Issues With Shore Excursion Best Price Guarantee

[Sgwscruiser]

On 6/27/2024 at 1:24 PM, aborgman said:

 

Did it? My January 2019 cruise they were still servicing rooms 2x per day.

 

No bacon every day is a post COVID decline in service.

Charge for room service is a post COVID decline in service.

Pizza not being 24 hours is a post COVID decline in service.
 

All lines have had a decrease in service post Covid 

[notscb]

On 6/26/2024 at 9:13 PM, tdnosnhoj11 said:

I’m sorry, but, if that’s the case, how can this “guarantee” exist?

 

This thread has taken a wild turn off course..so maybe we can get it back on track?

 

I had the exact same experience to you, OP, in that i found two exact same tours privately for less. Carnival even used the exact same photos as the private tour operator had on their website. I had already booked through Carnival and submitted the form only to be outright denied because they claimed that the private tour wouldn't pick me up at the port. These excursions were in Costa Maya and Cozumel.

 

Carnival won't budge on their claim that "all" advertised details must match despite the actual tours offered being exactly the same. I suspect, as others have commented on these boards over time, that Carnival uses this system to ensure that their private tour operators aren't offering the "same" product or to catch the operators in some sort of breach of contract.

Edited Monday at 01:20 PM by notscb

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, notscb said:

 

This thread has taken a wild turn off course..so maybe we can get it back on track?

 

I had the exact same experience to you, OP, in that i found two exact same tours privately for less. Carnival even used the exact same photos as the private tour operator had on their website. I had already booked through Carnival and submitted the form only to be outright denied because they claimed that the private tour wouldn't pick me up at the port. These excursions were in Costa Maya and Cozumel.

 

Carnival won't budge on their claim that "all" advertised details must match despite the actual tours offered being exactly the same. I suspect, as others have commented on these boards over time, that Carnival uses this system to ensure that their private tour operators aren't offering the "same" product or to catch the operators in some sort of breach of contract.

See my previous posts where I had checked with the private vendor who said they would pick up at a cruise ship as well as at hotels. Did you try to get that information from the private vendor?

[TGfromTX]

On 6/28/2024 at 8:35 AM, kdr69 said:

Now this makes perfect sense to me for why you want to move away.  However the only line that doesn't cater to kids in some way shape or form is Virgin (unless your thinking about WIndstar or Seabourne or even Viking Cruise lines) but again the average crowd is a lot younger. Not to say you wouldn't like it. Viking has some great sailings and ships you might like?

Although accurate, the amount of kids onboard a ship tends to have a direct relationship to how many pool slides there are onboard - and proportionately opposite to the number of days the cruise exceeds 7 days.  So a cruise for 10 days or more on a ship with no slides likely has very few kids.

[jimbo5544]

4 hours ago, TGfromTX said:

Although accurate, the amount of kids onboard a ship tends to have a direct relationship to how many pool slides there are onboard - and proportionately opposite to the number of days the cruise exceeds 7 days.  So a cruise for 10 days or more on a ship with no slides likely has very few kids.

I would agree that with more expensive cruise lines, there tends to be smaller ships and they tend to have less kids cruising on these lines.  That said there are no absolutes.  The number of cruise lines that cater to long cruises and small er ships is few, but not exclusive.

[notscb]

On 7/1/2024 at 10:37 AM, ontheweb said:

Did you try to get that information from the private vendor?

Yeah i did see that in your post and think it's a great technique, especially before filling out the form or getting in touch with carnival. Unfortunately, Carnival wasn't willing to budge one bit in my situation.

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, notscb said:

Yeah i did see that in your post and think it's a great technique, especially before filling out the form or getting in touch with carnival. Unfortunately, Carnival wasn't willing to budge one bit in my situation.

Unfortunate, really if their criteria includes being taken to the site of the excursion, they would seem to pretty much always have a reason to deny. I wonder how they would get around what now what I did getting proof that we would have been picked up by the private excursion vendor.

