Princess excursion price guarantee is useless!

Booked a Luau for 3 people on our Hawaiian in May. Found the exact same Luau offered from 2 different sites for about $25 less per person. Submitted the paperwork and was denied.

Know why? Princess counts travel time in their equation, while other sites don't. There is NO way princess will ever have to honor their guarantee. So I'm cancelling, not only the Luau, but our submarine excursion and the helicopter tour and booking directly through the providers.

Great way to lose $2000+ princess and leave a sour taste about everything princess.

Princess guarantee does say the alternate excursion has to be exactly the same as the Princess one, a tough thing to match. Did your alternate provider provide transportation? (I would not think that how long the transfer took would be enough to reject a claim, but not having transportation included would be.)

There have been other threads where posters have said that they were successful in getting money back from Princess due to the guarantee. For example: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2420397

If your claim had not been denied, then the extra money would have amounted to $2.50/person or a total of $7.50 extra back to you in addition to the $75 refund for the $25/person difference for your paid Princess excursion. So in this case, the denied claim is worth $7.50.

My question to you would be:- Were all conditions exactly the same? Post the exact terms of the three excursions so we can judge.

It's exactly the same luau. Germaine's Luau through Princess is $99.95 per person, https://www.hawaiidiscount.com/oahu/luaus/germaines.htm is $78.58, same date, same Luau, bet we'll see people from the ship that paid $25 more. Only difference is we ride a different bus that picks us up in the same parking lot as princesses (already called, we don't have to walk to a hotel). Difference is princess counts transportation time as part of the tour, while neither Germaine's nor Hawaii discount does.

Please be advised this tour is not a match due to the difference in tour lengths and transport provisions. To expand: our tour offers 5.75 H on the tour, while the tour operator only offers 3.5 H on the tour. Also, our tour offers transportation to/from the ship and tour site, while the tour operator only offers transport to/from nearby hotels and tour site. Please refer to the BPG terms & conditions which states "The Best Price Guarantee is available only for exact shore excursion matches, for example, duration of the shore excursion, transportation fees, meal and beverage inclusions and the exact same dates of the shore excursion as booked thr! ough Princess Cruise Lines." Therefore we must deny this request.

I hadn't turned in the paperwork for the other excursions yet, wanted to see how they handled this one first. Not going to give them another penny.

It looks very similar but where does the extra 2.25 hours come into play? If it is the travel time then it is your tour operator who is at fault, advise them to change their time quote to match Princesses so they become exactly the same. Then others will get the benefit.

It's exactly the same luau. Germaine's Luau through Princess is $99.95 per person, https://www.hawaiidiscount.com/oahu/luaus/germaines.htm is $78.58, same date, sameLuau, bet we'll see people from the ship that paid $25 more. Only difference is we ride a different bus that picks us up in the same parking lot as princesses (already called, we don't have to walk to a hotel). Difference is princess counts transportation time as part of the tour, while neither Germaine's nor Hawaii discount does.

Please be advised this tour is not a match due to the difference in tour lengths and transport provisions. To expand: our tour offers 5.75 H on the tour, while the tour operator only offers 3.5 H on the tour. Also, our tour offers transportation to/from the ship and tour site, while the tour operator only offers transport to/from nearby hotels and tour site. Please refer to the BPG terms & conditions which states "The Best Price Guarantee is available only for exact shore excursion matches, for example, duration of the shore excursion, transportation fees, meal and beverage inclusions and the exact same dates of the shore excursion as booked thr! ough Princess Cruise Lines." Therefore we must deny this request.

I hadn't turned in the paperwork for the other excursions yet, wanted to see how they handled this one first. Not going to give them another penny.

Since you have proof that the vendor will pick you up from the same parking lot that the Princess tour starts from, I would point that out to Princess.

You may also need to point out that obviously to vendor's bus takes the same amount of time to go back and forth that the Princess bus does and thus the length of the excursions is the same. You just need to reach someone who has common sense at Princess in order to get that $7.50 bonus credit.

It looks very similar but where does the extra 2.25 hours come into play? If it is the travel time then it is your tour operator who is at fault, advise them to change their time quote to match Princesses so they become exactly the same. Then others will get the benefit.

