There are many advantages. One is simply great choice in customizing your overall experience. Another is the more intimate experience you'll have. Rather than joining a group of 50 of your fellow ship guests on a full-sized bus, you'll instead likely be with a group of 20 or fewer on a van or small-sized bus. Additionally, these small, independent shore excursions often can be modified along the way, or fully customized before you even join your guide. These excursions often are no more expensive, and many times are less expensive, than comparable excursions offered by the cruise lines.
Our clients sometimes express concerns about the risks involved in an independent excursion provider not returning to the ship on time. The thought is that the ship will wait for guests who have traveled with the cruise line excursions, but not for guests taking independent excursions. By working with reputable excursion providers, however, this should not be a great concern. These providers guarantee your on time return to your ship, or they will get you to the ship's next port of call if for any reason they you do not make your ship before it sails. In the years we have been in business, we have placed many clients on independent excursions, and never have they been late returning to the ship.
Some of the private group excursions we have customized for our clients have included an amazing tour of the Biblically-significant city of Ephesus, Turkey. On this private excursion, our guide was a native of the area, and also a Biblical expert. Because there were only 10 of us on the excursion, the guide and her driver were very receptive to allowing us to remain longer at the stops of our choice, and we were not wedded to a rigid schedule. We enjoyed a diversion to a fine leather shop, followed by a leisurely and informative tour of the amazing ruins of Ephesus.
Another extraordinary private excursion we have arranged included a 3-day tour of St. Petersburg, Russia, with the same private guide and driver all three days. Again with a private group of just 10 guests, we were able to customize our tour along the way to linger in the places we desired while spending less time in those places that proved of little interest to us.
When arranging independent excursions, I strongly recommend working closely with your travel professional to ensure you get the most from your experience while ensuring you will be in the hands of reputable, fully licensed excursion providers and tour guides.
