Here are the benefits of booking your onshore excursions via the cruise company.

Cruise operated shore excursions have priority when disembarking the ship. Skip the queues and head straight for the adventure when you’ve booked in advance.

Set and forget: From the moment the ship arrives in port, all the work is done for you, often including your lunch. You may pay extra for this luxury, but for many passengers, especially when travelling in a foreign country, potentially with a foreign language, you just want all the hard work to be done for you.

Cruise lines take responsibility

If the local operators are experiencing difficulties in any way, then the cruise line takes responsibility and organises an alternative arrangement. For example if the bus breaks down, or if there’s a public holiday etc, your itinerary will go ahead without delay and you don’t have to foot the bill.

There’s a certain reassurance in knowing the excursion has come with the official recommendation of the cruise line.

There are some experiences you simply couldn’t coordinate without the cruise line. An Alaskan shore excursion for example may combine several elements that all require perfectly curated meeting times and locations. It could be the floatplane that lands on the lake that takes you to the rainforest. Then the hike to see the black bears catching salmon that meets up with the tender and takes you back to the ship.

Using experts in their field

Often with adventure or expedition cruises, the lines hire staff who are experts in their field, with local knowledge also. Expedition leaders can be highly qualified glaciologists, marine biologist or polar region specialists. Finding these guys just hanging out in the private taxi queue is highly unlikely.

If the ship is late or has to skip a port, and you miss a shore excursion, the line will fully refund you.

It’s your last shore excursion! If so, the line will arrange for your luggage to be transported along with you to the airport, rather than you returning to the ship.

You don’t have to worry about having the local currency in your wallet, or a phone that works in the region to call your tour guide. There’s no stress about where to meet and when, and ensuring the local guide knows that you need to be back on time.

The benefits of booking onshore excursions privately

Though fewer in number, some passengers may argue the value of the benefits of choosing your own shore excursions are far greater.

Many passengers prefer to visit a new destination in its entirety and that means hanging out with the locals. You’re more likely to meet and mingle with the ‘real deal’ when you simply wing it. Hit the ground like a local.

You could save a bundle if you do your homework, or even just a little bartering. The cruise lines raise prices to cover extra insurance costs. If you’re prepared to go it alone then you’re also more likely to score a bargain.

Off the beaten track experiences can be worth their weight in gold. For many travellers, it’s about being outside your comfort zone, going where the wind takes you, making new friends at chance encounters and just soaking in the natural ambience of a new world. This often can’t be created or manufactured in an organised tour.