Celebrity ShoreX email won't answer questions about Cartagena and Colon trips

[mismithco]

When I called Celebrity and talked to someone in shore excursions, they could not answer my questions about a couple of their trips. They told me to email shorex@rccl.com. I sent email on July 1 and received an automated reply that said they received it and would respond in 3 business days. On July 11 I sent a second request for answers to questions. Same automated reply but I have received no response as of today July 30. What can I do to get someone to respond?

 

I have questions about the Cartagena CA14: Rosario Island trip, about how much time is allowed for beach time and snorkeling and its cost.

 

Also about Colon Monkey Watch CO29: Do we get off the boat and walk through the sanctuary or do we stay on the boat for a slow ride with the naturalist? It sounds like we stay on the boat. There is no walking distance listed. Then why is the trip listed as Moderate instead of Mild activity level? What do we do that is moderate?

 

I need to know the answers to these questions before we sign up.

[Leesie6351]

In all honesty, I have never received answers to emails and frankly, the reps in Miami have no clue about excursions. You can try to go the cruise ports board or the Roll Call for your cruise. You may get answers to your questions.

 

Otherwise, the only alternative is to wait to book until you are onboard the ship and there the shore excursion people can definitely answer your questions.

 

Good luck.

[Gonzo70]

I agree with Leesie; any rep you contact or correspond with precruise will probably be doing no more than answering your question based on what they read off the online description of the excursion and have no personal knowledge beyond what you can look up yourself. If you book through the cruise line, you will be better off heading to the Shore Excursion desk soon after boarding and handling it then; they always hold some slots for on board booking, so if you do this first thing it is highly unlikely anything would be sold out.

 

I would also encourage you to research booking excursions on your own rather than through the cruise line; generally you can obtain better experiences, more personalized experiences and often even save money to boot! Cruise Critic's Port of Call board, the Roll Call board and Trip Advisor are great resources for researching excursions.

[butterfly1968]

Sorry for crashing your roll call, but!

 

I recently returned from Cartagena and I was fortunate enough to have a lovely guide by the name of Marelvey Pena Hall. If you would like an independent tour of Cartagena she is the best guide for the job.

[ghstudio]

The hq folks only read the same information you read....not much help. I recommend contacting lee miles (aka mr emerald) in Cartagena.

[GreatLakes]

When I called Celebrity and talked to someone in shore excursions, they could not answer my questions about a couple of their trips. They told me to email shorex@rccl.com. I sent email on July 1 and received an automated reply that said they received it and would respond in 3 business days. On July 11 I sent a second request for answers to questions. Same automated reply but I have received no response as of today July 30. What can I do to get someone to respond?

 

I have questions about the Cartagena CA14: Rosario Island trip, about how much time is allowed for beach time and snorkeling and its cost.

 

Also about Colon Monkey Watch CO29: Do we get off the boat and walk through the sanctuary or do we stay on the boat for a slow ride with the naturalist? It sounds like we stay on the boat. There is no walking distance listed. Then why is the trip listed as Moderate instead of Mild activity level? What do we do that is moderate?

 

I need to know the answers to these questions before we sign up.

 

 

Upon request, we had received an email from Celebrityexperience@celebrity.com with an attachment of all of the tours for the 12/9 cruise. I don't know if this will help or not, but CA14 in Cartagena departs at 7:30 a.m. and is 6 hrs, costs $135. In Colon CO29 departs at 8:45 a.m. and is 5 hrs. and costs $89.75.

[Project_gal]

When I called Celebrity and talked to someone in shore excursions, they could not answer my questions about a couple of their trips. They told me to email shorex@rccl.com. I sent email on July 1 and received an automated reply that said they received it and would respond in 3 business days. On July 11 I sent a second request for answers to questions. Same automated reply but I have received no response as of today July 30. What can I do to get someone to respond?

 

I have questions about the Cartagena CA14: Rosario Island trip, about how much time is allowed for beach time and snorkeling and its cost.

