our shore excursion. Which would you recommend?
So glad to hear you enjoyed Peggy’s cove. We’re doing the Canada cruise for the first time in September and will definitely put it on our list. As for Nassau-the best thing to do in Nassau is stay on the ship and enjoy the space while everyone else is is onshore. Also agree about the glass bottom board. I’ve done it before while on vacation in Mexico. A real disappointment with everyone clambering around the small viewing windows. Couldn’t really was anything.
Museums are rather hit-or-miss for me. I definitely prefer ones with more spatial or hands-on exhibits, perhaps with an entertaining tour guide, rather than just rows of photos with plaques to read. (I could just stay home and get on Wikipedia for that! lol)
On our New England Boston to Montreal this summer, we've booked a walking tour in Bar Harbor (wasn't sure if tender was free, but this way it's included), and the Confederation Bridge in Charlottetown PEI (a very early morning adventure, so time to enjoy the port too), as part of our Holland America "Have it All". The rest we plan to explore ourselves, except for Quebec City, hubby came from there, so, been there, done that. The Ottawa River/St. Lawrence River cruise last summer had mostly museums, the first being the National Aviation Museum in Ottawa. My first visit was in 1968, when my grandfather was invited to be interviewed by the museum. Afterwards, he gave 7 year old me a private tour of which planes he flew, actual and type, and writing on each pertaining page of the souvenir booklet. I think he spent the most time in Canadian Airways Fairchild G-CART.
Just watched you for the first time. So informative. Do you have a you tube video on excursions in roatan Honduras. You mentioned the sloth sanctuary but when i looked it up, there were many tours there. Thank you for your posts. I'm older and rather new to you tube but i enjoyed your video. Thank you again
Bored at the Alexander Bell Museum? Yes, that was you. I thought our tour didn't stay long enough! I don't agree with excursions that allow tourists to handle wild animals so that one wouldn't be for me. I'd rather see them in the wild.
On NCL booked a whale watching boat tour in Icy Strait Point, Alaska with my husband and teenage children. The boat was packed full. When there was something to see, everyone ran to the outside front of the boat ( the only area you could go outside on this vessel). It was hard to see with the crowding, then everyone went back in when there was nothing to see. This continued the entire tour and was annoying. Also, the person narrating was not on a microphone, they just yelled but you still couldn’t hear them. Not worth the cost and time at all.
Most excursions aren’t worth it. We did the tour of the Everglades and then dropped off at the airport. It killed some time but crappy tour of the Everglades.
Quick question ... is there any way to find out how many ships in port before you arrive? Five ships vs. one ship in port. Big difference in level of enjoyment.
I have found I'm not a myseum person but my husband is. So, there is a compromise there. We did an archeological dig tour in Rome, i was so excited going in, but found that that, too, became a very boring experience for me. Glad i did it but wouldn't recommend it nor would i do it again
Cruising the "Mexican Riviera" is dicey because the excursions are all local Mexican "companies" and you are on your own. The cruise line makes it very clear they have nothing to do with the excursions.
We did Margaritaville when it first opened and was only about $60. It is now much more and doesnt include the infinity pool. It was clean and nice and you could walk to it.
Nassau jeep excursion, completely waisted time, jeeps are unsafe and the beach the room as too had glass and garbage and truly was terrible. This was a Disney wish excursion so expected better standards.
In 2019 we did ANOTHER Alaskan cruise but this time it was only activity based activities. Rafting down the Chilcoot river in Hanea, off roading in Ketchican, hiking up and awaybon Mount Roberts on Juneau. It beat the stuffing out of boring blah blah bus tours.
The first two sound hideous. I want ports of call where you get to experience culture, ambiance, foods. I have no interest whatsoever in remaining ship bound should I ever cruise again ... So I will do due diligence on destinations prior.
In progreso I was having to go in port alone and i didn't want to go alone so i did a beach and shopping excursion through the cruise line and was pretty disappointed. The only thing we were paying for was a private shuttle to the city and one hour open bar. Once we got there we were dropped off at the FREE beach and left to shop and find our way back to tje regular free shuttle, so i could have done all that for free myself, the beach and shopping. Felt very unsafe alone.
Most ship shore excursions are overpriced and usually not good. Just take me to the private islands and give me a lounge chair, warm water, shade, and a drink.
