In Tortola a fellow agent used a contact she had on the island to arrange a group tour for forty of us. Two vehicles with drivers, included beverages brought us to the beach after showing us a few sites with stunning views and had us back to the ship in time. In St Thomas four of us got off the ship and negotiated with a taxi to again take us to a beach and to come and pick us up at a certain time to take us back to the ship. He was running a bit late and called the restaurant/bar he left us at, we still made it back to the ship. We did get a bit of a scare.
Now for my Royal cruise I booked all of my excursions through Royal. I did enjoy their system for getting everyone off the ship and into the right tour. It was very efficient. Although you did sometimes have to wait for a while to be called but you were at least a couple of hundred in the auditorium. I did find some excursions pricey and honestly you can spend more on these than the actual cruise depending on what you want to see and do.
So here I am 154 days before my cruise and trying to decide what the six of us are going to do. My children will be 9, 11, 13, 14 and I will be 45 and my mom will be 69. We need to take a lot into consideration. So I am going to compare a few and maybe some of you will chime in with your personal feedback.
This blog will feature the first port of my December cruise which happens to be Roatan. Honduras.
The first options I have looked at are with the Norwegian so the cruise line itself. They have ten excursion options from $59 CAD per adult up to $307 CAD per adult. Some offer children's pricing and some do not allow children on them at all. So again something I will have to take into consideration with the wide range of my group.The excursions also run from 2 hours up to 6 hours. The options are as follows: The best of west Roatan, Ultimate Resort Gateway, Ultimate Big French Key Beach Experience with Lunch, Sightseeing for people with limited mobility, South shore Zip line Adventure, Ultimate Extreme Adventure Combo, Ultimate Fishing Adventure, Boss Underwater Adventure, Semi Submarine Adventure, and Black Pearl Golf Course.
The second options I have looked at are with Shore Excursions. There prices range from $29 USD per adult to $159 USD per adult. An hour and 45 minutes is the shortest with 5 hours being the longest. They have the same issues with adults and children as the cruise line does. They have 21 options available so double what the cruise line has to offer. The options are as follows: Roatan by Land & Sea, Roatan Zip and Splash Beach Break, Zuperman Zip line and Beach, Glass Bottom Boat, Exclusive Two-Tank South Island Dive, Reef Snorkel by Boat, Roatan Fun & Sun Tour, Roatan Zip line Adventure, Zip & Snorkel Adventure, Zip line, Horseback Ride & Shipwreck Snorkel, Roatan Zip, Eco walk & Beach Break, Roatan Zip & Eco Walk, Eco Walk & Suspension Bridges, Eco walk & Beach Break, Snorkel & Kayak Combo, West End Island Beach Tour, The Path to our Past and Future Tour, Catamaran Cruise, Padi Discovery Scuba, Roatan VIP Free Style Private and Private East End Tour & Garifuna.
The third option is my own website there are 21 options for just shore excursions in Roatan. There are also other tours available but they usually mean finding your own transportation and coordinating arrival times etc.. much more carefully. The price range for these tours is from $33.47 CAD per adult to $176.51 CAD per adult. The time on them range from one hour to six hours. The options are as follows: Zip n' Dip Canopy Tour, Hanging Bridges Eco Tour & Beach Break, Paradise Beach Club Day Pass, Bodden's Beach Break Bus, Roatan West Bay Beach Break Excursion, 1 tank full dive west side Island plus ground transportation, relax with a professional massage, Roatan Hiking Adventure With Butterfly Garden & Beach, Tour & Day at a Private Beach, Wildlife Rescue Park & Beach, Best of Roatan plus Sol y mar Beach Excursion, Tour & Day at a private beach Cub, West Bay Beach with Lunch, Small group tour with dolphins, snorkeling by land & Sea, Small group glass bottom boat tour, Private tour to animal Sanctuary & Lagoon, Small Group West Bay Beach Tour, Mangrove Cruise, West Island Tour, East Island Tour, Snorkeling Tour, Roatan Zip lines Beaches and Monkey Park.
Fourth option is of course doing your own research finding places you want to go and then grabbing a taxi to the place or places you want to visit. Some of the items that showed up on my google search and trip advisor were as follows: Scuba & Snorkeling, Boat Tours, Sightseeing Tours, Fishing Charters & Tours, Water Sports, Donnie Johnson Monkey & Sloth Hang Out, Dolphin Encounter, Half Moon Bay, Shark Diving and Dolphin and Whale Watching.
Snorkeling in Roatan (photo courtesy of ncl.com)
(photo courtesy of ncl.com)
(photo courtesy of ncl.com)
So many choices and options and again I can not stress how much value you get in having a travel agent that can help you navigate all the options and make your vacation dreams come true by helping to take away some of the stress,
Where you can find me:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/stephaniethetravelagentnextdoor
Website: http://www.exclusivetoyoutravel.ca
Email: slough@exclusivetoyoutravel.ca
TICO 500212282
55 York Street, Suite 803
Toronto, On M5J 1R7
Please keep in mind that while my head office is in Toronto I am a home based travel agent and I live in South Dundas and can service clients anywhere in Canada but I meet with clients in the SDG area
Please keep in mind that while my head office is in Toronto I am a home based travel agent and I live in South Dundas and can service clients anywhere in Canada but I meet with clients in the SDG area
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