 

Also about Colon Monkey Watch CO29: Do we get off the boat and walk through the sanctuary or do we stay on the boat for a slow ride with the naturalist? It sounds like we stay on the boat. There is no walking distance listed. Then why is the trip listed as Moderate instead of Mild activity level? What do we do that is moderate?

 

I need to know the answers to these questions before we sign up.

 

Like others, I doubt that you will get a satisfactory answer from shore-base dcustomer service but have a couple of suggestions:

1. Celebrity tours are all provided by a third party and, usually, they offer same/similar tours to other groups/individuals. Celebrity are not usually very imaginative. Read the descriptions on their websites and it becomes clear that they are cut and pass from what the tour operator supplies. An Internet search is likely to turn up the tour operator Celebrity will use and you may get more information from the website or an email enquiry.
   
2. If that fails but you would like to do the tours if they matche your requirements, book them to ensure you get a place and then head to the shore excursion desk as soon as you board. They should be able to answer your questions because they will have experience of the tour operators. You can then cancel the tours for a full refund if they do not meet your requirements.
   

Sue

[HappyTvlr]

I always search CC and tripadvisor to get more info on the SEs. Celebrity seems clueless. Upon our return to the ship on our Panama Canal cruise we complained about a shore excursion in Costa Rica being altered due to a fire that occurred months before. There was a boat ride to a waterfall that was canceled, and replaced with a crocodile siting boat ride. We were told this on the bus leaving the ship and told (as the bus was moving) that we could cancel. Yeah right. We went along with it because this was not the main part of the excursion, but we brought our swimwear and towels for swimming in the waterfall so it was just a small burden to have to deal with the extra gear we didn't need. I just checked the excursion on X's site and the waterfall has been replaced with the crocodile boat ride we did. It was an excellent excursion, but we were just really bothered that we hadn't been told about the substitution and that Celebrity was clueless about it. Sorry I can't help you with the other tours. In Cartagena we did a self guided tour of the city and in Colon we did city tours. Enjoy your trip!

[Abuelita2012]

When I called Celebrity and talked to someone in shore excursions, they could not answer my questions about a couple of their trips. They told me to email shorex@rccl.com. I sent email on July 1 and received an automated reply that said they received it and would respond in 3 business days. On July 11 I sent a second request for answers to questions. Same automated reply but I have received no response as of today July 30. What can I do to get someone to respond?

 

I have questions about the Cartagena CA14: Rosario Island trip, about how much time is allowed for beach time and snorkeling and its cost.

 

Also about Colon Monkey Watch CO29: Do we get off the boat and walk through the sanctuary or do we stay on the boat for a slow ride with the naturalist? It sounds like we stay on the boat. There is no walking distance listed. Then why is the trip listed as Moderate instead of Mild activity level? What do we do that is moderate?

 

I need to know the answers to these questions before we sign up.

I live in Panama. If this cruise is to "Monkey Island" it is in a boat where you do not leave the boat but see and feed the monkeys from the boat. I did that with my grandchildren when they visited. I have not heard of it being called "Monkey Watch" so maybe there is a tour that I have never heard of but I doubt it. Hope this is helpful. :o

[Lsimon]

I have received some basic information about excursions from the email address the OP used more than once in the past and these involved questions similar to those posed by mismithco. It typically took a week or two for a response. Based on that I'm a little surprised that they haven't received a response in a month's time. I don't know if it made a difference but the email's I've sent were sent to both shorex@rccl.com and shorex@celebrity.com, although the response came back from shorex@rccl.com in all of the emails I can find right now. Can't recall how I learned of these email addresses but they might have been from responses to questions originally emailed to the Captain's Club

 

I'll also say that while we generally do our excursions independently from the cruise line that there are often ports and activities that make a lot of sense using the cruise line's tours and that, in my opinion, Colon Panama is one of those. Can't say much about Cartagena though - we've only done a tour of the city there and hired a great guide on the spot as we left the port terminal. In most Caribbean ports I'd never use a ship's excursion to get to a beach but I'm not so sure about this in Cartagena since it is a much larger city and not a small Caribbean island.