Disappointment with Celebrity & DePalm island

[soloadventurer]

:mad:I was trying to book an off road trip for friends who will be on honeymoon with Celebrity in Aruba via DePalm island - The ship doesn't sell the off road trip so I contacted DePalm directly. They responded saying they were contracted to the cruise line and I'd have to go through them & refused to accept the booking.

[Karynanne]

Quite possibly DePalm is contracted through another cruise line, and didn't completely understand your request.

 

 

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[janetz]

That is strange. Did you contact Celebrity?

Another option, a non ship excursion, is Trikes-Aruba. Excellent :)

[WonderMan3]

:mad:I was trying to book an off road trip for friends who will be on honeymoon with Celebrity in Aruba via DePalm island - The ship doesn't sell the off road trip so I contacted DePalm directly. They responded saying they were contracted to the cruise line and I'd have to go through them & refused to accept the booking.

 

You could always fudge it and say you're staying at the Renaissance Hotel near the cruise port and have the tour company pick you up there. You'll have a little bit of a walk to the hotel of course.

 

There are other tour companies that do the off road tours also. I've used ABC tours before and they come highly rated. They picked us up right at the cruise terminal.

[soloadventurer]

Quite possibly DePalm is contracted through another cruise line, and didn't completely understand your request.

 

 

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Oh i was very clear in the emails and DePalm were clear in the response

[villauk]

Does X usually offer this excursion with this tour company - have you asked them? Is the sailing soon? Just wondered if it was an excursion that hasn't been released as of yet - we are unable to presently see tours for our 2018 sailing on the X website? Otherwise, it does appear strange that if it's not one that X usually offers, then why wouldn't the company allow you to book it directly?

 

I'm sure there are several other companies that offer similar tours - pop over to the ports of call board and check ;).

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587

[soloadventurer]

Does X usually offer this excursion with this tour company - have you asked them? Is the sailing soon? Just wondered if it was an excursion that hasn't been released as of yet - we are unable to presently see tours for our 2018 sailing on the X website? Otherwise, it does appear strange that if it's not one that X usually offers, then why wouldn't the company allow you to book it directly?

 

I'm sure there are several other companies that offer similar tours - pop over to the ports of call board and check ;).

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587

 

 

i checked with Celebrity online and they offered some tours via DePalm but not the one i was looking for on the DePalm site.

 

DePalm have said they cant offer me the tour because they're under contract with Celebrity - but they've been in contact with Celebrity offering them tour :confused:

 

Now they've given me the name of Ivan Dimitrov Senior Destination Manager onboard the ship :confused:

[Lsimon]

I would suggest you go to Cruise Critic's Aruba Port of Call forum and post a question there asking about the type of excursion you're looking for and if anyone has any other providers they can recommend.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=168

 

You can also just try Googling Aruba off road excursions and see what comes up.

[Hatteras51]

:mad:I was trying to book an off road trip for friends who will be on honeymoon with Celebrity in Aruba via DePalm island - The ship doesn't sell the off road trip so I contacted DePalm directly. They responded saying they were contracted to the cruise line and I'd have to go through them & refused to accept the booking.

 

 

DePalm Island is more like a waterpark. In reading your post, I believe that you mean the off road adventure, run by Depalm tours. Just be sure that you have the correct info before you book. I give lots of advice on Aruba on the Aruba board. Write a post on their board, and I'm sure that you will get some good advice. A lot of tour groups have contracts with the ships.

[KuffMUp]

I tried to buy a Segway tour in San Juan directly from the operator and was told I couldn't because they were contracted with RCCL. Problem was, my ship didn't offer the excursion. It was, however, offered on another ship. Even explaining that I can't book it on my ship, they still refused.

[Hatteras51]

Take a look at Kini Kini Tours and Trikes Aruba. ABC Tours also does these excursions but they probably only contract through the ship.

[WonderMan3]

Take a look at Kini Kini Tours and Trikes Aruba. ABC Tours also does these excursions but they probably only contract through the ship.

 

 

I don't know if ABC has ship contracts but they will sell you a tour directly if you are a cruise passenger. I took one of their tours in 2015 while on Eclipse.

 

 

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[soloadventurer]

Update

 

Depalm contacted the ship and offered them the tour and gave the concierge email.

 

Concierge was prompt & helpful until they told me the cost - Depalm site $219 - Celebrity want to charge $344 :o

[fred111]

Concur with Trikes Aruba. We did the tour in January. It was great!!!

[bEwAbG]

Update

 

Depalm contacted the ship and offered them the tour and gave the concierge email.

 

Concierge was prompt & helpful until they told me the cost - Depalm site $219 - Celebrity want to charge $344 :o

 

Not sure why this is so surprising. Everyone knows that the ship excursion will cost more than booking direct. So now they've added the excursion you want but at the price they'd always charge.

[Hatteras51]

Not sure why this is so surprising. Everyone knows that the ship excursion will cost more than booking direct. So now they've added the excursion you want but at the price they'd always charge.

 

 

 

Yes it is not surprising, but that is a huge increase. I'd be ticked about that too.

[WonderMan3]

Update

 

Depalm contacted the ship and offered them the tour and gave the concierge email.

 

Concierge was prompt & helpful until they told me the cost - Depalm site $219 - Celebrity want to charge $344 :o

 

 

Again. If you must have this tour then just book with Depalm but don't say that you (or whoever is going on this) is on the cruise ship. If they need to pick you up then say you're staying at a nearby hotel. The Renaissance is right near the cruise port and easily walked to in order to meet up with the tour pick-up. The only obstacle is the tour company might call the hotel if there was a last minute change to the tour but you could insist they contact you about any changes via email.