Any updates on excursion only shore-leave?

[shipgeeks]

No shopping stops!

[cruisemom42]

9 minutes ago, shipgeeks said:

No shopping stops!

 

If you are saying that you don't want shopping stops, I quite agree.

 

If you are saying that there will not be shopping stops under this plan, I would say that is not true. Here is what is said in the recent article outlining how Costa is restarting in Europe:

 

"No separation from groups and no visiting of shops and venues that are not pre-approved."  

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/23627-what-it-s-like-to-cruise-with-costa-during-the-pandemic.html

 

To me, that means they're going to take you to their "pre-approved" shops and hold you captive there. Again, not my cup of tea.

 

 

[ldubs]

On 10/11/2020 at 9:07 AM, ontheweb said:

Do you think once established and a guaranteed money maker with their markup that they will ever willingly give up this policy?

 

On 10/11/2020 at 9:45 AM, Oulton Jim said:

 No. 

 

16 hours ago, ontheweb said:

I agree.

 

My question was actually rhetorical, as I thought that that no answer was quite obvious.

 

I actually think I disagree.  I do not think that mandatory ship excursions required during a pandemic will continue after the pandemic is managed.   I really dislike this step but it is one among many others that the cruise lines are promoting to convince the powers that be that they can reopen safely.   If they are allowed to reopen, some kind of safeguard is needed, whether I like it or not.  I think the real issue, which others have pointed out,  is if something like this is really needed, they probably should not reopen.   

[ldubs]

22 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

To me, that means they're going to take you to their "pre-approved" shops and hold you captive there. Again, not my cup of tea.

 

 

 

Instead of tourist T-shits they will be selling masks that say "Napoli"!  Haha

[ColeThornton]

2 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

Instead of tourist T-shits they will be selling masks that say "Napoli"!  Haha

 

Are T-shits a symptom of the Covid?

[ldubs]

1 minute ago, ColeThornton said:

 

Are T-shits a symptom of the Covid?

 

I hope not because I wear them every day I can.  In my case they are a symptom of retirement! And warm weather!  Haha

[sanger727]

On 10/11/2020 at 11:55 AM, Oulton Jim said:

Is it beyond the wit/scope of an ombudsman-type of body to assess and grant permissions to other long established tour companies port by port? Lord knows there has been enough opportunity to get this up and running. If I can see that a company has operated for some ten years-plus with a record of over 95% recommendations just on the tap of a google search [tripadvisor]-then surely an independent body could be checking on such operators and giving passengers [hate the term pax!!] an opportunity to book a smaller grouping for up to half the price of a ship tour.  

 

What exactly does a high recommendation on trip advisor have to do with a company conforming to new covid recommendations? If they are conforming to new covid recommendations they won't be stuffing 11 people into one mini bus, they'll be using half that or buying a full size bus. They will be covid testing their tour guides and bus drivers on a regular basis. and they may have to hire additional personnel to "keep an eye" on the tourists when at locations to ensure social distancing and mask wearing. All of this could drive the costs up to be on par with the cruise ship excursions. What causes you to think that with new requirements the experience will be comparable to the old experience?

 

I'm not saying I like the shore excursion only policy. I don't, and I don't plan to book a cruise while it's in effect. But I think a tour company "being high rated" has nothing to do with being compliant to new covid era policies; and fulfilling the cruise lines goals in terms of "safe" shore excursions.

[Oulton Jim]

Saddens me somewhat for any other poster to think I am dumb enough to go purely on a companies long-proven rating of excellence-also for a company with such a stellar history to book tours without being Covid compliant. What would it gain them if their record plummets on the basis of one season.  I have a firm quote on which I based my figure of half the ships tour price. Equally if any tour is booked there is no need to pay a penny in advance. Cancellation no problem. Think I am going to leave it there......

[Oulton Jim]

P&O have now posted detailed guidelines of the new protocol [until any changes may be made] - it seems that the only way to go ashore is [as predicted] on a ship tour. I am [presently] booked on the Aurora for April and scheduled first port is Vigo. Having already [months ago] priced up a DIY visit to Santiago de Compostela, I was keen to see what my P&O tour would cost. 