[BlerkOne]

8 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Unfortunate, really if their criteria includes being taken to the site of the excursion, they would seem to pretty much always have a reason to deny. I wonder how they would get around what now what I did getting proof that we would have been picked up by the private excursion vendor.

include a bottle of water

[staceyglow]

Was it too late to cancel your Carnival excursion?

 

I do my research well before the cruise, and if I book a Carnival cruise happen to find a significantly better price with a third party, I can cancel my Carnival excursion for a refund and book with a third party.  It's not worth it to insist Carnival match it for the "110% price difference".  

 

If the difference is $30, that means you only get an extra $3 by getting Carnival to honor their price guarantee instead of canceling and rebooking with the third party vendor.

[jimbo5544]

53 minutes ago, staceyglow said:

Was it too late to cancel your Carnival excursion?

 

I do my research well before the cruise, and if I book a Carnival cruise happen to find a significantly better price with a third party, I can cancel my Carnival excursion for a refund and book with a third party.  It's not worth it to insist Carnival match it for the "110% price difference".  

 

If the difference is $30, that means you only get an extra $3 by getting Carnival to honor their price guarantee instead of canceling and rebooking with the third party vendor.

three whole dollars, for hours of investment.

[notscb]

1 hour ago, jimbo5544 said:

three whole dollars, for hours of investment.

Seems a bit judgmental, no?

[TGfromTX]

110% of 30 is 33.  And if there are 2 people, it'll be $66. 

I think the point is that the cruise line is who made the guarantee in the first place - and it should be honored.  Sadly I think the whole industry lies about every item they can upsell. 

I used to buy airline tickets (always a bit higher) through the cruise lines because they tell you how they'll take care of you if something goes wrong when you buy through them. I didn't know I was being lied to and I was in no way upset when the plane of my cabin mate (my niece) was delayed.  Of course they'll take care of her - they told me so.  After proceeding to port per their directions, it was no longer their problem when the ship left about 15 minutes before her arrival to port.  Luckily we had travel insurance but if we didn't, their lies would have stranded her far far away from home. 

I learned the lesson from NCL - and now I purchase none of these add ons from the lines. If something goes wrong, there's an added benefit that I'm not irritated at the cruise line I'm on for the duration of the trip.  

[jimbo5544]

8 hours ago, notscb said:

Seems a bit judgmental, no?

Nope, stating the time and effort for reward.  As I recall, the Op said it was not the monetary value, but the principle.  I was posting on another posters comments.  I might ask you if your post was judgmental but I would not do that.  😉

[jimbo5544]

7 hours ago, TGfromTX said:

110% of 30 is 33.  And if there are 2 people, it'll be $66. 

I think the point is that the cruise line is who made the guarantee in the first place - and it should be honored.  Sadly I think the whole industry lies about every item they can upsell. 

I used to buy airline tickets (always a bit higher) through the cruise lines because they tell you how they'll take care of you if something goes wrong when you buy through them. I didn't know I was being lied to and I was in no way upset when the plane of my cabin mate (my niece) was delayed.  Of course they'll take care of her - they told me so.  After proceeding to port per their directions, it was no longer their problem when the ship left about 15 minutes before her arrival to port.  Luckily we had travel insurance but if we didn't, their lies would have stranded her far far away from home. 

I learned the lesson from NCL - and now I purchase none of these add ons from the lines. If something goes wrong, there's an added benefit that I'm not irritated at the cruise line I'm on for the duration of the trip.  

Anybody flying in the day of should know there are risks.  They do not hold ships for one party on a delayed flight and the process ends before the ship leaves, not after.  This forum is filled with these stories.  Travel insurance was, is, and will be the answer to that problem, not relying on a cruise line.   Sounds like you are being lied to by many cruise lines.  I hope your cruise experiences get better, not worse.      

[TGfromTX]

9 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Sounds like you are being lied to by many cruise lines.  I hope your cruise experiences get better, not worse.      

Someone with almost 40k posts has knowledge I don't with my 200.

I don't feel like my experiences are bad necessarily.  If you miss a flight and chase a ship down, you'll remember that trip like no other. Another stands out where 3/4 of the passengers were sea sick due to rough seas. Much more interesting memories than "I ate a souffle for lunch".

I wouldn't change either experience but once was enough.