Whenever I book a cruise or an all-inclusive vacation for a client, I always provide them with a list of available excursions during their trip. To my surprise, I often have people who say they don’t need or want to do the excursions. For some, it’s enough to just relax during their trip and they aren’t interested in doing much more. For others, excursions simply add to the cost of the vacation and they just don’t want to spend the extra money. Still others have concerns about leaving the resort or the ship. All of those are certainly reasonable objections, but I see excursions as a fantastic addition to your vacation memories for a number of reasons. Here are just a few of them:
Excursions allow you to learn more about the history of the place you are visiting.
When I travel, I try to book a variety of excursions—some for fun, but also some where I feel that I’m going to learn about the place I’m visiting. For example, during a trip to Costa Maya, I booked a trip to explore the Mayan pyramids. The tour guide was a local woman who provided a wealth of knowledge not just about the pyramids and the ancients who built them but also about the importance of them both during the time they were built and actively used and today. In addition, she would show us unique things along the way—interesting information about the plants and animals, the climate then and now, the people–it was fascinating to climb the pyramid and envision what life was like back then.
I’m looking forward to touring some of Europe in 2017—so much history there! Imagine touring a castle, or visiting Stonehenge or stepping on to Normandy Beach and envisioning what D-Day must have been like. There are many excursions that provide insight into history and more often than not, your tour guide doesn’t just have a script that they follow. You can ask the guide questions, engage them in conversation and learn things you may never have known otherwise.
Excursions give you an opportunity to experience the culture and people of the place you are visiting in a unique way.
I admit it—when I go on vacation, one of my very favorite things to do is to talk with the people! I find the different cultures and lifestyles and even languages truly amazing! I think that is perhaps one of the things I enjoy most about cruising. A cruise ship staff is often comprised of people from all different nations. I often try to engage the staff in conversation throughout my cruise to learn more about their country and I always try to book an excursion when I am visiting a country for the first time. In fact, even if I go back to that country at a later time, I will book a different excursion so that I can see it in a different way.
For example, the culture in Cozumel, Mexico is different than in Costa Maya. You will see more of a focus on natural attractions and agriculture in Costa Maya than you will in Cozumel. In Aruba, I took a tour of the island and learned about the temperate climate and how they get their water and some of the favorite local foods. In St. Maarten, I visited an open air market and spoke to some of the folks selling their handmade goods. There I learned about the economy and the types of jobs available to locals and the education system. In Curacao, we arrived during a festival and saw the way they celebrated.
I can’t say that you will walk away an expert after an excursion, but it will certainly leave you with a new appreciation and understanding of that country! It’s well worth a few hours of your time and in my opinion, the experience is worth the little bit of extra money.
Excursions provide adventure and excitement to your vacation.
Listen, you won’t hear an argument from me that the resort or the cruise ship has plenty of entertainment and things to do while you are vacation—that’s absolutely true. However, excursions give you an opportunity to add a little more. I’ve seen everything from horseback riding to deep-sea fishing to dune buggy and off-road adventures. Take a nature walk, visit a butterfly or turtle farm, see a volcano, visit an old fort—I’ve even seen an excursion where you ride a camel on a beach! If those aren’t your thing, there are excursions that take you on dining or shopping adventures. For those of you who enjoy the adult beverages on vacation, there are even excursions that include bar/pub crawls and wine tastings or give free samples of rum or tequila. I’ve had some great fun on an excursion that provided a smaller boat to a secluded island while you listened to Caribbean music, drank rum punch, and danced. Once you arrived on the island, you could enjoy an all-you-can-eat buffet, open bar, beach volleyball games, snorkeling, etc. I remember sitting on a beach in Aruba and watching a gentleman dive down a few times and finally come up with a GIGANTIC starfish for everyone to see–it was truly fascinating to see something like that. Each island/country provides enough excursions that you can be as adventurous or as low key as you want. It’s fun to do something new every time you visit!
Excursions give you the opportunity to do something you would never do at home.
OK, be honest, at home would you take a submarine ride to edge of a 7,000 ft drop off or wall? Would you dare to zip line through the woods or could you zip line through a jungle? Can you swim with a dolphin or parasail over crystal blue waters? Would you take a helicopter ride over your town?
I’ll let you in in a little secret–I’m a chicken. I am not usually one to try things that look like they are risky. However, on vacation, I will occasionally take a little risk via an excursion. I mean, after all, they do this thing every week and people aren’t dying right? LOL Let me give you a few examples:
I took a helicopter ride in Grand Turk. At first, I was absolutely white knuckled—and we had barely left the ground! I was sitting next to the pilot and he made fun of me. After a few minutes of conversation and a few jokes later, he had me completely relaxed and I saw spectacular views! Imagine being able to see a school of sting rays swimming together–from the air! Wow, that water was clear! It was one of the most memorable experiences of my trip!
I also took a speed boat ride where they spun us in circles throughout the trip. When they put the harness on me and the boat started to move, I said out loud, “I’m going to die.” Obviously, I didn’t. In fact, after the first spin and after I wiped all of the water out of my eyes, I said, “Wait. That’s it? I can do this!” and afterwards, I found myself laughing hysterically for the rest of the trip and enjoying every minute.
I took that submarine tour I mentioned. I put aside my concerns about being in a seriously enclosed area and running out of oxygen and being stuck on the bottom of the sea with no chance of escaping…wait, don’t roll your eyes, I already told you I’m a chicken…a dramatic chicken.
The submarine tour turned out to be breathtaking. I saw what had to be hundreds of fish swimming in a circle—they made it look almost like an underwater tornado! I saw incredible coral and learned about the local sea life and yes, I went right to edge of that of that 7,000 ft drop off. How amazing it was that you could see everything just fine and all of a sudden, where that wall was, it was so very dark! It was simultaneously exciting and terrifying!
I love the idea of trying something new on vacation. When I get home and my friends and family say, “YOU did THAT?” I consider it an added bonus to an already great memory!
Excursions add to your vacation memories.
Sure, you have lots of fun stories about the shows and the resort and the food and ship or whatever. And, hey, you take lots of pictures too and all of that provides one heck of a vacation memory—no doubt. But, how about the story about getting covered in mud when your vacation buddy purposely hit a puddle during your ATV trip? How about the picture of you holding that sting ray or standing next to the helicopter? Why miss an opportunity to talk about that amazing little local restaurant you ate in and that local cuisine or specialty drink you had during your trip? Excursions provide the opportunity to ADD to what is already a fantastic memory for you and your family.
Overall, I think you can see that I vote YES for excursions—whether it’s taking a break from an all-inclusive resort or during a cruise. As a word of advice or caution, I DO also believe that when booking an excursion, you should always go with the cruise line, resort, a reputable company such as Shore Trips or ask your travel consultant to book through one of their suppliers. Then you know the excursion provider is reputable and safe. Then you can sit back, relax and get ready to add a little more fun, culture, excitement, history—whatever—to YOUR vacation memory!
Traci Harvey Travel 