Ever wonder why Princess excursions are so costly?

[Pam in CA]

I have taken some terrific independent tours that were the best I've ever had. And, I've taken ship's tours when I've been very thankful that I was on the ship's tour.

 

On our tour from Casablanca to Marrakech, the cars in front of us and our tour bus were stopped by the military police and inspected. We were held up about 15 - 20 minutes, not awful but we were already half an hour late getting back to Casablanca due to traffic. We were the last bus to arrive, about an hour after sailaway, and were met by the shore excursion staff to make sure we were OK. The ship sailed as soon as we were onboard.

 

Just over a year ago, I was on a ship's tour to Cairo for the day. I felt fine as we left early in the morning but by the time we got to Cairo, I was feeling really sick. After lunch, which I didn't eat, and was back on the bus, I was violently ill in every way imaginable for the whole bus ride back -- all 3 1/2 hours. The Princess rep took care of me and when we arrived back at the dock, all of the buses were in convoy and arrived at the same time so he took my arm and rushed me ahead of everyone else to board ASAP. Without someone to help me, I don't know what would have happened as there was no way I could stand up for more than a few minutes at a time and the lines were at least 30 - 45 minutes long to get back onboard.

[DGSFlorida]

While many cruisers, particularly the "experts" from CC, delight in avoiding spending the money on ship's excursions, we have been on numerous cruises where the tables have been turned on the independent travelers.... for example. On a Canada/New England cruise with a stop in Newport, the ship's excursions were the only people who were able to visit Rough Point (the Doris Duke mansion) that day as it has a limited number of allowed visitors and was opened only for them. Also, we watched on a busy day where each of the more popular mansions had 2 lines in front of their main entrances, one to the left and one to the right of the front door. Only people were allowed to enter from the right-side line which was reserved for scheduled tours which included the bus tours coming from the ship's tours. The left-side line stretched all the way to the street and didn't move at all due to the maximum number of guests allowed into the mansion. I overheard even members of the Preservation Society not being allowed into the mansions. Later that evening at dinner, we met fellow cruisers who had attempted to visit the mansions on their own from the trolley and had spent the entire day waiting in lines without getting in. They were not happy campers! Obviously this is not something which happens often but it made the extra money spent on the ship's tour look like a bargain.

Frankly, my advice is to consider a ship's excursion in a port when it is a first visit, difficult to move about, possibly more dangerous than normal, or the likelihood of missing the ship is good. Considering the relative cost of the overall cruise and travel to get back and forth, it is false economy to worry about a few dollars extra in the cost of ship's excursions.

[kooljamming]

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

 

I am very careful not to mention if I am on a ship. A ship and a plane are means of transportation for me. Once I arrive to my destination, I don't want to be penalized because of how I got there. I do a lot of research before choosing excursions. I understand your frustration because without disclosing your mode of transportation, you would have gotten the lower price. You don't have to disclose if you are on a cruise or doing a land vacation. If a long commute is involved or you have concerns about the area then going with the ship is safer. Cabo whale watching with Princess for February is $69 but arranged privately is $35. Some others are more in-line so for the ease they are worth considering. Yep, I feel your pain and frustration.

[Putterdude]

We are venturing out a little more with independent tours but it depends where and what is involved. DW has MS and so we look for tours that don't require a lot of walking or physical effort, zip lines are out. One thing that we do appreciate in hot/humid countries is the quality of the buses on Princess sponsored excursions. Then of course there is the "peace of mind" card plus we know that DW is never going to have to run to catch the ship with a Princess tour.:)

[spongerob]

While many cruisers, particularly the "experts" from CC, delight in avoiding spending the money on ship's excursions, we have been on numerous cruises where the tables have been turned on the independent travelers....

Is "numerous" equal to "one"? We often book private tours with small groups or on our own and get to see things that cruise-ship tours can't get to because the groups are too large. Or, we get a better tour of the same sites. I'm willing to bet that some of the people who did their homework had been to the mansion before the ship's tours arrived.

 

Examples: Princess excursions do not visit Maes Howe (finest neolithic site in the world), and are so large that sites like Skara Brae and the stone circles in Orkney are overwhelmed. A private tour took us to all, ahead of the tour buses, and to things that others didn't get a chance to see.

