The following commentary appeared in the most recent CcruiseMates newsletter, and I thought it made an excellent point, as well as offered practical solutions - a rare but welcome completer! CruiseMates is where you would expect it to be: www.cruisemates.com. The article is posted here with permission of Ms Campbell, Editor-in-Cheif of CruiseMates

A SHORE THING
Commentary by CruiseCritic Editor Anne Campbell:


I recently visited CruiseMates' member poll area and was surprised to discover that almost every ship scores low marks in shore excursions, including the most luxurious vessels. The exceptions are a few tiny vessels -- Seabourn, Windstar and the expedition ships -- that carry fewer than 100 people. Personally, I'm disappointed to find that many cruise companies offer virtually identical excursions in practically every port. For example, Crystal Cruises boasted that its passengers can ride a MIG jet fighter in St. Petersburg, Russia (for $14,000), but so can passengers on nearly every ship visiting this port.
I think the dissatisfaction with shore excursions isn't necessarily related to their organization and execution, but rather to the high prices charged by cruise lines. Some friends of mine, first-time cruisers, recently returned from a seven-day Caribbean cruise horrified to learn at check-out they had run up $1,000 in shore excursion charges.
But I'm also seeing more cruisers setting up excursions on their own through the Internet. For example, if you want to go snorkeling in Belize, Google can instantly find local companies offering this activity for a fraction of the price the cruise line charges. One cruise line executive admitted privately that only one-third of passengers purchase shore excursions in Europe; the rest set up their own sightseeing ashore. On my Hawaii cruise aboard Pride of Aloha, savvy passengers told me I could rent a Budget car for $30 a day through the ship's cyber-cafe instead of reserving a Budget rental car for $70 per day as an NCL shore excursion.