Lesson Learned - Booking 3rd Party Tours

[CruisingNole]

After over 100 private tours, I don't consider myself to be naive. I had never seen any negative reviews of his tours, only positive ones. When I told some people that went on the same tour what happened, they were like, oh well; others were shocked. Some people think he's great (and those are the reviews I have seen). Hence, the reason I wrote this as I wanted to share what I learned to help others make an informed decision. There is no need to "rub salt into the wound".

 

Not trying to rub salt in the wound. Just curious where you read these positive reviews? I searched websites with legitimate, verifiable tour providers and found no trace of a "Stormin Norman." So were your "positive reviews" word of mouth, or rather, word via cruise critic forum? I ask because there's a big difference between some random guy calling himself a tour guide vs families that have spent their entire lives building a business and busted their butts to earn a reputation. So for you to generalize a "third party tour" based on one shady provider isn't really fair, you know?

[belkin]

Still waiting to see the "Stormin Norman" business page with reviews. Don't come here and bash 3rd party tours because you got burned by some random guy. That's like handing money to some guy hanging out by the port and being shocked that you didn't get what you paid for, Don't be so naive.

 

 

I think the OP has every right to come on here and share her experience so not sure why you feel the need to tell her not to post about it.

 

Norman and Di cruise several times a year and seem to be well known to people who cruise a lot, especially on the journey's cruises like Hawaii, Panama Canal, TA's, Europe.

 

They usually join other social media websites/roll calls and then proceed to set up tours. It all seems fine on the outside. It just looks like a fellow cruiser putting together tours for the group to enjoy. The problem is they are in it to make money and refuse to tell those that ask who the tour operator is.

 

I think what bugs most people is they come across as fellow cruisers when what they are really doing is a money making business.

 

 

The website is thecruiseduo dot com

[cruises42]

I think the OP has every right to come on here and share her experience so not sure why you feel the need to tell her not to post about it.

 

Norman and Di cruise several times a year and seem to be well known to people who cruise a lot, especially on the journey's cruises like Hawaii, Panama Canal, TA's, Europe.

 

They usually join other social media websites/roll calls and then proceed to set up tours. It all seems fine on the outside. It just looks like a fellow cruiser putting together tours for the group to enjoy. The problem is they are in it to make money and refuse to tell those that ask who the tour operator is.

 

I think what bugs most people is they come across as fellow cruisers when what they are really doing is a money making business.

 

 

The website is thecruiseduo dot com

You are exactly right. He is very well known and has lots of "followers" and is in it for the money. I think he cruises a large part of the year (possibly 100 days or so).

[caddykid12]

This post is long but I am posting this as I learned a huge lesson booking a tour through Stormin Norman and Diamond Di. To cut to the chase, the lesson I learned was always, always know who the tour operator is when booking a tour, even if through a third party (a third party is someone that makes money from booking tours). A reputable third party will tell you the name of the tour operator so that you can fully vet them and,should you be late returning to the ship, the ship can contact the tour operator directly. The following post is how I learned a valuable lesson after over 100 private tours booked and having always being back on the ship at least one hour prior to boarding time.

 

I booked the“Lively Lisbon” tour through Stormin Norman and Diamond Di. I had seen Norman for years on these cruise boards, learned a lot from him and thought he was a “stand up” kind of guy. I had no qualms whatsoever about booking this tour through him.

 

On the day of the tour, I found out that he had oversold the bus for the tour. Unfortunately, I don’t have the facts to state that this was a tour by bus as Stormin' Norman has blocked me from the tour description.

 

Anyway, he had hired an additional car (which was supposed to be a minivan) and, as my husband was unable to go on the tour, I volunteered to go in the car. Our tour was greatly abbreviated as it took us a long time to leave the dock and took a long time to do the tour of Pena Palace in Sintra. After the tour, we had lunch (I would have preferred to actually tour Lisbon) which was an hour away from the ship. Lunch was finished at 3:30 pm (which still gave us time to get to the ship for 5:00 pm) but then we were given 45 minutes to shop. Are you kidding me? We now have 45 minutes to get back to the ship when we are still an hour away.

 

Our car arrived first and we hopped in and off we went to do a tour of the coast. At 4:30 pm, I told the driver we had to be back at the ship by 5:00 pm. He told us we had plenty of time. I then told him that it was 4:00 pm Lisbon time as ship’s time was one hour ahead. He argued a bit with me and then called the tour guide. I stop here to note that Norman never had the tour guide call the car and tell them that we had to get back to the ship. I did hear from others that, when they boarded the bus, Norman told the tour guide that they had to go directly back to the ship so as to make it on time. After the driver hung up with the tour guide,he put the pedal to the metal but told me that we would not make it back by 5:00 pm ship time and that the tour bus was miles (yes, miles) ahead of us.

