PV Dolphin Swim - price guarantee??

Is anyone familiar with the Carnival Price Guarantee for shore excursions?

I am looking at the Dolphin Encounter. The ship will charge for four of us (3 adults and a 4 year old) for a total of $437.96.

I can book directly through Vallarta Adventures and with all their promotions, the price is only $133.50 (for the four of us - they only charge for 3 adults, kids are free and it's 1/2 off).

There are differences only in that Carnival provides transportation and lunch.

Am I correct to assume this would NOT qualify because it offers more? I cannot justify $300 for travel and lunch.

We did this with NCL this past Spring.

I believe Vallarta Adventures and Carnival, like NCL, have an agreement that when the ship is in town, they cannot take any outside bookings or walk-ins until the ship leaves.

The Carnival price guarantee was discussed in an earlier thread. Carnival's "fine print" says the two excursions must be identical. Carnival will rarely have to match an independently booked excursion because the ship will include transportation to the excursion site where as independently booked excursions do not.

As a side note . . . Vallarta Adventures is a leading excursion provider to the cruise industry and their contract with the cruise lines specifically prevents them from selling direct to cruise ship passengers if the ship sells the same excursion.

You can try to book online direct with Vallarta Adventures or through a third-party tour broker but you will be informed later that the time slot you want is already fully booked by a private party.

Enjoy!