A former cruise staff member who has worked on cruise ships for 10 years shares how people can improve their field trip experience. Lucy Southerton, 28, said passengers made two major mistakes when they signed up for a cruise-run field trip.
First, guests often turn to the ship when the original crew says it's better to consider booking a local tour guide. Ms. Southerton also recommended that she not have tours at all and instead explore on her own. Taking her to her YouTube channel, she explained: “Many people book cruise line excursions without doing any research into the ports they are actually visiting. Many attractions people pay to pay like government buildings and shopping streets are really easy to find on their own.
“We need to investigate the ports we are visiting, and we know that what we want to visit and see is within 30 minutes of where the ship is docking.
“In my opinion, there is no need for field trips, you can explore them yourself.
“Or if you still want to tour, you can see the local tour. Nine out of 10 are much more affordable than the same tours offered by the cruise line.”
The former crew also urged people to check the conditions for ship-run field trips, as they could get stabbed in the details of what the cruise company offers.
Southerton said: “T and C may catch you, so it's a bit of a hassle to read. It's well worth it.
“The cruise line classifies field trips based on activity level. Booking without checking this can be a much more physically demanding tour than you're ready to go. The other is height and weight limits.
“You also want to pay attention to your time allocation. Many people don't pay attention to how long each attraction is allocated.
“So if you go on tour and you're really excited to see this, you know that you're only assigned 30 minutes.