Planning a cruise? Get The Ultimate Cruise Planner. It's a 47 page cruise travel planner with packing checklists, shore excursion planning forms and much more! ($10 off for a limted time). Details here: lifewellcruised.com/ultimate-cruise-planner/
Yeah Ilana, the new 2024 top 10 cruise youtubers subscribers list was just released, and " Life Well Cruised" jumped up from # 8 to # 4. How wonderful to see you rewarded for all the ah-mazing work you do. Take a bow, you've earned it. You and your husband, should be very proud.
Super kind of you! Truthfully anyone creating consistent content that people enjoy on UA-cam is doing a great job
@@LifeWellCruised Very true, Ilana. You're welcome! What it does show is, the content creators who put that much dedication in to their craft, are duly appreciated by their audience; and your following enjoys what you bring!
I am a museum guy. One of the VERY best museums I went on, was during our port day in Halifax. The Halifax Maritime Museum. Super fascinating. Learned about the Halifax Explosion which blew my mind. Never heard of it before. Alot of Titanic artifacts as well.
are there any museums you recommend in Nassau or San Juan?
Larry right next door to the port shops is the Canadian Version of Ellis island check it out next trip We lucked out one of our enrichment me speakers spoke on the Explosion part of the cemetery with Titanic victims has an explosion area too
I can't say I regret any of the excursions I have taken, but there are certainly some I wouldn't take again.
Totally get that
P.S. I believe we will enjoy further reviews of your excursions. They really do help us decide for ourselves when we get a clearer picture of an excursion.
Staying on the ship is our favorite excursion in Nassau.
Good to know! Thanks
MINE TOOO!! After I went climbing the Dunn's River falls which was sooooooooooo fun and unique BUT the sales people were sooo pushy to the point they were dang near holding my arm back. Will never go there again because of the pushy sales people that will not take a "NO" or "LEAVE ME THE EFF ALONE" nor can I ignore them because they will grab your arm. Just stay on the boat for safety!!
Agree - will never get off at Nassau again - it’s always nice to stay on a near empty ship anyway
@@Tam-te5nh terrible advice
Same!!! 😜 The ship is the destination (at some ports)!
Great video!! In the Caribbean, we saw a lot of tours with glass bottomed boats. However, for our stop in January in Barbados, we took the Atlantis Submarine, which dove down 150' below the surface and along a coral reef. I would never go on a glass-bottom boat after that excursion. Everyone had porthole windows, and the fish came right up to look inside the sub. It was terrific! The real deal!
We were just at the sloth sanctuary last week and had a totally different experience. Our bus was the only one there at the time so things went very smoothly. Saw the sloths, got our canoe ride , got immediately back on the bus and then had a short stop at a plantation on the way back to the ship. Very enjoyable excursion.
Simply loved the Alexander G.Bell Museum in Sydney but it was only a part of an excursion which included a restored village walk and a great lunch at a local eatery. The land area outside the museum is beautiful also. There is a short boardwalk in Sydney that has relaxing views and dining ops.
Whenever I book a cruise, I always go to the websites of the ports we will be visiting and see how many ships will be there on the day we will be there. If it’s more that 2 ships, we don’t book an excursion. Early in our cruising life, we found out real quick how unrelenting crowds and traffic can ruin an excursion. I’m older now and I just cannot stand crowds and big buses. Especially when it’s HOT outside. Not a fan of tendering either.
Good tip
Agree 100%.
How do you see this information? Just google the port?
@@amandagynn7010 cruisemapper
Man, about to take my first cruise ever in September with my family, many of whom taking their first cruise ever as well. Short and inexpensive cruise, just the 4-day Coco Cay/Nassau cruise on Allure. Been watching a ton of your videos to get prepped for what to expect. I honestly think whatever we end up doing is gonna be a blast regardless. Love it or hate it, we're getting out of the house and out of the country for once! Even if only slightly lol
Positive attitude.. 👍have a great trip 😊
You’re going to have a great time!
I bet you like Coco Cay the best
If you don't mind a suggestion,I always book Atlantis hotel.the locker rooms are clean,we can swim in all the different pools and I love the aquarium! Slightly pricey but worth it
Just like me when I prepared for my 1st cruise 2024 New year day.
I, too, watched all of her videos, read all of comments. 😀
Happy cruising 🛳
Definitely a museum/gallery person. I would never book a beach excursion.
