Ever wonder why Princess excursions are so costly?

[DrivesLikeMario]

Also, he was not allowed to have any independent customers take his tour on certain days (the days a ship was in port).

 

I don't know about Princess, but Carnival does that a lot - if a tour operator that Carnival contracts with takes other passengers that booked independently and not through the cruise line, that tour operator will have his contract cancelled immediately and will not be offered another one in the future. The impression I got when I heard this was that the cruise line's business tactics were a bit high-handed.

[Toto2Kansas]

I do know the tour operators have a minimum number that must be booked from the ship. We have had several ships tours cancelled over the years for lack of participation (minimum number not booked).

 

And remember all, this was a tour operator in the Caribbean we spoke with, it could be a bit different in other areas of the world. ;)

[LIMPIT]

After researching a activity in Bonaire recently in advance to my visit, I contacted the company to make a booking after seeing the price advertised on their web site, when I mistakenly informed the company that I was on a Princess cruise, they informed me that I would have to book via Princess, because they had a "agreement" not to sell to Princess customers directly.

So I looked up the excursion on the Princess site, and you guessed it, it was approx 30% more expensive !

I went back to the company to complain and inform them how unfair this was, but they sent a reply apologising, but their explanation was that they had no control over the selling price from Princess.

As a matter of principle, I did not book this trip, even though I really wanted to carry out this activity.

I have not published the name and activity to protect their interests.

 

Lee

[Cruisin Bob]

H Folks,

 

As one that books a mix of tours depending on risk,

 

having been held up on highways due to accidents,

 

broken down buses

 

rough seas,

 

it is very nice to return late eg last to board and find the ship still waiting,

 

even nicer to know that if we were to miss the ship we are in the hands

 

of Princess to look after us, get us to the ship or the next port.

 

Risk, is distance from ship, local set up, is there a railway or air port etc

 

 

 

yours Shogun

 

Most places people shop they are paying 2 to 4 times wholesale prices of goods depending on what you are buying.

 

How much do you think Princess is making on that drink you paid $8 for?

 

50% seems about right and that is why I book my own excursions. It is not outrageous and is common in business, that is why I try to rely on myself when I can and not a cruise line for excursions.

[Woodmnky]

I doubt that Princess doubles their cost on ALL excursions or else they would be completely pricing themselves out of the market. If it were widely known that the same excursion that Princess is charging $150 for could easily be gotten for only $75 nobody would be booking Princess excursions.quote]

I think that Princess banks on the fact that these things are not widely known. Those of us on CC tend to make a hobby of doing our cruise research, but there are many people out there than book, sail and pick out there excursions onboard.

I agree with others that have said that there is a lot more than just price that goes into my decision as to whether to book independantly or via Princess. To date I have booked half directly and half independently depending on the situation.

[Pam in CA]

After researching a activity in Bonaire recently in advance to my visit, I contacted the company to make a booking after seeing the price advertised on their web site, when I mistakenly informed the company that I was on a Princess cruise, they informed me that I would have to book via Princess, because they had a "agreement" not to sell to Princess customers directly.

So I looked up the excursion on the Princess site, and you guessed it, it was approx 30% more expensive !

I went back to the company to complain and inform them how unfair this was, but they sent a reply apologising, but their explanation was that they had no control over the selling price from Princess.

As a matter of principle, I did not book this trip, even though I really wanted to carry out this activity.

I have not published the name and activity to protect their interests.

It doesn't matter what the name is or who they are. I'm amazed that you were incensed by this and felt the need to complain about a standard business practice. Not sure what "principle" you mean but just about everything you purchase in a supermarket, department store, tickets to movies or shows online, etc. etc. has gone through at least one or more middlemen who have tacked on a fee for doing business. All of the cruiselines do the same thing, i.e., provide tours as a service for their passengers and while doing that, include guarantees and perks such as first disembarkation on a tender. They have all of the information on the tour and make all of the bookings and arrangements; the tour operator just needs to know how many are showing up, relieving them of that. Having an exclusive in a contract isn't at all unreasonable so I don't understand why you have a problem with it. Everyone benefits: the cruiseline because they are able to offer the tour to passengers with a minimum of fuss and the tour operators because they almost always make money and don't have to have the office staff to take bookings and handle the money.

