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As a first time cruiser, booking through an outside company kind of scares me because I don't know where I'm going, or what I'm doing. But at the same time I know I will probably pay way more if I book with Disney, so I don't know what to do.
We will be going on the Eastern Caribbean cruise in May and would love any of the following things on any of the islands....
Snorkeling
Something adventurous (like the rainforest trek in St Maarten)
A beach day with drinks included and lots of relaxation
Anyone have a good outside company that they love - and if so do I need to provide my own transportation? I think this is what makes me the most nervous......
Or think I should stick with Disney?
THANKS!!! Everyone in these boards is so nice and helpful! I really appreciate any answers.
I highly recommend sticking with Disney for a few reasons:
1) The shore excursion companies Disney uses have been thoroughly vetted and researched.
2) Booking through Disney insures that Disney knows where you are and if an excursion is running late, can hold the ship for you.
3) NOT booking through Disney, if your excursion is running late, you run the risk of the ship leaving without you!
I very rarely book an excursion through the cruise line because I find them over priced. Do your homework (research research research). Go to cruise message boards like http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/ and Reviews of Hotels, Flights and Vacation Rentals - TripAdvisor etc
I booked all our Alaskan and Mediterranean excursions and never had any problems. Our first cruise was a western Caribbean and I wished I knew then what I know now. Be very clear about the port times, ask them what their policy is if the ship does not go to the port for some reason ( Most companies I have dealt with say "if the ship does not come to the port you do not get charged."). Ask them if there is any upfront cost (I've only had one private tour company in Spain that wanted 10% up front.) Are tips included in the price of the tour. etc
I would confirm with the companies a day or two before. Which means I might call them while I'm in the port before theirs. Most good tour companies would be formilar with the process of people booking their own excursions.
I even meet people online and shared private tours with them. We did this a lot on DCL Mediterranean cruise. I already booked priavte tours for the four of us but most tours would accommodate up to 6 or 7 people for the same price. I posted on a message board (DIS) after several months of talking to the group and had others join us on the tours. It lowered our cost and theirs.
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How do you decide which excursion? Which do you like best - Eastern?
Well, my DH told me yesterday that if we want to do a "beach excursion" to just lounge around and go to a beach then we'll just take a cab and pay the beach fee's ourselves.... but if we do a snorkle/sightsee kind of a tour then we'll go thru Disney.
I think that's reasonable. But now I am having a tough time deciding... I am leaning towards the Rainforest trek in St Maarten and the St John Island tour. Do either of them end up at the beach for swimming at all? I think I would feel ripped off if I went to an island and didn't at least go on to the beach to take pictures and swim for a little while.
Thanks again for everyone's time.
These boards are so much friendlier and willing to help than some of the other boards.
My IL's did the "rainforest trek" on St Maarten in September and were pretty disappointed with it. They were also late getting back to the ship, and of course DCL held the ship for them since it was a DCL excursion.
Both times we've been to St Maarten we've done the longer beach excursion that goes to Orient Beach and includes lunch (versus the shorter one that doesn't include lunch.) The beach, chairs, and lunch have been great (the included rum punch drinks are 'eh'.) We like it, and given the amount of traffic and transit involved to get from St Maarten to St Martin, we just felt better with a DCL excursion.
There were quite a few people on our cruise (the WBTA) who did a tour with Bernard's and highly recommended it. We had enough to arrange some private tours, and some went to the beach after the tour, others went snorkling after the tour, and I forget where the other groups went. Their regular tours seems to have a good mix as well, or if you have enough cruisers in your meet group, you can arrange a private group for just a little bit more than the standard tour, with the option of deciding what you want to do.
My IL's did the "rainforest trek" on St Maarten in September and were pretty disappointed with it. They were also late getting back to the ship, and of course DCL held the ship for them since it was a DCL excursion.
Both times we've been to St Maarten we've done the longer beach excursion that goes to Orient Beach and includes lunch (versus the shorter one that doesn't include lunch.) The beach, chairs, and lunch have been great (the included rum punch drinks are 'eh'.) We like it, and given the amount of traffic and transit involved to get from St Maarten to St Martin, we just felt better with a DCL excursion.