There is no way that the locals want to offer the exact same tour as the ship tour. For convenience most would then choose the ship tour because it is the same price and the locals would be the losers.

Ships have this figured out .... And so do the locals.

I think this program was an interesting public relations move, but over time will become meaningless (as we see from this thread.) Princess could put me on the payroll and in about a month I could investigate and compare every single one of the excursions that Princess offers and compare it to the private offerings and suggest changes to the Princess offerings such that they differ enough so that the price guarantee does not have to be honored. (Internet research is a wonderful thing). One extra tour/shopping stop and Princess can justify the $15 added fee. A bag lunch valued at about $3 and Princess can charge $20 more. Snacks valued at a dollar can be the reason for a $10 increase in price. It's really easy to make one thing different from another. I'm guessing that Princess is already doing this.

Sales patter mostly equates to customer gullibility. Ah well we live and learn.:D

There is no way that the locals want to offer the exact same tour as the ship tour. For convenience most would then choose the ship tour because it is the same price and the locals would be the losers.

Ships have this figured out .... And so do the locals.

The ships tours ARE local tours. The ship does not run their own tours. They buy from local providers in bulk at lower prices and then add on a "profit margin" to each ticket.

Technically this guarantee will always be hard to claim, because Princess can make the tour time whatever they want so it differs from publicly advertised times.

But remember, if a Princess tour is late for WHATEVER reason, the ship will wait for you. On self booked tours, you are left at the dock...................

Steve

The last time I was shopping for a new mattress (yes, I know it's not a tour on a cruise but bear with me...) I visited Sleep Train Mattresses. They offer the same type of guarantee. I found a mattress I liked and asked about the model, etc. so I could compare elsewhere. They told me there was no such thing as a "model" or "serial number" or any other type of identifier. What??? I asked them how they could order stock without an identifier of any kind. Did they just call up and say, "Send us some stuff to sell"? They could never give me any kind of answer regarding how in the world one could actually compare their offerings and price with another vendor.

I think it's the case that pretty much any "find a better price and we'll match it or refund the difference" type of offer is actually worth squat no matter what type of service or product is associated with the offer.

The last time I was shopping for a new mattress (yes, I know it's not a tour on a cruise but bear with me...) I visited Sleep Train Mattresses. They offer the same type of guarantee. I found a mattress I liked and asked about the model, etc. so I could compare elsewhere. They told me there was no such thing as a "model" or "serial number" or any other type of identifier. What??? I asked them how they could order stock without an identifier of any kind. Did they just call up and say, "Send us some stuff to sell"? They could never give me any kind of answer regarding how in the world one could actually compare their offerings and price with another vendor.

 

I think it's the case that pretty much any "find a better price and we'll match it or refund the difference" type of offer is actually worth squat no matter what type of service or product is associated with the offer.

I told you not to trust Lefty. :rolleyes:

The ships tours ARE local tours. The ship does not run their own tours. They buy from local providers in bulk at lower prices and then add on a "profit margin" to each ticket.

 

Technically this guarantee will always be hard to claim, because Princess can make the tour time whatever they want so it differs from publicly advertised times.

 

But remember, if a Princess tour is late for WHATEVER reason, the ship will wait for you. On self booked tours, you are left at the dock...................

Steve

Here lies the HUGE difference. Germaine is a very good luau. But it is "far" away considering traffic and other unforeseen delays. Germaine will not guarantee a return to the ship before it sails. Princess will. Given the difference in price, I would take the ship's tour. (Personally, I would do neither.) More importantly...I would not rent a car and do this on my own.

It is only one example, but for an upcoming trip, we booked and prepaid for the Princess tour for 4 of us, went online and checked prices. We know which tour operator they buy the tour from because we've taken it before. However, the tour names are the same so its easy to find using an internet search.

Princess marked up the price this year even more than last year so the difference was even greater. We submitted the price guarantee request and within 24 hours received confirmation that a nice chunk of OBC will be waiting for us onboard. ( I'll be printing all that out and taking it with me just to make sure! )

If I were you, I'd resubmit with a note explaining the situation and point out that it is the same tour vendor with no material differences in the tours. See what happens.

