Switched Excursion Time w/o Notice

[ggo85]

I booked a 10 am excursion pre-cruise.  When I arrived on board, the ticket had a 2:45 departure time.  First notice I’d been given of the change.    When I complained to the shore excursion desk, they first suggested I’d forgotten what I’d booked.  I showed them my order receipt with the time clearly stated. They next said, “Well, sometimes the ship’s arrival time changes.”  It hadn’t.  
 

Finally, they said that sometimes they just switch people without telling them.  Blamed shoreside people.  Seemed indifferent to my concern.  Could not get me on the earlier departure.  I didn’t want the later departure as I don’t like to snorkel late in the day when I’m sisters and it would have interfered with dinner plans.  That’s why I only book morning excursions.  They did refund my money but way too late to book anything else I wanted.  
 

Never had this happen before on any cruise line.  Even when they do it last minute, they usually put a note of explanation with your ticket.  Here, it’s as if they thought I’d forget or think I’d booked the later trip.  And totally indifferent to the fact I was disappointed.  

 

In any event, don’t count on getting the excursions you booked or being notified of changes.  Probably will happen.  Might not. 

[keesar]

5 minutes ago, ggo85 said:

I booked a 10 am excursion pre-cruise.  When I arrived on board, the ticket had a 2:45 departure time.  First notice I’d been given of the change.    When I complained to the shore excursion desk, they first suggested I’d forgotten what I’d booked.  I showed them my order receipt with the time clearly stated. They next said, “Well, sometimes the ship’s arrival time changes.”  It hadn’t.  
 

Finally, they said that sometimes they just switch people without telling them.  Blamed shoreside people.  Seemed indifferent to my concern.  Could not get me on the earlier departure.  I didn’t want the later departure as I don’t like to snorkel late in the day when I’m sisters and it would have interfered with dinner plans.  That’s why I only book morning excursions.  They did refund my money but way too late to book anything else I wanted.  
 

Never had this happen before on any cruise line.  Even when they do it last minute, they usually put a note of explanation with your ticket.  Here, it’s as if they thought I’d forget or think I’d booked the later trip.  And totally indifferent to the fact I was disappointed.  

 

In any event, don’t count on getting the excursions you booked or being notified of changes.  Probably will happen.  Might not. 

 You may want to check at the excursion deck when you go onboard as there are usually cancellations.  We did that on our last cruise and it all worked out.    We have had our time changed and I did not get a notice of the change.  I found out when I went to check our excursion time and it had been changed.  Said it was changed by the excursion operator.

 

 

[mahdnc]

16 minutes ago, ggo85 said:

I booked a 10 am excursion pre-cruise.  When I arrived on board, the ticket had a 2:45 departure time.  First notice I’d been given of the change.    When I complained to the shore excursion desk, they first suggested I’d forgotten what I’d booked.  I showed them my order receipt with the time clearly stated. They next said, “Well, sometimes the ship’s arrival time changes.”  It hadn’t.  
 

Finally, they said that sometimes they just switch people without telling them.  Blamed shoreside people.  Seemed indifferent to my concern.  Could not get me on the earlier departure.  I didn’t want the later departure as I don’t like to snorkel late in the day when I’m sisters and it would have interfered with dinner plans.  That’s why I only book morning excursions.  They did refund my money but way too late to book anything else I wanted.  
 

Never had this happen before on any cruise line.  Even when they do it last minute, they usually put a note of explanation with your ticket.  Here, it’s as if they thought I’d forget or think I’d booked the later trip.  And totally indifferent to the fact I was disappointed.  

 

In any event, don’t count on getting the excursions you booked or being notified of changes.  Probably will happen.  Might not. 

Sorry to read this happened to you. On embarkation day, I usually don’t look at the shorex envelope laying in our stateroom right away as there are other things on my mind and the shorex is usually several days off.  I guess I’ll be sure to look at them much sooner next time. 

