Princess Only Shore Excursions Confirmed

[donaldsc]

6 hours ago, john1970 said:

I am booked on a UK seacation in September. I was browsing the excursions and saw one for Liverpool which was an 8 hour trip to an outlet mall. I can't see how that can fit into keeping the passengers into a 'bubble'. In the description it says that it's basically free time to shop. How is this any different from passengers leaving the ship and going shopping on their own? I am happy to adhere to their terms and conditions but I am wondering about their logic and questioning if some of this is to make as much money as possible from a captive audience.

 

According to Google maps, it is a 4+ hour drive from London to Liverpool.  Why in the world would you book an 8 hour shopping trip from your ship when you can drive to the mall in 4+ hours from your home.  You could probably even drive to the mall and stay overnight to get more shopping time if you need it at less cost than the ship excursion.  Also, aren't there any outlet malls near to where you live?  Makes no sense to me or am I missing something.  

 

DON

[Ride-The-Waves]

4 hours ago, caribill said:

 

How much of that 8 hours is actually at the outlet mall?  How much time on the bus?

 

Even in normal times I would not sign up for an 8 hour shopping excursion.

Agree.  The only place where we have spent an enjoyable time in a market recently was in Melbourne at the Queen Victoria Market.  Neat place.  On the other hand the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul can't be beat!

[dog]

17 hours ago, john1970 said:

I am booked on a UK seacation in September. I was browsing the excursions and saw one for Liverpool which was an 8 hour trip to an outlet mall. I can't see how that can fit into keeping the passengers into a 'bubble'. In the description it says that it's basically free time to shop. How is this any different from passengers leaving the ship and going shopping on their own? I am happy to adhere to their terms and conditions but I am wondering about their logic and questioning if some of this is to make as much money as possible from a captive audience.

it is 45 min ride each way. 6 & 1/2 hours at mall Cheshire outlet mall.

 

You only need extra  time if you have to stand in line, 6 ft apart to get in a store. 

 

have lunch for 2 hours, if any restaurant is open. 
 

mall opens 9am; 10 or 11am on Sunday. 
 

liverpool Beetles tour or Chester on your own would be my choice. 
since it is UK only residents then you don’t have to stay in bubble. Wander freely like you did on your way to embark cruise. 

[500adverbs]

Maybe I’m missing something, but the Princess page linked at the beginning of the thread says we will have to adhere to local regulations and take only Princess-approved excursions.

 

But it doesn’t say anything about not getting off the ship if you don’t take an excursion.

 

I hope that, by the time any of us actually get back on a cruise ship, sufficient numbers of people are vaccinated and case counts will be low enough that this will be less relevant.

 

And as others have pointed out, this is all likely to change and become more clear as time goes on.

[ontheweb]

14 hours ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

Agree.  The only place where we have spent an enjoyable time in a market recently was in Melbourne at the Queen Victoria Market.  Neat place.  On the other hand the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul can't be beat!

Not on a cruise, but on an escorted land tour, we enjoyed in 2019 on our last real trip a huge flea market in Peru.

[Steelers36]

8 hours ago, dog said:

liverpool Beetles tour

Now I know most members do not like it when spelling is corrected, but the Beatles deserve better IMO.  The LIverpool lads are icons in music. 

 

😇😁😎

[dog]

12 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Now I know most members do not like it when spelling is corrected, but the Beatles deserve better IMO.  The LIverpool lads are icons in music. 

 

😇😁😎

BEATLES. 

[dog]

8 hours ago, dog said:

it is 45 min ride each way. 6 & 1/2 hours at mall Cheshire outlet mall.

 

You only need extra  time if you have to stand in line, 6 ft apart to get in a store. 

 

have lunch for 2 hours, if any restaurant is open. 
 

mall opens 9am; 10 or 11am on Sunday. 
 

liverpool BeAtles tour or Chester on your own would be my choice. 
since it is UK only residents then you don’t have to stay in bubble. Wander freely like you did on your way to embark cruise. 

my error... blaming iPhone again!

correcting spelling.  BEATLES 

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Now I know most members do not like it when spelling is corrected, but the Beatles deserve better IMO.  The LIverpool lads are icons in music. 

 

😇😁😎

Maybe someone had A Hard Day's Night. Good you gave them Help.

[Redwing55]

On 4/12/2021 at 8:00 PM, franktown said:

One of the problems with private shore excursions will  be that most have been shut down for well over a year.  They almost have to start from scratch which will take money.  We have a friend that works for a consolidator for tours all over the world and he says most of the independents are no where to be found they closed up shop long ago.

UH, how is that different than those Princess books?  It's just a contract with Princess.. most times they are the same companies that do other excursions.   And of course they closed up shop... why stay open with little to no business?  So, Indies will return..likely a month or two once cruising begins.

[ontheweb]

14 hours ago, Redwing55 said:

UH, how is that different than those Princess books?  It's just a contract with Princess.. most times they are the same companies that do other excursions.   And of course they closed up shop... why stay open with little to no business?  So, Indies will return..likely a month or two once cruising begins.

Same excursions, but different prices as Princess (and all the other cruise lines) mark it up and also squeeze out of the local supplier much of the fee. Actually, possibly a little different in a negative way as they take out possible flexibility

[darknightsdespiser]

On 4/16/2021 at 6:26 AM, 500adverbs said:

Maybe I’m missing something, but the Princess page linked at the beginning of the thread says we will have to adhere to local regulations and take only Princess-approved excursions.

 

But it doesn’t say anything about not getting off the ship if you don’t take an excursion.

 

I hope that, by the time any of us actually get back on a cruise ship, sufficient numbers of people are vaccinated and case counts will be low enough that this will be less relevant.

