Hosed by Original Canopy Tours

[sandy19644]

We are doing a repositioning cruise on the Coral princess and will be in costa rica on september 27. We booked a ziplining tour with original canopy tour way back at the beginning of May. After emailing for information back and forth, we booked with them and gave all our credit card information and a confirmation number. At the begininning of the week i emaild to confirm all my excursions and promptly received and email back stating all was a go and looking forward to our arrival. Well here we are two days before we depart and I get an email from them cancelling our reservation because they now have a new contract with Princess and we have to book through princess at a much inflated price compared to originally quoted and agreed upon of course. I was and so angry that they would just chuck all previous reservations made before this contract, I realize that it is a great contract but you would think they would honor previous contracts. Told them i would never book any tour with them and would let you all know about their shoddy business practices.... sorry to vent, just was looking forward to having all my holiday plans finalized, now am scrambling to figure something else out at the last minute.

[croozegal2]

Hi Sandy (Fellow Calgarian!!)

 

Which Canopy Tour was that? I heard some bad reviews on a couple of tours, but raves about Almonds and Coral. We booked (not paid yet) for a zipline trip when we go to Costa Rica in February. They're not affiliated with the ship (RCL) but have a good working arrangement with them in order to look after getting their passengers to and from the ship.

 

It's always scary to deal with these people in another part of the world, and I don't know how Almonds and Coral will be, but everyone seemed pretty pleased.

 

Shelley

[sandy19644]

It was called "The Original Canopy Tour" . I emailed them about how disappointed I was with how they treated pre-reserved customers and basically they said that they would rather break a contract with me than with Princess, even though they reserved me before this all came about with princess. The sad part is I put it off to the locals doing business, til they emailed me back saying they were Canadian, Sad to see Canadians treat anyone that badly.On a good note, I have heard that 'Almonds and Coral" are a top notch company, and one that can be trusted to follow through with comittments. I would use them, but we are not docking in Limon, we are going to be in Puntarenus and they dont do tours out of there. I am sure you will have good luck with them, but I would steer anyone away from "The original canopy tours" company!

[beth4652]

We will be there in Dec. and DS thought he might like to do the canopy tour. RCCL also has a contract with Original Canopy Tours. Now, I will tell DS he needs to find another operator. We all believe in supporting business that treat their customers fairly. Sounds like this one doesn't. The only leverage we have as individuals is our $$.

[sandy19644]

I rebooked today with a gentleman named charlie soto, I have read good reviews of him on this board and seems on the up and up, I will post and let you know how it went when we get back!

[KaC-Cruiser]

I rebooked today with a gentleman named charlie soto, I have read good reviews of him on this board and seems on the up and up, I will post and let you know how it went when we get back!

Sandy ... read your other thread first-then found this one .... sorry that you had to get 'hosed' over :eek: by the vendor, but glad you found Charlie and he could take you ..... hope you have a wonderful trip, and lots of fun in Costa Rica with Charlie!!:D

 

ps ... you might let Princess know that your were dumped due to their new contract with the vendor.... it might not hurt to do some complaining to their end. And they also have people that read these boards ..... it won't make Princess happy to have an excursion vendor black-listed on the Boards ...

[croozegal2]

Sandy, I just read many posts today about how good the Charlie Soto tours were .. so good luck!

 

Also, I've had friends who contacted Princess directly, either with a compliment or complaint and received some shipboard credits! I would definitely complain to them anyway - they should know.

 

At any rate - have a great trip! You're heading out in 2 days? Perfect - it's supposed to snow here in Calgary!! :(

[sandy19644]

hate to say it ,but lol@ the snow coming, and yup, one more day!!!! thanks, will be contacting princess about this matter, I guess you just email them..... dont think the excusion desk has much say in the matter

[KaC-Cruiser]

Cruise Companys started a race to sign all the canopy tours and start selling them inside the Cruise.

 

Puerto Limon Costa Rica

 

This new season (start in october) you can book The Crazy Monkey Canopy Ride (Almonds & Corals) inside the cruises Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Norwegian Cruise Line.

 

Puntarenas Costa Rica

 

In this port you can now take a tour with The Original Canopy Tour, was the first one to start operating, its the same company in Cozumel and Jamaica.

 

Any other question you have I would be happy to help you.

Kulcruise ... not sure if you got the point of this thread. Sandy was already booked with The Original Canopy Tour and they dumped her confirmed reservation 2 days before her cruise as they had now signed a contract with Princess. And they were rude about it to boot. If that's how they treat their customers - just dump you for a better deal - then why would we want to book with them at all in the future? They should not be rewarded for poor customer service. And if part of the contract with Princess was to dump all their current private reservations - then Princess should not be rewarded either by people rebooking at a higher price, or bookings in the future for this excursion. Hopefully Sandy is having a wonderful tour with Charlie Soto making it worth the last minute scramble to rebook!

[Pudgesmom]

I have a different take on this issue. First of all, I'm sorry Sandy had her original reservation cancelled.

 

Secondly, I have a feeling that most of these companies are very small. The prospect of a contract with a major cruise line probably means enough income to sustain a small firm and its employees for a very long time. I'm sure that the large cruise lines force these small operators to sign contracts forbidding them from selling tours or services directly to cruise passengers. Sandy probably got caught in the middle of a new contract. I can also guess that Princess would not have signed the deal if The Original Canopy Tour did not promise to cancel all existing reservations.

 

What would you do?

 

Beth

[KaC-Cruiser]

I have a different take on this issue. First of all, I'm sorry Sandy had her original reservation cancelled.

