Port Adventures - can DCL do better?

[PrincessShmoo]

Our excursions through Disney have been hit and miss. I mentioned the one in Rome above being cut short and partial refunds being given. We had a huge mishap with out tour guide on the Montserrat tour in Barcelona. She gave one of the passengers the wrong time to return to the bus (told him 4:00, told us 3:00). As a result, we waited and waited and couldn't find him, so she left and -- as a result of all the time wasted -- we could not do the tour of La Sagrada (and I didn't go in pre-cruise because I thought I'd see it on the tour -- so never have been inside!). Anyway, we watched the poor senior -- obviously stressed and upset -- get out of a cab that the ship sent for him, with officers running out to get him on the ship. We were an hour late leaving, but I can only imagine how upset he was when he got to the meeting place and the bus was gone.

The other was the horrible tour guide we had in Antigua who decided to take us to her friend's pineapple farm -- and spent quite a bit of time with him (and probably hoping we'd spend money there), which resulted in our time at Nelson's dockyard being cut to 30 minutes instead of one hour. My poor husband -- that was the only place he wanted to see and he was very frustrated. Again, back onboard and our whole bus was in line at shore excursions for refunds -- which we all got. I hope they never use that woman again -- a real ditz!

Other than those three, all the other excursions we did through Disney over 10 cruises were great and we had a great time. The tour company to Florence/Pisa was one of our favorite.

We've primarily taken DCL excursions. And, while there have been a couple of not so great ones, we've enjoyed every one of them. The worst one we had was in Puerto Vallarta, we had a guide whose English skills were very poor, and she basically sat in the front seat of the bus and read the script for the narrative along the trip. No pauses for questions, no eye contact, and we could hardly understand her.

We did have a tour in Livorno (to Pisa) that we had 4 people who were chronically late (over 30 minutes) returning to the bus everytime we stopped. I think the guide should have taken them in hand and informed them them after the first time we wouldn't be waiting for them. Subsequently, we were over a hour and a half late back to the ship. Happily they were able to wait for us.

 

[kaseyC]

We always book private tours because we just love the flexibility with our family of 5. We can tailor our day to our needs. Most of the private tour companies that deal with cruisers and cruise ships have the whole process down to a science. Of course, some issues are unavoidable and even with a DCL excursion you are not completely without risk. Wasn't it last year on one of the Magic British Isle cruises that a whole DCL sponsored group was left behind because the ship had to leave?

Edited to add it was the EBTA not British Isles. Thanks @PrincessShmoo .

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We always book private tours because we just love the flexibility with our family of 5. We can tailor our day to our needs. Most of the private tour companies that deal with cruisers and cruise ships have the whole process down to a science. Of course, some issues are unavoidable and even with a DCL excursion you are not completely without risk. Wasn't it last year on one of the Magic British Isle cruises that a whole DCL sponsored group was left behind because the ship had to leave?

I know on our EBTA last year that at least one busload (maybe two) got left behind in Dublin and had to take a ferry over to Liverpool to meet up with us again the next morning. This was due to the extremely bad traffic in the afternoon returning to the ship, and the tides. The tides vary so much there that the ship had to leave when it did (and even then it was delayed about 1/2 hour).

 

[kaseyC]

I know on our EBTA last year that at least one busload (maybe two) got left behind in Dublin and had to take a ferry over to Liverpool to meet up with us again the next morning. This was due to the extremely bad traffic in the afternoon returning to the ship, and the tides. The tides vary so much there that the ship had to leave when it did (and even then it was delayed about 1/2 hour).

Yes, that was it. EBTA not British Isles, I'll correct my post.

 

[PurplePencil]

Well, that's nice that a DCL CM accompanied you. That was not the case with us on Tortola.

I'm thinking that may only be done in European ports. It's been 10 years since we went, so someone who has done the Med, etc. more recently may know. They also had photographers at every major site we got to to take photos of us and they were great souvenirs! Not sure if they do that anymore either.

I second this, just back from the 21 July Dover, there were CM's with every excursion (not all photographers) in fact when I was confused with a machine at a gas station the tour stopped at the CM in the other group of the same tour (something like I was group 11 she was with 12) stepped into help not the tour guide standing 3 feet away. The CM's seemed to be more helpful than the tour guide. When a photographer is the CM with the group, they do offer to take photographs of guests, but it can be hit or miss.

