Exploitation!

[Working 2 Cruise]

As said before, all cruise lines charge about the same for their excursions... A little research would have been beneficial. On all cruises, there will be a certain set of expenses and you have to be prepared for it.

 

With the high prices of fuel, I think it's a pretty reasonable cost to take you to Bordeaux and back.

 

I just don't see the need for the attitude and rude comments. If you choose not to sail with Princess, it's your loss. But I think it is very narrow minded to say that you won't sail with Princess because of the supposedly high price of an excursion...

 

I hope you can still cancel your cruise and find one with RCCL that better suits your needs.

[shredie]

Sounds like you should be more upset that the French haven't come up with a cheaper alternative. Could it be hat gas/labor/licensing in France makes it so other companies would have to charge close to the amount the cruise lines do? If so, why would anyone bother with the losing proposition. Don't blame the cruise line for someone else not providing an alternative to suit your desired budget.

Not sure why OP posted in the first place. Thinking perhaps that if a crowd of people complain, Princess will pay the vendor for them? The companies who contract with Princess charge what the market will bear. I have a suspicion that the OP will find other things to complain about after the cruise. Let's look for the review. :) (And don't automatically discount the port city...there is charm to be found everywhere in France.)

[SwissDave]

Nothing in Toulon, I agree, it is an industrial port.

But, there is always the FREE bus to Soulac which is a nice little town wih a huge beach.

Went last year and had a great time, am going again this year in May and will have a great time again.

 

Did you look at private transfers? Plenty of taxis available in the sorrounding are that you can prebook for a reasonable price, but if only 2 of you then probably more expensive than the princess transfer.

If the cost of a single transfer is the only reason you will not sail on princess again probably says a lot more about your expectations than anything else.

How far does £50 in a taxi take you in scotland these days? I would think a lot less than the princess transfer.

Edited March 14, 2014 by SwissDave

[Anniesails]

Wow sounds like the OP has his panties in quite the wad. Most of us are fans of Princess and that is why we are on the Princess Boards. Sorry you feel the way you do about this side trip. Hopefully,you will cancel your Princess Cruise BEFORE you go. If you go with this attitude you are bound to find tons of stuff to bother you and you no doubt will bother everyone else. So hopefully you will cut everyone's losses and CANCEL.

[pablo222]

I was surprised by the dismissive responses ....

 

 

Really? If you read cruise critic a bit, you will see that they are the norm.

 

Perhaps bad weather or some other issue will prevent the port call,

and save you from being exploited.

 

Fingers crossed. Holding thumbs. etc.

[CI66774]

OP - when your subject line is "exploitation," expect "dismissive" responses. I conducted a cursory search on RCL. It doesn't appear it even stops in Bordeaux. It appears because of Emerald's size, it can't dock in downtown. As such, it has to dock in La Verdon and your trip's itinerary states just that. It may be that you failed to do your research before booking this trip. That's on you - not Princess. Now - I agree that some of these "transfers" into the port town can be inflated. I think you can take a train into Bordeaux but I believe it's very slow and a miserable experience (saw this in another post). A taxi will be even more "exploitative." There are smaller ships (on Crystal and Regent, etc.) that can dock in Bordeaux - but those cruises will cost you an arm and a leg. Most people are realistic about the cost of certain things on cruises - everything's inflated. If you don't think you can afford it - that's fine - but it's not necessarily "exploitation."

[WeeCountyMan]

Unlike others, I'll actually take your point to some degree. I think Princess (And other cruise lines) intentionally price up the "On your own" excursions to narrow the price gap and make the more expensive full itinerary tours more appealing.

A great example is from South Queensferry to Edinburgh - a distance of about 10 miles that Princess is charging $59 pp for a bus ride to and back.

 

Princess "On Your Own" prices are a rip off as we experienced on a trip to Seville a couple or so summers ago.

 

$59 from South Queensferry to Edinburgh and back is clear proof of that.

 

Plenty of local taxis would do it cheaper - especially for a party of 4, or more.

[Loonbeam]

The real question here is did Princess represent the port fairly. If the itinerary when you booked said Le Verdon (and I believe it did) then it is not unreasonable for them to offer transport at prevailing rates (anything by vehicle in Europe is expensive to start with).

 

If they changed docks on you since booking, then yes, I agree there is an issue.

 

A cursory google and CC search found several well regarded private tour options that will pick up at the port and go into either Bordeaux or the surrounding area.

 

If you are just looking for transport, the cruise line may be your only option, but that's not a reflection on them, its the fact that the port has no infrastructure and there are not any other more practical ports for a large ship in that region.