 

And as others have pointed out, this is all likely to change and become more clear as time goes on.

But how would they know if people getting off for a wander did in fact jump in a taxi to a beach or somewhere? 

[OCruisers]

35 minutes ago, darknightsdespiser said:

But how would they know if people getting off for a wander did in fact jump in a taxi to a beach or somewhere? 

At some point things will be enough back to normal that it won't matter.  😉

[ontheweb]

5 hours ago, darknightsdespiser said:

But how would they know if people getting off for a wander did in fact jump in a taxi to a beach or somewhere? 

If you want to prevent them from knowing, I guess you will have to wrap tin foil around your medallion.🤣

[donaldsc]

3 hours ago, ontheweb said:

If you want to prevent them from knowing, I guess you will have to wrap tin foil around your medallion.🤣

 

I assume that medallions can only track you on the ship.  You will be identified as you get off the ship.  However, if they are going to let you wander around the ship but not go anywhere , there is no way that they can know. 

 

Another point.  I don't cruise on Princess so I don't know how these medallions work but do they have them on all of their ships?

 

DON

[caribill]

4 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

 

 

Another point.  I don't cruise on Princess so I don't know how these medallions work but do they have them on all of their ships?

 

DON

 

They will by the time cruising restarts.

[Ride-The-Waves]

The Medallion system was originally designed by Disney for their theme parks and is also used on Disney ships - wrist bands instead of circular discs.  Really nothing new - just marketing.

[beg3yrs]

14 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

I assume that medallions can only track you on the ship.  You will be identified as you get off the ship.  However, if they are going to let you wander around the ship but not go anywhere , there is no way that they can know. 

 

.....

 

DON

In most cases that's correct, the medallion is tracked only on the ship. Tracking requires special sensors that detect nearby medallions which relay the information to the ship's central system. Thus when off the ship, you won't be tracked using your medallion.

 

I'm not sure if this is still the case but Princess installed medallion tracking in one of their FLL terminals when they initially rolled out the system. I haven't heard if it's still in use or if it was there just for the roll out.

[PaperSniper4]

On 4/13/2021 at 1:45 PM, USERBOYD66 said:

Just booked a Princess cruise, through Princess.  The representative said you can still get off and walk around, it is just excursions that they ask you to not do unless it is a Princess excursion.

I'd like to hear if anyone has confirmation of this from an official Princess source. Like many of you here at CC, my wife and don't normally book the cruise line tours, and very much like to get off the ship,  wonder around the port, seeing the sights on our own, stopping for a drink or light meal, etc. If we do take a tour, it's 90% of the time something independent, with exceptions based on where we are, and the time docked at the port.

 

I can't imagine Cozumel for instance, having to stay with some group for shopping, etc. I want to go places and practice my Spanish while shopping, or in a bar or restaurant! 😉

 

Doug

[voljeep]

16 minutes ago, PaperSniper4 said:

 

I can't imagine Cozumel for instance, having to stay with some group for shopping, etc

this - been too many times to take ship excursions - going back over Thanksgiving - hope to be able to stroll around to Pancho's Backyard and have a "local" beer - Dos Equis XXX

[srpilo]

With only cruise line controled tour bubbles,  how long will ports be willing to accept cruise ships when there will be almost no direct economic advantage to the port with out the passengers off the ship and out and about spending money ??

Seems under these so called " health and safety" protocol's  that only a very select few tour company's will benefit from cruise ship stops and passengers, and that local merchant's and city businesses will get ZIP

 

 

.

 

Edited April 18, 2021 by srpilo

[wowzz]

9 minutes ago, srpilo said:

With only cruise line controled tour bubbles,  how long will ports be willing to accept cruise ships when there will be almost no direct economic advantage to the port with out the passengers off the ship and out and about spending money ??

Seems under these so called " health and safety" protocol's  that only a very select few tour company's will benefit from cruise ship stops and passengers, and that local merchant's and city businesses will get ZIP

 

 

.

 

The actual port authority will still make money from berthing fees, regardless of what the pax do, so they will certainly not turn the ships away. 

[srpilo]

52 minutes ago, wowzz said:

The actual port authority will still make money from berthing fees, regardless of what the pax do, so they will certainly not turn the ships away. 

 

52 minutes ago, wowzz said:

 

 

The problem, at least here in North America, certain areas of the USA, Caribbean, Alaska, and Canada is the overall negative sentiment about cruise ships in general, and there are many communities around the USA that would like to ban cruising all together in their areas, and now ADD the fact that there's to real local economic benefits to cruise ships.. Well it's another arrow in their quil's against cruising.

 

Also in general Port Authority revenue usually doesn't filter down into the community in any meaningful way.

 

 

[CruzinNoony]

We have booked a California Coastal cruise in August.  I realize it may or may not sail.  I'm ok with booking Princess shore excursions if I have to.  But, what happens if we book the tours and pay for them and then the cruise is cancelled?  How long will it take for them to refund our money?  

[Ride-The-Waves]

2 hours ago, srpilo said:

With only cruise line controled tour bubbles,  how long will ports be willing to accept cruise ships when there will be almost no direct economic advantage to the port with out the passengers off the ship and out and about spending money ??

Seems under these so called " health and safety" protocol's  that only a very select few tour company's will benefit from cruise ship stops and passengers, and that local merchant's and city businesses will get ZIP

 

 

.

 

Port fees, harbor pilot fees, bunkers, food, etc.  Ports earn a lot of $$$ in various ways when a ship moors, with much of it going to local businesses.

Edited April 18, 2021 by Ride-The-Waves