 Price with P&O is £52 per person by coach. Doing it ourselves on a return rail journey -with admission to the Cathedral and Portico -rail fare per person £17.50 return. Admission 10 euro each. The only difference I could see was that the ship tour had a built-in refreshment stop. About half the cost as near as damnit, so unless things change before the turn of the year then sadly that cruise will not be for us. 

[donaldsc]

8 minutes ago, Oulton Jim said:

P&O have now posted detailed guidelines of the new protocol [until any changes may be made] - it seems that the only way to go ashore is [as predicted] on a ship tour. I am [presently] booked on the Aurora for April and scheduled first port is Vigo. Having already [months ago] priced up a DIY visit to Santiago de Compostela, I was keen to see what my P&O tour would cost. 

 Price with P&O is £52 per person by coach. Doing it ourselves on a return rail journey -with admission to the Cathedral and Portico -rail fare per person £17.50 return. Admission 10 euro each. The only difference I could see was that the ship tour had a built-in refreshment stop. About half the cost as near as damnit, so unless things change before the turn of the year then sadly that cruise will not be for us. 

 

That is more usual than unusual and often happens.  I did a cruise that stopped at the Falklands and I wanted to do a penguin tour.  Because there were 2 ships in port, I had to take the ship sponsored tour which cost about $550.  The cost for exactly the same tour if I could have booked it directly with the tour company was less than $200.  I do not take ship tours unless I really want to do a specific tour such as my penguin tour and I have no other options.  Among many other issues, the requirement that I would be forced to take a ship sponsored bubble tour means that I will not be cruising.  Once things open up on land, I will be doing DIY land trips for the foreseeable future.  There are other ways to travel besides on a ship.

 

DON

[ontheweb]

36 minutes ago, Oulton Jim said:

P&O have now posted detailed guidelines of the new protocol [until any changes may be made] - it seems that the only way to go ashore is [as predicted] on a ship tour. I am [presently] booked on the Aurora for April and scheduled first port is Vigo. Having already [months ago] priced up a DIY visit to Santiago de Compostela, I was keen to see what my P&O tour would cost. 

 Price with P&O is £52 per person by coach. Doing it ourselves on a return rail journey -with admission to the Cathedral and Portico -rail fare per person £17.50 return. Admission 10 euro each. The only difference I could see was that the ship tour had a built-in refreshment stop. About half the cost as near as damnit, so unless things change before the turn of the year then sadly that cruise will not be for us. 

A tidy way to make a profit for the cruise lines. I still do not believe that they will give this up voluntarily once this crisis is over unless there is HUGE negative feedback from potential customers who let them know it is a deal breaker.

[dogs4fun]

3 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

A tidy way to make a profit for the cruise lines. I still do not believe that they will give this up voluntarily once this crisis is over unless there is HUGE negative feedback from potential customers who let them know it is a deal breaker.

My cynical self has the same concern. I certainly hope that the cruise lines no longer require ship tours after the Covid-19 pandemic has subsided. If they continue to require ship tours, my family & friends with whom I travel will no longer be cruising (at least not on ocean cruises). I doubt that river cruises would continue to mandate cruise tours as there is little financial incentive involved - tours are included in the cost of your cruise (minus optional events, of course).

Honestly, I can't imagine that there wouldn't be a huge outcry from experienced cruisers if they are never allowed to DIY in the future. Time will tell ...

[ontheweb]

2 minutes ago, dogs4fun said:

My cynical self has the same concern. I certainly hope that the cruise lines no longer require ship tours after the Covid-19 pandemic has subsided. If they continue to require ship tours, my family & friends with whom I travel will no longer be cruising (at least not on ocean cruises). I doubt that river cruises would continue to mandate cruise tours as there is little financial incentive involved - tours are included in the cost of your cruise (minus optional events, of course).

Honestly, I can't imagine that there wouldn't be a huge outcry from experienced cruisers if they are never allowed to DIY in the future. Time will tell ...

There will also be new cruisers (presumably for the cruise lines to survive) who will not realize there is a better way. Also there are many who only do ship tours, often so the ship will not leave without them.