[Loonbeam]

BTW, to put the price in perspective, a private taxi, 4 seater, is 518 euros round trip from Le Verdon to the Bordeaux airport and that is without wait time (just 8 hours drive time)

[Thrak]

Some Princess excursions are definitely way overpriced. U.S.S Arizona for example. $89 pp for an extremely short ride to a free tour. That's pretty lame. We rented a car for about the price of one person's excursion cost and 3of us went a bunch of places on the island.

 

Having said that - I get the feeling that isn't in the same category as the excursion the OP is complaining about. That one seems like a situation where you can take what is available or do without. In that case, if I wanted to go, I'd take what was available and enjoy myself. Nobody is being forced or coerced to take the excursion.

 

If the OP wants to blame Princess there's really nothing anybody is going to be able to do to change his mind. Hopefully he will enjoy his cruises on another line and have great vacation experiences.

[AKman2495]

Some Princess excursions are definitely way overpriced. U.S.S Arizona for example. $89 pp for an extremely short ride to a free tour. That's pretty lame. We rented a car for about the price of one person's excursion cost and 3of us went a bunch of places on the island.

 

 

That is the beauty of the free enterprise system. If it is too expensive and their are cheaper alternatives, use them.

 

For many others, they prefer to spend their money with Princess because of perceived benefits. Where you have no reasonable choice you just have to pay or do without. Such is life.....

[greenie082756]

Seriously? I just don't understand people. You and everyone else are going on a cruise and everyone spends lots of money for transportation to the cruise ship, hotel, food, cruise with amenities and you complain about the cost to get to a place because you took a cruise ship there. If $79 is going to break the bank and make you feel like you are being made to pay it, its simple, don't. :eek: As much as you complain that the option is there and its too much there are others say why doesn't the cruise line offer us transportation?

 

My DH and I save to go on vacation. We have a pretty good idea of what it is going to cost and splash in a little more for just in case expenditures, pay for it, and enjoy ourselves. :p

 

I just don't get it. You are going on an adventure and you are already setting the tone of being totally dissatisfied. Why?

 

We are all paying to go on vacation and pay the extras (the value is varied differently by others) to do and see the things we want to see before we leave this earth.

Happy trails to you! :)

[melody hounddog]

Have fun on RCCL! Bon voyage!

[ar1950]

A quick Google search and here is a comparison of a couple of transportation cost options.

 

http://www.tourshuttle.com/EN/FRANCE/transfer_Le-Verdon-Sur-Mer_Bordeaux-City-Centre.html

 

I don't know about the OP, but, $79.00 round trip ($158 for two people) seems cheap compared to 206.00 or 258.00 EURs for one way.

 

"Princess no more......." That sounds good to me. :cool:

[fishin' musician]

One person's "exploitation" is another person's "supply and demand".

 

I too will recommend a bit of pre-cruise port research prior to purchasing your next voyage.

[Michael Kays]

I was surprised by the dismissive responses .... to clarify:

 

• we have looked at alternatives and obviously people do not know what they are talking about because there are none .... it has even been indicated that it will be difficult to even to get out of the port on your own ... and there is nothing in Le Verdon
  
• I get the feeling that some of the responses are from people who have paid these extortionate fees for other similar jaunts and feel they are being exposed for being silly enough to pay up ..... there is always this excuse 'oh, you are guaranteed to get back to the ship', and other such nonsense.
  
• we went to Rome from Civittavechia for 9 Euros return on a BIRG ticket when the cruise line were charging high costs ( BIRG now costs 12 Euros)
  
• we got a private taxi from Colon in Panama to the Gatun locks for $40 total when it would have cost $120 by the cruise line bus
  
• the responses IMHO are from sheep who just pay up and troop on to the Acollyte Autobusses and feel that the cruise companies are doing them a big favour ??
  
• if I had to get a bust for a similar journey from Glasgow to Edinburgh t would be a fraction of the cost for this trip
  
• These people will continue coughing up these inflated costs because they think it is what you should do ...
  
• Princess no more .....
  

 

It seems all your examples of alternatives are private vendors that do not provide you guarantee that the ship will be there when you get back..I very seldom book Princess tours, which is my decision..but I also do my homework and thoroughly understand what options I have for every port.

 

It sounds like you may be upset because you did not understand your options prior to booking. I have been on many different cruise lines and they are are all very similar in pricing for shore excursions, which will almost always be more expensive than you can book with a private tour. You pay for what you get..the cost for peace of mind that the cruise ship will wait for you if you are late getting back is something you have to measure.

