Has anyone formally complained about a ship sponsored shore exursion?

[Palm_trees]

Being a regular cruiser I have been on my share of shore excursions. Some good, most average but a few terrible. In all cases when the shore exursion was bad I mentioned it to a few friends on the ship and put my feelings on the ship survey but never followed through with ships personnel. I just struck it up to experience.

 

Now that the costs of ship sponsored shore excursions have gone up so high I wonder if I should formally complain if the shore exursion does not go so well. Has anyone complained successfully about a terribly run shore exursion and got any satisfaction? Tell us your stories!

[Sam The Cat]

My GF and I went on a cruise a couple of years ago on NCL and booked a walking tour of Miami stopping at a few places for a drink. According to the the write up we were suppose to be given a short history of the area that we visited however the tour guide spent most of the time talking on his cell phone and some of the places that we stopped at acted like thy were not expecting us.

 

When we return to the ship and was making tour reservations for our next stop we mentioned that we were disappointed with the pub crawl and told them of what we experance. We were not looking for any rembursement but just want the people to know our experance. 1/2 of the tour was refunded to us and we received a note thanking us for brining this to their attention.

[heatherandfred]

I've never had a problem with any excursion whatsoever. I'm happy to be on vacation and if something goes wrong, my world doesn't collapse. If I feel that I could have been endangered, yes, I would complain. If it's something not under my control, eh, who cares.

 

E.G. Grand Turk, dune buggy excursion. One of the buggies ran out of gas and we almost missed the ship, but since it was a ship run excursion, we made it. It was fun and crazy and hilarious to see 10 buggies racing back to the ship, while being chased by a pack of dogs, trying to avoid cows and mules and horses in the road. I had a ball and a half. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

[Spikesgirl]

We've never had a tour go horribly wrong, but some have moved more smoothly than others. We usually cruise with Princess and have beenon more than one Princess excursions (several in fact) in which a uniformed crew rep is with us. We have also had a few with un-uniform reps, checking to make sure the tour is stopping where it's supposed to, treating its passengers right, etc. That might be why we've not had major problems.

 

However, on the last day, we carefully and thoughtfully prepare the survey, listing both bad and good. We have been told that the surveys are read and considered. If we were to have a turly horrific excursion, however, we would let the purser know, not, as your say for recompensation, but as a matter of info. They need to know so they can fix it. Coming back and complaining here about it doesn't really do that much good, even though some cruiselines actually have employees who read these threads.

 

Charlie

[eh2zed]

Palm trees, don't worry about the flamers. You make a good point. You should mention to Shorex staff any significant problems. Things within the control of the operator; not just inconveniences. Things like missing attractions for no apparent reason, guide issues, etc. This is how the line knows whose excursions to retain.

[graf103]

Last year on the Freedom, we had an okay time on a shore excusion in Cozumel and we found out later that you can fill out a survey about the tour...just go to Guest Relations and ask for the form and fill it out.

[TravlGrl]

PalmTrees -- Just ignore the negative folks who complain because people simply ask questions. This is a place for asking questions, whether everyone likes your question or not.

 

On our first cruise (our favorite so far!) we had 5 ports of call and 5 shipped-sponsored shore excursions. One of them went bad. Nutshell version --

 

It was to be a snorkel trip to Pinel Island, however, the "boat operators" (people who were to transport us onto small boats to get us out to the island area) were on strike. Because of that, the tour operator decided to take us to a different area, and admittedly had never snorkeled this other area but had wanted to try it. Pinel Island had been known for snorkeling, so we were disappointed, but no big deal. When we got to the replacement place, it wasn't nearly suitable for snorkeling. There was coral that was about 4-5' below the water surface, with waves crashing at the same time. The danger in this was that because of the water conditions, the waves were pushing us into the coral. Not safe! There were 19 of us, and 30 minutes into it, 18 out of 19 people had swum back to shore. I was the last one out there with the guide, just hoping I would see something sooooo cool that the risk of cutting up my body on the coral would have been worth it. The guide and I gave up.

