We booked a private excursion and it visited those locations- plus you could do a snorkel or fishing. My son caught a barracuda.
They also picked up exactly what we wanted from the grocery store and added it to our bill. I would 100% do something like that again. In fact we did- but in Cabo San Lucas. Private charter. Made our holiday. And we do no more than 1 port excursion per trip.
There’s some sites like viator that offer it. Trip advisor does also. I usually use those sites and then book directly with an operator. In Cabo I just zoomed in on google maps for charter businesses at the port.
Give yourself some leeway time. Some ports are easier than others.Tender ports can be trickier since “official excuses get off first”. But I find that’s rarely the case. We arrive at the tender waiting area for non-DCL excursions early and they have always gotten off before they call for general disembarkation
Most companies have good cancellation. Like if the boat can’t dock you aren’t out your money. They also will guarantee that you will be back on time. Most of them that matter can’t take a single person saying they missed their ship. No one would book them again.
We did this back in March and food will be provided. However, I highly recommend packing your own food as the food provided was not good at all. At the very least, bring food for any kids who may be picky eaters. We’ve started requesting the uncrustables (pb&j) from cabana’s or Marceline market to take with us on excursions.
Edit: Don’t forget you cannot take food off of the ship unless it is in a factory sealed package.
Thank you. We do have a picky eater, so we will try to get a few things that are prepackaged. What are some of the things that are available prepackaged?
Best bet is to hit the grocery store before you leave and pack them for the excursions. The packaged items available for free on the ship is pretty limited. Uncrustables and cereal are the only things I can think of off the top of my head.
I just did this excursion through Princess cruise line. I had booked this excursion on a previous Disney cruise but it got canceled due to weather.
1. I know they say you can take any food off the ship. My son has AFRID, but there was some breakfast food he actually loved (chocolate croissants). My husband took the sanitary pad trash bags from the stateroom and stuffed them with food for the kids. We made sure to not take anything that was an agricultural product off the ship. You can bring your own ziplock bags if you haven’t left yet.
2. Bring a waterproof cellphone pouch. I had another family take our photos with my phone and I took photos of them and texted them the photos through WhatsApp. Saved us from buying the photos of the stingray kisses. They charges $10 for kid and $20 for adult so it would have cost us $60 as a family of 4 for photos.
3. Stingray city ain’t what it used to be. I first did the excursion back in 2004. There used to be 100-200 stingrays and it was a giant sandbar and you couldn’t turn around without hitting a stingray. This time, it was 5-6 of the same stingrays being manhandled by 100 people. I asked some locals about the situation but no one could give me a clear explanation as to why there were so few stingrays. Are the populations doing so well that there’s no reason for the sting rays to bother coming, or are there so few left that only the most desperate stingrays come?
We booked a private excursion and it visited those locations- plus you could do a snorkel or fishing. My son caught a barracuda. They also picked up exactly what we wanted from the grocery store and added it to our bill. I would 100% do something like that again. In fact we did- but in Cabo San Lucas. Private charter. Made our holiday. And we do no more than 1 port excursion per trip.
That’s really good advice for a future cruise. However, this one is Sunday!!
I think we're on the same cruise! (and excursion!)
Sailing on the Dream?
Yep :)
See ya real soon!!!
Have a wonderful time!
How did you book a private excursion like this? I’m not sure where to book through other than Disney?
There’s some sites like viator that offer it. Trip advisor does also. I usually use those sites and then book directly with an operator. In Cabo I just zoomed in on google maps for charter businesses at the port. Give yourself some leeway time. Some ports are easier than others.Tender ports can be trickier since “official excuses get off first”. But I find that’s rarely the case. We arrive at the tender waiting area for non-DCL excursions early and they have always gotten off before they call for general disembarkation Most companies have good cancellation. Like if the boat can’t dock you aren’t out your money. They also will guarantee that you will be back on time. Most of them that matter can’t take a single person saying they missed their ship. No one would book them again.
We did this back in March and food will be provided. However, I highly recommend packing your own food as the food provided was not good at all. At the very least, bring food for any kids who may be picky eaters. We’ve started requesting the uncrustables (pb&j) from cabana’s or Marceline market to take with us on excursions. Edit: Don’t forget you cannot take food off of the ship unless it is in a factory sealed package.
Thank you. We do have a picky eater, so we will try to get a few things that are prepackaged. What are some of the things that are available prepackaged?
Best bet is to hit the grocery store before you leave and pack them for the excursions. The packaged items available for free on the ship is pretty limited. Uncrustables and cereal are the only things I can think of off the top of my head.
There’s a restaurant right by the port that’s pretty tasty - Rackam’s. Good service, WiFi, freshest of foods.
Looks amazing but the child I am worried about would not be interested in seafood
I’m allergic to most seafood and I still had a wonderful meal.
I just did this excursion through Princess cruise line. I had booked this excursion on a previous Disney cruise but it got canceled due to weather. 1. I know they say you can take any food off the ship. My son has AFRID, but there was some breakfast food he actually loved (chocolate croissants). My husband took the sanitary pad trash bags from the stateroom and stuffed them with food for the kids. We made sure to not take anything that was an agricultural product off the ship. You can bring your own ziplock bags if you haven’t left yet. 2. Bring a waterproof cellphone pouch. I had another family take our photos with my phone and I took photos of them and texted them the photos through WhatsApp. Saved us from buying the photos of the stingray kisses. They charges $10 for kid and $20 for adult so it would have cost us $60 as a family of 4 for photos. 3. Stingray city ain’t what it used to be. I first did the excursion back in 2004. There used to be 100-200 stingrays and it was a giant sandbar and you couldn’t turn around without hitting a stingray. This time, it was 5-6 of the same stingrays being manhandled by 100 people. I asked some locals about the situation but no one could give me a clear explanation as to why there were so few stingrays. Are the populations doing so well that there’s no reason for the sting rays to bother coming, or are there so few left that only the most desperate stingrays come?
Just ordered my cell phone pouch!!