 

Or, while some got to briefly visit City Hall in Belfast during a ceremonial day, we were escorted into a side door, viewed ancient documents and artifacts, met the Lord Mayor and Archbishop, had our photos taken, and were presented with lovely gifts to remember the occasion.

 

Or, a tour of the Scottish highlands that took us away from the crowded tourist sites. Or...or....or...I could go on but I'm starting to brag. I guess I didn't like the "experts" shot.

 

Princess tours are usually pretty good and we've been on some that we thoroughly enjoyed. Most of the time it's much more pleasant and rewarding to be on our own. And no, it's not ALWAYS cheaper, but usually it is.

[chasetf]

We too have heard directly from tour operators they get 50% of the ship's price. But....... you have to consider a couple of things.

 

First.... the ship / line is providing volume.......especially places like Hawaii or the Caribbean when some operators have a lock with the cruise line.

 

An independent or non-cruise line operator cannot depend of the volume... so they probably generally need to charge a higher price for exotic tours (flights or boats) ......which is why you see some post where folks say their independent was almost or approaching the ship's cost.

 

For those non-exotic independents... taxi drivers on the dock.... they do not have any overhead. So they can charge half what the ship tour are for a bus ride to the same place.... and still make money.

 

So sometimes you can get a better deal and other times maybe a much better deal. One thing we like about independents is you can tailor your tour instead of having to stay on the "crowd" schedule.

[vjmatty]

I am very careful not to mention if I am on a ship. A ship and a plane are means of transportation for me. Once I arrive to my destination, I don't want to be penalized because of how I got there. I do a lot of research before choosing excursions. I understand your frustration because without disclosing your mode of transportation, you would have gotten the lower price. You don't have to disclose if you are on a cruise or doing a land vacation. If a long commute is involved or you have concerns about the area then going with the ship is safer. Cabo whale watching with Princess for February is $69 but arranged privately is $35. Some others are more in-line so for the ease they are worth considering. Yep, I feel your pain and frustration.

 

Another thing that should be remembered is that ONLY the tour operator being booked by the ship is the one precluded from contracting independently with passengers. There are very few tour companies who are the only gig in town, in fact I have yet to see one that isn't also done by someone else. Also, attractions are open to everyone and they aren't going to stop you at the gate if you are from a cruise ship. This is also where renting a car comes in handy since you are not seeking transportation.

 

Bottom line, always do your homework before choosing any tour.

[NeurosurgeryNP]

THat is the case for any ship's tours - other lines included.

 

While we have booked our own tours independently, we do this only knowing that we have enough time with a large cushion of time to make the ship on time. If there is any question of time issue - we book through the ship.

[RichNY]

All the cruise lines overcharge for their excursions.....but Princess overcharges the most.....I heard this first hand from 2 tour operators in Alaska..:mad:

 

The same excursion...

NCL $159

RCCI $168

Princess $172

[Carol_Hill]

We were talking to a tour operator in the Caribbean last month. We had booked a snorkeling/water tour through Princess that was not very well attended, minimal passengers, so minimal in fact we were suprised the tour operator didn't cancel the tour.

 

We were discussing what Princess charges as their commission for selling the tours onboard, and we were 'told' that they keep 50% of the tour price and the tour operator gets the other 50%.

 

It explained a lot of things to us.

First of all, why the tours booked through the ship are so high in comparison to booking privately.

 

Second, on a couple of tours over the years, the tour was not as described and we voiced our displeasure after returning. No matter what happens with a tour, Princess usually will offer only a 50% refund. So, that explained to us that they will refund the tour operators portion to the passenger, but keep their 50% for selling the tour. or is that vice versa?

 

I knew they took their 'cut' for selling these tours, but I never realized that they were taking 50%, so it explained why these tours were sometimes outragious in price.

 

All the more reason for us to book independently and stay away from ships tours when we can.

 

 

Toto--I'm kind of surprised that you, and apparently a lot of other people, don't know how much Princess and ALL cruise lines, make off shore excursions. We know personally several companies that run shore excursions in St. Maarten/St. Martin, and 50% share for the cruise company is pretty standard, in addition to various requirements made by the cruise line, including a requirement they can't sell direct to people on the ship, etc. The cruise lines have small operators over a barrel head in many situations. Unless it is something REALLY specific that we can not get on our own, or unless it's somewhere far away from the ship--like a trip to Chichen Itza, for example--in the Caribbean, we never do ship tours. Even if the price through the tour operator is exactly the same, and not less, at least the local tour operator gets my money, as opposed to the cruise line.

