Cruising without Excursions - Good idea?

[Vols1977]

My wife and I are celebrating our 20th anniversary on a 7 night Eastern Caribbean Cruise in September. This will be our 4th or 5th disney cruise and we have typically booked a few excursions on our past trips. For this trip, we are leaning toward not booking any excursions and eliminating the need for a set schedule. Our plan is to mostly enjoy the ship on port days. We will definitely get off the ship at Castaway Cay, but we may remain on the ship otherwise and just enjoy the amenities with the ship being less crowded.

For anyone who has done this before, did it work for you? Did you regret not having more activities planned at the ports?

Any feedback on this topic is greatly appreciated.

 

[pachy25]

My wife and I are celebrating our 20th anniversary on a 7 night Eastern Caribbean Cruise in September. This will be our 4th or 5th disney cruise and we have typically booked a few excursions on our past trips. For this trip, we are leaning toward not booking any excursions and eliminating the need for a set schedule. Our plan is to mostly enjoy the ship on port days. We will definitely get off the ship at Castaway Cay, but we may remain on the ship otherwise and just enjoy the amenities with the ship being less crowded.

For anyone who has done this before, did it work for you? Did you regret not having more activities planned at the ports?

Any feedback on this topic is greatly appreciated.

We have done this on a couple of caribbean crusises ( eastern and especially western) and had a great time. Able to enjoy the whole empty shi without very many folks, and watch the pier runners at the end of each port day

 

[JulieBeeRN]

We haven't gone on a 7 night yet, but have completely enjoyed just hanging out on the ship for our 5 night cruises.

 

[jdb in AZ]

It's your vacation -- relax and unwind any way that works for you.

 

[Anna131517]

When we did a 7-night I ended up wishing we had skipped excursions at one of the ports, but I’m not sure I’d skip all of them. It is nice to have one day to explore an emptier ship.

 

[tink1970]

You do you! On a repositioning trip from Dover to Barcelona, I was one of the only passengers to stay aboard in Le Harve (the port where people went on to either Paris, Normandy or other French destinations) and it was glorious! It's your vacation and not feeling pressured to do excursions is your purview.

Happy anniversary and enjoy

 

[cvjw]

We sail on the fantasy a lot and most cruises have zero excursions. It is nice to be in the adult only areas when there aren’t as many people.

 

[LadyGrace]

My husband and I are also doing a 7 day EC in Sept and we have nothing planned at all! We are looking forward to relaxing on this vacation and exploring on our own whenever we like

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

I did the 7 night Norwegian Fjords on The Magic in 2022, the 4 night Spain on The Dream in 2023 and Im going on the 5 night Spain on The Dream in a few weeks. I don't do excursions, I do all ports DIY. In Europe more people do DIY, stay on the ship than excursions.

 

[iivye]

We have done this and loved it. If it's a port we've been too a couple of times before we just stay on the ship and enjoy the pool without the crowds.

 

[Mommb]

If none of the excursions in the ports the ship is visiting appeal to you, of course it's reasonable to just wander around on your own and spend time on the less-crowded ship. When my family did an Eastern Caribbean cruise last year, my husband and I did no excursions. In Tortola, our (post-teen) kids did a forest hike and beach excursion while my husband and I relaxed onboard (after taking a half hour walk around the port area, just to make sure there wasn't anything exciting to do -- there wasn't). In San Juan, we walked to the fort Castillo San Cristobel on our own. At Castaway Cay, we listened to music.

If you're sailing mainly to enjoy the ship, there's nothing wrong with enjoying it rather than traveling with dozens of other people when you constantly have to wait for everyone to catch up/show up so you can move on.

 

[Erica1016]

We've been on 9 Disney cruises and have only done two excursions. We recently did almost back-to-back cruises on the Magic and Fantasy in May and wrote a trip report. Maybe you'd enjoy seeing what our days were like.
To give you some info, we're a married couple (mid-40s) with no children. We are not drinkers and we enjoy the family entertainment (trivia and game shows). DH is very active and walks around a ton while I love to sit and relax for a bit here and there. DH is also not a big beach guy and I can get my fill at Castaway!

https://www.disboards.com/threads/a...tasy-double-cruise-may-2024-complete.3946979/

Clearly, we keep busy and don't mind not doing excursions because we keep going back. We have our next three cruises booked and plan on booking something for the Destiny when it opens!

 

[Vols1977]

We've been on 9 Disney cruises and have only done two excursions. We recently did almost back-to-back cruises on the Magic and Fantasy in May and wrote a trip report. Maybe you'd enjoy seeing what our days were like.
To give you some info, we're a married couple (mid-40s) with no children. We are not drinkers and we enjoy the family entertainment (trivia and game shows). DH is very active and walks around a ton while I love to sit and relax for a bit here and there. DH is also not a big beach guy and I can get my fill at Castaway!

https://www.disboards.com/threads/a...tasy-double-cruise-may-2024-complete.3946979/

Clearly, we keep busy and don't mind not doing excursions because we keep going back. We have our next three cruises booked and plan on booking something for the Destiny when it opens!

Thanks. This is great info.

