Holland Monopoly

[howndder]

Hi,

 

Maybe there is someone on this board can help. We are booked on Nov.1 sailing Prinsendam Capetown to Ft. Lauderdale. We have 2 stops in Namibia. I usually try to book our own shore excursions as they are then a small group instaed of the big bus loads. I have been completely blind-sisded by Holland as they have tied up with exclusive contracts every local tour company in both Luderitz and Walvis Bay.

 

Has anyone used a tour company in these places. You might have some other names than I have been able to find.

 

I thnk Holland is wrong to tie up all local operators so that they can keep their shore excursions at so high a price.

 

On Crystal and Regent, those are the lines I have taken recently, their shore tours are extremely well priced. Nothing was more than 79.00 for a full day tour, unless it included say a flight or a more extensive day trip.

 

What do you all think of this?

 

We are frequent cruisers with Holland, but will rethink this due to the above and the fact that the cruise we're taking is the same per diem as Regent!!!

 

Yes, it is a very interesting itinerary, but the per diem is quite high for Holland America.

 

Thank you,

 

howndder

[jhannah]

I thnk Holland is wrong to tie up all local operators so that they can keep their shore excursions at so high a price.

I believe the much bigger factor is the size of the port stop. In a major European port of call (Rome, Barcelona, Lisbon, etc.) there are many tour operators. A cruise line can get the transportation they need to service their guests and there are still private drivers available to take care of those of us who sometimes like to take that approach. But Namibia? While lots of people visit Africa, it isn't the tourist hot spot that most other continents are.

 

My guess is that this isn't some insidious plot on HAL's part to jack up prices, but rather just a lack of tour operator supply compared with other regions. HAL (or any other line) has to contract enough operators to meet their needs. In Africa, I'd imagine that means nearly every operator there is.

[RuthC]

I agree with Jim's assessment. There are many places in the world that have few resources for tourists.

It's common practice with cruiselines to include in the tour company's contract a clause that prohibits them from taking the ship's passengers on private tours the day the ship's passengers are on tour.

Really, you can't blame them for that.

[kryos]

I agree with Jim's assessment. There are many places in the world that have few resources for tourists.

It's common practice with cruiselines to include in the tour company's contract a clause that prohibits them from taking the ship's passengers on private tours the day the ship's passengers are on tour.

Really, you can't blame them for that.

It also depends on how many operators are available for certain types of tours. If there are only maybe two operators doing say a wave runner excursion, the cruiseline may very well charter out them both, leaving passengers with a choice ... pay the cruise line price for the tour (inflated) or don't do the tour. Simple as that. We had the same sort of thing in Maui last January ... a rather large port. Pacific Whale Foundation ran a very nice snorkel tour. They also ran whale watch tours as well. Well, apparently HAL booked out the Foundation's snorkel boats ... leaving passengers no options other than HAL for that tour. They could take one of the whale watching tours independently if they wanted to ... but there was no snorkeling on that tour.

 

Sadly, there is nothing you can do about this practice. It's called power of size. HAL has the passenger complement on most of their ships to book out the best tours, leaving independent folks with few options unless they are willing to do a ship's tour. They also have the power ... especially when they are giving the tour operator tons of business ... to place a clause in their contract with the operator stating that the operator cannot book anyone independently when they are coming from a cruise ship on that day. If that operator likes the "guaranteed" income he gets from HAL on a regular basis, he will agree to and honor that clause. He will simply turn down people trying to book independently even if he has extra slots available on his tour that day. I've heard of this happening with flightseeing operators. They won't take independent bookings from cruise ship passengers, and you basically have to lie and say you are staying in a local hotel in order to get a booking for that day.

 

I guess I can't really blame HAL. After all, they are in business to make money and that's exactly what they are going to do ... especially since there are plenty of passengers on most sailings that would rather not bother booking independently and don't mind paying extra to have the cruise line arrange and take care of everything.

 

Guess my only advice here is to "deal with it," or simply do an independent tour of another type that HAL hasn't chartered out.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[eldercruser]

We ran into a similar situation on the Rotterdam last summer when we stopped in Guernsey. There is a limited number of tour buses, drivers and guides available and HAL had essentially booked them all to cover their tours.

[Grumpy1]

Walvis Bay, Namibia? We've been there. It's a pretty small port and very little to offer other than sand dunes. How many tour operaters can they possibly support?... Well, probably a few more now that Brangelina have brought the country to the attention of the world... but I can see how a moderate sized cruise ship would tie up every available resource there.

 

As to the business practice of exclusive use of a company's resources... it just about has to be that way. HAL has a considerable expense in putting packages together, publishing information, processing the orders, etc... and don't forget the liability insurance that HAL would have to have, over and above what the tour operator has. Their price has to be higher than it would be for a walkup customer. Shore excursions are a profit center and the more they make on them, the easier it is to hold down the price of the cruise.

 

In larger ports you have a choice. Go with HAL and pay more or find your own tour and pay less... sometimes getting more. In small ports, your only alternative might be to hire a taxi for the day... if you can find one with a driver that speaks your language. As long as HAL's customers provide the demand for HAL sponsored shore excursions the practices will continue. Can you imagine what would happen to HAL's bookings if they announced that they were no longer booking shore excursions and all ports were "do it yourself"? For CC members that are used to navigating the internet and doing things for ourselves, we could adapt. Others, that have no clue about how to shop and purchase through the internet would have to go through their travel agents... who would soon see the opportunity to take over the advance bookings, exclusive contracts, etc... and the cycle would continue with different players.

[Navy_Chief]

Guernsey is such a small place this doesn't surprise me. I had planned on a "self tour" there but the port was cancelled at the last minute dur to weather (and even though we may have been a bit disappointed for it it was no big deal) the crew picked right up and came up with an "at sea" schedule. Back to the point.....Jim is right, you pull into a small place with not many options, prices tend to get driven up (supply and demand) therefore, shore excurion costs to HAL are up. If you don't want to sail HAL because of this and you want to blame them for it, that of course, is your option. I've looked at shore excursions at other "popular" ports and found that HAL's markup over the cost outside if I were to "do it myself" really was not that much more. My question here is, what do Crystal and Regent charge for the same tours in Namibia? Lets compare Apples to Apples here, not what all of these other shore excursions cost.

[howndder]

There's a great deal to be said to the responses you have mentioned. I will rethink my opinion regarding Hollands shore excursion pricing. I am taking this trip as neither of the other lines are offering close to this itinerary. I have always loved Holland but was getting tired of the nickel and diming that was occurring over the last several years. My research on shore excursions for Namibia has shown that if they were available they would have been about $50.00 less than Holland. If only one person is involved this isn't that bad. But, when you are a group of 4 it doesn't pay to use the cruise lines choices.

 

we and our friends have decided to take our chances on a taxi upon arrival and get to the places that interest us and then just walk around the towns that we dock in.

 

My thanks again to all of you for your help

 

howndder

[Navy_Chief]

Just for the record, both Crystal and HAL charge the same prices for the quick comparison on a Can/NE cruise. I compaired prices in Bar Harbor and Halifax and they are roughly the same.