[davidnsteph]

We usually book tours through Princess, with a few exceptions, and we've always known that there is a markup in price. But we agree with what several posters have stated. The ship's personnel will know where we are, and will hold the ship if necessary. This actually happened to us in Isla Margarita, Venezuela. The tour arrived 30-45 minutes after sailaway at the dock. We quickly boarded, and off we went to the next port.:)

 

DavidnSteph

[Pam in CA]

We usually book tours through Princess, with a few exceptions, and we've always known that there is a markup in price. But we agree with what several posters have stated. The ship's personnel will know where we are, and will hold the ship if necessary. This actually happened to us in Isla Margarita, Venezuela. The tour arrived 30-45 minutes after sailaway at the dock. We quickly boarded, and off we went to the next port.:)

One of the times I was at Isla Margarita, four passengers went off on their own and weren't back on the ship on time, which left them behind. This is not some place where you would want to be stuck since there are only a few flights a week between Isla Margarita (at least there were just a few when we were there) and Caracas. There were no flights elsewhere. This was our last port before going through the Panama Canal and on to Acapulco for disembarkation. There were no other ports in-between. Have no idea what happened to them but I suspect it was a very costly beach day.

[pbaglivi]

A few years back, we were visiting Stirling castle in Scotland. When it was time to leave the bus would not start. The location is a considerable distance to the port. By the time we got back on the road and to the ship, we were well past departure time. However the ship waited for us. Had that been a private tour you could well have kissed that ship goodbye and I know the next port was not in Scotland.

[Nancyquilts]

And when the ship's tours take you to the "approved" stores, I wonder what the kickback is on purchases there? Thanks for starting the thread, Toto.

[Cruisin Bob]

And when the ship's tours take you to the "approved" stores, I wonder what the kickback is on purchases there? Thanks for starting the thread, Toto.

 

The independent tours get a kick back also. This is a separate issue and problem with all tours Princess or independent.

[gertz]

We usually book tours through Princess, with a few exceptions, and we've always known that there is a markup in price. But we agree with what several posters have stated. The ship's personnel will know where we are, and will hold the ship if necessary. This actually happened to us in Isla Margarita, Venezuela. The tour arrived 30-45 minutes after sailaway at the dock. We quickly boarded, and off we went to the next port.:)

 

DavidnSteph

 

We agree with this.

One of the times I was at Isla Margarita, four passengers went off on their own and weren't back on the ship on time, which left them behind. This is not some place where you would want to be stuck since there are only a few flights a week between Isla Margarita (at least there were just a few when we were there) and Caracas. There were no flights elsewhere. This was our last port before going through the Panama Canal and on to Acapulco for disembarkation. There were no other ports in-between. Have no idea what happened to them but I suspect it was a very costly beach day.

 

And we agree with Pam. We have been to the port for Caracas and did a Princess all day excursion tour. For anyone who has been to Caracas how would you like to be left behind there?

First rule never miss the ship nothing else counts.

Jack

for

[jean s]

We were on an Alaskan cruise on Princess and one couple had a pretty serious accident in an off road vehicle. Another vehicle broke down. We were delayed getting back to the ship by a couple of hours because of the accident. The tour was booked through Princess and the Coral was right there waiting for us when we got back. Cruise personnel including the ship's doctor and nurse were waiting for us when we boarded to make sure everyone was ok.

[Toto2Kansas]

How we usually handle booking tours. First time in a certain port or country, we will normally book ships tours just to get the feel for the place we are visiting. Second time and other visits, we look into private excursions, if there are any available to where we want to go.

 

Many times the excursions we are interested in are 'locked in' to the cruise line and there isn't anything else available to us, so we definitely book Princess excursions.

 

Also, when wanting to join others we are traveling with or possibly join those from our roll call, we will again book excursions through the ship.

 

It's a toss up with us, it all depends on the country and port we are visiting.

 

I do agree though, booking through the ship is safer if something should happen.

I knew the ship took part of the excursion price, I just never realized it was half, so it was a bit shocking to me. In this day and age though, nothing should really shock me, especially when it comes to prices. :) :)

[Ratdoggie]

I'm finding the information on this post very interesting. I am cruising with Princess in March and my family has booked two excursions. For one excursion we are paying about the same as if we had booked independently. On another we are paying a slightly higher rate, but feel that the security of knowing that the transportation is taken care of and that the ship will wait if we get back late is worth the extra price.

