Help & FAQ

What is The Excursion Edit?

The Excursion Edit is an independent comparison site for cruise shore excursions. When you only have a few hours in port, the things that matter most — is the operator properly insured, will you get back to the ship in time, and is there a government travel advisory for this destination — are usually the hardest to find. We bring them to the surface so you can see them before you book.

Do I need an account? Is it free?

The site is free to use and there is no account to create. You can search ports, compare excursions and check the trust details without signing up.

Anything the site remembers — your display preference and whatever you note in the Ashore in-port tools — stays only on your own device. It is never sent to us or to anyone else.

How do I know whether a tour fits my time in port?

Each excursion shows the duration stated on the booking platform — that is the key fact for judging whether a tour fits your port day.

We deliberately don't score or judge the fit for you. Port days vary too much for a rule of thumb: late sailings and overnight calls change the picture, and departure times shift. You see the tour's stated duration, and the judgement is yours — always leave sensible headroom and follow your cruise line's all-aboard time.

Can I filter out tours that are too long for my day?

Not yet — a filter to limit excursions by their stated duration is something we plan to add.

For now, every excursion shows the duration stated on the booking platform, so you can judge whether it fits your day.

What happens if an independent tour makes me late for the ship?

This is the real difference between an independently booked tour and one booked through your cruise line: the ship will normally wait for its own excursions if they run late, but it is not obliged to wait for an independent one. If you miss the all-aboard time, getting to the next port to rejoin the ship becomes your own responsibility and cost.

That is exactly why we surface the trust checks on every tour — the return-to-ship guarantee where an operator publishes one, and the public-liability status — and why we show the duration each operator states — the duration is on every card and the call is yours to make.

The port times your cruise line publishes are accurate to the best of our knowledge — but they can change at short notice, for weather or operational reasons, so the time that truly counts is the all-aboard time your ship gives you on the day. None of that removes the risk: always leave generous headroom, allow extra time when seas look rough, and follow your cruise line's all-aboard time. Whether a tour fits your day is your judgement to make.

What do the trust checks on each tour mean?

Every tour shows a short trust strip with two checks. "Return to ship — confirmed", marked "verified by The Excursion Edit", appears only where the operator publishes its own return-to-ship guarantee; where it doesn't, we show "Return to ship — not stated · confirm with the operator". Its absence is not a sign a tour is unsafe — it's a bonus signal, not a requirement.

"Public liability cover — confirmed" appears where we have been able to confirm the operator's public-liability insurance from the partner platform we draw the listing from. Otherwise we show "not stated · confirm with the operator" rather than leaving it blank — and "not stated" is not a judgement that the operator is uninsured, only that we couldn't verify it, so check directly with them before booking.

We show only what we can actually stand behind, and say so plainly when we can't. The visible "not stated" is the honesty, not a gap.

What do the government travel advisories mean — and what do the US "Level 1–4" ratings stand for?

We show official government travel advice at the port level, refreshed automatically. We surface what the authorities publish — we don't add our own risk rating. Up to two sources can appear: the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and, alongside it, the US State Department.

The FCDO — the source most UK travellers know — gives its advice in plain words (for example, advising against all but essential travel to a particular area) and doesn't use a numbered scale.

The US State Department uses a numbered four-level scale instead, which is less familiar to UK readers. From lowest to highest:

Level 1 — Exercise Normal Precautions: the lowest level — the ordinary care you'd take travelling anywhere.

Level 2 — Exercise Increased Caution: be more alert to specific heightened risks, such as crime or local unrest.

Level 3 — Reconsider Travel: serious risks to safety — the advice is to think hard about whether to go.

Level 4 — Do Not Travel: the highest level, used for life-threatening risk; US citizens are advised not to travel there.

Each source links straight through to the official advisory so you can read the full detail and the date it was issued. An advisory describes a whole country or area, not a specific excursion — always check the live advice yourself before you travel.

Can I find step-free or accessible excursions?

Where an operator states accessibility details for a tour — such as whether it is wheelchair accessible or step-free, or not suitable for certain mobility needs — we relay their own words, with the date we read them, and we say "not stated" plainly where the operator hasn't published anything. We never infer accessibility from the type of tour, and we never judge whether a tour is right for you — that decision, and the final check, are between you and the operator.

At the port level we also surface practical mobility facts where we have them — for example whether a port is reached by tender, or whether the old town is up a steep climb or reached by a funicular — so you have something honest to go on even before the tour detail. Always confirm the specifics with the operator before you book.

What does the port busyness indicator mean?

It describes how busy a port typically is — a general picture for the time of year, drawn from the sources we cite on the card — not a forecast for your specific sailing date. A genuinely accurate "how busy will my day be" view needs live ship-tracking data we don't yet carry, so we deliberately show the typical pattern rather than imply a precision we can't stand behind.

Use it as a rough steer — for choosing a quieter time of day to head ashore, say — alongside your own ship's arrival and departure times, which are the one certain anchor for your day.

How are you funded?

The site is free because we earn affiliate commission when you book through some of our partner links, at no extra cost to you. It never changes the price you pay, and it doesn't change which excursions we show or how we rank them. See our Affiliate Disclosure for the detail.

Do you sell or book the excursions yourselves?

No. We are an independent comparison service, not a tour operator or a booking agent. When you choose to book, you do so on the partner platform's own site, and your contract for the excursion is with that operator or platform — not with us.

Which ports do you cover?

We're live across cruise ports in the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, Alaska, the Baltic, the Atlantic, and Canada and New England, and we're adding more as we grow. If a port isn't live yet, it's on the way.

How reliable is the sea-state and marine forecast?

Where we show a marine forecast it comes from a live source and describes sea conditions only — it is not a guarantee that a tender or a water activity will run. The ship's captain and the operator always make the final call on the day. We surface it so you can allow more getting-back time when seas look rough, never to promise that something will go ahead.

Explore excursions by port

Browse the excursions at any port, check the trust details, and open the full guide for everything else about the port.

1. Search for a port by name or scroll the port list.
2. See the excursions available, each with the duration stated by the operator and the key trust checks.
3. Check whether the operator publishes a return-to-ship guarantee and the public-liability status.
4. Open the full port guide for what catches visitors out, local laws, safety, and getting around.

Judge the fit yourself

We give you the facts; whether a tour fits your day is your call.

1. Check your cruise line's published schedule for how long you're in each port and the all-aboard deadline — that's the anchor for your day.
2. Every excursion shows the duration stated on the booking platform.
3. Factor in the trust check: a published return-to-ship guarantee means the operator has committed to getting you back.
4. Tours without a stated duration always stay shown — we never hide options.
5. Always leave generous headroom and follow your cruise line's all-aboard time.