 

[auntlynne]

This is a bunch of stream of consciousness thoughts. Apologies in advance.

We did the 7N Eastern on Fantasy in September. Yawn! We missed CC due to engine issues. Got a nice compensation. But it meant only 2 ports in a week.

That said, I have spent plenty of time on ships and at home. I’d like to get out and see more of the world - even if it’s some place I have visited before.

I did get to my beloved St John and its Trunk Bay on that cruise. Actually, while there, I thought I’d be happier just flying to the USVI and spending time on St John.

Did a been-there, done-that for Jost Van Dyke from Tortola. And would have loved to see The Baths, but don’t think the contortionist moves to get through the rocks is in my wheelhouse.

I do get Go Fever. And love researching new places and opportunities. But that’s me.

Onboard, I also don’t sit in the sun and lounge. I play trivia, go to the movies, walk around, and have meals. I’d like to get in water, but the pools are small, without steps (not ladders) and have a smoking section near the adult ones.

When we’ve gone to St Thomas for a week, we went to a beach each day. Not all day - usually a few hours in the afternoon. There was nothing rushed or planned. It was definitely vacation.

You know yourself. If it sounds like a satisfying experience, why not? I am not on vacation from a set schedule. If you are actually in a vacation, why not relax?

I’d rather go to a nice resort than stay on the ship for a week. Or maybe Hilton Head Island.

And I am not a go-go-go excursion type. I do plenty of just being in a place.

To answer your question, “Good idea?,” if it sounds good to you and your partner, then it is a good idea. You can let us know if the reality of it was enjoyable.

 

[unrequited23]

I have an eastern Caribbean cruise on my wish list after watching the excursions featured in a Tim Tracker YouTube. But we are a beach family with kids.

I would not book any excursions, but research if there are any spots you could check out on your own without pre-planning. Just something to keep in your back pocket in case you wake up and want to do "something".

 

[dreamer17555]

So here is my opinion- Vacation how you want.

That being said you are traveling during peak hurricane season (we have 2 sailings booked in Sept so no judgement). And that means ports can get changed or skipped. I would want off the ship at some point during the 7 night (even if not an excursion to walk around a bit and enjoy the culture) but if you would be fine being on the ship then stay on the ship. It is your vacation, enjoy it!

Now if you have never done an Eastern before I think the ports (and some of the excursions) are kind of special but if you have been there before (or will be returning soon) and want to stay on the ship that is more than ok!

 

[auntlynne]

I have an eastern Caribbean cruise on my wish list after watching the excursions featured in a Tim Tracker YouTube. But we are a beach family with kids.

I would not book any excursions, but research if there are any spots you could check out on your own without pre-planning. Just something to keep in your back pocket in case you wake up and want to do "something".

I took “no excursions” to be anything off the ship - not just ones pre-scheduled. I wonder if grabbing a taxi and going to one of the beaches in Tortola or St Thomas would be an option for OP?

 

[CamColt]

We've sailed 28 times with DCL over 24 years, and I think I have booked 5 or 6 excursions. We have done some things on our own, but also stay on board often. When it comes to Disney Cruises, to me it is all about the ship experience. The ports don't really matter (except CC). We will be sailing on the Fantasy in 2 weeks. I have a short excursion booked for St Thomas, but plan to stay on board in Tortola.

 

[OKW Lover]

For anyone who has done this before, did it work for you? Did you regret not having more activities planned at the ports?

I can't recall the last time I booked a shore excursion. We've been to the various ports so many times that we are happy to either stay on board, or get off the ship for a bit of shopping and a beverage or two. No stress at all.

 

[adamreisinger]

I've done four DCL cruises so far and my approach has varied each time -- and I don't think there's a "right" or "wrong" way to do it.

2018: NYC to Caribbean - the only "excursion" we did was the day at WDW on the Port Canaveral stop. Honestly would've been curious to see what the ship was like on that day, but hey, never gonna pass up a free day at Disney World.

2020: Miami to Western Caribbean - did a low-cost excursion at Cozumel, but in retrospect would've been fine skipping it.

2022: Vancouver to Alaska - did no excursions, but kind of wish we had. I loved exploring Ketchican on our own, but I think our time in Juneau and Icy Strait Point would've been enhanced by some kind of tour experience (and, not gonna lie, I REALLY wanted to see the sled dogs, but by the time we booked the cruise, that excursion was LONG sold out).

2023: Copenhagen to Northern Europe - did an excursion at every port, including on debarkation day. Probably would've been better served exploring Stockholm on our own, and our Norway excursion was a total bust because of a total downpour that day (if it wasn't for the fact that you can't cancel day-of, we would've just stayed on the ship). But we were nervous about being in unfamiliar countries and the excursions gave us a level of comfort we might not have had otherwise. Ironically, my favorite of the excursions was the debarkation day one, which included a stop at the Little Mermaid statue and a tour of the home of Denmark's royal family.

We're on a four-night on the Wish next week and have no excursions planned. Having been on four cruises now, we know there are enough activities on the ship to keep us entertained on port days, and don't feel the need for excursions unless something really speaks to us or takes us somewhere we might not easily be able to get to on our own from the port.