 

Out of 19 of us, 11 of us complained to the RCCL Shore Excursions desk immediately upon arrival back to the ship. We each received 50% off this particular shore excursion, and we were happy with that. I didn't ask for 100% off because the trip also included a tour and shopping, and those went as planned.

 

I guess that really wasn't much of a nutshell was it? LOL We clearly did not receive what we had paid for, and there was nothing subjective about it. RCCL agreed.

[Rjbobalou]

We were on a Celebrity excursion in Curacao and got all our money refunded.

It was a disaster from the beginning of the tour.We had 8 people in the group

and we all registered our complaint as soon as we got back to the ship.We received our refund three days later on our ship board account.

[franu]

As was said there are some better and some worse excursions. It is like everything in life. I have only complained about one excursion in Brazil. The guide could barely speak English, and I mean barely, He too was on his cell phone most of the time and wandering off in dangerous areas.

 

I had never complained about an excursion before and I sail the same ship repeatedly. I was only giving the excursions director a review but the next day I received a full refund after so many people complained too.

Fran

[Amlee]

I have one time. It was in St. Lucia and I was on the Disney Wonder.

 

The excursion was listed as Mild with light walking. Since I was in a body brace, I was very limited on what I could do. When I found the St. Lucia volcano and rain forest tour was mild with light walking, I jumped at it. It also included a lunch stop. The rain forest wasn't that bad, as it was paved. But it had extremely uneven ground. I saw alot of walkers and cane's being used and people weren't happy.

 

We get to the volcano and there are stairs alot of stairs. But what got me was that the buses dropped us off at the crater, but then went back down. It was only afterward were we told that we had to walk about the length of a football field down hill and then up hill(both steep) to the buses. I was walking with a women who's husband was a heart patient and she was NOT happy.

 

Now this has been the only time I have ever brought food off the ship with me. But the night before I ordered a pizza from room service, stuffed it in a baggie and brought it with me. Why I did it I don't know. But man oh man was I happy that I did!! We get to the "lunch" stop and it's straight down a steep set of stairs. We were given 2 chicken wings, stale bread, a dried carrot stick, a dried celery stick, and hot lemonade. Talk about some upset people. One older couple couldn't even make it down the stairs. The bus that pulled in before us, when they went to get back on the bus the A/C had died. It went from being a G rated excursion to a not so G rated excursion.

 

I did let the cruise line know as soon as I got back on board. I wasn't looking for anything back. Didn't ask nor was anything offered. But I did know that the ship was coming back in the next few days and that the the Mild needed to be changed. I also know several others complained.

[readboat]

We went on an excursion in Barcelona. The cruise director got off the bus at the first attraction. There were a few elderly people with canes on the bus so we let them go ahead of us and helped them down. When the last one was off we couldn't find the first group with the tour guide.

She moved so fast and she didn't check to see if everyone was together.

Need less to say we spent our time looking for the group not seeing the attractions. We managed to find the bus (it was not where we were told it would be). She was very rude when we suggested that she give a little consideration to the whole group.

When we arrived back at the ship I told the purser exactly what happened and they reimbursed 50% of the cost.

[Sprocket]

It was on a Fort Lauderdale city tour, first the tour guide did nothing but ask for tips, "for the driver" Buses apparently are not allowed on residential streets but she forced the driver onto one that had a fountain in the middle of the road, to her credit it only took her about 20 minutes to maneuver that big bus out of there. All I could think about was if I was now going to miss my flight out of Miami.

 

For some reason she had it in for a prominent businessman in Fort Lauderdale and everytime we passed a business owned by him or saw his name on a billboard, she very clearly let us know how she felt about him.

Very unprofessional.

 

On boarding she informed us multiple times she had MS, but not to tip her out of pity, but also not to forget to tip the bus driver. I tipped the poor driver.

