Shore Excursions

[JackieW]

Hi,
This is my first time on a cruise so I have a lot of questions. I will be on the Caribbean Princess next week for nine days visiting Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Thomas of the U.S.V.I, and Bermuda (West End). Here is my itinerary http://www.princess.com/pb/iti...s.do?voyageCode=B929.
Should I pre-reserve the shore excursions or is it better if I join the local tours when we get on shore? I see it is pretty expensive when I book the excursions through Princess Cruises. Is it cheaper if I join the local tours.
Also, are we allowed to bring beverages like Soda and Water onto the cruise. Finally, do we have to pay for the robes when we request them through the Cruise Personalizer?

[f-mattox]

I'll take your questions in reverse order:
No, you do not have to pay for the use of the robes; they are complimentary. They will give you the opportunity to buy the robes, but they are expensive and bulky. There are much better and less expensive souvenirs.
Yes, you are allowed to bring water and soda; but the water on the ship is very pure and quite drinkable. We usually take just a couple of bottles of different sizes and refill them at the buffet as needed.
The local tours are usually less expensive than the ship tours; but it is good to do some research before you go because not all the operators are on the up and up. I would suggest you stick with the Princess tours because you sail next week and probably don't have time to do much research at this point; also because you are traveling with children and it is your first cruise. You may pay a little more, but the comfort level of knowing you are in good hands is well worth it.

[penny3333]

Hi JackieW, welcome to Cruise-Chat. You're in for a fantastic time. The Caribbean Princess s a great ship, and your itinerary is really nice. Be sure to check out the International Cafe on the Plaza deck. They have some free and some pay items that are fantastic. They have 9 flavors of gelato, 3 scoops for $1.50. Check out our Caribbean Port Chat section a little further down the main page for some great ideas. You can use your "find" feature in the upper left hand corner, type in your ports, and it will pull up all the posts made about them. All of the ports you're visiting are very safe to do on your own. However, like f-mattox states, sometimes the ship's excursions are a better way to go. If you're late, they'll hold the ship if you're on a ship sponsored tour. If not, you're on your own to get to the next port. However, in Bermuda, taking the local bus is a great way to see the island. The locals are more than willing to help you find your way. Either way you decide, do research first. We always use the ship's water, it's better than bottled water. We'll buy a couple of bottles for the bottle, then just keep refilling them. You could always bring your own, too. Hope you enjoy Princess as much as we do, they're our favorite cruise line, so far. Best wishes!