We took a Princess cruise to the Caribbean in January. For our St. Thomas visit, we took an excursion to St. John, and I liked it MUCH better than St. Thomas. It was absolutely beautiful and much less busy.
We're also taking a Princess Cruise in March 2025 to the Caribbean and are looking for a good snorkling adventure - if you have any suggestions I'd appreciate it!
St. John has a snorkle trail, open water requires strong swimming ability. Grand Cayman has clear water, lots of fish, several great sites. Belize has the second largest reef system, second to Australias great barrier reef.did a Belize excursion that offered snorkeling inside the reef, or outside for strong swmmers and larger fish!
Hiking over museums any day! I appreciate this video and I'd love to see more of this opinion based type video from your experiences. It helps so much when planning what to do while cruising. Thanks! 🙂
I appreciate you watching & I’m glad you liked it :)
Me too!!! That’s what I’m looking for. I love hearing her opinion because she’s a seasoned cruiser.
I agree with those folks who said that long bus tours are a waste of time for me. Not being a shopper that too does not appeal to me. When you have seen so many gift shops they get very tiresome. I love tours where I can be more active.
Don't book alligator boat tour with HAL out of Fort Lauderdale. None seen from crowded air boats. Just ones in cages on land. Plus really long line ups for everything
On my most recent cruise (Southampton to Cape Town on QM2) we did a mix of ship excursions and private excursions booked through Viator. The private excursions (booking a car and driver) were Soooo much better than the ship excursions - it was just the two of us and the driver in a regular car - no waiting around for all those other people and much easier on the knees than all those bus steps. We could go where we wanted, stay the amount of time we wanted, and were able to see so much more than the people on the bus did.
Yes! We walked all the way to the left on Megen's Bay and it was barely occupied. Plus we were near the bathrooms.
Awesome!!
I do not like going on excursions on buses when the guide is not miked and if you are in the back of the bus and cannot hear anything, the excursion is a bust. I take very few excursions on buses anymore (especially in the Caribbean) where that is a real possibility.
I only go on ones that are less than 3 hours. Preferable 2 and half if possible.
Makes sense
I'm absolutely a museum person! I spent several hours at the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science, on my own, while in Miami during a recent cruise on the MSC Meravligia. It was fabulous!
Skip the Bioluminescence kayaking in Puerto Rico. Its not like advertised. They take out a huge group and chain all the kayaks together. Then throw a dirty tarp over your head to see very little bioluminescence. It was very disappointing.
Just returned from my very first cruise aboard MSC Seascape, and LOVED IT! The ship was gorgeous, spotless, food & drinks were amazing & was the hot stone massage I had ! There was all kinds of things going on, casino, shows, or just lounging on deck - it was a great experience - I'd do it again in a heartbeat! I love your videos, I started watching them before we booked, and they are VERY informative, helpful, and much appreciated> Keep them coming Ilana, I am planning a Mediterranean cruise next! Thanks!
Megan's Bay has fallen out of favor with experienced cruisers.
So glad you loved your cruise!! Watch for med cruise content coming soon too
We booked a private excursion in Cartagena so we could go to the Gold Museum. It's not very large but very interesting (and free). The video on the ground floor was about a current archeological project dealing with ceramic flutes. Had never heard of these before. Absolutely fascinating!
Very interesting
There was an excursion in Saguenay, Quebec with NCL It was "Discover the Fjord Secrets". The excursion had two different groups, one took the boat first and one group took the bus first. The boat ride went down the exact river, location that the cruise ship came on, so saw the same scenery. Then it ended in a small small town with one place to eat. Picture the buses from the one group and the boat from the other group arriving at the same time and needing to eat at the same time. Not long enough for everyone to stand in line at the one eating place and get food.
My kids did the ziplining excursions in both Belize and Roatan and they loved it both times. You really get your money’s worth and it’s a lot of fun.
I find any of the excursions where you leave the ship, just to sit on a beach a waste, since I can do that on the ship, at the pool. Though, I do love the shopping excursions where you can grab lunch and eat local food, then do some shopping. Museums are okay, especially if it’s a hot day and they’re cool inside. But really, I’m a ship-body, and I prefer to explore activities when everyone else is off the ship.
Taking my first cruise at the end of March! Taking the NCL Pearl on a Caribbean cruise!