I think that Princess is betting that most people will not take the time to try to find a comparable tour, and they will come out ahead in total.

I was curious so I looked up the Germaine's Luau. There are different packages available. At the luau, depending on the package selected, there are open seating and reserved seating, 1 free drink or 3 free drinks, and other differences in the same luau.

The basic package with transportation costs $95.

In order to compare the packages that the OP is stating they found on line, the specific details of the two outside packages being offered need to be stated and the Princess excursion details provided.

In addition, the Princess excursion will have a dedicated bus(es) for their excursion. The transportation for the other packages will most likely have a bus that follows a pick up route at various hotels that can greatly affect the transportation time. The Princess excursion can, therefore, include the transportation time in the excursion as it is a known quantity. Time on a bus route can not be predetermined as bookings and number of stops will vary.

 

But remember, if a Princess tour is late for WHATEVER reason, the ship will wait for you. On self booked tours, you are left at the dock...................

Steve

Never have witnessed this in close to 500 days of cruising.....seen plenty of ship excursions come back late though....:cool:

Originally posted by iramack

But remember, if a Princess tour is late for WHATEVER reason, the ship will wait for you. On self booked tours, you are left at the dock...................

Steve

Never have witnessed this in close to 500 days of cruising.....seen plenty of ship excursions come back late though....:cool:

The ports of Hawaii have very specific departure times. Hilo and Nawiliwili must be navigated during daylight hours and are subject to tidal conditions. If a tour is late, the ship WILL leave and Princess will make arrangements for you to meet up with the ship in another port.

Honolulu has noise abatement "hours". That is why there is no sail away party when the ship departs at 11 PM. It is a 24 hour working port. But I am sure there are "penalties" for overstaying their welcome. When the Grand had to stay several days 2 years ago, they had to get all kinds of clearance. But that was an emergency and allowances were made.

I would hate to miss the ship in Lahaina (tender port). A very long swim home.

Displaced Local Girl

I posted my dilemma on social media this morning (Princess Cruises facebook page). They answered with

Hi, Shellie. I'm so sorry you experienced this problem. We've reached out to our Shore Excursions team for some additional review, and someone should be getting back in touch with you shortly.

less than 3 minutes later, Princess approved the Best Price Guarantee.

Thank you for submitting your request for our consideration. This tour is a match and will be approved once payment is received. Thank you again, for sailing Princess!

So I made the payment today and will see if the credit comes through. I have to wonder if it was the potential negative press that came with the social media posting after I'd been denied twice.

Now I'll go for the submarine ride credit since I also paid for that with the luau. Haven't paid for the helicopter yet.

The last time I was shopping for a new mattress (yes, I know it's not a tour on a cruise but bear with me...) I visited Sleep Train Mattresses. They offer the same type of guarantee. I found a mattress I liked and asked about the model, etc. so I could compare elsewhere. They told me there was no such thing as a "model" or "serial number" or any other type of identifier. What??? I asked them how they could order stock without an identifier of any kind. Did they just call up and say, "Send us some stuff to sell"? They could never give me any kind of answer regarding how in the world one could actually compare their offerings and price with another vendor.

 

I think it's the case that pretty much any "find a better price and we'll match it or refund the difference" type of offer is actually worth squat no matter what type of service or product is associated with the offer.

Actually, a model and serial number would have been useless.

Each mattress retailer has a customized line so that what it sells is not available from any other retailer and thus there is never a better price elsewhere to match.

True, and in a lot of areas besides mattresses

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

The last time I was shopping for a new mattress (yes, I know it's not a tour on a cruise but bear with me...) I visited Sleep Train Mattresses. They offer the same type of guarantee. I found a mattress I liked and asked about the model, etc. so I could compare elsewhere. They told me there was no such thing as a "model" or "serial number" or any other type of identifier. What??? I asked them how they could order stock without an identifier of any kind. Did they just call up and say, "Send us some stuff to sell"? They could never give me any kind of answer regarding how in the world one could actually compare their offerings and price with another vendor.

 

I think it's the case that pretty much any "find a better price and we'll match it or refund the difference" type of offer is actually worth squat no matter what type of service or product is associated with the offer.

