I'll try to make this long story short. Several years ago we were on the Panama Canal cruise. One stop was the San Blas Islands. The cruise director told us about the tour that was offered which consisted of disembarking and then taking small boats to the other islands. He announced that those taking the tour would be allowed earlier disembarkation. After his talk I went to ask what if we arranged our own tour. Could we leave the ship early as well? He responded by saying that we could not take a tour on our own, as RCCL booked all the small boats and we would be stuck if we didn't book with them. I was furious. I then told a wonderful lie. I told him I worked for 20/20 and that this was absolutely unfair, that making it impossible for people to arrange something on their own was unethical, that everyone was aware that the cruiselines guide passengers to stores that give them kickbacks, and that I was going to arrange to do a story on such events and he could be the star of the show! He got so nervous, that later that evening he approached me and said he felt badly and would try and find us a boat for the next morning. P.S. The next day we were allowed to leave the ship early and we got a chap who took only our people (6 of us) and we got to see the smaller island where the Cuna Indians actually live, not just sell their wares. We got a tour of their "church" and their living quarters. It was wonderful and also half the price the line was charging. So I also advise, don't be intimidated by these excursion pushers.