What are the biggest cruise excursion mistakes to avoid? — featuring Cruising Kat

0:00 The biggest shore excursion regrets usually start out as great ideas when you've booked them. They look amazing in the cruise planner. Beautiful beaches, scenic tours, bucket list experiences, but sometimes the one you're most excited about going on ends up being the one you regret the most.

0:20 >> [music] >> After more than 50 cruises and hundreds of port days, I've seen exactly which excursion mistakes can waste your money, waste your time, >> [music] >> and make for a really frustrating day. So, in this video, I'm going to walk you through the biggest ones so that you can

0:37 avoid them on your next cruise. And let's start with the one that surprises a lot of people because it's not about making a bad decision, it's about not realizing what you actually signed up for. You're scrolling through the cruise planner and you see it. Ancient ruins, beautiful scenery, bucket list

0:55 destination, and you're thinking, yes, absolutely, this is the one. But here's the thing, a lot of the excursions that sound the most incredible are also the ones with the longest travel time. And by the time you finally get there, you barely have any time at the actual destination. This mistake is booking a

1:17 long transit, short visit excursion. A 6-hour excursion does not mean 6 hours of fun. A lot of times it means a very long travel day with surprisingly short visit at the end. We ran into this exact situation with our Mayan ruins excursion in Costa Maya, Mexico. We specifically chose a ruins

1:39 option that was about an hour and a half away because the more popular option that was really promoted was about 3 and 1/2 hours each way by bus. So, when you think about it, that's basically 7 hours of driving for maybe 2 and 1/2, 3 hours at the site. [music] Now look, if you truly have this

2:01 once-in-a-lifetime chance to visit a place you wanted and you don't care how long it takes to get there, great. But just make sure you know what you're actually signing up for. By the way, this video is helpful so far, give it a thumbs up. It really helps me know that these videos are helping others with

2:17 their vacations. Now, the next mistake trips people up because it actually feels like the smart, safe choice, >> [music] >> but it doesn't always turn out that way. And it goes like this. If a place is popular, it must be the best choice. It's good logic, right? Sometimes it is, but other times popular

2:39 means crowded. Or not crowded. Just crowded. When you book the most popular excursion without thinking about how many other people are going to be there, you can end up at a beach with no chairs, a scenic overlook packed with people, or a photo stop where everyone is shoulder to shoulder trying to get the same shot.

3:03 So, this is something worth knowing. A lot of excursions include the exact same add-on stops, no matter what cruise line you're on. So, when multiple ships are in port on the same day and everybody has the same beach break or the same scenic overlook built into their tour, everybody shows up at the same spot at

3:25 the same time. So, I definitely always check how many ships are in port on the day that I'm planning that excursion. And if there are quite a few, then I'm not going to book the most popular ones. Now, the next one is something people underestimate all the time and it can affect not just you, but everybody in

3:44 your group. And it happens more than you think. People book the vacation version of themselves. The energetic, adventurous person that is just totally fine with stairs, heat, long walks, uneven terrain, and jumping in and out of boats like it's nothing. >> [music] >> And then real life shows up, and the

4:03 mistake is choosing something that is too physically challenging for other people in your group. And I mean your whole group, not just you. The Think about the kids, older parents, your travel partner, anybody might have balance issues, people that struggle with heat, anybody who is not totally

4:24 comfortable on rough water or uneven ground. A great example of this was our dolphin encounter excursion that was at Blue Lagoon in Nassau, Bahamas. On the Cruise Planner, it did not read as physically demanding at all. It's just a beautiful day hugging dolphins, and nothing in that description would

4:44 make you think twice. But to get into that water, you had to go down these extremely tiny, steep, and very slippery metal steps. I was really cautious walking down into the water, and many elderly people could not do so safely. This detail was nowhere in the description, but it was absolutely in

5:06 the reviews. >> [music] >> So read the actual reviews, not just the excursion listing. Reviewers will tell you the real stuff, the part that the description just kind of glosses over. And speaking of details that seem really small, but can completely ruin your cruise. And this one caught me off guard

5:24 after about 7 years of cruising. When you're in port, you check your phone, everything is great, you know what time it is. You've got everything under control, except for you might not. Did you know that your phone will often switch to local time automatically, even if you're on the airplane mode? Just

5:44 being connected to the ship Wi-Fi or connecting to the port Wi-Fi can be enough to trigger it. And your Apple Watch and the other smartwatches, they happily tag along and switch, too. Meanwhile, the ship is still running on ship time. There are several major ports that are on many cruise sailings that