I agree about the glass bottom boat. We took one in Bermuda at night, to see "coral and fish." Everything was grey. Sunset on the way out was gorgeous, and seeing the ship all lit up from the water on the way back was beautiful, but I'll skip the boat in the future. Was also too crowded with everyone smooshed together to see the glass.
Haha! At least the sunset was memorable
I imagine the "glass-bottomed boat" to be ALL glass of some kind on the bottom of the boat, not little square portholes.
Boo! I'm going to Bermuda in a few months and have a glass-bottomed Bermuda Triangle excursion booked. Should I cancel? I was imagining a large portion of the boat being made of glass, guess that's not the case. It's also at night (like 10PM, way after sunset - I have a sunset rum cruise booked as well!)
@@jds2001nyc Oh no. It's very squished and uncomfortable and there isn't anything to see at night. I would certainly not do it again. I'd choose something else.
Atlantis in Nassau. A dump every time we’ve went, way overpriced. I’d rather stay on the boat for Nassau
I prefer walking tours. Especially those that include food tastings and even cooking experiences. My fave in Cozumel is the one at IxCool right outside the port. It was lots of fun and food was great.
I’m going to have to try a food tour
That would have been so much better than the Mayan ruins walk in high heat and humidity with a walk thru area of shops---FYI the advertised shuttle up to the ruins has been out of service and unavailable for over a year now, but Princess has it as a 'part' of the tour and available for $2. Complained at cruise desk but they really don't care!
What are your excursion recommendations for an Alaskan cruise for someone with mobility issues?
I don’t have a specific excursion that was bad but I will say I’ve learned to stay away from ones that include either a lunch or a restaurant of their choosing. Not that there was anything particularly wrong with the food but I always feel like they are places tourists go and I really like experiencing where the locals eat.
That’s a great point
I wouldn’t do that
Love your videos! Thanks for posting! Agree w/you on Glass Bottom Boat tours, they were underwhelming to us too. Love shopping tours!
Yup, I don’t think I’ll ever book another 😂. I do enjoy a bit of shopping 😉
@@LifeWellCruisedDo a semi-sub expedition instead. Those are always cool.
I just got back from Explorer of the Sea, Royal Caribbean ship and a 9 day Eastern Caribbean cruise. It was amazing. There were a couple of excursions that disappointed though. The first one was the zip line in Puerto Plata. It was fun but not much different than other zip lines and the views were minimal, just the country side. The next, was the eBike tour on St Maarten. 2 Countries on an eBike. The views were great but you have to share the road with big buses and trucks. It was scary. The other thing is the steep hills and the extremely hot weather combined with the fact that my eBike wasn't working well in Turbo mode which made me have to peddle very hard. I was so exhausted we couldn't complete the tour and took a bus back to the cruise port. The next was our snorkeling in St Kitts. The masks weren't in good condition and the areas they took us to were underwhelming. I was extremely disappointed as when I signed up through my travel agent, it said I would be snorkeling with sea turtles. I was told on the excursion that had we gone in the morning, I might have seen a sea turtle but not in the afternoon. I wasn't given a morning option to sign up for. It felt like a scam. My favorite excursion was in Antigua where we snorkeled with sting ray! They were wild, coming in from the ocean on their own because they are used to getting fed. We were able to feed them and they loved being petted. They were so gentle. It was wonderful. When we returned to Miami, we did an excursion through the ship that was a tour of the Everglades and then a bus ride to the airport when done. That was the absolute worst. There were so many busses from many different ships (there were 5 in port when we disembarked) that the lines were so long it was insane. The airboat tour was worthless. They took you out for 15 minutes in the same route as all the other boats and told about the Everglades but didn't even try to find alligators. Most of the time we stood around in the hot sun, waiting our turn. We did get to see the alligator show, which was the only positive thing about the tour but even that made us stand around what felt like forever. The show lasted 25 minutes or a little less, the airboat ride was 15 minutes and we were there for 4 hours. I'll never do that again.
We LOVED Peggy's Cove. I had to purchase a jacket there.
Museum is Crete is a must see. Only an hour tour, but it gives you an ideal how advance the Myciean society was.
Thinking of blue lagoon island excursion...
