Why we should buy Shore Excursions

[kakalina]

We have no problem at all spending money onboard. :D The only thing I don't buy into is bingo. I just don't like bingo.

 

Shore excursions are kind of a mixed bag for us. We do some from the ship and some on our own or with our roll call group.

 

New places almost always equal a ship tour. Familiar ones usually find us on our own. In particular when we are in Moorea we always take the ships tour because we think it is better than anything else offered there.

 

I think HAL makes plenty of profit above and beyond the price of our tickets. And I don't mind paying it one bit because to me it is well worth it.

[kyriecat]

How about if I book a suite instead?

 

Shore excursions are an important part of the cruise experience for me so I want the best options. I've booked excursions in the past through cruiselines and some have been wonderful, but overall they are just okay. I would rather book with a reputable local and have the opportunity to customize my tour or have a smaller group. I don't agree that ship excursions are "stress free!" The cruiseline tours are almost always full-sized buses so you have 1 guide for 40+ people. You are also at the mercy of your fellow passengers. For example, I was on a ship tour in Monte Carlo. We had about an hour of free-time but one of the passengers was on a winning streak in the casino and didn't want to leave when the hour was up. Those of us who came back on time were stuck waiting around for 45 minutes before he was located. After that our tour was rushed so we could be back to the ship on time. I've been stuck on a bus ride along the Amalfi Coast with someone's crying two year old. How is that stress-free?

 

I don't gamble or play bingo. If I want to throw money away, I can find more enjoyable ways of doing it. I don't even gamble in Vegas. I drink but not excessively, even at home. I'm not going to start doing so on the ship.

[edmusic]

If you really want to help the cruise line make some real money, buy the photos they take, especially the ones they take on formal night (can't remember the name of the company -Black Label?) where most folks get suckered into buying thou$and$ of dollars of these 'special' photos.

[MadManOfBethesda]

Without this income the cruiselines have to look to other areas to make money. If they don´t make money, you won´t be enjoying the type of cruising you hate to see them cutting back on.

So on your next cruise, go on a shore excursion, buy the drink ofthe day, visit the casino, or play a game of bingo, because if youdon´t, you will be wondering why in the near future, crusing isn´t what it used to be.

:mad: John C

 

I have a better idea.

 

Instead of bringing your own wine onboard, perhaps you should buy your wine from HAL thereby ensuring that HAL makes plenty of profit. Then you won't have to worry how others choose to spend their money.

 

Could someone please tell me if there is a wine store or supermarket that sells wine close to pier 91 in Seattle.

 

Thanks;)

[startwin]

People who don't like to spend money on the

ship are the same ones sitting in the back of

the plane wondering why there isn't any more

service.

:rolleyes:

 

You sure know how to make friends, don't you?:rolleyes:

[cruz chic]

People who don't like to spend money on the

ship are the same ones sitting in the back of

the plane wondering why there isn't any more

service.

:rolleyes:

No, more likely it's the ones that buy a 10 day cruise with a veranda for $299 and get 3rd and 4 pax free:rolleyes:.

[world~citizen]

...because if you

don´t, you will be wondering why in the near future, crusing isn´t

what it used to be.

:mad: John C

 

People already tell me it isn't what it used to be.;)

 

In deference to Dickens, it is enough for me to concern myself with my own financial affairs than worry about the balance sheet of a multinational corporation whose CEO has more money than all the deities combined.

 

When the suits at Carnival are up against it and volunteer for a dollar a day... I'll buy an extra martini before dinner. Well, I might do that anyway. :D

 

Smooth sailing...

[iancal]

Maybe we should establish a charitable foundation to assist Carnival Corp?

 

Foreign subsidies for shipbuilding, kickbacks to Carnvival Corp cruise lines of port fees charged to cruisers, scandalously low crew wages, etc don't seem to be doing it.

 

Oh, I forgot, none of the Carnival Corp cruise line subsidiaries are registered in the US and as such pay much less tax than they would otherwise have to. You might not be able to get a tax receipt for that donation.

 

Better stick to buying the drink of the day and not bringing your own wine on board.

[Sea42]

 

P.S. I got loss on the Great Wall and was late getting to the bus. My other cruisers were mad as hell with me but the bus waited and was sending help to find me. I was never so scared in my life. That is a whole story by itself. Also had our van stopped in Mexico by the police and held until they got enough "lunch money" from the company , the ship did not leave until all of their vans reported to the dock.