 

I called Hal after I got home and they refunded the tour completely.

[45014]

Last year on the Freedom, we had an okay time on a shore excusion in Cozumel and we found out later that you can fill out a survey about the tour...just go to Guest Relations and ask for the form and fill it out.

 

 

We will be on the Freedom in about 48 days (stopping in Cozumel) and am wondering which excursion that you were on that was just OK?

[cruiserbryce]

I have been lucky enough to not need to do it yet...but I think the Guest Services desk or C&A emails would be great way to lodge formal complaints if there have been issues with excursions..

[cruiserbryce]

I have been lucky enough to not need to do it yet...but I think the Guest Services desk or C&A emails would be great way to lodge formal complaints if there have been issues with excursions..

[10X]

We once complained about a bad excursion, as did several other people in our group. We received a full refund of the cost. I think the cruise lines monitor this pretty close and will drop tour operators who can't supply a good product. The last thing they need is several hundred unhappy cruisers every time they visit that port. It's easier to drop the tour operator and find someone who can deliver.

[ozgirl96]

We had missed snorkeling in Barbados the day before (canceled because of weather), so we signed up for the See Antigua by Sea - a very expensive tour around the island, lunch, and 3 hours of beach time. The tour, lunch, and catamaran were very nice; however, we did not get 3 hours of beach time. When the captain announced we would have 1 hour of beach time and snorkeling time, we questioned him. They didn't know it was supposed to be 3 hours and said that wasn't possible. They wanted to see our paperwork (which we didn't have). We left that beach and then later stopped at another beach for 20 minutes. Regardless, this wasn't 3 hours of beach time. I know it sounds minor, but we still wanted to let the shore excursion desk know. They said they would "check into it." The next day they still hadn't "checked into it" but said we would have a response that night. That night we still didn't hear back, but the purser desk told us to come back the next morning before we debarked to meet with the shore excursion manager. We went there at the assigned desk and the manager clearly had no idea we were coming. He went back to the office, and then came back. He flat out told us that the catamaran company said we were given about 2.5 hours of beach time and since no one else complained they (Carnival) didn't really have anything to talk to us about. I said something to the effect of "Do you think we're lying?" And, the manager said basically they have to give their companies the benefit of the doubt. At no time did we ask for a refund; we really just wanted an acknowledgment/apology. I then wrote a letter of complaint to Carnival/my personal vacation planner, and I was offered a $25 OBC for our next cruise. However, we decided and made it clear that we were going to try Royal Caribbean for our next cruise.

[CPT Trips]

Had a horrible experience with a Carnival excursion to the ruins in Belize. The air conitioning on the bus did not work when the engine was under load and the windows didn't open. DW got heat stroke, passed out and needed most of the time at the ruins to recover.

Shore excursion desk doubted/denied there was such a problem . . . "...the operator had not reported it." Fortunately, we met a few people who went to the shore ex desk to verify the experience. The made it up with 1/2 credit . . . inadequate in my opinion. We only got a canned response to my letter sent once we were home . . . "sorry your trip didn't meet expectations, our operator says there wasn't a problem and we already credited you."

So much for ship's tours being assured quality.

[JPNROB]

On our first cruise on Carnival Liberty two years ago, we went on the Jungle Beach Excursion in Costa Maya. I think it was $75pp. We got on big gold-colored busses and raced thru the "jungle" at what seemed like 60mph on a one lane snake-like road. To this day I still have scars on my arm, from where my DW was holding on to me.;) Ended up at a beach about an hour away. Lines for the bar were extremely long and if you wanted any alcohol in your drink make sure you "tippy-tippy in jar". what a racket. the kids rented a kayak for the day, and the "attendants" kept pestering them if they were through using it. When we got back on ship the DW complained to the "excursion desk" but nothing happened except "Sorry". When we got home she sent a letter and e-mails to Carnival, but never recieved a response. Now I book my own excursions.

