Allure cancelled shore tours

Zeikah · #1 May 3rd, 2012, 03:53 AM

Is anyone else have their shore tours cancelled? I booked Blackbeards Cay in Nassau it got cancelled I booked Sea & see tour in St Marteen it has now been cancelled. Going Sunday 13th May.

Just wondering whats going on.

bajathree · #2 May 3rd, 2012, 07:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zeikah

Is anyone else have their shore tours cancelled? I booked Blackbeards Cay in Nassau it got cancelled I booked Sea & see tour in St Marteen it has now been cancelled. Going Sunday 13th May.

Just wondering whats going on.

Tours can be cancelled for many reasons....not sure why these particular ones were cancelled....but to give an example I recently had a tubing excursion in Falmouth cancelled about 2 weeks prior to sailing....I asked the company that ran it once I got there as I had another tour booked with them and found out that due to a shortage of rainfall the river was to low. Sometimes tours may also be cancelled due to maintenance/mechanical or safety issues .....I would be happy that Royal is letting you know before you even sail so you can make other arrangements and not be on the ship finding out the day before...or even the same day you arrive.

sherilyn70 · #3 May 3rd, 2012, 07:55 AM

I have had 2 excursions canceled in 2 cruises now... unfortunately it happens. My experience was I had picked less popular/more expensive ones for their unique and more intimate grouping and they were canceled last minute on us, I suspect it was because they didn't have enough people sign up for them and the tour company decided to not run it.

debshomespun · #4 May 3rd, 2012, 08:41 AM

While on Serenade in Jan, we had booked the zip line in Dominica. It got cancelled 2 days before we docked. When we docked in Dominica, we got off the ship, and looked up the tour operators. They have other tours they were doing, and we knew it. We asked them if we would still be able to do their zipline. He made a phone call. Told us, yes, with transportation included, but the price may be a problem. We were booked through the ship at $89.00pp. He told us it would be $75.00pp. Of course, that price wasn't a problem. We were saving $14.00pp! He put us on a bus with people going kayaking, and the driver dropped us off at the zip line park. We did have to walk by ourself a couple minutes to meet the guides. We were the only 2 there, so we had our private excursion. When we were done, we walked back towards the road, and the river tubing group from our ship was just finishing up, and we rode the buses back to the port area with them.

You might go over to the ports of call here on CC, and check out the information under your ports, and you might be able to book the same excursions independently.

karena1 · #5 May 3rd, 2012, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zeikah

Is anyone else have their shore tours cancelled? I booked Blackbeards Cay in Nassau it got cancelled I booked Sea & see tour in St Marteen it has now been cancelled. Going Sunday 13th May.

Just wondering whats going on.

I am pretty sure than Blackbeards is not running anymore, so that could be why that was canceled.

Familygoboston · #6 May 3rd, 2012, 09:35 AM

This happens, and like the others said it seems its always the active trips with fewer participants. They probably get canceled because not enough people sign up for them. No wonder there is another thread about gaining a pound a day on a cruise

BillOh · #7 May 3rd, 2012, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zeikah

Is anyone else have their shore tours cancelled? I booked Blackbeards Cay in Nassau it got cancelled I booked Sea & see tour in St Marteen it has now been cancelled. Going Sunday 13th May.

Just wondering whats going on.

A couple of thoughts, since I've taken that excursion, I thought I'd comment. Since your cruise is less than 2 weeks away, maybe they didn't get enough people taking it? That is the frequent reason for canceling in the days up to a cruise. When I took that cruise I was there on Voyager and they combined us along with Carnival Glory and another ship so there was a big crowd. Its a 20-30 minute boat ride to the beach and with Allure's short time in dock, perhaps there is another issue, maybe the tour operator is taking their boat down for maint.

Overall, this is one shortcoming with RC sponsored excursions. In 7 cruises I have had about 25% of Royal excursions canceled the day I got on board, or the week prior to a cruise. This is the most annoying time because you can't make new reservations online in the 10 days prior to a cruise (at least the last time I ran into this, recognizing things change)

BillOh · #8 May 3rd, 2012, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bajathree

I would be happy that Royal is letting you know before you even sail so you can make other arrangements and not be on the ship finding out the day before...or even the same day you arrive.

I understand the sentiment, but as far as other arrangements at 9 days you are forced to go private, or wait and book onboard, which I have had very little success with. RC locks out booking online excursions 10 days prior to shipment. I've had two canceled inside of 10 days and I got notification of cancelation in my cabin on day 1.

Another area where RC seems to be slacking lately is in the descriptions of their excursions online. Recognizing they get from of their info from the actual tour operators, they don't proofread or compare with their own notes. I've noticed this especially with regard to physical restrictions. I've seen one thing said in the description and something totally different when you go to actually book the excursion.

sherilyn70 · #9 May 3rd, 2012, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillOh

I understand the sentiment, but as far as other arrangements at 9 days you are forced to go private, or wait and book onboard, which I have had very little success with. RC locks out booking online excursions 10 days prior to shipment. I've had two canceled inside of 10 days and I got notification of cancelation in my cabin on day 1.

