Shoretrips.com

[mcowan16]

Hi everyone-

We're cruising 7/19-7/16 on the Miracle. I really want to do the dolphin excursion with my kids but the ship's price is so high and I read that the excursion companies won't sell to cruise passengers due to contracts. My TA suggested Shoretrips.com. I emailed them and they said that the "we won't sell to cruise passengers" is just a scare tactic, but I've also read countless accounts of passengers that actually were cancelled or bumped when they've booked outside of the cruise. I really want to do this but spending over $500 on this excursion is scaring me away. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Thanks!

[louanne93]

Hi everyone-

We're cruising 7/19-7/16 on the Miracle. I really want to do the dolphin excursion with my kids but the ship's price is so high and I read that the excursion companies won't sell to cruise passengers due to contracts. My TA suggested Shoretrips.com. I emailed them and they said that the "we won't sell to cruise passengers" is just a scare tactic, but I've also read countless accounts of passengers that actually were cancelled or bumped when they've booked outside of the cruise. I really want to do this but spending over $500 on this excursion is scaring me away. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Thanks!

 

A lot of people go through cabo san lucas dot com

[FTLCruiseGal]

Hi everyone-

We're cruising 7/19-7/16 on the Miracle. I really want to do the dolphin excursion with my kids but the ship's price is so high and I read that the excursion companies won't sell to cruise passengers due to contracts. My TA suggested Shoretrips.com. I emailed them and they said that the "we won't sell to cruise passengers" is just a scare tactic, but I've also read countless accounts of passengers that actually were cancelled or bumped when they've booked outside of the cruise. I really want to do this but spending over $500 on this excursion is scaring me away. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Thanks!

 

Are you saying that their whole cruise was cancelled or they were bumped due to booking excursions from an outside company? If that is the case, how do you think the cruise line would find out? Just curious where you read this.

 

A cruiseline cannot force you to book excursions through them. Does it cut into their profit, of course. They get a cut of the money you pay to book an excursion through them.

 

I just did a quick "search" of my cruise contract, and it says nothing about cancelling your cruise if you book excursions from an outside company. In fact, the contract mentions use of outside excursion companies a few times. All it really says is that they are not responsible for anything if you book an excursion from an outside company.

 

Keep in mind that booking through the cruiseline does come with the benefit of the ship waiting for you if the excursion's return is delayed and arrives after scheduled port departure time. If it gets to a point that the ship can no longer wait for you, they will pay for you to get to the next port. Anything can happen on the island to cause a delay in returning to the ship. Accident, mechanical failure of transport vehicle, medical issues. Unless it is in a port that I know very well and know that the crime is low, I always book through the cruiseline.

[mamajules]

I think the OP means the shore excursion company bumped them from the tour, not the cruise line from the cruise. There are some companies the cruise line contracts with in ports to provide shore excursions so you cannot book through them independently if that is the case. However there are usually multiple providers in the ports so do some research and you can probably find another provider with a good reputation. We always book with outside providers and not thru the cruiseline with no problems. These folks depend on good word of mouth for their income.

[SadieN]

It's not a violation of the cruise contract for passengers to book an outside shore excursion.

It can be a violation of the Vendors' contract with Carnival.

 

At one port of call the Semi Sub was contracted to Carnival for certain times. We were able to get a last minute ticket onshore for a time that it was not under the contract. This was advertised and sold after their Carnival excursion was finished.

 

Some excursions are easy to bookmark n your own. Some, one-off excursions under contract cannot be booked independently. Another excursion would be the Pirate Ship.

Edited July 2, 2016 by SadieN

[FTLCruiseGal]

I think the OP means the shore excursion company bumped them from the tour, not the cruise line from the cruise. There are some companies the cruise line contracts with in ports to provide shore excursions so you cannot book through them independently if that is the case. However there are usually multiple providers in the ports so do some research and you can probably find another provider with a good reputation. We always book with outside providers and not thru the cruiseline with no problems. These folks depend on good word of mouth for their income.

 

This makes sense. And yes, this is the only means of income for a lot of the locals in the ports. We have booked quite a few excursions when we have walked off the ship in port.

[jakesnana]

Hi everyone-

We're cruising 7/19-7/16 on the Miracle. I really want to do the dolphin excursion with my kids but the ship's price is so high and I read that the excursion companies won't sell to cruise passengers due to contracts. My TA suggested Shoretrips.com. I emailed them and they said that the "we won't sell to cruise passengers" is just a scare tactic, but I've also read countless accounts of passengers that actually were cancelled or bumped when they've booked outside of the cruise. I really want to do this but spending over $500 on this excursion is scaring me away. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Thanks!

 

There is no law that states you need to book your excursion through the ship. Some vendors DO have contracts with the cruise lines which prohibits them from knowingly selling tickets to cruise ship passengers.

 

If Shoretrips has an excursion you want to do, you can feel comfortable doing it. I have used them for many years personally and for groups and they are a very reputable company and we have always had amazing excursions.

[Cushing985]

I've used ShoreTrips quite a few times and have never had a problem with them. On our last cruise though, both my wife and I got sick on two separate port days and placed in isolation for 24 hours. On the first (when my wife got sick) I went ashore and found the company doing the excursion and let them know we had to skip it. On the second day it was my turn to be sick and also placed in isolation and my wife called from GS to let them know we would be no-shows.

 

Although ShoreTrips wouldn't refund our money (understandable) our trip insurance did.

[cruzn buckeye]

I've used ShoreTrips quite a few times and have never had a problem with them. On our last cruise though, both my wife and I got sick on two separate port days and placed in isolation for 24 hours. On the first (when my wife got sick) I went ashore and found the company doing the excursion and let them know we had to skip it. On the second day it was my turn to be sick and also placed in isolation and my wife called from GS to let them know we would be no-shows.

 

Although ShoreTrips wouldn't refund our money (understandable) our trip insurance did.

Who did you use for your trip insurance? thanks

[mcowan16]

Are you saying that their whole cruise was cancelled or they were bumped due to booking excursions from an outside company? If that is the case, how do you think the cruise line would find out? Just curious where you read this.

 

A cruiseline cannot force you to book excursions through them. Does it cut into their profit, of course. They get a cut of the money you pay to book an excursion through them.

 

I just did a quick "search" of my cruise contract, and it says nothing about cancelling your cruise if you book excursions from an outside company. In fact, the contract mentions use of outside excursion companies a few times. All it really says is that they are not responsible for anything if you book an excursion from an outside company.

 

Keep in mind that booking through the cruiseline does come with the benefit of the ship waiting for you if the excursion's return is delayed and arrives after scheduled port departure time. If it gets to a point that the ship can no longer wait for you, they will pay for you to get to the next port. Anything can happen on the island to cause a delay in returning to the ship. Accident, mechanical failure of transport vehicle, medical issues. Unless it is in a port that I know very well and know that the crime is low, I always book through the cruiseline.

 

Sorry, let me clarify. I read over and over on these boards that people's excursions were cancelled. I first saw this on the Vallarta Adventures site. It says they can't book to cruise passengers. Then I started googling and found these boards which led to me tons of people saying it was indeed true.

[mcowan16]

There is no law that states you need to book your excursion through the ship. Some vendors DO have contracts with the cruise lines which prohibits them from knowingly selling tickets to cruise ship passengers.

 

If Shoretrips has an excursion you want to do, you can feel comfortable doing it. I have used them for many years personally and for groups and they are a very reputable company and we have always had amazing excursions.

 

Thank you!