[LB_NJ]

2 hours ago, ggo85 said:

I booked a 10 am excursion pre-cruise.  When I arrived on board, the ticket had a 2:45 departure time.  First notice I’d been given of the change.    When I complained to the shore excursion desk, they first suggested I’d forgotten what I’d booked.  I showed them my order receipt with the time clearly stated. They next said, “Well, sometimes the ship’s arrival time changes.”  It hadn’t.  
 

Finally, they said that sometimes they just switch people without telling them.  Blamed shoreside people.  Seemed indifferent to my concern.  Could not get me on the earlier departure.  I didn’t want the later departure as I don’t like to snorkel late in the day when I’m sisters and it would have interfered with dinner plans.  That’s why I only book morning excursions.  They did refund my money but way too late to book anything else I wanted.  
 

Never had this happen before on any cruise line.  Even when they do it last minute, they usually put a note of explanation with your ticket.  Here, it’s as if they thought I’d forget or think I’d booked the later trip.  And totally indifferent to the fact I was disappointed.  

 

In any event, don’t count on getting the excursions you booked or being notified of changes.  Probably will happen.  Might not. 

It has happened to me many times.

 

It is unfortunate.

[ggo85]

I’ve never had this happen on other lines and we’ve probably been on 80 cruises.  Tour times have been charged on other lines, but there is always notice.  Usually pre-cruise, sometimes prominently with the envelope (as in stapled to the outside).
 

The problem with not notifying you in advance is that, if you don’t want the new time, by the time you find out, you may not be able to book anything else you like. As happened to me. 
 

It’s a terrible way to do business - and suggesting it was the customer’s fault and/or saying you (the cruise line) don’t care is reprehensible. 
 

I did try to get (back) on the earlier booking. Told it was sold out by the shore excursion manager.  

[prmssk]

I've had it happen to me a number of times on different cruise lines (including Celebrity).  The only notice I ever get is in the shore excursions envelop when I board.  Sometimes it clearly is because the ship's arrival time changed.  Other times it is a mystery why it happened.  I suspect sometimes it is the tour operator changing the time.  The time change has never been a big problem for me so I've never gone to shore excursions to figure out what specifically happened.

 

It's really unfortunate yours was a big enough change that it no longer worked for you.  And it definitely was a very poor response you received from shore excursions.

[chemmo]

1 hour ago, ggo85 said:

I’ve never had this happen on other lines and we’ve probably been on 80 cruises.  Tour times have been charged on other lines, but there is always notice.  Usually pre-cruise, sometimes prominently with the envelope (as in stapled to the outside).
 

The problem with not notifying you in advance is that, if you don’t want the new time, by the time you find out, you may not be able to book anything else you like. As happened to me. 
 

It’s a terrible way to do business - and suggesting it was the customer’s fault and/or saying you (the cruise line) don’t care is reprehensible. 
 

I did try to get (back) on the earlier booking. Told it was sold out by the shore excursion manager.  

This has happened to us a couple of times, not just on Celebrity. I honestly think it is simply a numbers game to fit everyone on buses/boats…Each time for us we were a party of three so if they work in even numbers they would want a solo or another three or five to ensure no empty seats…
 

I have been trying to remember how many times this has happened to us, I think 3/4 but twice on Celebrity. First time didn’t bother us, I think it was a swap from 9am to 11.15am for a 4 hour Caribbean island tour. However, in the South Pacific we had booked a set time to fit in with our adult son joining friends also on the cruise. Although our bookings were not linked we had all booked the same time well in front to ensure we would all be together. When we spotted the change to our booking we did involve the suite concierge and they did manage to resolve the situation. However, would we have had the same outcome if we weren’t in a RS and our son’s friends (whose timing hadn’t changed) were suite guests too? We were a little annoyed that the shore excursion manager acted as if we should be delighted he had resolved the issue rather than put his hands up and simply said ‘we moved you for our convenience’…

 

There are many guests (me included) who for a variety of reasons prefer morning or afternoon for tours. You do feel that booking and paying in advance should give you the security of getting the timing that suits you…Not necessarily true…I always take copies of booking details and check tickets asap on boarding…

 

 

[1025cruise]

It's possible the operator of the excursion cancelled the morning one, so you were automatically moved to the afternoon one.

