Cozumel Excursion Canceled

[maroyalt]

I am going to cozumel on the pearl in February and had a private speedboat excursion booked. A few days ago I recieved an email (see below) stating it had been canceled because the cruise line is forcing them to do so. I am very dissapointed because I was really looking forward to this excursion. Has anyone had this happen to them in the past? What are your thoughts?

 

Thank you for booking the Speedboat & Beach Adventure tour through our website! I am so sorry to say that we are forced to cancel your reservation!

Unfortunately, the operator will no longer be able to honor your confirmed reservation. At this time, the cruise lines are pressing a binding contract on the tour operators against selling their excursions through online agencies at much cheaper prices.

Since the cruise lines offer a large volume of a possible customers to the operators, they have no choice but to comply to stay afloat. In doing so the chance having their business to grow is eliminated (since they cant sell to cruise passengers through anyone else, or even to those staying at hotels) and in the end the competetive market is killed. Not only does this limit the growth of the local operators, but this also denies the cruise ship passenger a chance to have an alternative and a value-for-money option. Instead the cruise line monopolizes the market making the tours only available through them, at their marked up price.

We all know this is unfair - these tactics affect not only to the local operator, but also yourself as a customer since legit companies who can provide you with alternatives are bullied out of the game by marketing giants.

I am so sorry for the inconvenience, but at this time we can only let people know of what the situation really is, offer you any of the other tours available through our website as an alternative, or provide you with full refund if you dont find anything else to your liking.

Please let us know how you want us to proceed with your reservation. Hopefully you will help spread the word out so that cruise passengers, who are the ones who drive the cruise line industry in the first place, will be given the options they really deserve and not be limited to what the line owners dictate. We do ask however that you do not quote our business name if and when you share this information, as we do not want to receive direct retaliation from the cruise lines. We hope that you understand that this is a delicate line we are crossing and we are trying to help ease the situation, not create a larger issue.

[big green]

That is business--the private company could have said no to the cruise line--but for the welfare of their overall business they knew this would be bad------this is common in all ports--the email does not mention that NCL was the cause it said cruise industry so it could have been any cruise line that pulls into that port.

 

Nothing you can do--seems to have been a good business decision for the tour operator.

 

BG

[MrLee]

The only solution to this would be for the tour operator not to enter into contracts with cruise lines. I t would be kind of silly for the cruise lines to offer these tours and then let the tour companies undercut them.

[scchasgal]

I am going to cozumel on the pearl in February and had a private speedboat excursion booked. A few days ago I recieved an email (see below) stating it had been canceled because the cruise line is forcing them to do so. I am very dissapointed because I was really looking forward to this excursion. Has anyone had this happen to them in the past? What are your thoughts?

 

Thank you for booking the Speedboat & Beach Adventure tour through our website! I am so sorry to say that we are forced to cancel your reservation!

Unfortunately, the operator will no longer be able to honor your confirmed reservation. At this time, the cruise lines are pressing a binding contract on the tour operators against selling their excursions through online agencies at much cheaper prices.

Since the cruise lines offer a large volume of a possible customers to the operators, they have no choice but to comply to stay afloat. In doing so the chance having their business to grow is eliminated (since they cant sell to cruise passengers through anyone else, or even to those staying at hotels) and in the end the competetive market is killed. Not only does this limit the growth of the local operators, but this also denies the cruise ship passenger a chance to have an alternative and a value-for-money option. Instead the cruise line monopolizes the market making the tours only available through them, at their marked up price.

We all know this is unfair - these tactics affect not only to the local operator, but also yourself as a customer since legit companies who can provide you with alternatives are bullied out of the game by marketing giants.

I am so sorry for the inconvenience, but at this time we can only let people know of what the situation really is, offer you any of the other tours available through our website as an alternative, or provide you with full refund if you dont find anything else to your liking.

Please let us know how you want us to proceed with your reservation. Hopefully you will help spread the word out so that cruise passengers, who are the ones who drive the cruise line industry in the first place, will be given the options they really deserve and not be limited to what the line owners dictate. We do ask however that you do not quote our business name if and when you share this information, as we do not want to receive direct retaliation from the cruise lines. We hope that you understand that this is a delicate line we are crossing and we are trying to help ease the situation, not create a larger issue.

 

I thought you were on our roll call???? We are not going to Cozumel we are doing eastern carib :rolleyes: I know you are doing a B2B the email from the cruiseline must have been from RCCL not NCL.

[CanadianTwosome]

Wow, what an incredibly unprofessional letter!! Note that it came from the website that is no longer going to get commission from the operator, not from the operator themselves. Clearly they felt that the cruiseline business alone was worth keeping. On my birthday in January in Cozumel, we went on a daysail that we arranged privately, and they're booked every single day either by cruise passengers or hotel guests. Anyone wanting to 'grown their business' and rely solely on non-cruiseline business is free to do so. I guess the website was enjoying the commissions they were getting from the speedboat company and is going to miss them, but as I said above, I think their letter is incredibly unprofessional. I don't blame the cruiselines at all for wanting exclusivity, and obviously the speedboat company had no problem agreeing to only book through them. I'm surprised that they can't still take bookings from hotel guests, however. I'll bet hotel guests can still make reservations through their hotel concierge; they're not competition for the cruise lines. The website would still be out, though. So basically, the website is angry because they're losing the income that they're begrudging the cruiselines for wanting... Sure, the cruiselines have a markup rather than a commission (or both), but competition is competition, and the cruiselines won this one.

 

...and I'm stepping off the soap box now... :rolleyes:

[scchasgal]

That is business--the private company could have said no to the cruise line--but for the welfare of their overall business they knew this would be bad------this is common in all ports--the email does not mention that NCL was the cause it said cruise industry so it could have been any cruise line that pulls into that port.

 

Nothing you can do--seems to have been a good business decision for the tour operator.

 

BG

 

The email does not mention NCL was the cause because it was RCCL:eek: She is not sailing the Pearl to Cozumel.

[maroyalt]

The email does not mention NCL was the cause because it was RCCL:eek: She is not sailing the Pearl to Cozumel.

 

 

scchasgal, you are correct. The pearl is not going to Cozumel and it turns out I am a complete MORON. I got my two cruises mixed up. However, I was not trying to slam NCL. I was just wondering if anybody else has had this happen to them.

 

Sorry for the mix up.

[jetskier]

This is a common practice in the industry. And come contract renewals, you will sometimes see excursions dropped because the operator no longer would cut their prices to meet the cruiseline demands. A good example was the Fiesta Party Boat in Cozumel.

Dave

[G'ma]

That's only business......

 

The tour operator can refuse to contract with cruise ships if they want. However, if they DO want the cruise business they will sign a contract that includes a "non-compete" clause.

 

It is what it is.