Open the shore excursion list for almost any Caribbean cruise and there are suddenly a lot of decisions to make. Snorkeling or sailing? Beach day or sightseeing? Ziplining? Catamaran? Resort day? Something involving rum?
And if the cruise stops at four or five ports, it can start to feel like you need to make that decision over and over again.
You don’t.
Before our Caribbean cruise, my daughter and I made a much shorter list. We wanted to snorkel, try ziplining and have at least one relaxing beach day. Those were the experiences we cared about, so we started there instead of trying to find the best excursion in every port.
Choose for the People Actually Going
An excursion can sound great and still be wrong for the people traveling with you.
My daughter really wanted to try snorkeling, but she wasn’t a particularly strong swimmer. I found a beginner-friendly catamaran excursion from St. Thomas to St. John that seemed like a good fit (named the St. John Beach Champagne Sail & Snorkel). We could snorkel from a white-sand beach, there were flotation devices and pool noodles available, and a dinghy could take us between the catamaran and shore.
I had also borrowed a GoPro because I thought I’d come home with amazing underwater footage. Instead, I mostly recorded myself making weird faces underwater. Apparently I should have researched how to use the GoPro.
And then there was the champagne.
For some reason, that made the excursion sound a little fancy and sophisticated. After snorkeling, we got back on the catamaran and the experience became considerably less fancy. One of the crew members had put on a Captain Jack-style pirate hat, lost his shirt and was spinning bottles around like he was in Cocktail. Then he pulled out a champagne gun and started making his way around the boat, offering champagne to the adults.
This was not quite the sophisticated champagne experience I had pictured.
I hesitated when it was my turn because I was there with my 13-year-old daughter. She had no such concerns.
“Yes, Mom! Do it! I can video it and we can send it to Dad!”
Apparently that settled it. Champagne gun it was.
Read Past the Excursion Name
The little details in an excursion description can change what the day is actually like. How much time is spent getting there? How active is it? Are you snorkeling from shore or jumping off a boat? Is there a transfer, long walk or ladder involved?
You don’t need to analyze every line. Just make sure the excursion you’re picturing is reasonably close to the one you’re actually booking.
Know Your Own Comfort Level
Our other big priority was ziplining, so in Tortola we booked a scenic drive and canopy tour with seven ziplines and beautiful views (called the Tortola Canopy Tour and Scenic Drive).
My daughter thought it was amazing. I was terrified.
At some point I basically disconnected from my body and concentrated on getting from one platform to the next. Near the end there was a ladder involved, and I came very close to deciding I was done. The guides were kind and helpful, and I made it through.
I learned that I am afraid of heights.
After ziplining, we had some time to walk around Tortola. My daughter got ice cream, and I ordered a rum painkiller slushy. Because did you hear about the ziplining?
The stand had almost a full piña colada left in the blender from the order ahead of me, so they gave that to me too.
Which is how I ended up walking around Tortola before noon with a rum painkiller in one hand and a piña colada in the other. They were delicious. Did I mention I’m not a big drinker? Or that we hadn’t had lunch yet?
Cruise-Line Excursion or Independent?
We booked our paid Caribbean excursions through Norwegian Cruise Line. For this trip, I wanted the simplicity.
My husband wasn’t traveling with us, and some port days were just my daughter and me. I didn’t want to figure out taxis or unfamiliar meeting locations in places we’d never been, and I didn’t want to spend the day worrying about getting back to the ship on time.
An independent excursion might have been cheaper or offered a smaller group, but on this trip I was willing to pay for the simplicity of booking through the cruise line. For us, on this particular cruise, convenience won.
You Don’t Need an Excursion in Every Port
Before the trip, I had looked into what was available at Taino Bay, where our ship would dock in Puerto Plata. There were pools, a lazy river, shops and places to get food and drinks. Once I knew that, I didn’t see much reason for us to book a separate resort day.
So our plan was simple: stay at Taino Bay and enjoy it.
On my first trip around the lazy river, I remember floating along thinking about how much work had gone into planning the cruise and how nice it was to finally be in the Caribbean doing absolutely nothing productive.
My second lap was less graceful.
The employee helping people onto the tubes was busy, so I decided I could manage it myself. I immediately tipped over, went underwater and somehow ended up underneath my inner tube while still wearing my baseball hat and sunglasses.
The water wasn’t deep, so I stood up, got myself organized and looked around. Nobody seemed to have noticed. Later I ran into two elementary-school-aged boys from our group.
“Did you see me fall when I got on my inner tube?”
“Oh yeah. That was HILARIOUS.”
So much for nobody noticing. Still one of my favorite port days.
Sometimes the Plan Is to Take It Easy
We hadn’t booked an excursion at Great Stirrup Cay either. We considered kayaking, but by that point in the cruise a beach day sounded better.
My brother-in-law had an even simpler plan: he wasn’t getting off the ship at all. It was later in the week, he was a little people’d out, and he was looking forward to having a much quieter ship while everyone else went ashore.
That didn’t quite work out.
The rest of us lined up for the tender boats and watched them rocking in the waves until the port was eventually canceled. Instead of his peaceful day onboard, everyone stayed on the ship.
At some point I checked my onboard account and discovered we’d been refunded the port fees from the canceled stop. I used mine to buy more Deal or No Deal cards. Obviously.
A note about Great Stirrup Cay: Norwegian has since opened a pier at Great Stirrup Cay, so ships no longer rely on tender boats to get passengers ashore. Weather and other conditions can still affect cruise itineraries, and ports of call can change or be canceled.
Think About the Last Day, Too
Our flight home wasn’t until the evening, which left us with most of a day between getting off the ship and heading to the airport.
We ended up booking an Everglades excursion that picked us up after we left the ship and took us to the airport afterward (called the Everglades by Airboat – Ft. Lauderdale International Airport). It sounded much better than sitting at the airport all day, and after a weeklong cruise, I wasn’t looking for anything particularly strenuous. I also didn’t want another beach day followed by a long flight home in sandy clothes.
The Everglades turned out to be a really fun way to end the trip. We took an airboat ride and watched an alligator show afterward. It was completely different from anything else we’d done during the week.
One thing to know: If you have a later flight and don’t see any post-cruise excursions with airport transportation when you first start looking, check again closer to your sailing. Our Everglades excursion wasn’t listed at first and appeared later. Options vary by sailing, so there’s no guarantee something will be added, but it’s worth another look.
Plan the Experiences, Not Every Port
Looking back, I’m glad we didn’t try to find an amazing excursion for every stop. We picked a few experiences we really wanted, including snorkeling, ziplining and a beach day. We let the rest of the itinerary be easier.
Some of my favorite memories came from the excursions we planned. Others came from falling out of an inner tube at Taino Bay, walking around Tortola with two frozen drinks before lunch and unexpectedly spending an extra day onboard.
For me, that ended up being the right balance: a few things we were excited to do, and plenty of room for whatever the rest of the trip turned into.
Planning Your Own Caribbean Cruise?
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If you’re considering Norwegian Escape specifically, I also wrote about what our full week on Norwegian Escape was actually like, including the food, entertainment, our balcony cabin and what I’d do differently next time.
