| Here are the advantages to booking the cruise line tours: |
| 1. You are enjoying the tour with people from your cruise. It's a good way to make new friends! |
| 2. The cruise line makes sure that they choose some of the highest quality ground operators. Most tours are extensively evaluated by the cruise line before they are offered to guests. |
| 3. The cruise line usually backs the tours with some sort of performance guarantee. |
| 4. You don't have to worry about finding an English-speaking guide. The cruise line has already done it for you. |
| 5. If traveling alone, these tours are cost-efficient. |
| 6. You don't have to negotiate or haggle with taxi drivers and tour guides. |
| Here are the advantages to "doing your own thing" while in port: |
| 1. You choose what you want to see, when you want to see it, and for how long you want to see it. |
| 2. You may want to have a more intimate experience than one you share with a hundred shipmates. |
| 3. It you have at least a few people traveling together with the same interests, independent excursions can cost considerably less than those arranged by the cruise line. If you have five or six people, you may get a driver and minivan for the whole day for less than it might cost for a few hour tour offered by the cruise line. |
| 4. You can get off the beaten path. |