 

At 4:49 pm, I called my husband (who was still on the ship), to let him know that we probably would not make it back on board and to go to Guest Services when they called my name. He ran directly to Guest Services,where they asked him the name of the tour operator. He only had Stormin Norman’s name and not the name of the tour operator. The Guest Services rep said he would radio the bridge but did not know who Stormin Norman was.

 

I called my husband at 5:03 pm to let him know we were still not back, to stay on the ship and that I would be fine and meet him in Vigo (but I was extremely upset). I actually was so upset that I was making myself sick. At 5:13 pm, Guest Services tried to call me but I had just pulled up to the pier and was on the run(arriving 13 minutes after final board time). I made it on the ship and called my husband at 5:18 pm.

 

I told Normanthat this was the first and last tour I would do with him. I did receive the following private messagefrom him:

“Please know that I was in contact with the head of a Guest Services (by cell) and they were expecting us late. And furthermore, we were not the last back. There were 50 more persons who arrived 35 minutes after our scheduled back on board time.”

 

So, since we got extremely, extremely lucky that there were 50 people that arrived behind uson a Carnival tour, that makes it okay? I don’t think so. And, my response to him:

 

“No one notified the car we were in and after taking a tour of the coast and me freaking out did the driver call the tour guide and find out our onboard time. If it wasn't for me and him putting the pedal to the metal, we would have missed the ship. Too bad you didn't give a damn about us in the car.”

 

And, a line from the email that I received from Norman when booking the tour – “PLEASE NOTE: One of our top priorities is to ensure that we are back on board on time for the ship’s sailing. Because of this, it may be necessary to adjust the tour itinerary without notice.”

 

Draw your own conclusions but, as for me, I’ll never tour with him again. He had no regard for us in the car and whether we missed the ship or not; only for himself and those on the bus. Sometimes, actions speak louder than words.

 

Only conclusion I draw is.... you bet ur bottom i will always continue to buy the overpriced ship excursions because return to the ship guarentee is PRICELESS

[Hunter69]

I think the OP has every right to come on here and share her experience so not sure why you feel the need to tell her not to post about it.

 

Norman and Di cruise several times a year and seem to be well known to people who cruise a lot, especially on the journey's cruises like Hawaii, Panama Canal, TA's, Europe.

 

They usually join other social media websites/roll calls and then proceed to set up tours. It all seems fine on the outside. It just looks like a fellow cruiser putting together tours for the group to enjoy. The problem is they are in it to make money and refuse to tell those that ask who the tour operator is.

 

I think what bugs most people is they come across as fellow cruisers when what they are really doing is a money making business.

 

 

The website is thecruiseduo dot com

This is what happened in Moreea for us; he reckons his group had right to the beach & lunch first, when he booked his money making tour, through the same local operator. 10 of us shirt fronted him on this. the local operator said we are all the same & enjoy the beach & lunch together. his group paid $25 more then us.

Not looking forward to seeing him in 10 days on singapore to Sydney cruise. he has sold tours to each stop on the way..

[Cinders411]

I did not know he got banned. That explains why I have not seen any recent posts LOL! He sailed with us on the Vista out of New York. I recognized him by the silly hats. Never did a tour with him and now I never will. Thank you for the information.

[jimbo5544]

You are exactly right. He is very well known and has lots of "followers" and is in it for the money. I think he cruises a large part of the year (possibly 100 days or so).

 

 

 

...and for free on all the other peoples dimes

 

 

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[snowskier]

One of the main complaints here seems to be -- there were no reviews. Change that - post the review on Trip Advisor. Yo may start something that helps others. Make sure you name their website.

[firemanbobswife]

Only conclusion I draw is.... you bet ur bottom i will always continue to buy the overpriced ship excursions because return to the ship guarentee is PRICELESS

You're missing out on A LOT of things that aren't offered by the cruise ship. Just plan for plenty of time to get back and allow for glitches and you won't miss the ship. Getting to experience the islands on not crowded, non-rushed, personal tours are the truly priceless moments. The only lesson that should be learned from this experience is not to give money to somebody that you don't personally know who is going to give it to another Tour Operator and not offer up any details (legit companies like Shore Excursioneer, Shore Trips, etc not included). You should know who is running the actual excursion. It's the same as giving your money for a cruise to some Joe Schmo you met online and not knowing what type of cabin or dinner arrangements you have until you get on the ship.