When they canceled mine it said I had until 4 days prior to sailing, unfortunately they told me at day 4 prior to sailing.

On Carnival I didn't even find out until I was already on the ship.

bajathree · #10 May 3rd, 2012, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillOh

I understand the sentiment, but as far as other arrangements at 9 days you are forced to go private, or wait and book onboard, which I have had very little success with. RC locks out booking online excursions 10 days prior to shipment. I've had two canceled inside of 10 days and I got notification of cancelation in my cabin on day 1.

Another area where RC seems to be slacking lately is in the descriptions of their excursions online. Recognizing they get from of their info from the actual tour operators, they don't proofread or compare with their own notes. I've noticed this especially with regard to physical restrictions. I've seen one thing said in the description and something totally different when you go to actually book the excursion.

Yea...not sure where you are getting the 10 day thing

...reservations for shore excursions and dining are open for on-line booking until 4 days prior to sailing.

QTBabyNurse · #11 May 3rd, 2012, 11:47 AM

I would call RCI and inquire because I've recently had my dining and entertainment reservations cancelled by mistake on their website and I sail on Sunday! Hopefully they didn't do it to you in error as well...

BillOh · #12 May 3rd, 2012, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bajathree

Yea...not sure where you are getting the 10 day thing

...reservations for shore excursions and dining are open for on-line booking until 4 days prior to sailing.

I will never deny having a questionable memory and usually try to state when I'm drawing from it. I thought I remembered 10 days, but your probably right.

Mande30 · #13 May 3rd, 2012, 12:30 PM

We were booked for the Falmouth Captian Hook Family Adventure and it was cancelled. I thought that this particular excursion was very popular and well attended. So I have no idea why they cancelled. It is not even listed on their website anymore.

BillOh · #14 May 3rd, 2012, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mande30

We were booked for the Falmouth Captian Hook Family Adventure and it was cancelled. I thought that this particular excursion was very popular and well attended. So I have no idea why they cancelled. It is not even listed on their website anymore.

Check on the web to see if its still offered publicly. I have a suspicion that RCI is a demanding business partner for these small excursion companies and many don't like the terms dictated. (pure speculation on my part) I'm sure some don't live up to the standards RC sets, but I suspect RC may want too big of a cut sometimes.

bajathree · #15 May 3rd, 2012, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillOh

I will never deny having a questionable memory and usually try to state when I'm drawing from it. I thought I remembered 10 days, but your probably right.

No worries Bill...here ya go from Royal's site:

Pre-Cruise Planner

Why not get the most out our your Royal Caribbean International cruise vacation? Select from delicious dining options, wine and beverage packages, or fun excursions.

Advanced reservations using our Pre-Cruise Planner can typically be reserved online at least 90 to 4 days before your sail date. Once you log in to make your reservation, we will be able to tell you the exact cut-off date for your sailing. If you are within the cut-off time, you will need to make your reservations onboard.

MKESail · #16 May 3rd, 2012, 03:21 PM

yeah, I had that too, last minute got a letter in my stateroom saying our SeaWorld Explorer in St. Maarten got cancelled. Wanted to do the Butterfly Farm & Beach instead so I went to talk to the Explorations. Both those tours were cancelled last minute for lack of participation.

BillOh · #17 May 3rd, 2012, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MKESail

yeah, I had that too, last minute got a letter in my stateroom saying our SeaWorld Explorer in St. Maarten got cancelled. Wanted to do the Butterfly Farm & Beach instead so I went to talk to the Explorations. Both those tours were cancelled last minute for lack of participation.

That's the catch 22, you can't book until you get on board and by then choice b is canceled per lack of participation. Its been my experience when I tried to book onboard everything I wanted was sold out. We ended up just getting of the ship and shopping the port area in Grand Caymen.

sherilyn70 · #18 May 3rd, 2012, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillOh

That's the catch 22, you can't book until you get on board and by then choice b is canceled per lack of participation. Its been my experience when I tried to book onboard everything I wanted was sold out. We ended up just getting of the ship and shopping the port area in Grand Caymen.

Yeah, it's kind of silly that they don't wait to see if anyone will book onboard too. We ended up just walking for about an hour looking at stuff in the shops and then going back to the ship in Falmouth because of it. We decided to pick up another more intimate snorkling tour (10 people) in Labadee in it's place and it turned out to be great.

Mande30 · #19 May 3rd, 2012, 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillOh

Check on the web to see if its still offered publicly. I have a suspicion that RCI is a demanding business partner for these small excursion companies and many don't like the terms dictated. (pure speculation on my part) I'm sure some don't live up to the standards RC sets, but I suspect RC may want too big of a cut sometimes.

I checked, and nothing. We decided to go with an independent company offering a day at an AI in Montego Bay.