[chasetf]

Many years ago we took a tour in St Thomas. The driver was surely... but was also having overheating problems with his van. He wanted to dump us all in town and not take us back to the ship as the tour specified. A number of us that wanted to go back to the ship complained to him and told him it was his responsibility to get us back (or to get one of his comrades if he felt his van would not make it). He reluctantly took us back.

 

When we returned to the ship we went to the Purser desk to file a complaint. We were told a number of other passengers had also filed complaints and they would take action. WE were satisified they would remedy the situation with his company.

[momofmeg]

Being a regular cruiser I have been on my share of shore excursions. Some good, most average but a few terrible. In all cases when the shore exursion was bad I mentioned it to a few friends on the ship and put my feelings on the ship survey but never followed through with ships personnel. I just struck it up to experience.

 

Now that the costs of ship sponsored shore excursions have gone up so high I wonder if I should formally complain if the shore exursion does not go so well. Has anyone complained successfully about a terribly run shore exursion and got any satisfaction? Tell us your stories!

 

That is WHY you fill out the surveys. Enough complaints and the line no longer uses the vender-so you DID what you were supposed to do.

[notentirelynormal]

The worst one for me was in San Juan many years ago. We had a horse back riding excursion and these horses were practically dead. One tripped going through a 3 inch deep stream and almost fell. There was a young girl riding her and it was scary. My husband had to change horses 3 times until they found one that could walk without limping. It was disgusting. It was all those poor horses could do to walk the trail and drop us off. Once back on the ship I told the excursion desk and then followed it up with a letter to Princess (this was pre-email times).

[Doug R.]

Palm trees, don't worry about the flamers. You make a good point. You should mention to Shorex staff any significant problems. Things within the control of the operator; not just inconveniences. Things like missing attractions for no apparent reason, guide issues, etc. This is how the line knows whose excursions to retain.

This now my third time scanning this thread and I see no flames prior to this message so you have me scratching my head?

 

Be that as it may, we formally complained about a tour on St Lucia that was a combination bus/catamaran tour. Among the highlights:

 

-The bus was an ancient Japanese retired transit bus that broke down numerous times while trying to climb the mountain road.

-At one stop our guide had to comandeer two other buses to get us to the next stop.

-The catamaran was dangerously overloaded and no instructions on where the lifejackets, if any, were stowed.

-The "placid beach" that was advertised had one hell of a rip current and the most agressive navy of peddlers on kayaks that I have ever seen.

 

We really expected nothing but got a call from the tour desk agreeing to refund 40%, which we thought was more than fair. That was later upped to a complete refund, perhaps because of the volume of complaints.

[TravlGrl]

This now my third time scanning this thread and I see no flames prior to this message so you have me scratching my head?

 

Be that as it may, we formally complained about a tour on St Lucia that was a combination bus/catamaran tour. Among the highlights:

 

-The bus was an ancient Japanese retired transit bus that broke down numerous times while trying to climb the mountain road.

-At one stop our guide had to comandeer two other buses to get us to the next stop.

-The catamaran was dangerously overloaded and no instructions on where the lifejackets, if any, were stowed.

-The "placid beach" that was advertised had one hell of a rip current and the most agressive navy of peddlers on kayaks that I have ever seen.

 

We really expected nothing but got a call from the tour desk agreeing to refund 40%, which we thought was more than fair. That was later upped to a complete refund, perhaps because of the volume of complaints.

 

The flaming posts were removed. :)

[momofmeg]

The flaming posts were removed. :)

 

all you have to do is look at all the thread Plam trees has posted inthe last 5 days under their new name and then you get it. I do not why this person keeps posting under new names every couple of weeks and tries to stir up trouble here.

 

My guess isthey have never been on a crusie and are jealous of others cruising or else they had a very bad experience and so hopes to turn the world off crusing.