CARNIVAL RESTRICTS SHORE EXCURSIONS TO APPROVED PROVIDERS

[Barrycat]

Carnival just announced that during the initial phase of restarting their cruises, shore excursions must be booked with their approved providers. “Self exploration” in port would be restricted as well. Hopefully this is not an idea that Windstar will adopt but it does have some merit. It would probably result in cancelling our September cruise plan in Europe however.

 

ARTICLE

During the initial return to sailing, guests will be restricted to excursions or activities led by vetted tour operators who maintain Carnival’s level of COVID-19 controls. Self-exploration or non-Carnival sponsored excursions will not be permitted.

Guests will be able to pre-purchase shore excursions through Carnival.com, the Carnival HUB app, or on board, subject to availability and capacity restrictions.

 

[minidonuts85]

I reviewed the CDC Conditional Sail order and noticed the requirement for ships tours only and no free roaming if a cruise line would like to resume sailing. What I found to be interesting is that Crystal is implementing this as well, fleetwide, even to those vessels with no US-related ports; debarkation, embarkation or a port of call. 
 

 This will be a dealbreaker for our WS Tahiti cruise in Aug. We can deal with the other  protocols (masks, etc) but we do enjoy free roaming in port and choosing experiences not offered by WS. 
 

As a side note, did you see the other protocols Carnival is proposing like a reservation system for the pool, casino and bars? Yikes! 

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, minidonuts85 said:

As a side note, did you see the other protocols Carnival is proposing like a reservation system for the pool, casino and bars? Yikes!

 

This should be a distinguishing factor between the mega-ship lines like Carnival and the small-ship lines like Windstar.  'More Freedom' should be a rallying cry for the small-ship lines.

[minidonuts85]

9 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

This should be a distinguishing factor between the mega-ship lines like Carnival and the small-ship lines like Windstar.  'More Freedom' should be a rallying cry for the small-ship lines.

Couldn’t agree more! 

[Strenz]

I am scheduled for 9/28 Rome/ Malta, Sicily I would cancel if we had to use WS excursions, or not being allowed to go ashore. This trip has so much meaning for me from the Caravaggio in Malta and ancient art sites, to meeting a favorite author in Sicily, to other art sites in Sicily etc. I am even telling WS I could give a very good lecture and slide presentation on Caravaggio if they or they thought their guests would be interested. This would be the second time formally I would have to cancel this trip and third where I was talked into another WS cruise. I simply would not cruise. If they mandated that in the Caribbean I would go only if they had a daily excursion to a beach. Caribbean a  vacation, Europe and other places,  a trip two different concepts for me. Fingers Crossed for us all. Sooner rather than later I hope Happy Sailing. 

[Petoonya]

Very sorry for all those with upcoming cruises who might be negatively impacted. Keeping the faith for you.

[Barrycat]

Not to get ahead of ourselves on the specific question of what Windstar will do, but  how cruise lines approach this situation will be interesting and will be the subject of some key corporate meetings.

 

Will they raise excursion prices since passengers have no other option?

Will they lower excursion prices to make their excursions more attractive and discourage passengers from cancelling their cruises?

More passengers on the required outings will require more excursions than originally planned. Will this just be adding more busses and passengers to the existing list of excursions or expanding the assortment? Either option, more people or adding excursions that didn’t make the first cut both potentially compromise quality. Windstar already uses some not so great excursion concessionaires. Will this get worse?

Deciding on no excursion, and with no town wandering allowed  means more people will be staying on board while in port. What are the cruise lines going to do to keep them fed and content?

This is just a few of the most obvious questions, there are lots more.

 

If Windstar adopts this program, our go/no go decision will be based on another close look at the Windstar excursion offerings to see if we can live with, and afford, them but the inability to get off the ship and do our own thing in port will probably be a deal breaker.

Cruising is supposed to be fun and relaxing. Cancelled cruises, refunds, future cruise credits, COVID restrictions and concerns are all making cruising less fun and less relaxing, it’s too bad.