So true. Price guarantees offered by some retailers are total bunk because the products they sell are all proprietary or house branded. The mattress business is full of this, offering price guarantees they will never need to honor because they can claim that their product is not anyplace else. Of course, they don't tell folks this up front and admitting that your price guarantee is nothing more than meaningless fluff kind of reduces the impact of your TV advertising.

Since this occurs in more than the mattress business I'm usually highly skeptical of any retailer that claims they will price match. About the only place where, if you are willing to do the work, this sometimes comes true is going to be in grocery, but again, you have to do the work to get the price match.

I'm sure glad that the OP got their price match from Princess. My guess is that there was a back office bureaucrat that denied the original claim on some technicality which wasn't justified.

And have you ever heard the car dealers "If I cant beat their deal, I'm just gonna give it to you!!"

That will never happen................They will always beat their deal................"somehow"

LOL

Steve

Just had to add my 2 cents. Big Box Home Improvement store matched another department store's price for my dishwasher. And I got a rebate for installation (free delivery). They didn't not give me the 10% back because they had to special order the color I wanted. So there are times....

But electronics (televisions, etc) from the Big Box C...can not be compared since they have different model numbers.

I have found that Princess excursions are a bit cheaper if booked before getting on the ship. I have done independent tours. Given a difference of a few dollars (if minimal...), I would go with Princess for the convenience. Love the whale watching in Lahaina. You get on from the ship to tour boat while anchored. Saves you a whole lot of transit times. Like everything else, you do have to do your homework.

Since you have proof that the vendor will pick you up from the same parking lot that the Princess tour starts from, I would point that out to Princess.

 

You may also need to point out that obviously to vendor's bus takes the same amount of time to go back and forth that the Princess bus does and thus the length of the excursions is the same. You just need to reach someone who has common sense at Princess in order to get that $7.50 bonus credit.

I have not tried this guarantee with Princess, but did do the Carnival guarantee successfully last summer in Barbados. The vendor's website also said that they picked you up at hotels. I e-mailed them and asked if they did pickups at cruise ships, and their reply was that they did. There was a line on the Carnival form that asked if there was any additional comment, and I put down the information that they had replied to me that they did do pickups at cruise ships.

I was actually pleasantly surprised that not only did they do the guarantee, but how quickly their congratulations reply came.

 

I have found that Princess excursions are a bit cheaper if booked before getting on the ship. I have done independent tours. Given a difference of a few dollars (if minimal...), I would go with Princess for the convenience. Love the whale watching in Lahaina. You get on from the ship to tour boat while anchored. Saves you a whole lot of transit times. Like everything else, you do have to do your homework.

Although price may or may not be part of the reason for choosing a private excursion, many are on private excursions for other reasons:

o Many such excursions are with just a few people. The experience of being on an excursion with just 8 people is quite different than being on a bus with 40 other people. Much less time wasted at bathroom breaks or at restaurants.

o Almost every ship excursion has time spent at a souvenir shop or other shopping opportunity. Unless the people on a private excursion want it, a private excursion does not have to have a shopping stop.

o The smaller vehicle used on many private excursions can go to many places that the large tour bus cannot. Thus those on a private excursion can have the opportunity to visit sites that those on a ship's excursion cannot. The smaller vehicle can often let people out at a site much closer to the site than a big bus can go.

o From threads on Cruise Critic as well as other sites such as Trip Advisor, you can select private excursions that have been highly recommended and are thus likely to have an excellent time. Princess has no control over the quality of the guides on the ship's excursions, even if from a reputable company. I have had a number of ship's excursions which were poor experiences because of a lack of knowledge, experience or performance of the guide.

o Most ship's excursions do not involve the use of a microphone by the guide and headphones by the participants. It is hard for 40 people to gather around a guide and hear what he/she is saying without that microphone and headphones. However, on a private tour with eight participants it is easy for all to hear what the guide is saying.

o A private excursion will often go to a site visited by the ship's excursion, but before or after the ship's buses are there. There is a big difference, for example, of being about the only people at a museum exhibit or being part of five ship excursion buses that are there at the same time.