[flamomo]

I will continue to book tours with Princess, because I know they thoroughly vet tour operators, and send ship's staff on tours anonymously to monitor that the tours are living up to Princess standards and providing tours as they are advertised.

I am not willing to risk my safety for a few dollars, by going with independent tour operators, where I won't know if their vehicles and drivers are safe. Independents can tell you what they think you want to hear, but who is checking on them to be sure they measure up from a safety standpoint?

[Woobstr112G]

I will continue to book tours with Princess, because I know they thoroughly vet tour operators, and send ship's staff on tours anonymously to monitor that the tours are living up to Princess standards and providing tours as they are advertised.

I am not willing to risk my safety for a few dollars, by going with independent tour operators, where I won't know if their vehicles and drivers are safe. Independents can tell you what they think you want to hear, but who is checking on them to be sure they measure up from a safety standpoint?

 

You have every right to continue to book with princess. Your points are very welll stated. My last two cruises I have booked private. I have only used recommended operators. Prior to booking anything, I do a bunch of homework. This includes surfing the web and the advice and imput of verk knowledgable CC board members.

 

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

[pmcrusta]

Don't always depend on the ship waiting...because...they do leave, even when your on a Princess tour. Some ports have schedules like airports. If another ship needs the berth. The ship has to leave, if the port cannot rearrange things to accommodate the ships. Princess will have to work getting you back to the ship, but the ship will pull away from the Pier, with or without you on it. Experienced it first hand, in South America about 6 years ago. I found it amusing when there was some that said, well it's a good thing we are on a Princess tour, the ship will still be there. There use to be some micro print in the Princess documents, that use to say if the ship has to go they will sail with or without you. It was a little annoying the way we finally had to get back on the ship, but we did finally get back on the ship via a tender. None of the people on that tour, even really complained, all that much. Everyone kind of took it in stride, like it was a "adventure". I think they gave us a free bottle of wine and a picture or something. But no one really cared. I guess in ports that cruise ships use with cargo type ships, is when this can take place. It may have all changed by now. But many on that tour learned to say never say "never". Just thought I'd my 2 cents worth.:rolleyes:

[Sauvignon]

It is outrageous that the sweeping statements made by the OP based on a single expereince could even begin to gain any credability. Indeed it has been disproven by some subsequent posters who have come up with a plethora of arbitary amounts for the 'mark up' that they have alledgedly suffered. The cruise lines can and should attach a reasonable mark up.

[rugbypopsie]

My two cents worth is it depends...where you are in the world. There are places where I absolutely wouldn't not take a private tour, due to safety or other such concerns.

 

In many other places there are established tourist information centres, New Zealand and Australia usually have these in all tourist areas. Their tours are thoroughly checked out totally safe and generally about half the cost of a ships tour. I have often found these operators are the same ones conducting the ships tour.

 

So if you pick a place where you are comfortable, do your research, use the internet and cruise critic for advice and give it a try.

 

On our upcoming trip we a doing a bit of both. However in Japan which is the highlight of the trip, we have arranged over the internet, volunteer tour guides through the local tourist association who volunteer totally free of charge to escort you..much like they do in New York. I am so looking forward to spending time with a local showing me around. In the case of Tokyo the guide is travelling down by train to meet our ship in Yokohama!

What a wonderful way to show off your country and extend the hand of friendship to a fellow traveller:)

 

See you all in Australia hopefully.

[woodofpine]

I travel with a family of 6 so a $15-25 pp savings per excursion per port adds up fast. I like the arm chair traveling and interaction with locals of booking my own excursions - in addition to the savings. But in my experience, line mark ups vary a lot from excursion to excursion with the line mark up typically being only 15-30% more than booking a top notch independant. Occassionally the line offers certain excursions for less than one could arrange independantly.

 

I prefer to avoid the herd ambience of the line excursions coming and going with frequently more individual interactions; but the cruise lines generally offer a first class product at usually only a modest mark up so for many the convenience of letting them do the vetting and arranging is well worth it.