There were quite a few people on our cruise (the WBTA) who did a tour with Bernard's and highly recommended it. We had enough to arrange some private tours, and some went to the beach after the tour, others went snorkling after the tour, and I forget where the other groups went. Their regular tours seems to have a good mix as well, or if you have enough cruisers in your meet group, you can arrange a private group for just a little bit more than the standard tour, with the option of deciding what you want to do.
Do you know what they were disappointed about during the Rainforest Trek?
Yeah, St. Maarten doesn't have much real rainforest - just small patches near the top of the island's highest mountain, and in some ravines on the side of the mountain (that's where Lotterie Farm, the site for those excursions, is located). Even that doesn't seem like Hollywood-style rainforest. It's really rainforest-style vegetation, as the micro-climate that creates it is due to the clouds that pass by, rather than the kind of sustained weather cycle you'd find in the Amazon. The clouds hit the mountain top and dump some rain, especially on the mountain's western slopes, which is where that forest is located. The temperate rainforests in the Pacific Northwest get far more rainfall than St. Maarten does. Overall, most of the island's vegetation is better adapted to dry climates. There's a fair amount of cactus at lower elevations, for example (or at least, in places that haven't been too built-up, since cactus is bad for the island's image). The rainforest has a lot of ficus trees, bromiliads, various vines, bougainvillea, palms... the island used to have significant amounts of mahogany, but like most islands in the Caribbean, that was logged out a long time ago. Alot of this is true for manysmaller Caribbean islands (the forests in St. John, St. Thomas, and on Tortola are all similar to St. Maarten's). The interiors of larger islands (Puerto Rico, Cuba, etc.) are more likely to have the conditions necessary for true rainforests to exist.
Now, the St. John island tour does stop for a beach break (most of the St. John excursions do). In the case of the standard St. John Island Tour, they stop at Trunk Bay, which is a very beautiful beach. It usually stops there for lunch and about an hour of beach time. There are snorkel equipment and other rentals available, and there's a snorkeling trail. It's a U.S. National Park beach, so it's not overly built-up, but that's a good thing.
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Yeah, St. Maarten doesn't have much real rainforest - just small patches near the top of the island's highest mountain, and in some ravines on the side of the mountain (that's where Lotterie Farm, the site for those excursions, is located). Even that doesn't seem like Hollywood-style rainforest. It's really rainforest-style vegetation, as the micro-climate that creates it is due to the clouds that pass by, rather than the kind of sustained weather cycle you'd find in the Amazon. The clouds hit the mountain top and dump some rain, especially on the mountain's western slopes, which is where that forest is located. The temperate rainforests in the Pacific Northwest get far more rainfall than St. Maarten does. Overall, most of the island's vegetation is better adapted to dry climates. There's a fair amount of cactus at lower elevations, for example (or at least, in places that haven't been too built-up, since cactus is bad for the island's image). The rainforest has a lot of ficus trees, bromiliads, various vines, bougainvillea, palms... the island used to have significant amounts of mahogany, but like most islands in the Caribbean, that was logged out a long time ago. Alot of this is true for manysmaller Caribbean islands (the forests in St. John, St. Thomas, and on Tortola are all similar to St. Maarten's). The interiors of larger islands (Puerto Rico, Cuba, etc.) are more likely to have the conditions necessary for true rainforests to exist.
Now, the St. John island tour does stop for a beach break (most of the St. John excursions do). In the case of the standard St. John Island Tour, they stop at Trunk Bay, which is a very beautiful beach. It usually stops there for lunch and about an hour of beach time. There are snorkel equipment and other rentals available, and there's a snorkeling trail. It's a U.S. National Park beach, so it's not overly built-up, but that's a good thing.
This is perfect Dave! Thank you, that's exactly what I wanted to hear!!! We wanted to do the St John Tour, but weren't sure and kept going back and forth between the two. I think you just made up my mind!
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But at the same time I know I will probably pay way more if I book with Disney, so I don't know what to do. 
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