Is it safe to book excusion thru Ship Mate app?

[JEN5508]

It says Guaranteed returned...but I wasn't sure if it was affiliated directly with Royal?

 

Jennifer

[traveler279]

You got me curious so I took a closer look at Ship Mate. I have the app on my ipad.

 

Ship Mate is a product of *************** so I would guess there is no direct affiliation with Royal.

 

I took a look at the Terms and Conditions for booking excursions. The most important thing I was looking for besides their refund policy (maybe - depends on why the refund) is the bit about getting back the ship on time.

 

They explicitly do NOT guarantee an on time return. If in their estimation missing the ship was their fault they will reimburse up to $500 towards getting you and your's to the next port of call. To me, reimburse means you pay for your transport and then ask them to give you money.

 

That being said, the individual tour operators know their reputation and ratings depend on getting you back on time and will run over babies and old people to make that happen. But should they be late, see the previous paragraph.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[DataStar]

The site is operated by two brothers. Note that as far as I can tell, they do not run any of the excursions that they market. Of course, except for Alaska cruisetours run by a sister company of Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, neither does Royal Caribbean. They contract with tour operators, and make money by selling them for more than they pay the operator. This is similar to booking sites like Viator, which are in effect middlemen, bringing tour operators and buyers together and charging operators a commission for their services.

 

As traveler279 says, tour operators are all concerned about their reputations and certainly want to get you back before the ship departs. The ship generally charges more for their tours, but they do guarantee to wait for you if they have to. I've been on cruises where they absolutely did that -- I saw the late tour bus pull up to the pier, the people get out, and within a couple of minutes, the gangway was pulled in and the entry port closed, and the ship quickly got under way. Another consideration is the extent to which a booking site checks out the tour operators. One would assume that Royal takes the time to do that, and to monitor feedback from guests, but for other sites, you have to see what (if anything) they say. Also, if you have to fly somewhere to catch the ship (particularly if the next port is in another country) you have to remember that you may have problems boarding a plane or getting through immigration if you don't have your passports with you.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Alan