I do NOT recommend the snuba in Cozumel Carnival tour ($89) !! My friend had snuba 2 times in the past but ended up staying at the top because she did not get a patient dive guide to help her w/ getting comfortable w/ regulator. Divemaster guide took out 6 people 2 of which stayed at the top and he ignored them and his 6 people and just pulled the raft as a 4 of us followed. My friend struggled to stay at the top holding onto the raft and could not use her regulator while others pulled her under as her feet got caught in the lines and struggled to try to drop her weight belt that was pulling her under. I did not surface to assist her because I thought she just decided to hold onto the raft and not dive but come to find out she was screaming for help and holding onto the raft trying not to be pulled under by the lines and weight belt. As for me I thought the "reef" was manmade and felt as if I was in a black & white show w/ no color in the reef or fish! I am a certified diver and felt this tour was unsafe and managed poorly that could have ended in tragedy. It is a Carnival sponsored tour recommended to us by the excursion desk.
We are not too much on the museums.
We are finding that the ship excursions are getting worse every time we cruise. A guide for excursions and companies that are trustworthy would be greatly appreciated.
I grew up going to museums in Boston (The Peabody Museum [now Peabody-Essex], The Science Museum [The Planetarium & Omni Theatre included], The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum & The Museum of Fine Arts).
Love the Peabody-Essex and ISG museum!!! Was just there for first time last fall. ISG is stunning!❤
Gran Cayman. Swim with the Stingrays. It was also
We went to a different sloth sanctuary in Costa Rica with Holland America. It was much smaller and even though we couldn't hold the sloths we really enjoyed it.
can you give us some more informations? This would be very nice! Thank you!
Glad to hear!
Antigua zip line tour, my husband broke 4 ribs, 4 others dropped out after 2 lines, very short lines, dangerous!
I agree with your thoughts on the Magen's Bay excursion. I instinctively did the same thing you recommended--walked all the way down to the left where it was much less crowded! We finally found an open picnic table there where we could enjoy our lunch. Unfortunately, by the time we got to splash around in the water for a while, and get drinks and food (at the VERY busy pizza place & bar), it was almost time to leave! I'm not sorry I went, but will probably do things a little differently if I ever go back to St. Thomas.
I love the Bell Museum in Nova Scotia. I had no idea what all he did. I am a museum person. I listened to his biography after we got back.
I have several excursions I didn’t enjoy. One in Iceland we didn’t get to spend enough time in a thermal area and too much time at a restaurant.
The most disappointing excursion we did was from Allure of the Seas last January; it was at Cozumel and we were going to tour the Mayan Ruins at Tulum. Between the Ferry Ride (they were LITERALLY passing out motion sickness bags...which were being utilized in abundance!), the 10 block (give or take) walk from the ferry (in the rain!) to where we got on the buses to be taken to the ruins, there was absolutely NO TIME to shop for souvenirs or even take pictures with monkees or iguanas. We barely had enough time to go the the bathroom before we were paraded about a mile through the jungle to the ruins.
At the ruins, we didn't even have enough time to see everything and never got NEAR the Temple.
Same rushed agenda on the way back, though with 1.5 hour stop for lunch and swimming time. We got back to the ferry but had to wait FORTY-FIVE MINUTES for two women who decided to shop for souvenirs m, but since they were on a ship's excursion, we had to wait for them. There were three ship's in Port that day so we don't know what ship they were from, but they caused the Allure to depart almost an hour later than scheduled!
Thankfully, we HAD booked the excursion through RCCL, so the ship couldn't leave without us!
It was just too rushed, even if we didn't have to wait for the two women!
Add 90+ degrees, 85% humidity and no bus to the ruins-----most people on our excursion would have danced in the rain---only (+) was bus A/C!
The ferry ride from Cozumel to the mainland is almost always a rough ride.
Loved Peggy's Cove and the lobster lunch!
You are so right about Halifax excursion - we had a combo of the fortress and Bell museum. It didnt help it was raining that way. And fortress is at one end and Bell museum is at another. So we were mostly on the bus and saw looooooots of wet pine trees on the sides of the road. The one amazing thing that day - we stumbled upon some tiny inn that had a restaurant - our guide said it was closed so most people went for a bite at the supermarket across the road, but I called and the inn people said they are open. We had lobster rolls to die for! Amazing!!! and they were a fraction of cost of what the restaurant in Bar Harbor wanted (like 15CAD vs 30+usd)
Yup, all the way left for Magen's Bay -- which is unfortunately the opposite direction from probably the best painkiller I ever drank lol! But plan ahead, bring bottled water, and stay left and it's a great visit.
