Has anyone formally complained about a ship sponsored shore exursion?

[geoherb]

We've been fortunate to have acceptable excursions through the cruise lines. We were on one to Pinel Island in St. Martin that disappointed some folks. The snorkeling there was not great, and the staff did not offer much in the way of instruction for beginners.

 

A couple who we ate dinner with later during the cruise were on the excursion. When we had dinner together, I found out they had complained and received a refund. We did not think there was enough reason to complain. It wasn't the best excursion, but we got basically what was promised.

 

On our most recent cruise, we were in St. Lucia and took the excursion similar to the one Amlee describes. Some people on our bus also complained that the fitness level of was higher than they anticipated. Princess calls this excursion a moderate one: "Although primarily sightseeing tours, these excursions do include walking for short distances over relatively level terrain." When we stopped at the volcano, to see it fully required walking up and down stairs. But some people decided to enjoy the view from the top. I don't think they missed a whole lot.

 

Some people on this excursion also complained that our tour guide promised us a complimentary rum punch during lunch. The restaurant the tour company usually used, however, was closed for a wedding. We ended up at another location. Lunch was delicious, but we had a choice between a lime drink and a tamarind lunch--neither one containing any alcohol.

 

I think it was our best excursion of this type ever. I'm hoping none of these people received any refund if they complained to the shore excursion desk.

[Amlee]

We've been fortunate to have acceptable excursions through the cruise lines. We were on one to Pinel Island in St. Martin that disappointed some folks. The snorkeling there was not great, and the staff did not offer much in the way of instruction for beginners.

 

A couple who we ate dinner with later during the cruise were on the excursion. When we had dinner together, I found out they had complained and received a refund. We did not think there was enough reason to complain. It wasn't the best excursion, but we got basically what was promised.

 

On our most recent cruise, we were in St. Lucia and took the excursion similar to the one Amlee describes. Some people on our bus also complained that the fitness level of was higher than they anticipated. Princess calls this excursion a moderate one: "Although primarily sightseeing tours, these excursions do include walking for short distances over relatively level terrain." When we stopped at the volcano, to see it fully required walking up and down stairs. But some people decided to enjoy the view from the top. I don't think they missed a whole lot.

 

Some people on this excursion also complained that our tour guide promised us a complimentary rum punch during lunch. The restaurant the tour company usually used, however, was closed for a wedding. We ended up at another location. Lunch was delicious, but we had a choice between a lime drink and a tamarind lunch--neither one containing any alcohol.

 

I think it was our best excursion of this type ever. I'm hoping none of these people received any refund if they complained to the shore excursion desk.

 

Princess has this listed right. It is a moderate excurison. But it is by no means a mild excurison as Disney had it listed. There were several on our bus who were not happy about it being listed wrong. You would have thought from their reaction that it ruined their whole 10 day cruise. For me it was the highlight of the cruise and I loved every minute of it. No, I wasn't able to walk to the rim. But I enjoyed it any way.

[Nliedel]

Someone posted here about a year ago about a Jamaica bike tour that sounded downright dangerous. I usually err on the side of the cruiselines, but in that case, I felt the tour operators were scary. I can't find that post. Dag-nabbit. I'm 0/2 today.

[Doug R.]

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.

 

 

Sounds like a personal feud to me.

[momofmeg]

Sounds like a personal feud to me.

 

Not really-not davidb

[loladuvall]

I did have one excursion that brought me to the Shore Excursion desk to complain. I wasn't really looking for compensation, but I thought that Royal Caribbean should know what was being offered was not as described.

 

I was on a "Hidden Rainforest Tour" on St. Martin. Things started off rocky when our bus didn't show up to take us to the rainforest. Luckily, one of the other busses hadn't left for their tour so we were able to hitch a ride. We, of course, had to drop the other group off at their tour first, so the transit time took a little longer than expected. I understood the situation and really wasn't upset by that. When we got to the "rainforest" our guide explained that the area was recently a plantation and nature had only recently started restoring the area to the rainforest it was supposed to be. It certainly wasn't the tropical rainforest we expected, but I did overlook that because we did learn some interesting history of the property.

 

This tour had the option of "with lunch" or "without lunch". The "without lunch" tour was supposed to be 1 hour shorter than the "with lunch" tour. I had opted for the "without lunch" because I was meeting some friends back on the ship for lunch. I had incorrectly assumed that if we didn't eat lunch we'd head back while the rest of the group stayed to eat. I was wrong. The group eating lunch had their meal in a shelter while the rest of us stood outside in the rain waiting. Finally, the tour also included what was supposed to be an optional drop off for shopping (transportation back on your own) or bus back to the ship. I was going to skip the shopping, but it turns out I had no choice. The bus made one shopping stop that was go shopping or sit on the bus for an hour and a second shopping stop that was an optional drop off before heading back to the ship.

 

So, basically my 2 hour Hidden Rainforest Tour took about 5 hours and there was really no rainforest. I did notify the shore excursion desk recommending that they change the description or coordinate with the tour operator to see what is really being offered. After I filled out the form that they gave us I was surprised to receive a 50% refund for both myself and my husband.