[billco]

My wife and I will be visiting England as part of a Transatlantic cruise on the Emerald Prncess. We have pre-registered for the Princess sponsored London's Splendor & Highlight Attractions excursion, which includes transport from Dover to London, tour of Westminister Abbey, the London Eye, a cruise on the Thames, and lunch. The cost is $269/person, which seems high. But, having never been to England, we are worried about getting back to the ship on time. It seems on a tour like this, there are a lot of things that could go wrong. I guess i could look at the extra expense as trip insurance.

[CalCruzer]

We have booked only one Princess tour and were totally disappointed. It was a snorkling/beach tour on Aruba. It was a last minute choice and turned out to be the last. Overpriced to say the least, tacky bus, tiny beach and allowed for approximately 30 +/_ minutes of snorkling then whisked away to a hotel beach and told the driver would be back in 1-1/2 hours. We could purchase beach chairs and umbrellas from a vendor or just hang out. Luckily we found a beach front bar and enjoyed the time sipping a nice cold one and a plate of appetizers. What a waste of money. We normally do not book tours due to the excessive expense. We have traveled extensively, do our research and feel comfortable taking off on our own. I agree with some of the others, there are some destinations that I would not feel confortable taking off on my own, in such cases we only book a city tour or say forget it and stay on the ship if the price is totally out of range. Further, that is another important aspect of these boards. You can go to 'roll call' and meet others in your position to arrange tours with or get information from people who have experience with your destination and can give you suggestions. There are many options other than wasting your money on overpriced tours.

[Philip217]

Another reason Princess sponsored tours are expensive is if you book through them as a ship sponsored tour then they assume (whether or not they claim to) liability for your safety from the time you leave the ship until you return and if there are accidents and/or injuries guess who will be sued first?

 

Mike:)

 

You got it right. Not sure about Princess, but every cruise line I have worked for has a $3 Million per person liability insurance policy to cover the high number of lawsuits they receive on their tours. Considering all the insurance payouts we see, I'm betting that the insurance premiums are very high.

Somebody has to pay for those premiums. It's you.

[spongerob]

Hadn't even considered that aspect, Philip. Thanks for the info.

[can786]

Don't always depend on the ship waiting...because...they do leave, even when your on a Princess tour. Some ports have schedules like airports. If another ship needs the berth. The ship has to leave, if the port cannot rearrange things to accommodate the ships. Princess will have to work getting you back to the ship, but the ship will pull away from the Pier, with or without you on it. Experienced it first hand, in South America about 6 years ago. I found it amusing when there was some that said, well it's a good thing we are on a Princess tour, the ship will still be there. There use to be some micro print in the Princess documents, that use to say if the ship has to go they will sail with or without you. It was a little annoying the way we finally had to get back on the ship, but we did finally get back on the ship via a tender. None of the people on that tour, even really complained, all that much. Everyone kind of took it in stride, like it was a "adventure". I think they gave us a free bottle of wine and a picture or something. But no one really cared. I guess in ports that cruise ships use with cargo type ships, is when this can take place. It may have all changed by now. But many on that tour learned to say never say "never". Just thought I'd my 2 cents worth.:rolleyes:

 

 

Even though the ship had to leave it's berth Princess still found a way to get you back onboard since it was a ship sponsored tour, even if it was using a tender. If you had been on a private excursion the ship would have kept sailing and you would have been out of luck and would have learned a very expensive lesson in the importance of returning to the ship on time.

[magicpanda]

My husband and I have booked the dolphin swim at Dophinaris through Princess. It is costing $378 vs $238 if we went directly through Dolphinaris. Since this is our first cruise' date=' I guess we want the peace of mind booking directly through the cruiseline and are willing to pay the extra. From what I understand, we will get a full refund through Princess if we don't make it into port, and you lose all you money if you have booked through Dolphinaris and are a no-show.[/quote']

 

 

Hi new cruiser

 

Just to say, we have just returned from 2 weeks on Ruby and did the dolphinaris trip independantly - I would highly recommend this for a number of reasons;

 

The ships tour cost is just astronomical, if you do it yourself at a cost of $119 per person plus taxi of $6 dollars (each way) you can experience the same thing (or even better if you stay longer) at dolphinaris. We went there direct from the ship after breakfast (you could actually walk it if you are in either pier, specially the 'downtown' pier (forget it's name) if you wanted to save the taxi fare.