[ggo85]

The change was 5 hours, not 30 minutes or even 90, which are generally manageable. And the morning tour wasn’t moved - it’s still going at the original time. I was just moved to the afternoon departure without my knowledge or consent. 
 

X claims to know EXACTLY how many spots are available on each tour - hence the “only 2 spots left!!” in bold, italicized type when you look up a crowded tour.  So this shouldn’t happen. If there were a simultaneous booking, X should be able to notify one party promptly so they can select something else.

 

Not apologizing profusely once a passenger calls them out on this is just poor business practice and evidence that X doesn’t care.  

[cruisestitch]

That painting with a broad brush.  Perhaps that employee didn’t care, or even that department on that ship didn’t care, but I wouldn’t judge the whole company based on this one failure.

[ggo85]

There have been other issues on this cruise that aren’t related to this thread so won’t detail here.  I’ll write a review at the end.  Generally (with the one exception), crew has been terrific.  Issues are with corporate policies, not the ship.  
 

We only sailed X recently once since COVID.  My sense then was that they were trying to position themselves as upscale of mainstream lines but not at the luxury level.  My impression on this cruise is that they are moving downward, not upward.  Much more like RCL, sans kids, than near-luxury, even in Retreat.  Also that all their effort is with E class.  That’s ok, but not our thing.  

[LeeW]

Many times.  Sometimes tour operator changes, canceled tour, arrival change or random.  Check tickets when you get them and take to excursions desk if you need a change. We have fewer issues booking independent. 

[PTC DAWG]

One messed up excursion…not the end of the world in my opinion…you were refunded correct? 

[ggo85]

Yes, one excursion. But this should happen zero times.  This excursion wasn’t a deal breaker for me as I’ve been to this island before. But X didn’t know that.  What if this had been an excursion that was really important to me?
 

The sad fact is X doesn’t care.  

[mahdnc]

Most of the problems discussed in this cruise forum rarely meet the "end of the world" standard.

[PTC DAWG]

Just now, mahdnc said:

Most of the problems discussed in this cruise forum rarely meet the "end of the world" standard.

That I totally agree with..

[ggo85]

I agree.  Not end of the world.  But it shouldn’t happen. And when it does, X should take responsibility. It’s not that hard to say, “I’m sorry.”  

[mahdnc]

22 minutes ago, ggo85 said:

I agree.  Not end of the world.  But it shouldn’t happen. And when it does, X should take responsibility. It’s not that hard to say, “I’m sorry.”  

 

I understand.  We had something similar happen to us about 6 or so years ago with our specialty dining reservation at what was then Silk Harvest on Solstice.  I went online and made and paid for a dinner reservation for my family of 4 before our cruise.  When the day of the dinner arrived, we showed up, but the maitre d' told us that our reservation was for the following day.  I showed him our confirmed reservation email and that it set for tonight. 

 

The problem became very clear.  Silk Harvest had scheduled a special menu with live music with a higher charge for that evening.  I think it was $35 pp instead of the $25 pp that I paid.  And as a result, our reservation was moved with no notification.  

 

The maitre d' said he could accommodate us if I paid the extra upcharge.  I told him that I shouldn't have to do that and I refused.  In the end we were seated and I didn't pay the upcharge.  And so it worked out in the end, but I wasn't thrilled the experience.

Edited February 5 by mahdnc

[hcat]

on Ascent, our onboard Art  and Architecture tour time was changed..We noticed it on the ticket but had  overlooked the letter abt the change in the ticket envelope....

 

We had to  skip the  Sr Officers party b/c of the change. They told us other conflicts  were the cause for the switch.

 

.  It was no big deal for the Art tour change, but when they switched  our Fine Cut dining time on EDGE  to a much later time without notice..we cancelled after a big hassle! about the time!