We loved Magens bay, took a taxi on our own, and yes walked left, beautiful and much less crowded, there was a woman who would bring drinks from the bar, or we sent our hubby's, and then that bar/snack place was much less crowded at the end of the day.
😂 do not go back and order another pain killer!! Made that mistake. Thank God our cab driver was a good guy-4 people hardly remember getting back to the ship. He even stopped and took pics of us at some look out 😂
I would like some info on Sint Maarten. We are going next Feb for the first time and would like an idea of what to see and avoid.
Great! I have an entire video on Sint Maarten (just search Sint Maarten cruise port & it should come up)
Went to the blow hole (LA bufadora) Ensanada, Mexico. It was supposed to be a three hour excursion. Upon arrival, we had to go through an open market and was bothered by the different shop workers on the way to and back. The excursion lasted 5 hours instead. The blow hole was about 10 minutes for us to see and want to go back. Waited hours to get on the bus back to the cruise port.
We did that tour to Ensenada also. Blow hole wasn’t even functioning very much the day we went. A complete bust. Just vendors selling junk or overpriced jewelry. I probably would just stay on the ship if we ever went back
thanks for the info about Magens Bay. We were considering going but didn't want to pay that excursion price. and I believe we would be docking very early so I think we'll just go on our own before it gets too crowded.
My most favorite cruise UA-cam site. Others try to be sensational... hate it. I love this no-nonsense, realistic,informative approach
I love st johns. It is beautiful.
In St. Thomas, I can’t recommend Seas the Day charters enough. We had a group of 6 total. They picked us up right from the pier and took us out to a snorkeling spot. I felt completely safe as there were 3 staff members with us. After an hour or two of snorkeling, we spent a couple hours at Water Island which was not crowded at all. We ate lunch there and had some quality beach time.
They have several pre-planned trips you can take or you can customize your trip. They were so friendly and accommodating. They also got in touch with us the day before while we were in port in San Juan the day before to alert us of some changes.
One of the best excursions I’ve ever taken!
Thanks so much for the info, as I nearly always book private tours.
We have a couple of repeat ports that we did last year, and I'm looking forward to jyst spending that time on the ship!
St. John is our absolute favorite but it's become challenging to get there with ferry times, port times, taxi's not wanting to take people to Red Hook until they are PACKED in. It's such a bummer because it's gorgeous but I don't think the St. John is eager to have the cruise traffic either.
Agree and your ship better be in port for a long time in order to make all the arrangements and not miss the ship departure.
Thanks for sharing!
Do you have any beach recommendations for Curacao?
Mambo Beach - you can take a cab and it’s only about 10 minutes away
I agree about the glass boat. It was very underwhelming. Although I wouldn't say that I regretted it, I definitely wouldn't book this excursion again. As far as museums, I'm definitely a museum person!! 😊 I just don't know of many (haven't been to many ports). Does anyone know if there are any museums in Nassau or if it's worth booking excursions or just walking around? I have a cruise in June where Nassau is one of the ports.
Skip the Mt Liamuiga hike in St Kitts unless you are VERY fit. Only 1/2 of the bus made it a few hundred feet on the trail. By the end only about 8 of us made it to the top. Then you have to turn around and go back the same way. Grueling. The guide practically runs the whole way while you are dying to keep up. We can laugh about it now, but Never again.
Stay away from The Hermitage in St. Petersburg. Even if your ship gets "early" entry, there are still already thousands (literally) of people there. You can't just wander or choose what you want to see, and you can't linger at an interesting painting or exhibit. You are herded from room to room like cattle, and each room has "watchers" glaring at you as if you are a criminal. All this while you are crowded together (again, think cattle) shuffling forward through whichever few of the many, many rooms of The Hermitage the Russian authorities choose for your ship. Worst museum experience ever. In fact, the whole of St. Petersburg was disappointing. We thought it would be filled with beautiful, minaret topped buildings but, while there are a few of those, they are few and far apart. It is mostly a gray, industrial looking city. However, the Peterhof Palace, which was a separate, day long excursion, was very nice, but from chatting with others, I think the quality of your guide is probably paramount to your experience there.
