Celebrity's Shore Excursion "Guaranteed Return To Ship" is no gimmick.

My family and I just got back from a fabulous cruise on the Celebrity Reflection. We booked a shore excursion with Celebrity for our stop in Jamaica. Our scheduled time in port was 8AM-4PM. Most of you will know that means all passengers are due back by 3:30PM and the ship will frequently leave up to 15 minutes before the official departure time.

Well our tour was running much longer than expected and then there was a TON of traffic on the highway leading back to the dock. We ended up arriving at the tour staging area around 4:15PM where a ship's officer quickly escorted us to the ship. It was about 4:20PM when we got the ship. Right as we were stepping on the ship the horn was being sounded and deckhands started unmooring the ship. We were moving away from the dock before we made it to our rooms!

Our scheduled time in port was 8AM-4PM. Most of you will know that means all passengers are due back by 3:30PM and the ship will frequently leave up to 15 minutes before the official departure time.

Not if all pax, including those not on cruiseline excursions, are not onboard they don't.

You could not pay me to take a cruise line excursion in most ports.

We were on that same tour!I could not believe that they dropped us off at the Oasis dock area! If you don't know they did refund all of our money on that excursion and others got there money back too! Bob

You could not pay me to take a cruise line excursion in most ports.

Thanks for your invaluable contribution to this thread. :rolleyes:

Thanks for your invaluable contribution to this thread. :rolleyes:

If you enjoy overpaying to be herded like cattle on an overcrowded excursion with zero ability to personalize, lots of wasted time and often forced "shopping" stops at venues that give a kickback to the cruise line, so be it. :rolleyes:

If one does a little research and books with a reputable private vendor and utilizes a little common sense the chances of missing the ship are minuscule. Perhaps the tiny, remote chance of missing the ship is enough to entice some people to overpay for an inferior experience, but many informed cruisers refuse to partake in a cruise line excursion.

The same thing happened to us on a Princess excursion once in Boston.

The driver got lost and then there were all sorts of detours. They were in contact with the ship's excursion desk ... things were getting a bit frantic.

When our bus finally made it back to the dock, people were on the decks cheering for us. We knew they must have announced that our bus ran into trouble as everyone seemed to be awaiting our safe return. :D

BTW, the tour was actually amazing. While I have booked some tours independent of the ship, I am so glad we booked this one right there at the excursions desk. If when booking a tour not from the ship, I do feel more comfortable if others on the same tour have booked through the ship. LOL

We booked a tour in Vancouver once independently. Well, one of the buses broke down so there was an hour delay in getting one in working condition to our location. Then, the driver had to make an additional stop. What a time to book a tour independently. Well, all worked out because several of the other passengers on our same bus had purchased their tour through the ship ... we were saved. :D

If you enjoy overpaying to be herded like cattle on an overcrowded excursion with zero ability to personalize, lots of wasted time and often forced "shopping" stops at venues that give a kickback to the cruise line, so be it. :rolleyes:

 

If one does a little research and books with a reputable private vendor and utilizes a little common sense the chances of missing the ship are minuscule. Perhaps the tiny, remote chance of missing the ship is enough to entice some people to overpay for an inferior experience, but many informed cruisers refuse to partake in a cruise line excursion.

While I agree with you in general, there are some tours/ports where we do take Celebrity Cruises. Belize comes to mind where the port stop is not long and some of the ruins are quite a distance away involving bus and then boat to get to. Our last visit, there were three small buses...we were on the first bus and arrived back 15 minutes after the ship was scheduled to depart. The other two busses followed with the last one arriving about 45 minutes after the scheduled time. The ship, of course, waited.

Our rule of thumb when arranging tours ourselves or small groups is that we want to be back at the ship 90 minutes prior to scheduled departure time. Sometimes that means shortening a tour guides normal tour, but we'd rather not fret about missing the ship than force seeing everything.

We were on an excursion in Belize (tender port) and leaving the caves, our bus got stuck behind a very slow moving truck on a long one lane dirt road. We missed the "last tender" by at least 45 minutes, but they held a tender for us. If we had been on a private tour, the same thing might have happened and I'm guessing we would have been out of luck.

We certainly have had some amazing private tours in Europe, but there, at least if you miss the ship, you can likely take a train to the next port. Even on those tours, we've had a few close calls due to traffic. We also had a Celebrity tour bus break down once in France, which delayed the ship more than an hour waiting for us. Knowing that the same thing can happen on a private tour, I'm generally not too eager to take the chance when on an island. When we do take private tours, we always factor in a big buffer just in case. Accidents do happen.