[smtcan]

We were on Celebrity last November and their stop for Bordeaux was La Rochelle. We were well aware of this when we booked, just the same as 'Le Havre for Paris'. Since we had been to Paris and Bordeaux several times, we opted to rent a car in each destination and explore the surrounding area. We were very happy with our choices and were glad we had studied the itinerary and made informed decisions. I suspect that RCCL probably uses the same facilities as Celebrity.

[SadieN]

There are many ports like this-- Rome ports in Civitecchia, Anchorage ports in either Seward or Whittier (It's a four hour ride to Anchorage from Seward), etc.

 

Mom has a rule- anything over an hour away is booked thru the cruiseline, especially in ports with short visits.

[geoherb]

I looked at Royal Caribbean's page and found an excursion to Bordeaux from them was $99. It did not give the details of what was included.

 

We booked one excursion with Princess to Tulum next week. The thought of missing the ship was on my mind when I went with it instead of trying to do it on our own. I don't mind jaunts to beaches on islands where there are plenty of taxis, but I don't want to go off on our own too far from the beaten path in a third world country.

[FawnRiver]

I think that this excursion, had it been booked back on Nov or Dec, was priced at $59pp. It is not unusual to see excursion prices increase as it gets closer to the time of sailing.

That is true, if you pre-book your tours in advance through the personalizer, you usually get a better price.

 

Personally, I don't mind paying a little extra for peace of mind, but to each their own. Frankly, you're on vacation and paying a good bit for that vacation, why quibble over such relatively small amounts?

 

Anyway, good luck to the OP and enjoy your cruises, whatever cruise line you take and wherever it takes you.

[Roses2]

The OP stated that there are no options other than the Princess tours available at Le Verdon port. That is strange since I entered Le Verdon port tours in Google and found at least 3 companies that offer tours,

 

Here is but one that offers 4, 8, and 9 hour tours and their price for an 8 hour tour in order to make a comparison:

 

COST: (total not per person)

 

1-3 persons- 695,00 Euros

 

4-6 persons- 755,00 Euros

 

7-8 persons- 795,00 Euros

 

Over 8 persons- Please contact us

[Melcoug]

I don't quite get why all the blame is being placed on Princess in this scenario. Princess doesn't run the excursion. They contract with a local vendor who provides the excursion and it's the vendor who sets the price. Princess is entitled to add in their adminstrative costs for managing the bookings, as well as make a little profit. The local vendor is also allowed to make a profit for providing their services. Is it cheaper to cut out the middle man and make your own arrangements with local vendors? Yes, of course it is. For some passengers, the ease of booking ship excursions without having to all the research, or the comfort that you won't be left behind if delayed, is reason enough to pay the higher prices.

 

In this situation, it sounds like passengers want to travel to Bordeaux. Princess has arranged an option to do that with a local vendor. That vendor likely doesn't have any competition and has the luxury to set his price at what some might feel is high. Princess adds on their costs and profit. It's a free market and this is exactly how it works. Don't make Princess the bad guy.

[Commodore]

I was surprised by the dismissive responses .... to clarify:

 

• we have looked at alternatives and obviously people do not know what they are talking about because there are none .... it has even been indicated that it will be difficult to even to get out of the port on your own ... and there is nothing in Le Verdon
  
• I get the feeling that some of the responses are from people who have paid these extortionate fees for other similar jaunts and feel they are being exposed for being silly enough to pay up ..... there is always this excuse 'oh, you are guaranteed to get back to the ship', and other such nonsense.
  
• we went to Rome from Civittavechia for 9 Euros return on a BIRG ticket when the cruise line were charging high costs ( BIRG now costs 12 Euros)
  
• we got a private taxi from Colon in Panama to the Gatun locks for $40 total when it would have cost $120 by the cruise line bus
  
• the responses IMHO are from sheep who just pay up and troop on to the Acollyte Autobusses and feel that the cruise companies are doing them a big favour ??
  
• if I had to get a bust for a similar journey from Glasgow to Edinburgh t would be a fraction of the cost for this trip
  
• These people will continue coughing up these inflated costs because they think it is what you should do ...
  
• Princess no more .....
  

 

You forgot to look at train transportation: Taxi to train station and back and the cost of the train to Bordeaux is 52$ .38 Euros + taxi return not worth it.So instead of blasting the cruise line which is offering an alternative wich you can accept or not.Look at every possibility before complaining.And by the way I hope you are going to like Mountain climbing on your next cruise:D

[lovevacadays]

Wow! You are easily disgusted!:eek::eek::eek:

[CI66774]

Wow! You are easily disgusted!:eek::eek::eek:

 

Exactly what I was thinking. Me thinks the OP need to "up" his/her disgust threshold. There all countless things I am disgusted about and a $79 "excursion" is not one of them!!!:D