 

Secondly, I have a feeling that most of these companies are very small. The prospect of a contract with a major cruise line probably means enough income to sustain a small firm and its employees for a very long time. I'm sure that the large cruise lines force these small operators to sign contracts forbidding them from selling tours or services directly to cruise passengers. Sandy probably got caught in the middle of a new contract. I can also guess that Princess would not have signed the deal if The Original Canopy Tour did not promise to cancel all existing reservations.

 

What would you do?

 

Beth

As I'm sure both Princess and the vendor would like to keep their passengers/customers happy, they could work out an arrangement to move the existing booking under Princess without an increase of price - especially for those within a certain time frame - maybe 30 days?? Although Princess would not make a huge profit by doing so, it would keep everyone happy, and be an agreeable fix. As noted on an earlier post, sometimes a complaint will earn a shipboard credit. Why create the ill-will to begin with?

[Pudgesmom]

Any major cruise line is not going to want passengers on a given sailing paying different prices for the same excursion, especially when the higher priced tours are through the ship. While your idea seems to make sense, I find it unlikely that the cruise lines would open themselves up to this sort of problem. Better to inconvenience a few early bookers than to have ship excursion purchasers unhappy with their higher price.

 

JHMO

 

Beth

[KaC-Cruiser]

Any major cruise line is not going to want passengers on a given sailing paying different prices for the same excursion, especially when the higher priced tours are through the ship. While your idea seems to make sense, I find it unlikely that the cruise lines would open themselves up to this sort of problem. Better to inconvenience a few early bookers than to have ship excursion purchasers unhappy with their higher price.

 

JHMO

 

Beth

It's all negotiable ....we were told by Princess that a particular excursion in Belize was sold out. As we knew what vendor they used, we contacted the vendor directly to see if they had any way to help. They told us to sit tight and they would work it out. Low & behold a few days later, we received confirmation from Princess & the vendor that we had been added to the excursion. They added a second boat, and ended up accomodating around 20 more people. If we hadn't asked, likely no second boat would have been added. As it worked out, everyone ended up happy - the vendor, Princess & us.

 

I don't see any reason that The Canopy Tour vendor couldn't have tried to work something out ....especially as this all occured just 2 days before departure....and they had just reconfirmed the booking several days before that.

[Nanner]

What bothers me here is that the tour company cancelled a confirmed reservation. I understand that a company strikes gold when a cruise line signs a contract with them. That said, it seems wrong to dump people that close to sail date, when rebooking may be impossible if it's a popular excursion.

 

I would think that the canopy tours could operate, once the contract is signed, like the helicopters in Alaska. You can keep so many seats open for independent bookings (either those self-touring or quick on the draw cruisers) and the rest go to the cruiselines and have to pay the higher price.

[KaC-Cruiser]

What bothers me here is that the tour company cancelled a confirmed reservation. I understand that a company strikes gold when a cruise line signs a contract with them. That said, it seems wrong to dump people that close to sail date, when rebooking may be impossible if it's a popular excursion.

Well put Nanner .... I think you hit the crux of the problem ....

[circleboy]

Took the Canopy Tour you are talking about when I was on the Windstar in Costa Rica. They are a fine company with the best canopy tour of all the companies. The problem is with Princess. Princess obviously told them to either cancel any tours with their passengers or they would not sign a contract with them. Princess gave you the hosing not this small little company. I would take the confirmed reservation with you and when you get to the ship and go book the tour show them your confirmation but not the cancelation. Play dumb, and say what cancelation ?

[KaC-Cruiser]

Took the Canopy Tour you are talking about when I was on the Windstar in Costa Rica. They are a fine company with the best canopy tour of all the companies. The problem is with Princess. Princess obviously told them to either cancel any tours with their passengers or they would not sign a contract with them. Princess gave you the hosing not this small little company. I would take the confirmed reservation with you and when you get to the ship and go book the tour show them your confirmation but not the cancelation. Play dumb, and say what cancelation ?

Sandy left 4 days ago, although I wonder what would have happened if she had not recieved the cancellation e-mail, and had showed up for the tour. And I still find fault with the tour company ... they dumped her 2 days before her cruise ... you can't tell me they weren't in negotiation with Princess for some time before that. Contracts don't magically appear out of the blue. And as noted in Sandy's post - "they said that they would rather break a contract with me than with Princess, even though they reserved me before this all came about with princess." If they really cared about potential customers, they could have been a bit more tactful.

 

As for the "small little company" - they are currently operating 7 locations in 4 countries ........

[beachlovergirl]

Ok, I'm confused. I was under the impression that "The Original Canopy Company" offered tours out of Puntarenus, Costa Rica, which is the port where sandy19644 indicated they were docking. She then indicated that she was able to book Charlie Soto as a last-minute alternative. Well, I thought Charlie Soto only did private tours out of Limon, Costa Rica. I hope I'm wrong. Otherwise, there was miscommunication between sandy and charlie and she may be disappointed again if he's waiting at the pier in Limon and she's waiting at the pier in Punatarenus? :eek:

 

I guess we'll find out soon enough.

[Pudgesmom]

The original canopy tour company has several locations in Costa Rica, and now I think Nicaragua and Jamaica. I don't think they have a site in Puerto Limon, unless it is brand new.

 

Beth

[bigmjh]

Costa Rica is a fairly small country ... easy to drive across. The ports aren't inundated day-after-day with dozens of cruise ships. Charlie goes where the ships are. When the ships are in Puerto Limon ... Charlie's there ... when they're in Puntarenus ... Charlie's there.

[beachlovergirl]

bigmjh - Ok, thanks!

 

Dee

[prinny]

My husband and I are going on the Nov.14-24 Coral Princess Panama Canal cruise and are interested in going with other people from this board on excusions. In Costa Rico, how do you contact Charlie Soto for his tours? Anyone else going on this cruise taking his tour?