 

 

 

[Pudgesmom]

Barrycat, I’ve been thinking exactly all of those thoughts. In addition, and this may apply less at Windstar than at some more afforable cruise lines, some people will simply not be able to afford their cruise if they must purchase a ship sponsored excursion in order to get off the ship.

[Host Jazzbeau]

My guess (and that's all it is) is that if ship excursions are required, the cost will go down.  Two reasons:  (1) the cost to the ship will go down, because they will be able to guarantee larger numbers to their providers, and the providers will have no other (direct) business so they will be hungry; (2) many passengers will be factoring this in to their evaluation of the cost of the cruise.

 

I remember when Honda first came to the US.  Their first car was the Civic, which succeeded simply because it was very cheap but much better than anything had ever been at that price.  But their second car was the Accord, which was very good indeed and included all the options that other car makers charged extra for.  A car magazine asked Honda how they could afford to pack all that stuff into the Accord at that price, and the answer was "It's much cheaper when we can buy those items in bulk and simplify the assembly line by putting them all on every car." 

 

It should be similar for cruises if ship excursions are required – much higher numbers, fewer cancellations – if the cruise line sees the benefit of passing that savings on to the passengers.

[minidonuts85]

A good case study would be the current MSC model in Europe. MSC is (or was) recently sailing limited itineraries in Europe since Covid. One family was  booted from the remainder of the cruise for straying from their ship excursion. Mandatory ship excursions but they did lower the prices of the excursions overall. I get that MSC is “big box” cruising  but offers an example  to the questions on the possibility of lowering prices of shore excursions. 
 

If Windstar offered a tour we wanted, we’d be ok paying for it. But if we wanted to go visit a friend in port (which we’ve done in the past) or wanted to take a tour and experience something that Windstar didn’t offer, that wouldn’t be appealing for us. 

Edited February 7, 2021 by minidonuts85

[Petoonya]

The thing I dislike about ship excursions is the size of the groups. I'm not keen on snorkeling in Bora Bora with 20 other people on the boat. On a ship's tour if I want to snorkel from a boat with 4 other shipmates I'd pay $500+pp. Whereas if I use providers that I've used before and have a max of 6 passengers I'll pay $200pp. Plus generally speaking the independent's tour is much better. Large group tours are my deal breaker.

 

I understand and appreciate the necessity of limiting to ship's excursions, but like most other posters would rather wait for a time that offers free choice. That is if Windstar still exists after it's deemed safe.

[msears101]

My two cents on this.

 

My general view on this whole pandemic thing.  The leaders, whether they are corporate cruise operators or gov't officials, before you implement a policy, you should know your exit strategy and when and how it will expire.  After years in the corporate world, I know that temporary things become permanent unless there is a clearly laid out sunset provision.  So with Masks for example they could have said, at 90% vaccinated, masks go away.  There is NO guidance when masks will go away.  I know for some - they will be worn for the rest of their lives.   On to cruising.  The cruise companies need to identify when independent shore excursions will resume and when each of the new protocols will expire.  What will have to happen (or date) that will cause them to expire.  When will you not have to reserve a table at the bar or a chair by the pool?  I fear these new protocols will really wreck the cruise line industry.

 

As far as this being a win small ships.  The only "independent" thought that I have observed in the cruising industry is Sea Deam YC.  If indeed there is more "freedom" on windstar and other small cruising companies, I would not be super keen to have the "big ship" crowd invade the small ships that I enjoy.

 

All the best, happy sailing and wishing you all following seas.

[O2B@Cagain]

I am afraid that all cruise ships will require oversight of their passengers on shore. This will enhance their onboard revenue (they will sell everything you can buy on shore, keep you at the bar longer, etc.) and will kill the local economies. Some of the lines have been waiting for this to happen.

[minidonuts85]

Verbiage recently added to Windstar's Health and Safety section of their website. The CLIA recommendation they refer to aligns with the Conditional Sail Order in effect at least through November 2021.