This is just one example of why we don't want to do the ship's tours. At every stop there's the possibility of someone becoming lost or wanting just a few more minutes shopping or realizes at the last minute that, yes, they do need to use the restroom. When you have a large group these things happen. It reduces the time that is available for actually seeing the sites you paid to see.

We prefer to tour at our pace and do the things that interest us. If we want to linger over lunch or spend more time at one stop and skip another we're free to do that and we're not inconveniencing others.

[cruisemom42]

What's with all the paranoia about private tour takers/DIY'ers recently? Did I miss the clause in the cruise contract that obliges me to take the ship excursions?

[fleckle]

....... Cruiselines

make money by providing shore excursions to enhance your

enjoyment of your cruise. Yes, they are more expensive, but

they provide stress-free experiences.

Without this income the cruiselines have to look to other areas

to make money. If they don´t make money, you won´t be

enjoying the type of cruising you hate to see them cutting back on.

So on your next cruise, go on a shore excursion, buy the drink of

the day, visit the casino, or play a game of bingo, because if you

don´t, you will be wondering why in the near future, crusing isn´t

what it used to be.

:mad: John C

You are absolutely right, and therefore we should also be buying all the ship photographs, booking as many spa treatments as possible, eating all meals in the extra fee specialty restaurants, and buying the most expensive merchandise sold in the shipboard stores.

 

Be sure to look for the extra-charge activities offered on the ship and book all of them also.

 

I disagree with you about buying the drink of the day though. Instead buy the highest priced liquor and wine sold on the ship so they can make even more money off you. Since you advocate stress-free experiences, just think how stress free you will be after having all those drinks. :rolleyes:

 

Hmmmm, I wonder why the old saying "There's a sucker born every minute" comes to mind. ;)

[bepsf]

Sometimes you get what you pay for, other times you don't.

 

True that - I've been on ship excursions that weren't much more than bus tours of an island "Look at the resort, Look at the trees, Look at our local drugstore" - Meh...

...but I've been on others that were priceless experiences, such as the Flam Railway in Norway, our day-trip to Loch Ness, the Yukon Railway, bicycling on Bonaire, the Quiruga Ruins and Rio Dulce in Guatemala, snorkeling off Roatan, Castle Alnwick in England, the drive to the top of Mauna Loa on Hawaii...

Then there have been non-ship excurions that have been amazing as well - such as boating around to the French side of St Maartin, and another boat trip to Jost Van Dijk off Tortola...

...and sometimes you just want to do your own thing, like we do in Alaska when we go to Juneau, Ketchikan or Sitka where you can just walk around and see everything yourself or where we took the local water-taxi in Oslo to the other side of town to go see the Viking and Kon-Tiki museums, or walking & shopping in Copenhagen and watching the changing of the guard at Amalienborg Palace, or having a friend drive us to see Pearl Harbor, Iolani Palace and Waikiki in Honolulu.

IMO - This isn't an All-or-None issue.

It's about balance: Knowing where you're going, what you want to experience and how you feel best to achieve it.

[bcd2010]

On the day after Thanksgiving, nearly every store has "super" deals, e.g., big screen TVs for under $500, laptops for a couple hundred, etc. Of course, there are a limited amount, but if you get up in the middle of the night - or even camp out the night before - you get them at a price lower than the cost to the store.Do you then go around the store putting a lot of unwanted, overpriced items in your cart so the store will make a big profit?

 

On the cruise I just took, I swore I would never do another HAL shore excursion. That probably won't hold, but I've had it with not-as-advertised tours and shorex reps who treat us badly. Consider the following (many more details in my blog linked to below my signature although I'm still working on it):

 

PRICING EXAMPLE:

Puerto Vallarta Dolphin Tours (we did the first tour, 14 others did the 2nd and 3rd)

- Dolphin Trainer for a Day - price through Dolphin Center: $195, HAL's price $285

- Dolphin Encounter - price through Dolphin Center: $69, HAL's price $119

- Dolphin Swim - price through Dolphin Center: $129, HAL's price $179

HAL made $880 pure profit (the Dolphin Center provided the transportation for all and lunch for those on the first tour)

 