 

[Shanti]

I second this, just back from the 21 July Dover, there were CM's with every excursion (not all photographers) in fact when I was confused with a machine at a gas station the tour stopped at the CM in the other group of the same tour (something like I was group 11 she was with 12) stepped into help not the tour guide standing 3 feet away. The CM's seemed to be more helpful than the tour guide. When a photographer is the CM with the group, they do offer to take photographs of guests, but it can be hit or miss.

Nice. Sounds like there is a different protocol for the European cruises than for the Caribbean cruises.

 

[poison ivy]

Nice. Sounds like there is a different protocol for the European cruises than for the Caribbean cruises.

Not in our case. We just completed the 12nt British Isles cruise 7/9-7/21 and never had a CM on any of the 4 DCL excursions we booked.

 

[RedSox68]

DCL is the only cruise line I've been on that sent CMs with the tour groups. All the other lines I've sailed have never sent a ship's rep to be with our group.

 

[Dug720]

DCL is the only cruise line I've been on that sent CMs with the tour groups. All the other lines I've sailed have never sent a ship's rep to be with our group.

We had a crew member on the whale watching trip I went on with HAL. But she wasn't there to "supervise" as much as to experience it so she could talk it up to guests. I think most of the time THAT is why crew members are sent on the excursions - so they can share their experiences. The rest of the time my guess is there might be some sent to see if an excursion is really worthy of complaints it has been getting if it's been getting a lot. (And then there are the crew who have time off and get permission to go on excursions for their own enjoyment.)

 

[RedSox68]

We had a crew member on the whale watching trip I went on with HAL. But she wasn't there to "supervise" as much as to experience it so she could talk it up to guests. I think most of the time THAT is why crew members are sent on the excursions - so they can share their experiences. The rest of the time my guess is there might be some sent to see if an excursion is really worthy of complaints it has been getting if it's been getting a lot. (And then there are the crew who have time off and get permission to go on excursions for their own enjoyment.)

Oh, we've had many crew members on excursions, but at their leisure -- not as a working entity. I was talking about DCL CM's sent to escort the tours specifically. We've never had that on any other cruise line.

 

[Dug720]

Oh, we've had many crew members on excursions, but at their leisure -- not as a working entity. I was talking about DCL CM's sent to escort the tours specifically. We've never had that on any other cruise line.

fathom did on the Cuba excursions. But that was part of the requirement to ensure that the People to People requirements were being met.

 

[cruiser21]

Crew members are allowed to go on certain excursions if they are off, and there is space available. It's for their enjoyment not a requirement.

 

[Agent 86]

We always do DCL Port Adventures because of the "guarantee" that the ship won't leave without us.

But, they can be pretty hit or miss. I'm mostly disappointed when "adults only" versions are cancelled.

It would be nice if they were operated by Disney so that they could be the same quality as the services provided on the ship. But, I understand that the practicalities and legalities would make that very difficult. I think we just need to determine whether a better adventure is worth the risk of the ship sailing away without us (which is probably never a risk we'll take to be honest).

 

[csgarner2015]

We always do DCL Port Adventures because of the "guarantee" that the ship won't leave without us.

But, they can be pretty hit or miss. I'm mostly disappointed when "adults only" versions are cancelled.

It would be nice if they were operated by Disney so that they could be the same quality as the services provided on the ship. But, I understand that the practicalities and legalities would make that very difficult. I think we just need to determine whether a better adventure is worth the risk of the ship sailing away without us (which is probably never a risk we'll take to be honest).

That is our worry too. We're not big risk takers, especially in another country. We are planning our 2nd cruise for next May, but we didn't do an excursion on our first cruise. What are some DCL Port Adventures that you thought were good?

 

[Agent 86]

Lol. We're poor Aussies (at least with the current exchange rates), so we typically do the cheapest excursions available (if we do any at all).