 

Shore Excursions

 

All shore excursions will be vetted by our expert team to ensure best practices in health and safety protocols are followed. Shore excursions will operate at a reduced capacity and masks will be worn when according to local regulations and when unable to social distance. For the near term as recommended by the Cruise Lines International Association, guests will need to book a Windstar shore excursion to go ashore. Changes in shore excursions offered may occur due to evolving regulations and conditions in a destination. Tenders, motor coaches and smaller boats will operate at 50 percent capacity and be cleaned between each use. Staggered departures in port will aid in social distancing.

[Barrycat]

Thanks mini for pointing this out. For their reasons Windstar is not making this too obvious. 
Unfortunately their “near term” will probably include our planned mid September departure from London. It’s a great itinerary and we got lots of upgrades and perks so we will be reluctant to cancel but this will change the nature of our typical Windstar cruise substantially. We will need to take another look at the overpriced Windstar excursions offered and see if we can live with them exclusively. Additionally, the inability to just wander around the port stop is a big negative for us especially on this itinerary.

Our  planned Panama Canal cruise was cancelled so we booked Tahiti which was cancelled. Unfortunately this may be disappointment number three.

All this said, I can’t argue with the necessity of this policy. With all of the precautions that the cruise lines are taking on board, loosing control on shore makes little sense.

 

[susiesan]

After reading through all the "new normal" things being done by Windstar, and if they never end, I have taken my last cruise on any ship. I will take land trips that give me the opportunity o wander around at will and not be in a "bubble" group.

[minidonuts85]

@Barrycatsame here...cant argue with the necessity and folks will just have to determine if this is a good fit. For many reasons you mentioned, it wont work for us and we will just sit tight for awhile.

[Petoonya]

Bummer, but very understandable and probably in everyone's, particularly the Polynesians, best interest. We'll hold on to our November cruise for now, but if policy still intact at FP, will let it go.

[Zukini]

Very unfortunate. I had just corresponded before this news with a tour operator we have booked for Bora Bora in early May, and we speculated whether this might happen. She felt that if it did, it would be "another nail in the coffin, perhaps the final nail" for many tour operators in French Polynesia.

[Dbld777]

Here's hoping that many of the smaller independent excursion providers can find an avenue to offer their excursions through Windstar. Many of them have not wanted to conduct business via the cruise line for various reasons, primarily being financially motivated I would assume. If they must offer their services via the cruise line, in order to get back in the ballgame, they'll need to submit to the vetting process. This may actually lead to some better choices of ship offered excursions, if we have visibility to the provider. I've had independent providers tell me the excursion number, via the ship, that is their offering.  It feels like everyone is looking at this through our old "lenses" so to speak. The cruise lines will have to add excursion capacity in each port and some of the well known independent providers will have to do business via the cruise line. In the end, there still may be a way to book with your favorite excursion provider. And for those that want to explore the port on your own, maybe there will be a list of private tour guides from which to choose, who have been vetted to provide a safe independent exploration of the town for very small groups. It will all boil down to how much effort the cruise line wants to put into developing their vetted excursion offerings and if it's going to significantly hamper bookings, they'll have to put in the work to up their excursion offerings.

[Zukini]

Dbld777, I hope you're right.  The operator I'm dealing with is a small one. They have a single boat with a maximum of 6 passengers, so it's hard to imagine how Windstar would include an operator with such limited capacity, but I hope they do.  Otherwise, this will devastate the small operators.

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

There are little to no cases of covid on the outer islands of FP. The limited problems they are having are dwindling and are on Tahiti and Moorea. Tourist coming from the states (SFO, HNL or LAX) are not a problem. 

 

I'm still a go for the few private excursions I've planned but things may change but for now it seems all is a go. Still think this is an issue of WS and a few others having strong connections in America  ... like being owned by American corporations. I may be wrong but hopefully I'm spot on and cruise lines with less American connections may fair better when it comes to the issue we are discussing  ... hopefully

[Petoonya]

Susie,

Your post amuses me a wee bit.

For the last 9 months or so you have repeatedly proclaimed your unhappiness with WS and that you won't cruise with them. Yet you keep rebooking when they've had to cancel for COVID. Something tells me that when the time rolls round for all of us to start cruising again, you might be angling to be the first in line for your WS cruise, and check out your cabin and lunch.

😉