Why You May Want to Skip Excursions on Your Next Cruise

Cruising is a fun way to spend a vacation for lots of reasons — endless food, great entertainment, meeting new people and visiting exotic ports of call, just to name a few. But, more and more, travelers are exercising their right to not spend hard-earned vacation dollars on organized activities. While beautiful and exciting ports of call are frequented by cruises and those destinations benefit greatly from tourist dollars, read on to discover the reasons you may want to join the skip-the-excursions club on your next cruise.

Organized excursions are designed to give you a memorable experience, and they certainly deliver, but with each vessel, a lot of planning and effort have been put into creating an environment of luxury, entertainment and relaxation. With port days spent exploring ashore and sea days spent with a full ship of passengers vying for the same activities, travelers don’t always have much time to take advantage of all the great perks and amenities today’s cruise ships have to offer.

Some passengers find staying onboard during port days works best for them, giving them a chance to enjoy the ship at their leisure. While most passengers are ashore exploring a port of call in the time allotted, the ship is practically empty. Those who stay behind often feel like they have the ship to themselves, with plenty of open space at the pools and no lines at the bars and restaurants. Port days are also a great time to score an appointment at the ship spa. These appointments are always in high demand and tend to book solid on days spent at sea, making port days a great option for those who stay aboard.

Similar to staying on board and enjoying the peace and quiet of a nearly empty ship, there is still the option of going ashore without participating in a planned excursion. Destinations are chosen based on the fact travelers want to experience them, but time in those destinations is often short, limiting your ability to really get to know the city. Instead of opting for a carefully curated experience showing you someone else’s idea of how to experience a city, consider spending that time exploring on your own, enjoying each little surprise as it comes.