The best excursion was the ... White Pass railway in Skagway on our Alaskan cruise. But, that was down to pure luck. Initially they loaded everyone into maybe two or three carriages, so they were packed to the brim and it was clearly going to be difficult seeing out of the windows, taking photos and just tolerating the noise since it was like an echo chamber with lots of kids carrying on. Just before we departed, they announced that an "accessible" carriage was not being used and that anyone could transfer to that carriage. Only us and one other couple moved, so we had an entire, incredibly spacious carriage (with a bathroom to boot) to ourselves for the journey. It also meant that we had two ... "balconies" at either end of the carriage on which to stand and take unobstructed photos.

So, that's the "best" one, but it was mainly due to luck. It wouldn't have been a particularly enjoyable ride if we'd stayed in the original carriage. Once we got back to Skagway, we just did an independent hike, toured the "town" (i.e. the single street) and then headed back to the ship to take advantage of the empty pool in the surprisingly warm weather.

 

[PhilipC]

DCL is the only cruise line I've been on that sent CMs with the tour groups. All the other lines I've sailed have never sent a ship's rep to be with our group.

P & O did that on the tours we took in the Caribbean. This was definitely to report back on the quality of the excursion as they were taking notes, e.g. time of arrival at points, departure from points, etc. This is an area that I think DCL needs to investigate as a means of quality control on their Port Adventures.

 

[Pens Fan]

When we first started cruising, at first we stuck with DCL excursions. Most were fun, but we quickly found that we are not group tour kind of people. Doing a little bit of research we have found plenty of vendors that have given us fabulous private tours for just our family for about the same price we would have paid had we booked a group tour through Disney. Sometimes we've paid a little more, but sometimes less so it all evens out. The experience is like night and day. We can do what we want without being on some set schedule with a bus load of 40 of our new best friends.

We have never even come close to missing the ship. Every single vendor we have used has been so careful with the timing and we normally get back early. The last thing they want is someone blasting all over the internet that a customer missed the ship because of them. Could it happen? Well sure, but I always do a lot of research and read a lot of reviews. I don't just randomly book stuff that I find online and we have had nothing but great experiences. I know it's not for everyone, and that's fine. Some people just really like the security of going through the cruise line. We are a bit more adventurous, and would much rather go our own way. The only time I book through the cruise line now is when there is something specific we want to do and the only choice is the cruise line due to either the timing in port of the excursion being only bookable that way.

But as for the OP's original question. I don't think Disney does any better or worse than any other cruise line. Most lines use the same local companies anyway. If you look at other lines website's you will find mostly the same excursions. Disney does offer some ABD add ons (or at least they used to) in some ports - particularly in Europe. But holy, moly were they expensive!!!!! I'm sure they were fabulous, but way too rich for my blood.

 

[EllinK]

We are so frustrated with DCL Port Adventures. We have done 8 cruises with Disney but I'm done with their PAs. Cattle calls. Excursions that are timed to the people who can't follow the rules and show up on time so you end up having to eliminate parts of the excursion that would be fun because they decided to get a coffee or a snack or whatever while everyone is waiting. Also, we have a 13 yr old who we pay the adult rate for with Disney but then he gets a a 'child's' ticket from the vendor that Disney paid 40% less for. Done!

 

[EllinK]

Not in our case. We just completed the 12nt British Isles cruise 7/9-7/21 and never had a CM on any of the 4 DCL excursions we booked.

We were on the same sailing and didn't see any CM on our PAs either.

 

[PhilipC]

Thank you to everyone who has posted their thoughts and comments so far.

I wonder if anyone would like to recommend third party companies for booking excursions through? I was looking yesterday at the PAs for the Westbound Panama Canal cruise and not getting *overly* excited. I did find one company that offered some reassuring guarantees but, even then, I wasn't too sure about whether or not I liked their excursions. Maybe I'm getting too fussy .

I'm looking for something that is going to tell me something of the history of the place, or give me an opportunity to experience the culture in a safe way (i.e. not on my own!). Not beaches, dolphins, etc although, to reiterate, that isn't to take that away from people who do want to do that sort of thing! .

So if you have done excursions for some of DCL's ports through a third party and want to recommend either the company or the excursion, perhaps list them here? Or maybe we should have a new (sticky?) thread of non-DCL excursion recommendations?