So much for Royal Caribbean Custom Excursions

[tcieyes]

HI, We are Diamond, rarely cruise anymore with RCCL, but did book Majesty after her refurb from Port Canaveral on May 27, 2016, short cruise. We just wrote to the new custom excursion consultant. The advertisement made it sound like you actually could customize experiences, so we were so excited. We love this island, Great Harbour Cay, so cost was not an issue. We wanted to go to that populated Bahamian Island that is 10 minutes from Coco Cay by boat for the day or a few hours and spend time there, while the ship is stopped at Coco Cay. ( Note: this is where all the Bahamian workers come from Great Harbour Cay)This is the easiest request in the world, answer from RCCL: no we can't do that. So much for customized excursions. We have stayed on the island before and it is beautiful, we are sad. There is a marina there on the island and plenty of skippers that would come to get us from Coco Cay. But RCCL would have to permit them to come onto Coco Cay to get us. Shaking my head....... We could fly the 15 minute north flight from Nassau while the ship is docked there, but don't arrive in time for the 8AM flight , then have to catch the 5PM flight back. At this point we would have to private pilot it in a sea plane instead of a 10 minute boat ride. I guess Tropic Air here we come. I imagine their would be a riot if a sea plane tried to land near Coco Cay, too many people and children in the water. Contrast this with NCL cruise line. We were on Great Harbor cay, staying at a bed and breakfast and a guest flying from England missed flight and missed ship From Miami. They told her to fly from Miami to Great Harbor Cay ( that is where we met her), got the harbor master in GHC to arrange her transport by boat to the ship docked right off The cay 10 minutes away and all was good.. We saw it with our own eyes and were amazed, WAVED GOOD-BY TO HER. Your thoughts....

[pete1681]

So what type of custom excursions WILL they do?

[cb at sea]

There is no such thing as "custom" excursions"..they have set tours...they may make you THINK they are "custom", but they're not.

[2CatsInFlorida]

I wondered about how "custom" the excursions would be. We would like to go to Abaco from Nassau. So maybe we will just fly in to Nassau and take the ferry.

 

 

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[knittinggirl]

Are you talking about the new concierge feature? The one that costs $100?

 

We tried to get a boat ride into Tracy Arm via Allen Marine, and they told us to contact them again in June (after the free promotion period has ended).

 

But I must say, they were quick with their reply.

[Expat Cruise]

Royal Caribbean Custom Excursions

 

Repackage the same old tours they have, make a few changes, call them Custom Excursions, double the prices, add a $100 fee, and then offer no added $100 fee. Wow sounds like a get deal Royal..... For RCCL that is.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

For anyone unfamiliar with the new program: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/privatejourneys

 

There is no such thing as "custom" excursions"..they have set tours...they may make you THINK they are "custom", but they're not.

 

And look at that, another completely uniformed post by cb. :rolleyes: Surprise, surprise... (Not expecting a response:))

[FSUNole]

I'd be really hesitant take a flight from a cruise stop port... too many mechanical things that can go wrong and make you miss the ship... or perhaps I don't understand what you're going to do

[MattInFLL]

I asked for a quote during the promotion period for Cozumel. They basically responded that I could take one of the ship tours or they'd arrange a private driver for 4-6 hours to take me around to some of the island "highlights." For $500. To me, it was a joke.

[knittinggirl]

I asked for a quote during the promotion period for Cozumel. They basically responded that I could take one of the ship tours or they'd arrange a private driver for 4-6 hours to take me around to some of the island "highlights." For $500. To me, it was a joke.

Doesn't Royal offer private driver excursions?

[MattInFLL]

I've never seen one. ?

[Paulxyz2004]

Doesn't Royal offer private driver excursions?

 

I´m not sure if it´s offered in every port, but yes they do offer private cars and Drivers in many ports around the world. Usually offered for full day or half day tours.

[MattInFLL]

Well then that would mean what they offered me really was even *less* custom than I thought :)

[joandian]

I´m not sure if it´s offered in every port, but yes they do offer private cars and Drivers in many ports around the world. Usually offered for full day or half day tours.

 

This is correct. I looked at their prices for private drivers in several ports and was always able to find my own private tour for less than half Royal was charging.