I do agree that a private tour can be totally customized, but I've been on some really great Celebrity tours that took me to the places I wanted to see as well. I always feel much more relaxed when we get stuck in traffic on a ship's tour.

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If you enjoy overpaying to be herded like cattle on an overcrowded excursion with zero ability to personalize, lots of wasted time and often forced "shopping" stops at venues that give a kickback to the cruise line, so be it. :rolleyes:

 

If one does a little research and books with a reputable private vendor and utilizes a little common sense the chances of missing the ship are minuscule. Perhaps the tiny, remote chance of missing the ship is enough to entice some people to overpay for an inferior experience, but many informed cruisers refuse to partake in a cruise line excursion.

What an attitude!!! Insult people by calling them "cattle" and accusing them of being too stupid to do anything else. Way to make your point of how superior you are. :rolleyes:

Sheesh! We get it. You prefer to do private tours or go out on your own. But there is no reason to ridicule people who do things differently than you. Their needs and comfort zone preferences are equally important to them as yours is to you. No need to be so critical. :mad:

You could not pay me to take a cruise line excursion in most ports.

Have you ever taken one?

While I usually schedule private tours or go DIY, occasionally we take a ship's excursion depending on the port and if a lot of travel is involved getting to the site where we want to visit.

I have had one private tour that was a few minutes late (in Scotland) getting back to the ship, but we made it by a hair. I don't every want to go through that suspense again. I particularly remember a great tour from Le Harve of Normandy on a Celebrity excursion what was about the same price as private tours. It was an excellent tour and even though traffic was terrible and there was an accident on a bridge we had to cross, we made it back to the ship after the drop dead time. The ship was there and I was so glad we were on that excursion.

If you enjoy overpaying to be herded like cattle on an overcrowded excursion with zero ability to personalize, lots of wasted time and often forced "shopping" stops at venues that give a kickback to the cruise line, so be it. :rolleyes:

 

If one does a little research and books with a reputable private vendor and utilizes a little common sense the chances of missing the ship are minuscule. Perhaps the tiny, remote chance of missing the ship is enough to entice some people to overpay for an inferior experience, but many informed cruisers refuse to partake in a cruise line excursion.

Yes , yes, thank you for your incredible wise response. Some people are not as courageous and worldly as I'm sure you are and they may feel more comfortable with a cruise line excursion. Everyone that has missed the ship I'm sure thought the chances of missing it were minuscule.

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We take ship's excursions all the time unless we can walk to the pier...The guarantee has come in handy in Europe, Costa Rica, Victoria and most recently St Maarten..

They have good guides and functional transport most of the time,

Have you ever taken one?

While I usually schedule private tours or go DIY, occasionally we take a ship's excursion depending on the port and if a lot of travel is involved getting to the site where we want to visit.

 

I have had one private tour that was a few minutes late (in Scotland) getting back to the ship, but we made it by a hair. I don't every want to go through that suspense again. I particularly remember a great tour from Le Harve of Normandy on a Celebrity excursion what was about the same price as private tours. It was an excellent tour and even though traffic was terrible and there was an accident on a bridge we had to cross, we made it back to the ship after the drop dead time. The ship was there and I was so glad we were on that excursion.

Accidents and mistakes can happen. When touring with our private guide on the second day of a two day stop in St. Petersburg, Russia, we almost missed the hydrofoil from Peterhoff Palace back to St. Petersburg. Due to one in our party spraining her ankle, we couldn't walk as fast as our tour guide had counted on, and as we approached the hydrofoil, they were starting to pull up the gangway. Our guide ran ahead and shouted to them to wait, which thankfully they did. We got on board five minutes later than the departure schedule. If we had missed that hydrofoil, we would have never made it back to the ship on time. I cannot imagine what a nightmare it would have been, stuck in a Russian city with minimal belongings, needing to get to Estonia to meet the ship at the next port. Sure, the travel agency would have helped us get to our ship, but Russian laws and visitor rules are complicated, and would have been a hassle for both the agency and us.

So, while it may be like a dreaded "cattle call" on a ship excursion, there are times when the extra get-to-the-ship-in-time insurance they provide can assure the avoidance of a huge inconvenience if things do go wrong.