 

Very easy to get taxis at port side. We went around 10 o clock, long before the crowds from the 3 ships that were in that day and watched an early group that must have been in for about 9.30 - had a fantastic time watching the group and the dolphins. My husband only was swimming with them and I was charged a minimal amount for watching, got to video / photograph but from the bar area. You get 45 mins in the pool with the dolphins and then you can stay as long as you want - I would recommend this, we did this after the 9 (!) groups left we stayed for another 3 hours, got to see the dolphins and trainers close up - we were sitting having a drink at the bar looking down on the main pool where the dolphins were getting their teeth brushed, receiving medication and in other pools the dolphins were having a lovely lunch break, one even playing with an inflatable air bed!

 

On the whole, however you do the trip - you must do it! It was a wonderful place and a much better way to spend your day than trailing round 'sol t shirt' shops and diamond international shops - you see them everywhere and it gets repetitive!!! Our experience was made better after the ships tour groups left, it was a peaceful and restful environment.

 

On the subject of excursion prices, this was our 4th Princess cruise and we were shocked this time around at the costs. They really are ridiculous. We only did one tour in Grand Cayman with Princess and then on 'going home day' a tour of Fort Lauderdale (give it a miss). In Grand Caymen we did the aqua boat and snorkeling - highly recommended but we were the only 2 from a ship of 3000!!! Despite us trying to find out how much we could have been booking direct the guide avoided the conversation. We were $189 from the ship which though we would recommend the tour, was not good value at all.

 

Our next cruise was to be the med next year but on reading posts on this thread I will be investigating the tour costs first before making a decision. We thoroughly enjoyed our Ruby cruise but found Princess this time very expensive on board, granted made worse for us in the UK by the high cruise costs we are charged anyway but with the very poor exchange rate the on board bar prices, shore excursions and port souvenier costs very over the top and this did impact on our enjoyment this time around.

[terrierjohn]

The 50% may be correct in some cases but remember that Princess have a heck of a lot of buying clout, so what they pay to the tour operator will be well below what you and I would pay. Princess will also know the cost of these tours when done privately so I suspect their pricing will also take this into account, certainly I don't think I have ever seen Princess prices double the private operator price, more like 25% above; still a lot but for certain areas of the world worth it as insurance against being stranded.

[woodofpine]

My wife and I will be visiting England as part of a Transatlantic cruise on the Emerald Prncess. We have pre-registered for the Princess sponsored London's Splendor & Highlight Attractions excursion, which includes transport from Dover to London, tour of Westminister Abbey, the London Eye, a cruise on the Thames, and lunch. The cost is $269/person, which seems high. But, having never been to England, we are worried about getting back to the ship on time. It seems on a tour like this, there are a lot of things that could go wrong. I guess i could look at the extra expense as trip insurance.

 

This is a good example. I does SEEM high - it isn't; Europe's expensive. Google around. You'll find that regular van shuttles from London to Dover run 180-200 pounds sterling for 2-6 (but one of theirs = $1.5); but that's ONE WAY! Add the tour guide, lunch ($15-20), site admissions, Thames cruise (I'm guessing that's $25-50 pp min.) Realistically, if you put together a group of 4-6 you MIGHT be able to match Princess price, maybe slightly... but you might not. You'll definately spend a LOT of time working it out. Then there are the value virtues of onboard account ease and possible ship rendez vous issues that weigh in Princess favor.

 

And this little analysis comes from a guy that hasn't taken a line excursion in the Cribbean in many many years.

[vjmatty]

I will continue to book tours with Princess, because I know they thoroughly vet tour operators, and send ship's staff on tours anonymously to monitor that the tours are living up to Princess standards and providing tours as they are advertised.

I am not willing to risk my safety for a few dollars, by going with independent tour operators, where I won't know if their vehicles and drivers are safe. Independents can tell you what they think you want to hear, but who is checking on them to be sure they measure up from a safety standpoint?

 

While this might make sense if the tour operator is providing the transportation, it doesn't apply with attraction-type excursions where you could rent your own car. I have seen cruise lines add as much $50 per person to the cost of admission to the attraction for what would essentially be a $10 cab ride, or even better a $20 car rental that you could use the rest of your time in port.