Are we being ripped off ??

[Rasa Sayang]

As we are contemplating sailing on Sun Princess S016 from Perth to Sydney [via Bali and other places] next year, I was going through the Princess website and checking out the available shore tours.

 

I was surprised at the price for this particular tour from Port Douglas in Queensland.

 

 

So surprised in fact I decided to investigate further.

 

For the past 30 years we have been regular visitors to Port Douglas, know the area extremely well, and have done the Low Isles Cruise in the past.

 

Here is the price for the same cruise from Quicksilver's [the tour company] own website.

 

 

 

It is the same cruise - right down to morning and afternoon tea, buffet lunch, snorkel gear, etc. etc.

 

There is a discrepancy of $51 in the price of an adult ticket.

 

I can understand Princess taking a small booking fee - but $51 ????

 

It certainly makes one wonder why. :mad:

[cazz0069]

As we are contemplating sailing on Sun Princess S016 from Perth to Sydney [via Bali and other places] next year, I was going through the Princess website and checking out the available shore tours.

 

I was surprised at the price for this particular tour from Port Douglas in Queensland.

 

So surprised in fact I decided to investigate further.

 

For the past 30 years we have been regular visitors to Port Douglas, know the area extremely well, and have done the Low Isles Cruise in the past.

 

Here is the price for the same cruise from Quicksilver's [the tour company] own website.

 

It is the same cruise - right down to morning and afternoon tea, buffet lunch, snorkel gear, etc. etc.

 

There is a discrepancy of $51 in the price of an adult ticket.

 

I can understand Princess taking a small booking fee - but $51 ????

 

It certainly makes one wonder why. :mad:

 

 

Heres one even better. We did the Qld Coastal Wonders cruise on the Sun Princess this year and a shore tour to Movie World from Brisbane was $169!!! Now i know for a fact at that point MW was $69 to get into, so Princess were effectively charging $100 for transport there. Heres the kicker, the Sea World tour was $139 and thats actually further from Brisbane than what MW is....total rip off. Where possible i will totally avoid shore tours all together on the ship...except in the situations where its too much hassle, or getting back in time maybe a risk...otherwise, get a group together, rent a car and do it yourself :cool:

[karmac]

Another good example is the Chou Chou train in Noumea. P&O charge about $60. It was featured on the Getaway South Pacific special a couple of months ago and they quoted $15.

We are doing a QLD coastal cruise in September and I was checking out the tours on the P&O site and I honestly don't think we'll be doing any. They are all close $150-$200:eek:.

[aussie57]

In NZ in 2007 Princess totally booked out the taieri gorge railway from Dunedin. Cost per passenger was approx $200 (USD). Normal tourist cost approx $60NZD. Needless to say we didn't go but were disappointed that private arrangements couldn't be made

[LuckiePuris]

In NZ in 2007 Princess totally booked out the taieri gorge railway from Dunedin. Cost per passenger was approx $200 (USD). Normal tourist cost approx $60NZD. Needless to say we didn't go but were disappointed that private arrangements couldn't be made

 

I was going to mention this one too!

 

RCI is offering this tour for $190 AUD, compared to booking the tour independently for $68 AUD per person.

 

If you contact the operator with enough notice before the ship has booked all the places on the tour, you will be able to book through the operator direct.

[cazz0069]

Another good example is the Chou Chou train in Noumea. P&O charge about $60. It was featured on the Getaway South Pacific special a couple of months ago and they quoted $15.

We are doing a QLD coastal cruise in September and I was checking out the tours on the P&O site and I honestly don't think we'll be doing any. They are all close $150-$200:eek:.

 

Yeah dont do it! Being an Aussie too, you have the advantage of just being able to look these types of tours up and doing a price quote yourself. We did the Ocean Rafting on the Whitsundays through Princess, at $179 pp, yet the the operator was offering the same thing for $119. The trap was, Princess had chartered the whole tour, so it meant that you were unable to do it on your own. What was annoying was if you were able to book it directly, the tour was actually an hour longer and could not guarantee to get you back to the ship in time. They certainly take advantage of their captive audience :cool:

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

This doesn't only apply to Australia and NZ. With overseas cruises the tours are exhorbitant as well. We have organised our own tours in our upcoming Panama Canal cruise and we have saved hundreds of dollars and been able to change the tours to suit us as well as have much smaller groups which means more flexibility on the day and not waiting for the usual stragglers.

 

Do your research folks, it certainly pays off.

[yamcrzr]

As a family of 4 we saved just over $200 in Cairns by doing the Kuranda Scenic Railway & Skyrail tour through a tourist agent in the main street compared to doing it through P&O.

[karmac]

As a family of 4 we saved just over $200 in Cairns by doing the Kuranda Scenic Railway & Skyrail tour through a tourist agent in the main street compared to doing it through P&O.

 

Who did you do it through? I did the Kuranda tour on my Fairstar cruise & would like to take the kids next year.

[petzl]

With 2000 tourists getting off boat at same time Tours will be scarce

[MMDown Under]

In Cairns, passengers with young children might want to take a taxi (or bus) into town and let their children enjoy the free children's water play area and playgrounds on the Esplanade, followed by a swim for all in the huge waterfront lagoon.

[The_Big_M]

Being "ripped off" is in the eye of the recipient. It's common across lines and destinations though, so not specific to that example.

 

On a value basis, you definitely pay more by going through the line. Many say the extra convenience and hassle isn't worth the premium, but others choose to go with the line in spite of that as they think it's fair.

 

Personally, I'm happy to diy but just accept it as the way it is. As long as it's not compulsory, I don't consider it a rip-off. :)

[The_Big_M]

so you would put convenience over being riped off.

or you would like to ripped off because its convenient?

 

Eh?

 

"Personally, I'm happy to diy"

[cazz0069]

Who did you do it through? I did the Kuranda tour on my Fairstar cruise & would like to take the kids next year.

 

You will see lots of tour operators in the main city area, you will find they are all linked to see the same service provider, i cant see the competition being that fierce. But we did the Skyrail/Kuranda train and saved about $60 each. They will also have a bus that will come pick you up and drop you off too. Great bargain! :)

[Kinkacruiser]

We're definitely paying for convenience and security, but also a guarantee since the contracted operators may be the only ones in townport. I think we'd all agree that most ports are DIY, so it's a basically a budget decision.

Just my thoughts...

Anna

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

Who did you do it through? I did the Kuranda tour on my Fairstar cruise & would like to take the kids next year.

 

Here are some links for you.

 

http://www.skyrail.com.au/

 

http://www.skyrail.com.au/tours.html

 

With a family to pay for it might be beneficial to hire a car for the day and drive yourself to the skyrail than pay for transfers.

[LuckiePuris]

If there is a tour / something you really want to see, and you don't want to book it through the cruise line, I would recommend you book as soon as possible through the tour operator so you purchase a place on the tour before the cruise line books the remaining places.

 

I would suggest to plan your ports before the cruise and if booking tours independently, try and book them in advance before the cruise instead of leaving it to luck on the day. You need to remember that there will be hundreds of passengers waiting to try and book a tour on the day, so you don't want to miss out.

 

It really depends on your budget as to whether you prefer to book through the cruise line or independently. If we only had to pay for one of two, I may book through the cruise line. But for a family, it can really add up especially when trying to do a tour or two for every port. So where possible, prefer to book our own tours :)