Part of the wonder of cruising is the opportunity to visit exotic places. Getting out and about exploring can done a few ways. You can go on a cruise line organised shore excision, you can arrange your own excursion either before you leave home or choose a tour provider on the pier or you can just do your own thing.
As a guide, in my cruise experience, I do all three. I sometimes purchase a shore excursion from the cruise line, sometimes I hire someone on the pier, and other times I do my own thing. For example when I was in The Bahama’s, visiting Nassau on the island of New Providence, I chose to walk the Queen’s Staircase, the 66 steps up to Fort Fincastle. This gave me a free panoramic view of Nassau, the harbour and the cruise ships. By doing this independent walk, we had photos from that cruise that no one else had because we took the time and went that extra mile to do something different. Another part of that adventure in Nassau walking up the hill, was we were approached by a car full of locals, they stopped and asked us if we were lost. It must have been different for white people being in that neighbourhood, clearly tourists didn’t go to that part of town, and needless to say I still felt safe. On that same occasion we went to museums that was not recommended by the cruise line, it turned out to be a great experience.
Each time I visit Nassau, I make time to walk to the Straw Market. The Straw Market is a collection of independent traders making a living in an undercover market area. On one occasion I was buying wood souvenirs, so I chose a wooden carved turtle from an interesting looking gentlemen, called Winston. I had an experience a few years later on another cruise where I met a man on a Transatlantic cruise, Theo from Nassau. I told him about the Straw Market and meeting Winston. It turned out that Theo knew Winston. This is the magic of travel and the magic of cruising, in the middle of the Atlantic, I am have a conversation about a wonderful character that I met at Nassau Straw Market. Now this is living.
It is not uncommon for me to do an organised ship shore excursion for the first time I visit a port to get an overview. Where if I have been to a port before or I am traveling with experienced travellers, I will often do me own thing. When I was in Athens, I had paled up with a lovely American couple Mary and Jim, so we hired a taxi and shared the cost and got to see some amazing places that a tour bus would not have got to. Where in the wild jungles of Costa Rica, I chose to do a shore excursion with a third party company. Where in Cartagena, Colombia, I chose to do a combination of ship excursion and independent plans by using the Hop-on Hop-off bus with special arrangement to get you back to the ship.
The advantage of doing a ship organised excursion in Costa Rica was that we did not get left behind. We were 50 passengers on a ship organised shore excursions, we were the last bus to get back to the port, it was after the departure time, the ship had let go the bowlines, the gangway was moving gentle. Getting everyone on board was an adventure in itself. One of our older passengers, a lovely 91 year old lady from Norway, Ella, had to be assist to get onto the moving gangplank. To do this my friend and I stood either side of Ella, we picked her up under her arms just high enough for the gangway slid under her and up the gangway she walked. Missing the ship was that close.
As I mentioned before if I have been to a destination a few times then I may choose do my own thing. Sometimes an excursion is only 3 or 4 hours, that will give you time to explore the area close to port before going back on board. For example the port of Katakolon, Peloponnese, Greece I had several different experiences. Once the bus dropped us off at the far end of the village so we had an opportunity to walk through the streets as I headed to the ship. Where on another occasion the bus would not drop us off at the far end of the village, so the bus took us right back to the port and I had to walk back up into the village.
On the Pacific island Mystery Island, Vanuatu is another example. I have been to this tender port six or more times, I usually do my own thing, go for a walk and a swim. On one cruise I eventually chose to do an excursion. It was fantastic. The locals were friendly, they explained how the cruise ship visits help their economy. They explained that without this revenue they would have nothing. They have a subsistence living, the money they earn from conducting these tours give them there flights to the mainland for medical needs.
I have never done this idea myself, though I have heard these stories from of passengers. Sometimes a passenger will ask the local taxi driver for a real local experience and the taxi driver took them to his house. The wife cooked a meal and they shared a few hours with the family before the taxi driver returned them to the ship. That type of experience would top any organised tour to the local lookout or plantation. There is no end to the experiences you could potentially have when you are cruising. You have to have trust and faith that people are honest. Use standard safety precautions, trust your gut and hope for the best. If alarm bells are ringing in your head don’t do it. My rule of Open heart, Open mind will bring amazing experiences into your life.
