Cruises: How to Save on Day Trips
“Land was created to provide a place for boats to visit.”
~ Brooks Atkinson
On our last cruise I found a way to save our group on our excursion. We are a group of 12 and try to do private tours when we vacation together. While I was looking into different tour companies to schedule our excursions I discovered that many times we were only paying for a driver and not a specific guide.
I was told by a few companies that our driver may know about certain facts or trivia (Game of Thrones) but it wasn’t a guarantee. 🧐
💡I though, well if we are basically hiring a driver and vehicle through a tour company, perhaps it would be more economical to hire one through a transportation company. I reached out to a few transportation companies and it was around a third or half the price of going through the tour companies!
The transportation companies were familiar with the cruise ships and we got a wide variety of vehicles and driver personalities. 🛺🚖🚗
We did our research of the area in case we had a quiet driver but found all the drivers we hired also shared their stories.
This will require more research because you’ll need to plan your day and verify with the company if the route is possible. I also added in time for loading and unloading and rounded up the drive time to add some more cushion to our schedule.
If you decide to do this, here are some tips:
- Thoroughly research the places you are visiting to determine the amount of time you’ll need to explore.
- The locations website may have information on touring times and people may have reviewed their visit on a site like TripAdvisor.👨💻
- Know your group!
- Are they fast moving or do they read everything?🏃♂️📖🤷♀️
- Do they need coffee? ☕️
- Do they need time to shop? 🛍
- Plan your route and get feedback from the transportation company.
- Determine how you will communicate on arrival or where you will meet.
- An international data plan was needed to contact the driver on arrival.📱
We always plan to be back an hour or more before we need to be back on the cruise. Many times they want you back at least 30 minutes before cruise departure. When planning your itinerary make sure you are using that time and not the ships departure time.
Hey you! We know you love travel, Disney, and a little imagination. So do we! Subscribe to our blog and you’ll never miss a single tip, story, or recommendation!
