Won’t leave without me

The letter titled “Private Shore Tours” (April ’10, pg. 14) was written by a traveler with a preference for taking independently arranged excursions as opposed to ones purchased from a cruise ship.

My response — the benefit of booking tours directly through the ship can be summarized in a few words: the ship’s staff knows where you are.

Although saving money is, indeed, a virtue, there certainly are hazards inherent in going on your own.

In the western Caribbean with Costa Cruises three years ago, I made arrangements through the ship to take an excursion out of Cozumel, Mexico, to the Mayan ruins at Tulum. Because of extremely heavy traffic, our tour bus was more than one hour late in returning to the pier.

Had I booked a similar excursion on my own, under the same circumstances, the ship would have left without me, since its personnel would have had no knowledge of my whereabouts.

ROBERT A. SIEBERT

Jamaica, NY