Scenic Railway Tour Question

[MrSmoofy]

In 2013 I took a cruise that went to St. Kitts and we were able to take the Scenic Railway Tour.

 

We are going again in May on Royal Caribbean and have been told by them that because they will have 2 ships at port only the other ship can book this tour.

 

I tried contacting the Scenic Railway Tour directly and was informed by them that it had to be booked through the cruise line.

 

Has anyone ever gone on this from a cruise but not purchased through the cruise line?

[OCruisers]

The cruise line/lines have a contract with the Railway Tour reserving the total train so the only way to book is thru your cruise line. ;)

Keep in mind the price from the cruise line includes transportation to and from the ship.

LuLu

[MrSmoofy]

The cruise line/lines have a contract with the Railway Tour reserving the total train so the only way to book is thru your cruise line. ;)

Keep in mind the price from the cruise line includes transportation to and from the ship.

LuLu

 

It's not that Royal Caribbean is not offering it the day we are there they claim it is becuase they have another one of their ships that day at the port as well and are only offering it to that ship. Seems very odd to me.

Edited April 2, 2015 by MrSmoofy

[paul58]

If the train has a contract with your cruise line then the ONLY way you can book the train when YOUR ship is in port is through the ships excursion desk. According to Cruise TT, your ship is the only ship in port that day.

[MrSmoofy]

If the train has a contract with your cruise line then the ONLY way you can book the train when YOUR ship is in port is through the ships excursion desk. According to Cruise TT, your ship is the only ship in port that day.

 

So seems RCI has no clue on this they can't tell me why it's not offered but contacting the train company directly they say I have to book it through the cruise.

[Ocean Boy]

So seems RCI has no clue on this they can't tell me why it's not offered but contacting the train company directly they say I have to book it through the cruise.

 

The year that we did the railway there was another ship in port and people from the other ship were on the train with us. I find it very hard to believe that it is limited to one ship.

 

It is true that you have to book through the cruise line. And we did pre-book the tour well before the cruise occurred. Did you try reserving the tour yourself on line?

Edited April 8, 2015 by Ocean Boy

[MrSmoofy]

The year that we did the railway there was another ship in port and people from the other ship were on the train with us. I find it very hard to believe that it is limited to one ship.

 

It is true that you have to book through the cruise line.

 

Getting anything out of RCI people is a joke but I've talked about that in other threads and people just say that's to be expected.

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/shoreExcursions/product/detail/view.do?ProductCode=KT15&DestinationCode=CARIB

 

If you go there it's the excursion. Click on Fine cruises that feature this. 4th listing down May 16, 2015 7 Day Southern Caribbean out of San Juan which is the cruise I've booked it's not possible to book this excursion and they can't tell me why.

[Ocean Boy]

Getting anything out of RCI people is a joke but I've talked about that in other threads and people just say that's to be expected.

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/shoreExcursions/product/detail/view.do?ProductCode=KT15&DestinationCode=CARIB

 

If you go there it's the excursion. Click on Fine cruises that feature this. 4th listing down May 16, 2015 7 Day Southern Caribbean out of San Juan which is the cruise I've booked it's not possible to book this excursion and they can't tell me why.

 

But have you tried going into your reservation, going into the excursions, and booking it yourself?

[MrSmoofy]

But have you tried going into your reservation, going into the excursions, and booking it yourself?

 

Yes it's not listed. RCI Customer service doesn't know why they passed me on to a Resolution Team Member who said they contact the Excursion People for RCI who told them it was because there was another RCI ship at port that day as well.

 

So based on your info and the fact that the port authority there says that's a lie that we are the only RCI ship there that day. It seems everyone at RCI has no idea and they just make stuff up. It's very frustrating.

Edited April 8, 2015 by MrSmoofy

[Ocean Boy]

Yes it's not listed. RCI Customer service doesn't know why they passed me on to a Resolution Team Member who said they contact the Excursion People for RCI who told them it was because there was another RCI ship at port that day as well.

 

So based on your info and the fact that the port authority there says that's a lie that we are the only RCI ship there that day. It seems everyone at RCI has no idea and they just make stuff up. It's very frustrating.

 

I just checked the cruise port calendar and found the same info as was stated above. Adventure is the only ship in port that day. You could call the railway and just make sure that they are not down for maintenance or something that week. If they are running then I would call RCI and try again. Your other option would be to book when you board the ship though I understand wanting to have everything in order ahead of time.

[MrSmoofy]

I just checked the cruise port calendar and found the same info as was stated above. Adventure is the only ship in port that day. You could call the railway and just make sure that they are not down for maintenance or something that week. If they are running then I would call RCI and try again. Your other option would be to book when you board the ship though I understand wanting to have everything in order ahead of time.

 

I've actually called the rail company already they are the ones that said I could only book through the cruise line but couldn't tell me why Royal was not offering it.

 

I've probably spoke to 10-15 people at RCI about this and have not gotten really anywhere with them.

[Ocean Boy]

I've actually called the rail company already they are the ones that said I could only book through the cruise line but couldn't tell me why Royal was not offering it.

 

I've probably spoke to 10-15 people at RCI about this and have not gotten really anywhere with them.

 

So would you be willing to try this experiment?

 

Go to the link you gave me above.