[BoDidly]

You're missing out on A LOT of things that aren't offered by the cruise ship. Just plan for plenty of time to get back and allow for glitches and you won't miss the ship. Getting to experience the islands on not crowded, non-rushed, personal tours are the truly priceless moments. The only lesson that should be learned from this experience is not to give money to somebody that you don't personally know who is going to give it to another Tour Operator and not offer up any details (legit companies like Shore Excursioneer, Shore Trips, etc not included). You should know who is running the actual excursion. It's the same as giving your money for a cruise to some Joe Schmo you met online and not knowing what type of cabin or dinner arrangements you have until you get on the ship.

this is great advice

[thinfool]

This thread is an open discussion of a named travel agent. The agency is a CLIA registered agency ("Diamond Di Discoveries Inc. is a registered Cruise Agency") and has a website '*****************'.

 

Wave bye-bye!

[maryann2]

This thread is an open discussion of a named travel agent. The agency is a CLIA registered agency ("Diamond Di Discoveries Inc. is a registered Cruise Agency") and has a website '*****************'.

 

Wave bye-bye!

Your post might be removed but hopefully not the whole thread.

[nbcruiser2]

One of the main complaints here seems to be -- there were no reviews. Change that - post the review on Trip Advisor. Yo may start something that helps others. Make sure you name their website.

 

Will do - thanks!

[nbcruiser2]

Your post might be removed but hopefully not the whole thread.

 

My post was removed twice before I realized that the name that they use (not the actual name of the company) was their company's website. Removing that from my post stopped my post being removed (it was removed twice before CruiseCritic contacted me). So, the post naming the company will most likely be removed (but not the thread).

[nbcruiser2]

You're missing out on A LOT of things that aren't offered by the cruise ship. Just plan for plenty of time to get back and allow for glitches and you won't miss the ship. Getting to experience the islands on not crowded, non-rushed, personal tours are the truly priceless moments. The only lesson that should be learned from this experience is not to give money to somebody that you don't personally know who is going to give it to another Tour Operator and not offer up any details (legit companies like Shore Excursioneer, Shore Trips, etc not included). You should know who is running the actual excursion. It's the same as giving your money for a cruise to some Joe Schmo you met online and not knowing what type of cabin or dinner arrangements you have until you get on the ship.

 

I had seen Norman post on here since 1997 (when I started cruising). If I had known when I booked the tour what I know now (that he has since been banned from multiple websites), I would never have booked the tour with him. I will continue to book private tours but, after over 100, I know better what to look for.

 

For those celebrating, enjoy the Memorial Day Weekend!

[grandmarnnurse]

This post is long but I am posting this as I learned a huge lesson booking a tour through Stormin Norman and Diamond Di. To cut to the chase, the lesson I learned was always, always know who the tour operator is when booking a tour, even if through a third party (a third party is someone that makes money from booking tours). A reputable third party will tell you the name of the tour operator so that you can fully vet them and,should you be late returning to the ship, the ship can contact the tour operator directly. The following post is how I learned a valuable lesson after over 100 private tours booked and having always being back on the ship at least one hour prior to boarding time.

 

 

 

I booked the“Lively Lisbon” tour through Stormin Norman and Diamond Di. I had seen Norman for years on these cruise boards, learned a lot from him and thought he was a “stand up” kind of guy. I had no qualms whatsoever about booking this tour through him.

 

 

 

On the day of the tour, I found out that he had oversold the bus for the tour. Unfortunately, I don’t have the facts to state that this was a tour by bus as Stormin' Norman has blocked me from the tour description.

 

 

 

Anyway, he had hired an additional car (which was supposed to be a minivan) and, as my husband was unable to go on the tour, I volunteered to go in the car. Our tour was greatly abbreviated as it took us a long time to leave the dock and took a long time to do the tour of Pena Palace in Sintra. After the tour, we had lunch (I would have preferred to actually tour Lisbon) which was an hour away from the ship. Lunch was finished at 3:30 pm (which still gave us time to get to the ship for 5:00 pm) but then we were given 45 minutes to shop. Are you kidding me? We now have 45 minutes to get back to the ship when we are still an hour away.