 

HOWEVER, at one of our stops we found that we could do what we had in mind for a mere fraction of the Princess price and we would not have to venture far from the ship. So we are doing everything on our own at this port.

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it pays to do your homework!

[diversteve]

Just a comment about one type of tour that is not ridiculously priced - the scuba trips. We have been diving for 25 years. Recently we have gotten more lazy and love to do our diving from cruises. A 2 tank dive in the caribbean with Princess this winter was about $110 per person. A similar dive booked independently would cost about 75-80 dollars. It is worth it to me.

 

Steve

[monakayk]

ITA, Toto. That is why we have ONLY booked 2 excursions through the ships on all our cruises so far. And we only had to do that then, because the tours we wanted were not offered privately. We always try to book independently and have enjoyed our tours extremely.

 

Thanks for this info, even though it really didn't surprise me at all that Princess took 50% cut.

[Posaune]

One thing to remember in all of this, the actual cruise is very reasonable and the cruise lines need to make some money somewhere!

 

On our British cruise a few years ago our bus broke down in the Orkneys on a Princess tour. They waited for us. It would have been very expensive and extremely difficult to get from the Orkneys to the next port if we had been on an independent tour.

 

On most of the Princess tours we have taken there has been a crew member along to take care of things if something goes wrong. On several occasions they have had to jump into action with a sick or injured passenger. (or in one case a just plain difficult passenger)

 

If there is a risk factor involved, be it danger or just a difficult port I go with the ship tour, otherwise I go independent.

[chasinraynbowz]

My DH booked a Helmet Dive in Cozumel thru Princess on our Ruby cruise. While chatting with the tour operator, the guy asked how much he paid Princess for the dive. We paid $99. The tour operator said that if he normally charges $69. So, at least in this instance, the price was not that unreasonable.

[landnsea]

Two years ago we did the Venice to Ft. Lauderdale trans-atlantic onboard The Emerald Princess, our best vacation ever,the joy we had will be with us for a lifetime.

 

For Rome we booked one of the elite cruise tours with Princess,

Colliseum,Vatican,Trivia Foutain and lunch,this tour was VERY expensive over a thousand dollars for the three of us ,something like 485 each and 350 for our three year old daughter, it was nice spending the day with a small group in our own tour bus,.....however

 

Heres our eye opening story, A Vatican guard saw the we had an entrance ticket for our daughter, that our tour guide had given to everyone in our group as we were entering, the guard walks over to our tour guide and starts talking to him in Italian, both started to have a very loud conversation,three more Vatican guards come over, it was quite a seen, he was explaining himself to the guards all were yelling and arguing, our tour guide comes over to our group and tells us that we are not going to be allowed entrance untill he refunds our daughters entrance fare as children under five are free of charge, that he would be right back as he was going to go take care of it, he left with the guards and about 15 mins later he came back,did not say a word other then o.k lets go.

 

So long story short, Princess charged us 350.00 for are daughter when entrance to both The Vatican and Colliseum were free of charge for children five and under.

 

As our tour ended and we were leaving back to the ship our tour guide pulled us aside and told us to explain to the tour office onboard what had happened and that his tour office would be in connect with the ship as well, three days later we recieved a letter from the tour office letting us know that our daughters fare for the tour had been removed from our ship board account.

 

So with all that, No we are not fans of booking tours onboard with the cruise line,we still do, but have also started booking outside the cruise line as well,we hope this story will help others with small children.

 

John,Laura and Gaby

Seattle,Wa.

[Woobstr112G]

My question was whether they assume responsibility for your safety while on their excursion on foreign soil? If something goes wrong do they take full responsibility? I know many resorts and cruise lines use some kind of scare attics to get their bookings, which makes sense. With a few minutes of research, doing a trip on your own can be ten times more rewarding, especially when traveling a short distance from port. They feed on some passengers insecurities. Sometimes the same guy or company the ship uses for the excursion, is available the next day for a private tour. I don't care for cruise sponsored excursions because I don't care to show up with a bus load of tourists with locals harping to separate me from my few pennies. My goal is to put a bit of distance between me and the port as soon as possible. I am more into seeing what makes a place unique and different, which is usually away from the tourist zone.

