How to Plan Shore Excursions for Your Next Family Cruise

“I don’t care. I’m happy with whatever you decide.”

Nobody tasked with planning activities for a group ever wants to hear these words. But it’s the response I normally receive from my companions who suppress their own wants and desires because of my perceived status as a senior travel expert.

I’d prefer it if they voiced their ideas.

Better yet, I’d be thrilled if someone else decided to take on this monumental responsibility.

But, until one of my family members volunteers, planning our group travel activities lands on my plate, including cruise shore excursions. I’ve developed a system that makes booking these tours and activities smooth sailing, so I can move on to other dreaded tasks like making my cruise packing list.

Cruise Excursion Options

Depending on the cruise you’ve booked, you’ll have a variety of shore excursion choices. These may include:

• Walking tours with a local guide
• Multi-hour motor coach trips
• Adventure experiences like ziplining, golf or rafting
• Food and beverage tours

And you’ll have the choice of booking “official” excursions directly with your cruise operator or choosing your own tours including those promoted on third party sites like Get Your Guide, Viator or The Tour Guy.

Is it Cheaper to Book Your Own Tours?

I’ve booked independent shore excursions and cruise-offered tours. In my experience, you’ll save a few bucks booking a tour on your own. So, if you’re cruising on a budget, then you should consider this option.

Another reason to book excursions on your own is if a port experience isn’t offered by the cruise line.

If you do decide to book independent excursions, you’ll want to be extra careful about the tour times. Cruise ships will almost always wait for passengers returning late from excursions organized by the cruise line. It’s clearly stated on the reservation page for my NCL cruise, “In the event that your tour is delayed, we’ll hold the ship for you.”

Late passengers on independent excursions may be left behind.

I recently read the harrowing story about a group of cruisers christened “The Late Eight” who were stranded in Africa in March 2024. It’s an experience I never want to endure. So I’m super careful when booking cruise independent excursions.

Begin with a Worksheet

If you’ve been tasked with planning the excursions for an upcoming group cruise, take a deep breath and set up a worksheet. Use Google Sheets. It’s easy to create a simple worksheet, you can share it with your group via email and everyone has commenting abilities.

My family’s booked a June 10-day Norwegian cruise from Oslo to Stockholm with stops in nine countries. That’s right. Nine. I’m already a little worried about waking up each morning and wondering if we’re in Poland, Estonia or Latvia.

I started my worksheet by entering the days, dates, ports, arrival and departure times and duration of stay.

Do Your Research

Although you always have the option of staying onboard to take advantage of cruise ship amenities, I like to explore the port’s attractions. Figuring out what you’d like to do requires some research which, for me, is the exciting part about travel.

You can begin with guidebooks and the official tourism websites. Look for suggestions for one-day itineraries. These compressed touring schedules will include the must-sees for a destination.

Add a Things to Do column to your worksheet and list the attractions and activities you’ve discovered. This is a good time to circulate your worksheet to your group to ask them to add places they’re interested in seeing.

Check Out the Cruise Line Excursions

If your group is primarily interested in the “greatest hits” in a port, then the cruise line is most likely to offer this excursion. This is the easy peasy option for booking.

When you reserve in advance, the excursion becomes part of your official itinerary. You can always wait and book these trips while you’re onboard, but I’ve discovered they sell out or you need to wait on long lines which cut into your vacation time.

Off the Beaten Path

If the cruise line doesn’t offer the excursion you’re looking for, check out sites like Viator, Get Your Guide or The Tour Guy. I always sort my searches by highest rating and look for activities that appeal to my friends and family like:

• Docent-led museum tours
• Craft beer crawls
• Ghost and history walks
• Boat rides

Once you’ve identified all of your excursion possibilities, both official and independent, add two more columns to your worksheet – one listing links to the cruise excursions and private tours and one where your group members can mark each as a “Yes” or “No.”

Booking Tips

After you’ve finalized your choices, it’s time to book. If you’ve used a travel agent to secure your group reservation, they should be able to assist with booking cruise line excursions.

For independent tours, either suck up the booking responsibilities or assign someone else to the chore.

Final Thoughts

• Don’t forget to include transfers to and from the ship. I’ve often left these to the last minute and have found that large vans needed to accommodate my group weren’t available.
• Be very clear on when you need to be onboard for embarkation and when you will be permitted to leave the ship on departure day.
• Leave yourself a generous window of time on either side of your independent tours for unexpected fun or delays due to traffic or car problems.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

Do you enjoy cruising? Have you organized a group cruise? Did you ever have a problem on a cruise shore excursion? Do you know someone who has?