This happened to me on my first cruise on Norwegian when we stopped in Cozumel. We had taken an all-day excursion to Chichen Itza which involved a ferry back and forth to the mainland and then lots of driving out and back. We got delayed by traffic and some torrential rains and wound up missing our ferry from Playa del Carmen. There was another 30 minutes later but we wound up arriving to Cozumel 15 minutes past departure time. The ship actually had already pulled away from the dock and was sitting waiting for us. Once we got off the ferry we had to transfer to a smaller local boat that took us out to the cruise ship which sailed away the moment we were all on board.

We don't take the ships excursions either but I'd never chastise anyone for doing so. There are some very rude people that post here.

There are many, many people that take them so they can't be that bad. They are good for some, especially some that are not that "traveled" or maybe someone with mobility issues. They have their place.

I have mixed feelings about the excursion thing. While I know I can get a better deal through a private company. I hate to fly so the thought of me not making it back to ship in time and me forced on a plane to the next island makes me want to book through Celebrity even more. I know its more expensive but I also have a DW that doesnt want to not book outside of Celebrity..

The plane thing is my issue I've been able to go on cruises without flying. I'm good with that.

We very rarely take ship excursions as they tend to be very overpriced and we prefer to be in a small group or visit particular things.

The only time we do take ship excursions are when there are time constraints or we can't find a suitable alternative.

Yes, things do happen, but it is highly unlikely that the ship will sail without you as long as you have booked with a reputable company and you plan to get back well in time.

If you enjoy overpaying to be herded like cattle on an overcrowded excursion with zero ability to personalize, lots of wasted time and often forced "shopping" stops at venues that give a kickback to the cruise line, so be it. :rolleyes:

 

If one does a little research and books with a reputable private vendor and utilizes a little common sense the chances of missing the ship are minuscule. Perhaps the tiny, remote chance of missing the ship is enough to entice some people to overpay for an inferior experience, but many informed cruisers refuse to partake in a cruise line excursion.

Call me cattle. I think I'm informed. I like only having to give them my money and they do it all. We like doing a tours that are about 4 hours. A lot of the ports we just walk off the ship. I like doing some shopping. What is great is that we have all have choices. Our next vacation is 25 days with a 12 night cruise in Asia. I'm thinking we are only booking 3 tours total all through Celebrity.

We did a cruise out of Singapore. The CC gathering was all about finding people and getting their money for private tours. Then Indonesia changed our ports stops around. It was fun to watch the people trying to get on the internet to change around their private tours.

If you enjoy overpaying to be herded like cattle on an overcrowded excursion with zero ability to personalize, lots of wasted time and often forced "shopping" stops at venues that give a kickback to the cruise line, so be it. :rolleyes:

 

If one does a little research and books with a reputable private vendor and utilizes a little common sense the chances of missing the ship are minuscule. Perhaps the tiny, remote chance of missing the ship is enough to entice some people to overpay for an inferior experience, but many informed cruisers refuse to partake in a cruise line excursion.

Wow! I don't get why this post has elicited hostile responses! It doesn't appear as though Gonzo is insulting anyone. He is not personally calling people on ships tours "cattle". The reference to cattle is describing how the ships tours treat people. I think he was trying to point out some of the issues with booking through the cruise line so that the OP will be aware.

I've always taken private excursions until a cruise we took this year. We had a lot of OBCs to use up. So we thought we may as well use the OBCs for a few shore excursions. Twice we sat in the theatre way past the tour start times, waiting to be called (and the tours were not extended by the amount of time we sat waiting). The tours were all disorganized and crowded. No apologies for delays were received.

I wouldn't rule out ships tours in future, but I can't imagine doing another one unless I have to use up OBCs or there is a specific reason why independent tours would be too risky in the particular port.

We very rarely take ship excursions as they tend to be very overpriced and we prefer to be in a small group or visit particular things.

 

The only time we do take ship excursions are when there are time constraints or we can't find a suitable alternative.

 

Yes, things do happen, but it is highly unlikely that the ship will sail without you as long as you have booked with a reputable company and you plan to get back well in time.

Would not be too sure of that. I have been on three different cruises on three different lines that have left people on independent tours behind. The stops were Rome, Bangkok, and Oslo I have also been on two that have had to leave people on ship tours behind (Lima, Skagway). Those on the ship tours were well taken care of by the cruise line, while those traveling independently had to find their own way.