HAL TOURS TAKEN (6):

Huatulco - Rural Communities - no AC on bus, "narrator" was soft-spoken, had no amplification system and gave up; only 3 of promised 4 communities were visited. Grade = D

Cabo - Snorkling at Santa Maria Cove - as advertised, good tour guides, snacks so-so. Grade = B+

Puerto Vallarta - Dolphin Trainer for a Day - better than advertised (because employees at the Dolphin Center gave us extras). Grade = A

Huatulco - By Land and Sea - not as advertised - only 2-1/2 actual hours of 3-1/2 promised, only 1 of 4 photo stops made; and shorex reps made it worse (e.g., insisting that we could get on the tour boat at 1:30 and still be back on board the ship at the required 4:30 after a 3-1/2 tour). Grade = F

Puerto Chiapas - Mayan Tree of Life and Chocolate Discovery - best tour guide, knowledgeable, engaging, couldn't ask for more. Grade = A+

Puerto Quetzal - Antigua on your Own - inadequate, abominable, rude, insulting tour guide. Grade = F

 

PRIVATE TOURS (2):

Aruba - would need to take 2 HAL tours and still wouldn't see as much as we did. Grade = A

Cartegena - ditto Aruba comment plus none of HAL tours go up to the monestary that overlooks the city. Grade = A

And at our pace for both, no pax delays.

 

Now, if we hadn't done any ship's tours, we'd have missed the 3 I rated highly (50%). If we hadn't done the private tours, we'd have missed the 2 I rated highly (100%). In the end we have to do what's best for us, and HAL's/Carnival's bottom line simply isn't part of the criteria we use to decide.

 

Shore Ex office/reps have other problems, too, which makes me unwilling to deal with them anymore - i.e., I find it very stressful to deal with them. This is what tips the decision towards on-our-own activities.

 

DS and I have decided that in the future, we will first learn about ports at which we will be stopping, what there is to do there. If we can do what WE want on our own (private tour or walk around town), we will. Only if HAL is offering something we want to do, which we cannot do on our own, will we entangle ourselves in that mess.

 

BTW, we spent enough to get 16 bonus points, only 4 of which were from HAL shore excursions. HAL will just have to make do with that much profit.

[Typhoon1]

Its all true, buy Shore Excursions, drink lots of alcohol.

 

Spend time in the Casino. Play Bingo. Eat in the Specialty Restaurants. At the end of the day, its all about generating revenue for the Cruise Line.

[serendipity1499]

I guess we should also stop looking for the best price on a cruise and just pay the brochure fare when we want to cruise too. Personally, outside of Alaska, I have never done an official excursion booked through the cruiseline. I tend to be more of a "on my own" type of explorer than one who goes on an organized bus trip.

 

I agree with what others have said. I should not be responsible for the cruiseline making money by paying for things I have no interest in. God knows I pay them plenty for my meals and a place to sleep. I do spend money in the bars, in the casino (although I'll admit HAL casinos have been pretty good to me over the years) and upcharge dining venues.

 

Realize you think you pay top dollar for a place to sleep & all meals & perhaps you do, but not every person pays top dollar...I'm retired from the Airline Business & we paid much more for our vacations in Europe & South America than we pay now for our cruises, even with free airline tickets..

Just priced out a HAL 68 day cruise in a basic outside "E" cabin for next year to South America, which includes the Panama Canal, South America, Antarctica, & the Amazon..It goes to 15 countries & approx 35 cities plus Antartica... The HAL price came out to $571 for two per cabin including all our meals...

We have been cruising exclusively since 1998 & have all of the prices we've paid for our HAL cruises..Cruise fares have not significantly increased & certainly did not keep up with inflation..Can anyone tell me where we could get transportation (air, rail, car) to go to all of these cities/countries, plus a 5 star Hotel with meals in each city for $570 per day for the two of us? Air fare alone would eat up much more of our $$$...Of course those of you, who book Verandah's & Suites pay more, but suggest you look back to what you paid when you first started cruising..

At least two decks of all HAL ships have inside & outside cabins..In 1998 we paid $267 per day for our first HAL cruise on the Ryndam to the Carribean..Figure that the average inflation rate since 1998 was 1.55 % per year, we should be paying much more than $570 per day..See the Historical inflation rate:

http://inflationdata.com/Inflation/Inflation_Rate/HistoricalInflation.aspx

 

 

 

I have a better idea.

