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Shore excursions "Best Price Guarantee"


CruzinNoony
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You get $22 OBC which is a lot more then $2. If there are two of you that means $44 not insignificant to me. They give you the cheaper price PLUS 10%. I've used it twice successfully.

 

I remember your post, disappointed you were gng to get it in OBC, because you had so much already...many of us wished we would have that problem...but because of your post...I gave it a try....thanks

 

BTW how did it show on your OBC do you remember?

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FWIW, my bride and I have several excursions booked through Princess in Alaska in July. I just Googled local tour operators (rather than using my online travel agent's links, which I discussed in an earlier post). I found only one excursion that was worth changing, the Mendenhall Glacier helicopter tour. I saved $40 per person by booking direct. Of the rest, Ketchikan snorkling was a $9 less, but sales tax (which seems to be included Princess's pricing) brought the difference up to a $4 savings; I didn't bother. The rest were the same cost, to the penny.

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But you could have saved the $20 by booking directly with the operator. Your net gain is only $2.

 

To those who pointed out that Princess will refund canceled excursions (if canceled early enough)' date=' so will most tour operators. Of course, they have individual policies. Also, reputable tour operators will either not charge your credit card till the day of the tour or will issue a full refund if your ship is unable to dock or tender.

 

I realize that there are benefits of booking directly thru the cruise line, but cost is not typically one of them.[/quote']

If I book with Princess I know the ship will wait if the tour gets back late. My gain is $22 because I use that OBC for tips or casino or something that would have cost me that $20 anyways.

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I remember your post, disappointed you were gng to get it in OBC, because you had so much already...many of us wished we would have that problem...but because of your post...I gave it a try....thanks

 

BTW how did it show on your OBC do you remember?

I don't remember how it showed up but I remember seeing it in my personalize under the booked excursions. I don't remember if it was refundable OBC but if it is then you get the check in the mail if you don't use up all your OBC. I was impressed with how quickly Princess processed the requests and approved it.

Princess is very generous with their OBC. They allow you to use all of them, military, stockholder, loyalty after 21 cruises and whatever a TA may throw in plus any promo's they have going. Princess wins on this aspect over all other cruise lines IMHO. My only dislike is the size of the ships and the number of passengers are getting to big/ many for me.

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Last week I received an email from Princess about shore excursions. It included a request form to fill out if you find a tour exactly like the Princess one, but less money. Princess says they will refund you 110% of the difference as OBC. Has anyone tried this yet? It sounds like you have to prepay for the Princess tour. If you change your mind and decide to not go on the tour, will they refund your money? :confused:

 

Here’s my experience. I’m booked on a 10 day Mexico cruise next month on the Ruby. I had booked a Horbor Cruise with Princess with no prepayment required. I found a cheaper price online that I purchased. I emailed Princess my documents showing my booking. They responded by giving me credit on my cruise. I don’t think that there is anyway that they would know if I went on the tour.

Tom😎

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The cruise line often makes it impossible for you to book "exactly" the same excursion by buying out all available spaces with the vendor they use. It then falls to you to prove that a different vendor does "exactly" the same tour. It won't count if the groups are not the same size' date=' etc. You are better off booking thru a reputable vendor on your own.

 

As previous poster stated, your "110% of the difference" will typically amount to next to nothing. If you find an excursion that they agree is identical and is $20 cheaper, Princess will refund your $20 + $2. A lot of work for $2.[/quote']

One of the places this might work is going to Volunteer point in the Falkland islands. I think our private tour and the Princess tour ran parallel but was ,I believe, $200 less in 2016. I know princess adds meals to tours and this might be where a difference could pop up. We were provided with a sack lunch. Not sure what Princess called theirs.

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Here’s my experience. I’m booked on a 10 day Mexico cruise next month on the Ruby. I had booked a Horbor Cruise with Princess with no prepayment required. I found a cheaper price online that I purchased. I emailed Princess my documents showing my booking. They responded by giving me credit on my cruise. I don’t think that there is anyway that they would know if I went on the tour.

Tom😎

 

totally confused.... you purchased the vendor's cruise?

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totally confused.... you purchased the vendor's cruise?

 

Sorry I confused you. Let me try & explain it in another way.

I reserved the 2hr Harbor Cruise with Princess in San Diego. Upon doing some research I found a wed site with the same exact cruise that Princess was doing for less $ & I booked this tour with this vender. Since it was exactly the same tour that Princess was offering, I applied for the same price guarantee & was excepted.

Land Lover, please let me know if my explanation is clear & not confusing.

Tom

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Sorry I confused you. Let me try & explain it in another way.

I reserved the 2hr Harbor Cruise with Princess in San Diego. Upon doing some research I found a wed site with the same exact cruise that Princess was doing for less $ & I booked this tour with this vender. Since it was exactly the same tour that Princess was offering, I applied for the same price guarantee & was excepted.

Land Lover, please let me know if my explanation is clear & not confusing.

Tom

 

No Tom, you explained it correctly, both times...I just am shocked Princess did this for you.....as this is not how the G is suppose to work. Just curious, was it a small amount?

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Yes I just did the same thing for a Ketchikan shore excursion this June...booked it through Princess, then found it on another website for less (about $12pp), submitted the Shore Excursion Price Guarantee form to Princess, and within a day I had just over $60 OBC added to my cruise booking (there are 5 of us). It doesn't show on my Personalizer or on the Travel Summary so I printed the email confirmation that they sent and will take it with me. It's probably done that way because if we cancelled the excursion between now and then we wouldn't be entitled to it anymore.

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Sorry I confused you. Let me try & explain it in another way.

I reserved the 2hr Harbor Cruise with Princess in San Diego. Upon doing some research I found a wed site with the same exact cruise that Princess was doing for less $ & I booked this tour with this vender. Since it was exactly the same tour that Princess was offering, I applied for the same price guarantee & was excepted.

 

I believe that the guarantee and the $$$ back only apply if you keep the Princess tour that you booked. You indicate that you ended up booking the vendor's tour, so I assume you cancelled the tour with Princess.

 

Or are you saying that you kept the tour with Princess and they would not live up to the guarantee?

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But you could have saved the $20 by booking directly with the operator. Your net gain is only $2.

 

To those who pointed out that Princess will refund canceled excursions (if canceled early enough)' date=' so will most tour operators. Of course, they have individual policies. Also, reputable tour operators will either not charge your credit card till the day of the tour or will issue a full refund if your ship is unable to dock or tender.

 

I realize that there are benefits of booking directly thru the cruise line, but cost is not typically one of them.[/quote']

 

One point of interest is that if you cancel a tour booked with Princess within a day or two before the tour there is no refund.

You can't even give the tickets to a friend to take your place as they won't allow it.

So it's a total loss. :(

An independent tour operator usually doesn't care who occupies your place so that anybody can be substituted at the last moment.

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One point of interest is that if you cancel a tour booked with Princess within a day or two before the tour there is no refund.

You can't even give the tickets to a friend to take your place as they won't allow it.

So it's a total loss. :(

An independent tour operator usually doesn't care who occupies your place so that anybody can be substituted at the last moment.

 

I think that that would not be true in St. Petersburg where the local tour operator has to supply you with a visa for Russia.

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