Cruise golf: how we organise tee times at every port of call

Every year I speak to at least a dozen golfers who have a cruise either booked or on their radar, and want to know whether they can play meaningful golf at the ports. Until recently, the honest answer was: it's complicated, you'll spend hours on the phone to golf clubs in different countries, and the logistics are on you.

Not anymore. This is the service we've now formalised: you tell us your cruise itinerary, we handle the golf at every port.

Here is exactly what we do: we contact the best course within reasonable distance of each port of call — which we know, because we've played them — and secure tee times on the specific dates your ship is docked. We arrange a car or minibus transfer from the port to the course and back, timed to get you on the first tee with 20 minutes to spare and back to the ship with 2 hours before departure. We organise club hire for anyone who doesn't want to travel with clubs. We send you a 'Cruise Golf Pack' document before you board — a one-page sheet per port with the tee time, course address, transfer pickup point, course overview, and the club hire arrangements.

What this costs: a coordination fee of £150–250 per person (depending on the number of ports), plus the actual cost of tee times and transfers at each location. We pass on those costs at net — no markup on green fees or transfers beyond our standard arrangement.

The geography this works for: Mediterranean cruises (Mallorca, Sicily, Seville/Jerez for Iberian ports, Athens-area courses for Greece, Turkish ports with Belek accessible from Antalya), Caribbean (Barbados, Jamaica, St Kitts, Grand Cayman all have solid courses), and Indian Ocean (Mauritius, Sri Lanka).

The practical limit: we need your port schedule at least 6 weeks in advance. Some courses require advance reservation further out — Monte Rei and Valderrama in particular. Most courses, 6 weeks is sufficient.

The most popular version of this service so far has been Western Mediterranean: Mallorca, the Costa del Sol (for Valderrama or another Costa course), and either Lisbon or Porto for a round in Portugal. Three ports, three countries, three rounds of genuinely good golf — all confirmed before you leave Southampton.

If you have a cruise booked and want to explore this, the starting point is a short email or call. Tell us the cruise line, the ports, and the dates. We'll tell you what's available and at what cost within 48 hours.