 

Instead of bringing your own wine onboard, perhaps you should buy your wine from HAL thereby ensuring that HAL makes plenty of profit. Then you won't have to worry how others choose to spend their money.

 

You are so observant...LOL :) I agree!

Cheers...:)Betty

[pms4104]

Just priced out a HAL 68 day cruise in a basic outside "E" cabin for next year to South America, which includes the Panama Canal, South America, Antarctica, & the Amazon..It goes to 15 countries & approx 35 cities plus Antartica... The HAL price came out to $571 for two per cabin including all our meals...

 

 

A missing digit or two?

[serendipity1499]

 

<SNIP>

 

 

 

In 1998 we paid $267 per day for our first HAL cruise on the Ryndam to the Carribean..Figure that the average inflation rate since 1998 was 1.55 % per year, we should be paying much more than $570 per day..See the Historical inflation rate:

http://inflationdata.com/Inflation/Inflation_Rate/HistoricalInflation.aspx

 

<SNIP>

Forgot to mention that our 14 day cruise this past Jan to the Caribbean on the Nieuw Amsterdam only cost us $242 per day including taxes & port Charges for a Outside "D" cabin.. ..The price has gone down

Cheers...Betty

[serendipity1499]

A missing digit or two?

 

Don't imderstand what digit is missing?:confused::confused: ..The actual cost is $570.78 per day for two X 68 days.. in an "E" Cabin..I rounded it up to $571 per day X 68 days for two in an "E" cabin..

Betty

[pms4104]

Don't imderstand what digit is missing?:confused::confused: ..The actual cost is $570.78 per day for two X 68 days.. in an "E" Cabin..I rounded it up to $571 per day X 68 days for two in an "E" cabin..

 

Betty

I guess I was being a simpleton or not reading between the lines because you quoted the entire sailing at $571 for two ... and I was ready to sign up:D But I now understand you meant $571/day total for two.

[serendipity1499]

I guess I was being a simpleton or not reading between the lines because you quoted the entire sailing at $571 for two ... and I was ready to sign up:D But I now understand you meant $571/day total for two.

 

 

Whoops...You are right...:oSorry, that I did not make it clear..Yes it was $571 per day for 2..

Cheers...:)Betty

[itzmered]

People who don't like to spend money on the

ship are the same ones sitting in the back of

the plane wondering why there isn't any more

service.

:rolleyes:

 

My aren't you a little condescending ;) Maybe you should consider Cunard, it sounds like you would fit in perfectly.

 

Some of us prefer to spend our money on other things than over priced shore excursions, first class airline tickets and suites on ships. I would rather go on several cruises a year than one in a suite and flying 1st class. I spend plenty of money on the ship

[world~citizen]

My aren't you a little condescending ;)...Maybe you should consider Cunard, it sounds like you would fit in perfectly.

 

 

Thats really true and Cunard has so little to be condescending about these days.;)

[world~citizen]

In 1998 we paid $267 per day for our first HAL cruise on the Ryndam to the Carribean.....

 

That seems right but air was included for that price (it was for us). Also, we ended up with a huge upgrade.

[jaguarstyper]

Realize you think you pay top dollar for a place to sleep & all meals & perhaps you do, but not every person pays top dollar...I'm retired from the Airline Business & we paid much more for our vacations in Europe & South America than we pay now for our cruises, even with free airline tickets..

I don't want to be argumentative, but I just booked a 7 day Alaska Explorer cruise on HAL than came in just under $5000 for the two of us. That does not include airfare from Pittsburgh to Seattle and back, hotels before or after, meals along the way or any kind of trip insurance. So, I expect the total to be somewhere approaching $7000 just for the transport and meals. When all is said and done, I have no doubt we will have spent a cool 10 large. For some, that might be a drop in the bucket, but for me, its substantial. I have traveled extensively throughout Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The only week long trip that cost me more than this was a week in Dubai, which was staggeringly expensive.

 

Again, don't want to argue as I do feel that cruising is a great value and I do realize you can book the same cruise for much less. But, its still not a cheap vacation, by any stretch of the imagination.

[itzmered]

That is right especially for alaska it is expensive to cruise. You can do a land tour on your own for cheaper.

 

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