6:04 either don't have daylight savings or are in a different time zone from the ships departing from Florida. Some major ones are Cozumel, Belize, Mahogany Bay, Honduras, and Grand Cayman. >> [music] >> So, now you've got your phone showing one time and the ship is running on a completely different time. And that gap,

6:25 which is usually a full hour, is exactly how people end up late for their excursion meetup or worse, cutting it dangerously close getting back on board the ship. Now, honestly, I did not realize this until about 7 years of cruising. And I thought [music] if I kept my phone in airplane mode, it would

6:46 stay on ship time. And I they always say stay on ship time and then they drive it home. So, I thought my phone would, but it usually doesn't. So, before you get off the ship, double-check the actual ship time. Take a photo of the onboard time, which is going to be before the departure time. And when in doubt, check

7:06 the cruise ship app because it will continue to show ship time even if your phone clock is going to show a different time. Some people like to bring a cheap wristwatch just for port days. And you know, it sounds like an overkill until it isn't. And that's what leads right into the

7:24 next mistake. Because even if you've got the time figured out, there's another way that people get in trouble that sneaks up on them. Here's how port day can go wrong. It's not in one dramatic moment, but in a bunch of small ones kind of stacking up. The shuttle runs a little late. Traffic

7:43 is a little worse than expected. The group moved slower. There's a longer line getting back into the port. You stopped to grab one more thing. You took one more photo. And suddenly, what felt like close but fine is now a real problem. And the mistake is not giving yourself enough time to get back. Close

8:04 enough is not a good plan. My suggestion, get back to the port area at least two to three hours before the time aboard. And if you want to do any shopping or exploring in port, do it on the back end. Finish your excursion, get back with plenty of buffer, and now you can spend time walking around, shopping,

8:26 riding a bike, and the ship is right there. You can see it, so it's not going to leave without you. And if anything runs behind, you are still completely fine. Cuz nobody wants to be a pier runner. We've all seen those videos. Don't be that person. Now, before we move on, this next one is almost always

8:44 skipped when people are booking because it just doesn't feel exciting to think about. But the moment something changes, it becomes the most important detail on the page. When you're excited about booking an excursion, the last thing you want to do is think about canceling it. I completely get [music] it. Not exactly

9:02 the fun part of cruise planning. But not checking the refund and cancellation rules is a mistake that catches a lot of people off guard. Now, here's what most people assume. If the ship misses the port, of course I'm going to get my money back, right? Not necessarily. Every operator has different policies.

9:22 Some are really flexible. Others are not. And you want to know when you can cancel, whether deposits are refundable, what happens if your plans change, and specifically what happens if the ship can't dock at all? Because that does happen. Weather changes, itinerary shift, things can happen. And the last

9:44 thing you want to do is be out of money on an excursion that you never even got to take. The next mistake is easy to avoid, but many people don't think about it until their options are already gone. If you like to keep things flexible and you like to decide things last minute, that works fine for a lot of things on a

10:05 cruise, but not always for excursions because the best ones can fill up fast. If you're cruising anywhere like Alaska or Mediterranean, the excursion people really care about, the small group tours, bucket list experiences, limited capacity activities, those are often the first things to go.

10:27 So, if you're planning something more casual like a beach day or snorkeling excursion in Bahamas, you probably got a lot more flexibility. You can do it the day before the excursion. So, it's a different situation. But in general, waiting too long doesn't mean fewer choices, only

10:45 >> [music] >> it also means weaker choices. You end up picking from what's left instead of what you actually wanted. >> [music] >> So, the best thing to do is book early for the destinations where it matters and give yourself more flexibility in the ports where it doesn't matter as

11:01 much. Here are some quick bonus tips for your excursions. Uh confirm your meeting point before you leave the ship. It's not always obvious, especially if you booked outside the ship. You want to screenshot your excursion details in case you lose Wi-Fi in port, which happens a lot. Even the ports that

11:19 advertise free Wi-Fi, a lot of times it doesn't work. Bring some cash just in case. And if you need water, medication, or anything specific for your day. Some people can't go more than a couple hours before without snacking because of blood sugar or anything else, don't assume that you will easily find things once

11:38 you get in port. And if you want to know the best way to book shore excursions, whether it's a cruise line, the third-party vendors, or on your own, then watch this video next because I'll help you figure out the right approach for your cruise style for each port. And if you want to save money on excursions,

11:57 then this next video is the one that you want to watch before you start booking.