Top 10 Tips for Avoiding Tourist Traps in Port
Basically, it is something that attracts tourists but has a much higher price that something similar for locals would cost.
Think a bar that charges £10 a pint somewhere a local would pay £1 or taxi at the port charging per mile and taking the long way.
There can be lots of things to catch out even the most experienced cruiser when first arriving in port, especially when you add in how busy port areas are when a ship docks and the fact you are often in a new country and culture.
Over the years I have visited most continents and no matter where you visit, there are something that remain consistent when it come to avoiding been ripped of by a tourist trap- and that is just what I look at in this list.
Our Top 10 Tips for Avoiding Tourist Traps in Port
Do Your Research
The easiest way to make sure you don’t get ripped off when onshore, is to do your research before you get to the port.
By knowing in advance how much a tour should cost, how much an attraction should cost, what the cost of a meal is and what the cost of a drink is before you get to your destination will mean you can pick where to eat, visit and shop once you get there with the knowledge of where is ripping you off and where isn’t.
Don’t rely on asking people when you get there, as even those at things such as tourist offices in the terminal could easily be on commissions for recommending one thing over another.
Even in destinations where your options are limited, knowing the rough costs of things will allow you to haggle down prices to somewhere near a usual price for the port.
Knowledge is power is an over-overused phrase by people trying to sound smarter than they are, but when it comes to avoiding tourist traps, its incredibly relevant and something to remember.
Book Attractions in Advance
If you are heading to a port to visit an attraction, from a museum to a theme park and from an historical site to local cultural show, the chances are that you will pay more if you wait until you get to a local tourist office, travel agent or booking agent.
It is often the case that you will also pay more once you get the attraction as the ‘on the day price is often more than the advance price so avoid this increasingly common tourist trap by simply booking online before you get there.
Free Isn’t Free
Going back to the definition of a tourist trap, where something costs a tourist more than it does a local, it may seem strange to have an entry such as this, but just because something is ‘free’, doesn’t mean it isn’t expensive.
There are a few different versions of this including shops with free testers or restaurants with a free bitesize snack to try.
Then there are free ‘bonuses’ you can get such as a free pen in a shop or a free item in restaurant such as an end of meal limoncello in Italy or a small bag of chocolates in a Bruges gift shop.
This instantly makes you think ‘how nice’ and it puts you in a good mood which lowers your critical thinking, which is of course the plan.
You are then unlikely to know that there will be a surcharge added to your bill in a restaurant or you paid over the odds for things in a shop which more than covers the cost of ‘freebie’.
You likely never get such a thing in places aimed at locals, as they simply wouldn’t return.
Avoid Bars and Restaurants with Photos of Every Dish
If you been to a tourist resort on holiday before, you will know exactly what I mean by these types of bars and restaurants.
The menus are normally laminated, are just a picture of a drink or dish and you simply point to the one you want.
On the face of it, that seems a good solution to any language barrier issues or if you don’t quite know a local dish is, but it also guarantees that this is somewhere no local will eat.
If the bar or restaurant doesn’t need to worry about repeat custom, they will only have to worry about getting as much money out of you before you head off again and that means high prices and low quality.
Avoid Places with Everything in English
If you head into a cafes, restaurant or shop in a non-English speaking country and everything is in English- it’s likely you will be paying much more for what you buy.
Not only that but you will likely not get an authentic meal or locally made products but instead you will get something similar to the national dish and chips or a mass-produced piece of tourist tat.
You will never get locals shopping or eating in these places, so you’re not getting anything authentic and will pay more- pretty much the definition of a tourist trap.
As an aside, lots of places will have signs in English as well as the local language or will have a separate menu in English, which tends to be ok but if English is the only language of the establishment, keep on moving.
Walk Away from the Port Before Grabbing a Ride
If you are looking for a taxi, a ride share, a minibus tour or even a pedicab, the chances are that you will be able to get one from right next to the port gate or terminal exit.
That makes it straight forward to grab a ride to the attraction you are heading for, the city centre, a nearby beach or where ever else you are heading for, but in lots of places, these will cost so much more than you will have to pay by simply walking 5 minutes from the port entrance.
If it is a taxi stand with licensed and metered taxis, your fine or if you have pre-ordered a ride share, again your fine, but if you are somewhere where things are a bit looser, keep walking and save money.
Avoid Pushy or Overly Friendly ‘Locals’
If you have ever arrived at a port in Asia, the Caribbean or Africa, you will likely have been met by a gaggle of people all trying to sell you a tour, attraction tickets or products and thankfully in most places, you simply say no and move on.
Sometimes they can be pushier than that and to be honest, just be a pain, but at least they are obvious.
There are lots of places where this sort of thing has been outlawed, which does help, but it also does happen in those places whilst places where it is completely legal will often lead cruisers to feel overwhelmed.
That can play into the next issue, once you have gotten past the pushy salespeople, you often get hit by the next tactic, friendly locals!
These will often be people who start by seeming like a local interested in a visitor to their hometown, they’ll often apologise for the salespeople or make a joke of it and then get you into a general conversation.
It’ll often start with asking where you’re from, if you’re enjoying your cruise, where you’re planning to go and then as soon as you mention you want to visit somewhere or experience something whilst on shore- they’ll sell you their service offering the chance to do it.
This is often so well done, and you have been chatting them for so long, your barriers come down and you are soon heading off to a minibus or handing over money for tickets.
At best, you will have over paid, at first you will have fake tickets, so make sure you keep your common-sense hat on even when it feels like you’re just checking to a local- its sad you need to do this, but it’s the world we live in.
Avoid Chains
For this one I’m not talking about the likes of McDonalds, although I would recommend avoiding those as well and eating and shopping at local establishments, but the sort of shops that have a generic name and just keep popping up over and over.
This is something that is especially prevalent with gift shops, where you get a brand with a name such as ‘Love Gifts’ and they appear on every street you walk along.
The products will all be mass produced, will never be locally made (despite the often having the claim that they are) and will be much pricier than similar products in other shops.
Pay In Local Currency
I am sure you will have noticed that in and around the port, lots of shops, bars, cafes and restaurants will have their prices in US Dollars or Euros and if you are at an American or Eurozone port, that’s great but outside of that, it a red warning flag.
That means they are only aiming at tourists, will often price things as the cost of things in America or Europe despite local costs often been much less and they are the sort of place to avoid.
For this one, I mean places with prices only in those currencies as many shops in tourist destinations will have the local price as well as the equivalent in USD and Euros, which is really useful but if only paying in a second currency is offered, you will be ripped off.
Avoid Tours with Stops for Shopping
This is something that is more prevalent with privately booked tours but there are plenty of shore excursions booked directly with your cruise line that will have a stop at a gift shop our somewhere selling local produce such as whiskey, rum, chocolate or coffee.
These stops will never get mentioned in the titles of the tour and will often be hidden in the fine print, so sadly they are something I have fallen for on more than one occasion, but each time I do, I instantly regret it.
At best, these stops will simply offer mass produce tourist tat you can get elsewhere for much cheaper and at worst, you will be met by high pressure sales people who basically won’t let you leave until you buy something!