One of our favorites was glass BLOWING in…..Skagway? I think it was. My blown glass hangs in my craft studio!
I have this on my list for our upcoming Canada cruise in September
Great video! The only "glass bottom boat" tour we ever really liked was the see through kayaks in Roatan. The guide sang while we followed in our kayaks and we could easily see the fish under us.
The museum in Athens and Olympia in Greece were amazing and combined with walking tours so I definitely recommend them
I may do this :)
If you have the time go to Hellenic parliament building you can watch the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier
I'm staying on the ship in San Juan. In St. Thomas I have a selfie tour and beach break. My first solo cruise. Nervous and excited!
I like art museums. I can spend a happy day in the Prado in Spain. Otherwise, I skip museums. I am afraid of doing my own excursions because I am afraid of scams and of missing the ship. AAA recommends Shore Excursions Group, do you anything about them? Thanks for the great videos. ❤
When we did that cruise, we would get off the ship and go to where the tour busses waited and hired a local driver to drive us around for an hour for a tour. We would get them to drop us in the downtown area, where we would window shop and find an interesting restaurant for lunch. We found interaction with a local cab driver gave us more interesting and personalized information.
Do you have any recommendations for port excursions in Zadar Croatia, Corfu, Montenegro, Naples, and Sicily?
As I mentioned before, we are on Harmony and were late leaving Costa Maya yesterday because of 2 accidents. First a Zipline broke and a person was badly injured but did survive not sure if she will be ok or not. Second one was a crew member fell off the dock, they are fine but got tangled in the ships rigging. As I said he is fine now. DO NOT cruise without insurance!
Hi, Ilana! You are right about Magens Bay. It is a beautiful beach and I have had the chance of visiting it twice and, lucky me, it was not crowded. It was November and maybe that's why.
Total waste of money was my excursion to a place called ‘Hell’. I can’t remember which island that was. I think it was Jamaica. Very underwhelming.
Doing back to back cruises and had an excursion in Fort Lauderdale with the airboats in the Everglades. Very disappointed , hoping to fly across the everglades in an airboat but instead 1 little jet run for about 1/2 a mile then just slow motion looking for wildlife in the everglades. If you are into birdwatching then this is for you but if you are looking for excitement then pass.
Unfortunately due to the popularity of cruising and the number of passengers each ship carries the OLD days of true cruising/exploring are gone! Might as well go to a shopping mall. The cruise lines better figure something out or cruisers will start bailing. Industry limits on the number of ships in a given area etc........... Its easy to kill a good thing.
The overcrowding on beach excursions is becoming a problem! Megan’s bay was very crowded . We were the second ship into GrandTurk, the island changed since our last trip. The chairs were so far away and the packed into crowded rows. I won’t visit there again. Museums are not for me . I went to Greece and saw every artifact/museum known to man. Long bus rides, hot weather not for me. The rest of my trip was great.
We didn't regret Magen's Bay but felt it was like a pond or lake beach, not an ocean beach. We also sat in the sand, not paying $20 per chair for the two hours we were there. Top beach in the world? Hmmm.....that is a huge stretch..........
I agree the sloth sanctuary Roatan was so much fun love being able to hold them and have them fall asleep in your arms. If you go to San Juan look online and book the old San Juan Segway tour. It's a great time and well worth the $96.00 for two hours.
We are going to Nassau in April on Carnival, and your channel has been so helpful! I've been trying to decide on whether to go to Margaritaville or Atlantis for our shore excursion. Which would you recommend?
So glad to hear you enjoyed Peggy’s cove. We’re doing the Canada cruise for the first time in September and will definitely put it on our list.
As for Nassau-the best thing to do in Nassau is stay on the ship and enjoy the space while everyone else is is onshore. Also agree about the glass bottom board. I’ve done it before while on vacation in Mexico. A real disappointment with everyone clambering around the small viewing windows. Couldn’t really was anything.
Best ever excursion was Dunns river falls. Jamaica. Now I do not use ship excursions, just book privately
I'll skip the LaBufadora excursion in Ensanada. Too many people asking for handouts.
