Stop Wasting Money on Excursions — Do This Instead

Deciding what to do in a cruise port is one of the biggest choices on any cruise vacation. In this video, Jan and Tracey share their Cruise Excursion Playbook—a guide to choosing between ship excursions, private tours, and DIY exploring. We’ve spent over 400 days at sea and more than 250 port days, so we’ve learned how to avoid common mistakes and pick the best value ashore. Whether you sail with Oceania, MSC, NCL, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess, Celebrity, or luxury cruise lines, this framework helps you make the most of every port stop. What You’ll Learn: Ship excursions: pros & cons Private/independent tours: how to choose Exploring on your own: when it works best Cost, convenience, safety, and timing tips Our personal strategies and mistakes to avoid Cruise smarter, enjoy every port, and make confident choices with our Cruise Excursion Playbook. #CruiseTips #CruiseExcursions #TravelPlaybook #CruiseLife #CruisePlanning Chapters Introduction 00:00 The Wrong Way to Choose Excursions 00:52 Step One to Choosing an Excursion 01:48 Step Two to Choosing an Excursion 02:03 Step Three to Choosing an Excursion 03:15 DIY 03:35 Taxi Tours 06:12 Cruise Terminal Vendors 08:05 Online Excursions 09:11 Cruise Ship Excursions 11:18 Risk Management 13:15 How We Decide 18:36 Our Recommended Cruise Gear OREI American to European Plug Adapters—Many cruise ships are equipped with 220 European plugs, which are useless unless you have the correct adapter. These are the essentials we pack in our bags every time we cruise or travel to Europe. They come in an affordable six pack which you can find at this link: https://amzn.to/44ixS0U Strongman Tools Strong Magnetic Hooks—A couple of these 6-pack sets of hooks are always with us when we cruise. Each individual hook can hold up to 30 lbs of weight and is ideal for hanging coats, hats, and the shelves described below. Get your set of these useful magnetic hooks at this link: https://amzn.to/3UDrVbJ Whitmor 5 Section Closet Organizer—Unfortunately, drawer and shelf space are sometimes limited in some cruise cabins. That’s why we always bring at least one of these inexpensive closet organizers, which gives us plenty of room for our folded clothes. We typically use a couple of magnetic hooks, as described above, to hang these from the ceiling in the corner of our room. Here’s the link where you can get yours: https://amzn.to/3w3GvQn Our Recommended Camera Gear DJI Osmo Pocket 3--You’ll usually see Tracey using this in almost all of our videos. Love this wonderful, small, and versatile camera. Basic Camera: https://amzn.to/3UDJJDF Creators Combo: https://amzn.to/4beP6OP GoPro Hero12—This is the best action camera we’ve ever used. Whether taking videos on the Zodiacs in Antarctica, snorkeling in Papua New Guinea, or scuba diving in Bonaire, this camera is always in our hands. Find the link to get yours here: https://amzn.to/3UkTcy1 Peak Design Slide Lite Camera Strap—If you still carry a DSLR or Mirrorless camera as Jan does, this is the perfect strap to use. What's great is that this fully adjustable strap can be configured to be worn across your body, distributing the weight of your camera across your back rather than your neck. Additionally, it provides a bit more security when traveling through high-risk pickpocket areas. Get your Slide Lite Strap here: https://amzn.to/3xW6pWR As Amazon Affiliates, we earn from qualifying purchases.