Ever wonder why Princess excursions are so costly?

[Woobstr112G]

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.

 

 

Very good point sir.....

 

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

[Woobstr112G]

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.

 

We found some very good private tours on our recently concluded Australian/New Zealand cruise. They were fantastic....

 

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

[magicpanda]

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.

 

 

To be honest and as much as I grumble about the cost of ship tours, I do actually think that everything included in this is good value for money - the ease of transport in itself is worth it. Enjoy when you visit!

[MGnut]

 

Ooo, ooo, I want to do this cruise!

[barbarah33]

I just got of the Ruby this weekend. In Jamaica we took the ship's tour to Mystic Mountain and all 4 of us were SHOCKED when we got there and looked at the Moutain's prices to do it on your own vs. through Princess. Believe it or not it was less expensive to go through Princess than it was to take a taxi and do it on your own and that is without even considering the cost of a cab to and from. Princess clearly has bargained with Mystic Mountain for reduced rates and good for them - they are still saving all of their passengers money and making it easier on us.

 

By the way, it was an amazing excursion with the zip-lining and bobsledding which I would recommend to anyone!

[Roses2]

As the French say, "Ca depend"!!

 

It depends on where you are cruising and what you want to do on shore as well as many other factors including security, distance, exchange rate, etc.

 

There are times when, on balance, a ship's cruise makes the most sense and is the most cost effective. Pure cost is only one factor to consider when making a choice.

 

Other times individual tours are the better choice. There is nothing to replace the individual attention of a private tour and at some stops e.g. St. Petersburg on the Baltic cruise, to us it was well worth the expense to do a private tour for just the two of us because of the unique quality of the sights to see and the time available to see them.

 

At many stops one need not tour at all. It is much more fun and more interesting to just poke around on your own.

 

That is the great advantage of CC boards where one can exchange information about ports of call and read, to great advantage, of what others have done - both good and bad.

 

We sometimes take ship's tours, more often we take private tours, and often we just poke around.

[pmcrusta]

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.

 

Yep! I agree. But it was interesting looking at the passengers faces that were sure the ship wouldn't move at all because they were on a Princess tour.

They were the first ones to say, "never say never." :D Stuff happens and you just got to go with the flow.

[jpg1747]

On my cruise last November, I was very disappointed with my Tortola tour. It was not at all as described. When I got back to the ship, I mentioned it to the tour desk and also noted it in my after-cruise email to Princess about my entire cruise experience. As I told them, it was the only negative of my entire cruise. I received a note while still onboard acknowledging my displeasure, and later Princess apologized and refunded the entire price of the tour in the form of a future OBC.

[magicpanda]

On my cruise last November, I was very disappointed with my Tortola tour. It was not at all as described. When I got back to the ship, I mentioned it to the tour desk and also noted it in my after-cruise email to Princess about my entire cruise experience. As I told them, it was the only negative of my entire cruise. I received a note while still onboard acknowledging my displeasure, and later Princess apologized and refunded the entire price of the tour in the form of a future OBC.

 

Sorry you were disappointed in your tour, that was a shame as Tortola is a beatiful island. Mind you I have a 'soft spot' for it in my heart as it was the first ever port we visited on our first cruise. It poured of rain really heavily and we were on an island tour stopping to swim (!) at Brewers Bay. We got there and everyone was huddled in the little shack bar and then we though - 'heck' we've paid all this money and come all this way, lets go in the sea, we all did - 8 total strangers and we had the lovely experience of seeing a huge double rainbow when the rain came out over above us across the whole bay - a wonderful memory.

 

Back to Princess tours, a good result in you complaining I would say. I don't think you can ask anymore than a full refund.

 

Hope you enjoy the island better next time you visit!:)

[jpg1747]

I never asked for a refund. I merely pointed out that what I got was not what I had anticipated and that I was disappointed. I made a point of saying that, otherwise, it was a wonderful cruise. Since I did have a tour of sorts, I didn't expect any reimbursement. I just wanted to let Princess know that there was an apparent miscommunication between their brochure description and the tour guide.

[LoveThisCruisingThing]

Good post but I have to say as a solo traveler, I always book my excursions through Princess. I feel much safer and I know that the ship will not leave me if we are late in returning. I think each cruiser needs to look at his/her situation and make the best decision for themselves.