The most recent was on a Princess cruise from BA around the horn to LA in March. On the excursion to Machu Picchu the second plane returning had a problem on take off, had to abort and skidded off of the run way. No one was injured, but the airport was closed until the next day. On that plane there was about 60 passengers on a Princess excursion, 3 couples doing the trip independently (2 couples using American Express), and a group of CC folks that combined for the trip. I remember one of them saying that "we are on the same flights as the Princess excursion, what can go wrong". The ship had to leave the port and initially waited outside. Once it was determined how long the airport would be closed the ship headed north. Those on the Princess excursion had all of their arrangements taken care of, top line hotels, flights, etc. The ship made an unscheduled stop in Ecuador had picked up the ship excursion folks. The three couples also made it there on their own (I understand from one of them that American Express did an excellent job of assisting them). The CC group did not rejoin until the normal stop in Costa Rica a few days later. They had to make all arrangements on their own, as well as pay all extra expenses.

Also the cruise excursion folks got some money back for the excursion and the extra 2 days off of the ship,

...... I cannot imagine what a nightmare it would have been, stuck in a Russian city with minimal belongings, needing to get to Estonia to meet the ship at the next port. Sure, the travel agency would have helped us get to our ship, but Russian laws and visitor rules are complicated, and would have been a hassle for both the agency and us.

They deal with thousands of cruise ship passengers every year, are very well organized, highly recommended, familiar with all the procedures involved, and have contingency plans for getting you to your ship at the next port, just in case.

Their reputation and livelihood depend on it.

I agree that there are some locations where it is preferable to take a ship's tour rather than a private tour, but St. Petersburg is not one of them.

There have been many previous discussions of the advantages of using a reputable private agency over taking the cruise ship's excursions at St. Petersburg, so I won't repeat them here.

But if taking the ship's excursion gave you peace of mind that you would not have had otherwise, then certainly that was the right decision for you.

Not if you booked with one of the reputable, well-known private Russian travel agencies such as SPB or Alla or TJ travel, for example.

 

They deal with thousands of cruise ship passengers every year, are very well organized, highly recommended, familiar with all the procedures involved, and have contingency plans for getting you to your ship at the next port, just in case.

Their reputation and livelihood depend on it.

 

I agree that there are some locations where it is preferable to take a ship's tour rather than a private tour, but St. Petersburg is not one of them.

 

There have been many previous discussions of the advantages of using a reputable private agency over taking the cruise ship's excursions at St. Petersburg, so I won't repeat them here.

 

But if taking the ship's excursion gave you peace of mind that you would not have had otherwise, then certainly that was the right decision for you.

 

 

We WERE with a reputable agency - Anastasia, which is highly rated.

Accidents and situations can occur at any time, as in our case with one of us spraining an ankle and affecting a schedule that would have been fine without the injury. And yes, they have the connections and local experience to get us to our next port. But who wants that hassle, no matter how well the travel agency can "fix" it. It is much, much better not to need the fix in the first place.

As I said - anything can happen. But who wants to deal with all that if they can avoid it.

We use private guides about 65% of the time, including in St. Petersburg. Sometimes we prefer the ease of taking a ship's tour. It is too bad that to some people that makes me a fool and a sucker. He may think I am just stupid "cattle", but in my opinion, he's no better by demonstrating that he is a horse's back end.

On my very first X cruise (the Zenith in 1992), I suffered a dislocated shoulder in Cozumel while on a ship's excursion snorkeling trip. A wave caught me while I was holding the excursion boat ladder with one hand. I was spun around and my shoulder dislocated.

I was taken by ambulance to the hospital, given some good Mexican drugs, treated and released. The hospital called the ship's port agent who called the Zenith. The port agent met us (wife, daughter, and me) at the hospital and took us to the tender waiting for us. The ship actually waited 45 minutes for us past sailing time!

I have no idea if that would happen in 2017 - and I don't plan on finding out!!

If you enjoy overpaying to be herded like cattle on an overcrowded excursion with zero ability to personalize, lots of wasted time and often forced "shopping" stops at venues that give a kickback to the cruise line, so be it. :rolleyes:

 

If one does a little research and books with a reputable private vendor and utilizes a little common sense the chances of missing the ship are minuscule. Perhaps the tiny, remote chance of missing the ship is enough to entice some people to overpay for an inferior experience, but many informed cruisers refuse to partake in a cruise line excursion.

Absolutely right Gonzo! We have never had an issue with private tours, always small groups, better pricing and superior guides. Took a ship tour once (Panama Canal, had no choice), it was the worst, was obvious the guides did not care, had many problems, was basically amateur hour... never again!

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