"This excursion is not available for ..., Royal Caribbean"...

[SunnyKitty]

Started to plan February cruise and see this note on many independent tour operators..

Same excursion usually available on the RCL website, but price is much higher.. 

 

Is it something new in cruising?

I have not been on RCL ships in years and never seen it with NCL

 

any ways to work it around?

[Ourusualbeach]

2 minutes ago, SunnyKitty said:

Started to plan February cruise and see this note on many independent tour operators..

Same excursion usually available on the RCL website, but price is much higher.. 

 

Is it something new in cruising?

I have not been on RCL ships in years and never seen it with NCL

 

any ways to work it around?

Royal has contracts with many tour operators to prevent them from selling to cruise passengers.

 

You could just book it as Ifyou are visiting a resort however many tour operators have prime times blacked out and the other times don’t  work with times in port.

[Capt_BJ]

not unusual at all IME

 

when a cruise line has a contract with an excursion operator it is not unusual to include a clause that says no direct booking off the ships in question.  I've seen this plenty with dive operators.

 

 

work around is to have the excursion provider not know how you are getting to the destination (I'm staying at XX hotel) but this can bite you back if the port call is missed .....

[sandystx]

It is not really new.  Its the terms of the contracted agreement between the Cruise line, in this case Royal Caribbean, and the tour operator.  Meaning, the operator of the excursion (such as ziplining) has a contract with the cruise line that they will not sell the excursion independently to passengers on days the ship is in port.  

 

It is fairly common.

enjoy

[SunnyKitty]

seems like I can't book direct - they leave half an hour before ship comes

shoreexcursioner just has "no royal" clause which I guess they going to honor.

 

 I don't think it is right to limit my on shore options ... 

[SunnyKitty]

5 minutes ago, sandystx said:

It is not really new.  Its the terms of the contracted agreement between the Cruise line, in this case Royal Caribbean, and the tour operator.  Meaning, the operator of the excursion (such as ziplining) has a contract with the cruise line that they will not sell the excursion independently to passengers on days the ship is in port.  

 

It is fairly common.

enjoy

 

I have been on 8 cruises before, mostly with NCL and honestly - first time I am seeing it.

it definitely rises my vacation cost ..

guess I will have to research on it before next cruise.

[Merion_Mom]

Not unusual and not new.  

[Homosassa]

32 minutes ago, SunnyKitty said:

 

I have been on 8 cruises before, mostly with NCL and honestly - first time I am seeing it.

it definitely rises my vacation cost ..

guess I will have to research on it before next cruise.

First time I ever experienced this type if restriction was on an NCL cruise to Bermuda (in 2004) so it is something that has been in existence for a long time.

 

Try finding an excursion operator that does not run the ship sponsored excursions. 

[gatour]

2 hours ago, SunnyKitty said:

seems like I can't book direct - they leave half an hour before ship comes

shoreexcursioner just has "no royal" clause which I guess they going to honor.

 

 I don't think it is right to limit my on shore options ... 

Any two parties have the right to enter into a contract with defined terms at any time.  In this case RCCL had contracted with the excursion supplier with the stipulation that the supplier not provide excursions to passengers of RCCL.  The excursion supplier agreed to this contract stipulation.  You as a non-party to the contract negotiation have no right to contest the contract, except by non-booking/cancelling the cruise or booking an excursion with another provider.

[tinkr2]

Just pick one of the million other tour operators. Go on trip advisor and read reviews and pick different one. I have been cruising 20 years and always book independently and run across the we can't sell to you operators regularly. Its just in their contract. luckily theres lots more out there.

[Coralc]

That is why we have different web browsers available to us. But if the times still don't work, it is not an option. As previously suggested, you can look for different tour providers, such as Viator or others.