 

 

 

Our car arrived first and we hopped in and off we went to do a tour of the coast. At 4:30 pm, I told the driver we had to be back at the ship by 5:00 pm. He told us we had plenty of time. I then told him that it was 4:00 pm Lisbon time as ship’s time was one hour ahead. He argued a bit with me and then called the tour guide. I stop here to note that Norman never had the tour guide call the car and tell them that we had to get back to the ship. I did hear from others that, when they boarded the bus, Norman told the tour guide that they had to go directly back to the ship so as to make it on time. After the driver hung up with the tour guide,he put the pedal to the metal but told me that we would not make it back by 5:00 pm ship time and that the tour bus was miles (yes, miles) ahead of us.

 

 

 

At 4:49 pm, I called my husband (who was still on the ship), to let him know that we probably would not make it back on board and to go to Guest Services when they called my name. He ran directly to Guest Services,where they asked him the name of the tour operator. He only had Stormin Norman’s name and not the name of the tour operator. The Guest Services rep said he would radio the bridge but did not know who Stormin Norman was.

 

 

 

I called my husband at 5:03 pm to let him know we were still not back, to stay on the ship and that I would be fine and meet him in Vigo (but I was extremely upset). I actually was so upset that I was making myself sick. At 5:13 pm, Guest Services tried to call me but I had just pulled up to the pier and was on the run(arriving 13 minutes after final board time). I made it on the ship and called my husband at 5:18 pm.

 

 

 

I told Normanthat this was the first and last tour I would do with him. I did receive the following private messagefrom him:

 

“Please know that I was in contact with the head of a Guest Services (by cell) and they were expecting us late. And furthermore, we were not the last back. There were 50 more persons who arrived 35 minutes after our scheduled back on board time.”

 

 

 

So, since we got extremely, extremely lucky that there were 50 people that arrived behind uson a Carnival tour, that makes it okay? I don’t think so. And, my response to him:

 

 

 

“No one notified the car we were in and after taking a tour of the coast and me freaking out did the driver call the tour guide and find out our onboard time. If it wasn't for me and him putting the pedal to the metal, we would have missed the ship. Too bad you didn't give a damn about us in the car.”

 

 

 

And, a line from the email that I received from Norman when booking the tour – “PLEASE NOTE: One of our top priorities is to ensure that we are back on board on time for the ship’s sailing. Because of this, it may be necessary to adjust the tour itinerary without notice.”

 

 

 

Draw your own conclusions but, as for me, I’ll never tour with him again. He had no regard for us in the car and whether we missed the ship or not; only for himself and those on the bus. Sometimes, actions speak louder than words.

 

 

 

And this is precisely why I will NEVER book a third party tour! They can promise all they want, but **** happens. Nope. Not ever going to do it, and nobody can convince me otherwise. Even if it only happens once out of a hundred tours, once is too many in my book. I will continue to book (and, yes, pay more) my excursions through my cruise line.

 

 

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[nbcruiser2]

Not trying to rub salt in the wound. Just curious where you read these positive reviews? I searched websites with legitimate, verifiable tour providers and found no trace of a "Stormin Norman." So were your "positive reviews" word of mouth, or rather, word via cruise critic forum? I ask because there's a big difference between some random guy calling himself a tour guide vs families that have spent their entire lives building a business and busted their butts to earn a reputation. So for you to generalize a "third party tour" based on one shady provider isn't really fair, you know?

 

I knew he was a fellow cruiser and I knew (from the price) that he was making money off the tour. I have absolutely no issues with someone being an entrepreneur. However, when you become a tour leader, you become at least morally responsible for those that you arranged the tour for. For example, I arranged a tour in Gibraltar for eight people in a mini-van. The mini-van was 400 pounds. By arranging a tour with six of my fellow passengers, I was able to pay 50 pounds for the tour (the same as my fellow cruisers). Since the tour sold out so quickly, I was asked to hire a second minivan (which I did). When asked to hire a third, I drew the line. I made no money (hired the second minivan out of the goodness of my heart) but I did feel responsible for those on the tour, ensuring that everyone in my minivan was all aboard before we left each stop and having someone else lead the second minivan to do the same. I did distribute all of the information to the group on who the tour operator was, description of the tour and the amount of money to be paid. Payment was made directly to the tour operator by those participating at the end of the tour.

 

In closing, don't let my experience with Norman deter you from doing a private tour with fellow passengers that are arranging tours to split the cost. Just remember that they should send you all of the information about the tour operator, the tour and the cost being split.

[grandmarnnurse]

Wow..that's crazy.

 

We will NEVER book with private tour operators or third party people because it's just not worth it. It's not that we're lazy or we're not savvy or whatever..we just prefer to have the peace of mind of knowing that if something goes sideways (as it has a couple of times), we have somebody we can go directly to and get answers and/or a refund or whatever.