[jocap]

2 hours ago, Oulton Jim said:

P&O have now posted detailed guidelines of the new protocol [until any changes may be made] - it seems that the only way to go ashore is [as predicted] on a ship tour. I am [presently] booked on the Aurora for April and scheduled first port is Vigo. Having already [months ago] priced up a DIY visit to Santiago de Compostela, I was keen to see what my P&O tour would cost. 

 Price with P&O is £52 per person by coach. Doing it ourselves on a return rail journey -with admission to the Cathedral and Portico -rail fare per person £17.50 return. Admission 10 euro each. The only difference I could see was that the ship tour had a built-in refreshment stop. About half the cost as near as damnit, so unless things change before the turn of the year then sadly that cruise will not be for us. 

We've often noticed that there's two prices for ship's own tours, regardless of where they're visiting- I seem to remember that P&O's were £50 something for the full day, and £32 for a half day.

It's difficult discovering what each line charges, but I've always wondered, since reading a review- perhaps on here- by a passenger on the budget line, Thomson (now Marella), who went from Aqaba to Petra with the ship's tour.

A more up-market ship was also running that tour; all used similar coaches, had the same tour, guides etc... and the same hotel lunch. As he chatted to someone from the more expensive ship over lunch, he discovered that that ship charged £10 more for the identical trip.

Maybe there was free champagne on the way home... 

[Oulton Jim]

We are coming round to the idea of the lift and shift option as I think it is known. I would say that more than half the joy of cruising for us is in our own planning where we visit once getting ashore. 

[Tapi]

On 10/11/2020 at 9:51 AM, Hlitner said:

Hmmm.  Funny thing is that countries seem to be opening up to land tourism (where folks are welcomed to "wander around willy nilly" long before they are opening up to cruise ships.  I guess those that arrive via land have some kind of magic bubble that protects the masses from their COVID.

I think the shore excursion restrictions will be more about maintaining a bubble aboard the cruise ship to protect cruise passengers from locals and land tourists rather than the other way around. 

[dogs4fun]

2 hours ago, Tapi said:

I think the shore excursion restrictions will be more about maintaining a bubble aboard the cruise ship to protect cruise passengers from locals and land tourists rather than the other way around. 

Yes, my thoughts as well - the cruise lines don't want a repeat of the Princess fiasco. I understand that shore excursion restrictions are prudent while the pandemic is raging. 

Personally, I don't feel it is safe to cruise at this time so the excursion issue is currently, for me, a moot point.

However, after the virus has subsided, I hope that cruise lines will no longer mandate cruise excursions in order to disembark in ports of call.

Edited October 16, 2020 by dogs4fun

[Hlitner]

2 hours ago, Tapi said:

I think the shore excursion restrictions will be more about maintaining a bubble aboard the cruise ship to protect cruise passengers from locals and land tourists rather than the other way around. 

I guess some of us don't relish the idea of being the "boy in the bubble."    

 

Hank

[mewanttocruise]

Will you be required to book a shore excursion if you want to get off in port?

[Ashland]

No one knows yet what the policy will be.

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, mewanttocruise said:

Will you be required to book a shore excursion if you want to get off in port?

Let's hope so.

[Aquahound]

1 hour ago, mewanttocruise said:

Will you be required to book a shore excursion if you want to get off in port?

 

Let's hope not.

[CruiserBruce]

Agree, no one knows...it could vary by cruise line, or perhaps by sailing area...Alaska might allow freedom to roam off the ship, vs Europe might not, for example. You don't mention where you are asking about, or what cruise line, so even if we had specifics, we couldn't give them to you.

[Host Kat]

5 hours ago, mewanttocruise said:

Will you be required to book a shore excursion if you want to get off in port?

 

@mewanttocruise

 

Howdy!! 

 

Your new thread titled July 11, 2021 has been merged into the existing thread titled Any updates on excursion only shore-leave?. This is where your inquiry is being discussed.

 

Happy sails... someday,

 

Host Kat 

[Glaciers]

5 hours ago, Ashland said:

No one knows yet what the policy will be.

I do wonder if the shore vendors will be some of the first to know since the cruise lines will need to begin making arrangements with them for these special restrictions.