 

I agree with Billet......It's a business...They have costs...You know going in that the line's excursions are more expensive (usually) than private. If you dont like the cruise line, don't use it.....

 

Bob

 

Diamond Princess Aus/NZ 01/09

Emerald Princess Med/Trans Atlantic 10/08

Celebrity Constellation British Isles/Norway 07/06

Celebrity Summit Alaska Repositioning 05/05

Celebrity Summit Panama Canal 10/02

Rhapsody Of The Seas Alaska 09/01

Spledour Of The Seas Baltic 09/99

HAL Veendam Eastern Caribbean 07/96

Carnival Holiday Western Carribean 07/93

[cruisemom42]

The markup may seem reasonable on some tours, particularly in the Caribbean or Mexico where things are cheaper. But when you start adding that markup to some of the excursions offered in Europe, it really beggars the imagination (as well as the purse). The example given about the Egypt overnight is one of the steepest and can be done so much cheaper with reputable local agencies. Also, in Europe you can do things on your own using public transportation that is very reliable. I'm not the kind that's going to do a 4WD adventure or kayaking.....so I'm not too worried about some accident that will keep me from getting back to the ship.

 

My parents are veteran cruisers and they always book shore excursions through the cruise line. For the extra price they have paid through the years, they could easily get themselves to the next port two or three times over! I no longer argue the point with them because they are really beyond doing it on their own. But if I can do something under my own steam, or split the costs of a private tour, I will do it whenever possible.

[Gator83]

I doubt that Princess doubles their cost on ALL excursions or else they would be completely pricing themselves out of the market. If it were widely known that the same excursion that Princess is charging $150 for could easily be gotten for only $75 nobody would be booking Princess excursions. It may be that the tour operator quotes Princess a lower price than they charge for the public and Princess doubles that price. Also, my personal experience when checking independent tours vs. Princess tours has been nowhere near such difference in pricing. I would have to say the Princess is usually $20-40 more than a comparable excursion that is in the $100-200 range. For example, we are booked with Orca Enterprises for the whale watching in Juneau for our cruise in June. Orca's price is $120 and the comparable Princess whale watching excursion is $149. If I were on a tight schedule in port that $29 difference would be worth it to be sure the ship didn't sail without me.

 

Also, the one time I had an absolutely horrible Princess sponsored excursion they refunded the entire cost of the excursion. Of course, it could have been because they were inundated with probably at least a hundred complaints about that excursion since I know there were at least 14 busses for that tour and I heard complaints from people on many different busses.

 

 

I have also not seen that much of a difference on independent tours that I have gone on recently or looked into. That is not saying it doesn't happen on some but I have never seen that much of a difference. I also would not believe what one person quoted on how much princess marks up the cost. I would need to hear it from a lot more tour companies.

[vjmatty]

For us too it is a calculated decision. On our recent Mediterranean cruise I did not book ship's excursions in any Greek ports. I speak the language, had been to many of the islands before and there are many flights between ports in case we were held up for some reason. Plus there is no PVSA fine to worry about when you have NO ports in the US :D We ended up renting a car in the Greek ports, except Athens where we actually took the Metro all over the city.

 

On the other hand, in Egypt, Turkey and Italy we booked ship excursions since I didn't want to worry about getting lost or not being fluent in the language. All in all it worked out well for us.

 

In April we are sailing to Hawaii and with the exception of our morning in Maui we are only doing private tours or renting cars. Some of the ship's excursions, like hiking Diamond Head Crater, are way overpriced and feel silly to book because we have a 12 hour port day and the Crater is only a few miles away. Same with the helicopter tours... the ship excursion is $300 per person when they cost half that much independently. And some of the heli companies actually pick you up at the pier, so the ship isn't doing you many favors.

 

It really depends on time and distance for the most part when you are talking about ports where language isn't an issue.

[readytogo2]

We always book through Princess, my wife says it's for peace of mind. One time I talked her into a private tour. We with other people boarded the shuttle bus and we were on our way, after we reached the top of some mountain

(with a cliff), the driver abruptly stopped the bus, turned off the engine and in a unfriendly tone, demanded our payment in full and mentioned a nice tip. Needless to say, now I let her book every excursion through Princess:o