Museums are rather hit-or-miss for me. I definitely prefer ones with more spatial or hands-on exhibits, perhaps with an entertaining tour guide, rather than just rows of photos with plaques to read. (I could just stay home and get on Wikipedia for that! lol)
On our New England Boston to Montreal this summer, we've booked a walking tour in Bar Harbor (wasn't sure if tender was free, but this way it's included), and the Confederation Bridge in Charlottetown PEI (a very early morning adventure, so time to enjoy the port too), as part of our Holland America "Have it All". The rest we plan to explore ourselves, except for Quebec City, hubby came from there, so, been there, done that. The Ottawa River/St. Lawrence River cruise last summer had mostly museums, the first being the National Aviation Museum in Ottawa. My first visit was in 1968, when my grandfather was invited to be interviewed by the museum. Afterwards, he gave 7 year old me a private tour of which planes he flew, actual and type, and writing on each pertaining page of the souvenir booklet. I think he spent the most time in Canadian Airways Fairchild G-CART.
We have booked a cruise to the Greek Isles in October 2025. What would you recommend for an excursion in Santorini?
Just watched you for the first time. So informative. Do you have a you tube video on excursions in roatan Honduras. You mentioned the sloth sanctuary but when i looked it up, there were many tours there. Thank you for your posts. I'm older and rather new to you tube but i enjoyed your video. Thank you again
NO to museums on a my cruise. Thanks for the tips
Bored at the Alexander Bell Museum? Yes, that was you. I thought our tour didn't stay long enough! I don't agree with excursions that allow tourists to handle wild animals so that one wouldn't be for me. I'd rather see them in the wild.
On NCL booked a whale watching boat tour in Icy Strait Point, Alaska with my husband and teenage children. The boat was packed full. When there was something to see, everyone ran to the outside front of the boat ( the only area you could go outside on this vessel). It was hard to see with the crowding, then everyone went back in when there was nothing to see. This continued the entire tour and was annoying. Also, the person narrating was not on a microphone, they just yelled but you still couldn’t hear them. Not worth the cost and time at all.
Most excursions aren’t worth it. We did the tour of the Everglades and then dropped off at the airport. It killed some time but crappy tour of the Everglades.
Quick question ... is there any way to find out how many ships in port before you arrive? Five ships vs. one ship in port. Big difference in level of enjoyment.
I have found I'm not a myseum person but my husband is. So, there is a compromise there. We did an archeological dig tour in Rome, i was so excited going in, but found that that, too, became a very boring experience for me. Glad i did it but wouldn't recommend it nor would i do it again
LOVE Peggy's Cove !!!
Cruising the "Mexican Riviera" is dicey because the excursions are all local Mexican "companies" and you are on your own. The cruise line makes it very clear they have nothing to do with the excursions.
We did Margaritaville when it first opened and was only about $60. It is now much more and doesnt include the infinity pool. It was clean and nice and you could walk to it.
Nassau jeep excursion, completely waisted time, jeeps are unsafe and the beach the room as too had glass and garbage and truly was terrible. This was a Disney wish excursion so expected better standards.
In 2019 we did ANOTHER Alaskan cruise but this time it was only activity based activities. Rafting down the Chilcoot river in Hanea, off roading in Ketchican, hiking up and awaybon Mount Roberts on Juneau. It beat the stuffing out of boring blah blah bus tours.
The first two sound hideous. I want ports of call where you get to experience culture, ambiance, foods. I have no interest whatsoever in remaining ship bound should I ever cruise again ... So I will do due diligence on destinations prior.
We did a glass bottom boat (my wife and I). I don’t get nauseous easily; we both got real sick. Hated the experience.
In progreso I was having to go in port alone and i didn't want to go alone so i did a beach and shopping excursion through the cruise line and was pretty disappointed. The only thing we were paying for was a private shuttle to the city and one hour open bar. Once we got there we were dropped off at the FREE beach and left to shop and find our way back to tje regular free shuttle, so i could have done all that for free myself, the beach and shopping. Felt very unsafe alone.
Most ship shore excursions are overpriced and usually not good. Just take me to the private islands and give me a lounge chair, warm water, shade, and a drink.
In Saint-Thomas I would suggest Coki Beach which is a bit further from the port and less crowded even if it is a lot smaller.
Magens Bay is beautiful. Why would you take a cruise line excursion? Easy and inexpensive to get a cab. Walk to the end and have a peaceful day.
Can you recommend an excursion while in Grand Cayman St. John’s?