Click on "find cruises that feature this"

Click on the second listed cruise April 12, April 26

Click on "Shore Excursions"

Find the Caribbean Scenic Railway Tour KT-15

Click on "View Excursion"

Click on "Book this Excursion"

 

You will then be asked to log into your reservation. Log in and see if it lets you book the tour for your reservation. I hope you try. I'd be very interested in the result.

[MrSmoofy]

So would you be willing to try this experiment?

 

Go to the link you gave me above.

Click on "find cruises that feature this"

Click on the second listed cruise April 12, April 26

Click on "Shore Excursions"

Find the Caribbean Scenic Railway Tour KT-15

Click on "View Excursion"

Click on "Book this Excursion"

 

You will then be asked to log into your reservation. Log in and see if it lets you book the tour for your reservation. I hope you try. I'd be very interested in the result.

 

Hadn't of thought of that, but very good idea on your part, unfortunatly it didn't work.

[Ocean Boy]

Hadn't of thought of that, but very good idea on your part, unfortunatly it didn't work.

 

Thanks for trying. Sorry it didn't work. I'm kind of out of ideas. But the train is going to be pretty empty n if RCI doesn't fix this. I don't think the Railway will be happy about that.

Edited April 8, 2015 by Ocean Boy

[MrSmoofy]

Thanks for trying. Sorry it didn't work. I'm kind of out of ideas. But the train is going to be pretty empty n if RCI doesn't fix this. I don't think the Railway will be happy about that.

 

Also now it's show most of the excursions for our cruise are not available so that totally sucks because I had some in my cart but now they are gone and I can't add anything. Ugg

[MrSmoofy]

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Now I just get that when trying to look at excursions. What a joke of a company this is. Can't believe it's so bad and people defend them like it's to be expected.

[wendyc78]

It could be because it is sold out?

[BigDaddyCVO]

In Jan '15, we booked a late June '15 AOS cruise with a stop in St. Kitts. We wanted to book the railway excursion at the time we booked the cruise, but it was not listed in shore excursions section of the planner. I contacted the tour operator directly who informed me the tour can only be reserved through RCI. Discouraged and believing it was either sold out or not going to be available, we booked another tour in St. Kitts. Fast forward to the first week of April and two different railway tours showed up in the planner. We canceled the tour we initially reserved and reserved the railway tour.

 

Keep checking the planner, it may show up. But, being this close to your sail date, I wouldn't be too optimistic. I don't have a lot of faith in RCI's ability to communicate between internal groups or some of their reservation technology; who knows how accurate any of the info you are getting is.

[Ocean Boy]

It could be because it is sold out?

 

That would be the last thing that I'd bet my money on.

[MrSmoofy]

In Jan '15, we booked a late June '15 AOS cruise with a stop in St. Kitts. We wanted to book the railway excursion at the time we booked the cruise, but it was not listed in shore excursions section of the planner. I contacted the tour operator directly who informed me the tour can only be reserved through RCI. Discouraged and believing it was either sold out or not going to be available, we booked another tour in St. Kitts. Fast forward to the first week of April and two different railway tours showed up in the planner. We canceled the tour we initially reserved and reserved the railway tour.

 

Keep checking the planner, it may show up. But, being this close to your sail date, I wouldn't be too optimistic. I don't have a lot of faith in RCI's ability to communicate between internal groups or some of their reservation technology; who knows how accurate any of the info you are getting is.

 

The excuse RCI gave me was because they had another ship at port at the same time which was a straight out lie.

 

You are exectly correct this is what just happened while it's not even shown up as being availabne and RCI had no clue why it is now listed and I've booked it along with others.

 

Would be nice if their staff actually knew anything instead of just lying to make excuses for it not being listed.

[paul58]

I would guess that like too many companies, they have contracted out their reservation system for excursions and those people do not have a clue of what is going on. Try this:

contact the railroad and tell them that you are a guest on the island and are wanting to go an the train on the day you are there. You would need to get to the train which is near the airport by taxi and they would bring you back with there bus or they may drop you off at the port. It might work & it may be worth a try.

[MrSmoofy]

I would guess that like too many companies, they have contracted out their reservation system for excursions and those people do not have a clue of what is going on. Try this:

contact the railroad and tell them that you are a guest on the island and are wanting to go an the train on the day you are there. You would need to get to the train which is near the airport by taxi and they would bring you back with there bus or they may drop you off at the port. It might work & it may be worth a try.

 

No need for that as I said it now appears on the available list.

[40yearcruiser]

It's also possible that a ship from another company had first rights of reservations for the train on that date and it wasn't released to RCL until they thought the other cruise line wasn't going to fill the train. Just guessing why it showed up so late.

[MrSmoofy]

It's also possible that a ship from another company had first rights of reservations for the train on that date and it wasn't released to RCL until they thought the other cruise line wasn't going to fill the train. Just guessing why it showed up so late.

 

RCI said it was their own ship not another company. Also the port athority confirmed they are the only ship.

[Ocean Boy]

It's also possible that a ship from another company had first rights of reservations for the train on that date and it wasn't released to RCL until they thought the other cruise line wasn't going to fill the train. Just guessing why it showed up so late.

 

We have already established that there is no other ship in port that day.