 

 

 

[emoji106] I’m with you! In all my cruises, I’ve never booked outside my cruise line, and I never will. I will gladly pay more for that peace of mind!

 

 

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[grandmarnnurse]

I too typically use local tour operators, but I did have a potential problem that was not the tour operators fault. With plenty of time to spare, we were headed back to the ship when in St. Thomas. Well, you know how some of the streets are really narrow? There was an accident that was totally blocking one of these roads - two drivers about to come to blows & refusing to try to move their vehicles. We got boxed in so that the driver could not go forward and couldn't try to back out to take another route. We were stuck for almost an hour waiting for the police to force one of the drivers to move his vehicle.

 

 

 

Thankfully, we had given ourselves almost 2 hours to make it back so we weren't late, but all of us in the van were freaking out. This was the one time I was thinking "you should have taken a ship excursion."

 

 

 

Precisely my point! It just takes that one accident or other incident on the road to hold you up.

 

 

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[OCruisers]

[emoji106] I’m with you! In all my cruises, I’ve never booked outside my cruise line, and I never will. I will gladly pay more for that peace of mind!

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(y)

[firemanbobswife]

Precisely my point! It just takes that one accident or other incident on the road to hold you up.

 

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I understand why you may be scared to, but there are many places you can never experience if you are limiting yourself to the cruise line tours such as Little French Key. It is the most gorgeous place we have ever been to and Carnival’s Big French Key doesn’t even hold a candle to it. Same with places like Mr Sanchos in Cozumel. Nothing even close to it is offered by Carnival.

 

You go all that way just to be herded like cattle and rushed along to a limited amount of places? You will also find that on private tours things are far less rushed and you get to do things at YOUR pace, not what the schedule says. If you don’t like it or have just had enough, you can leave at your leisure and get back to the ship even earlier. I know once you’re set in your ways, it’s hard to take the blinders off and I was the same way when I started cruising. But boy, was I glad I decided to branch out. If I had to stay with cruise line excursions, I wouldn’t even get off the ship anymore.

Edited May 27, 2018 by firemanbobswife

[quickrate]

Precisely my point! It just takes that one accident or other incident on the road to hold you up.

 

 

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31 cruises, never booked excursion with cruise line, never have had an issue. I can't stand the big buses packed with people, not a fun way to tour for me!

Pat

[cruises42]

...and for free on all the other peoples dimes

 

 

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Yep, that's what I heard.

[caribill]

But for the most part, we just stick with the ship.

 

Private tours vs ship tours:

 

The benefits of a private tour are several:

o A smaller group than a ship's tour which means you will ride in a smaller vehicle.

o A smaller vehicle often means you can be dropped off/picked up closer to sites than the big buses can go.

o A smaller vehicle often means you can go to sites the bigger buses cannot

o A smaller group than a ship's tour which means people get back to the vehicle quicker. Less chance of having to wait for someone who lost track of time. Certainly quicker at a rest room stop to wait for ten people than 30.

o A smaller group means you can often see more sites in the same amount of time that a ship's excursion takes.

o A private tour does not have to spend time at a souvenir stop unless your group wants to. Almost every cruise line's tour involves a shopping experience that could be a waste of time at a shop the tour company gets a kickback from.

o A private tour usually costs significantly less than a cruise company's tour. Sometimes it costs about the same or a little more, but the benefits of the smaller group make it worth it.

 

The main advantage of a cruise company tour is that you do not have to do any planning or research.

 

One important thing about private tours: If they want part or full payment in advance, be sure to know what the cancellation policy is, especially if the ship cannot make the port. I always avoid tour providers who will not refund any advance payment if the ship cannot get to the port.

 

What I do not recommend is getting of the ship and looking for a tour vendor or what is a random taxi driver to give you a tour. Some people do this and post they had the best tour ever. But some also post it was the worst tour ever. This is because you have no way to know how good a guide you are hiring or even how well he speaks English.

 

If you have been to a port before and are familiar with it, then going off on your own may be practical. For example, we have been to Barcelona several times and can use their subway system to get where we want to go. Having seen the major attractions that cruise line tour and private tours go to, we now go to different sights that we want to see at our own pace, for example the chocolate museum in Barcelona.

[maryann2]

31 cruises, never booked excursion with cruise line, never have had an issue. I can't stand the big buses packed with people, not a fun way to tour for me!

Pat

I agree Pat.

Sometimes I will take a ship tour if the private ones are full but prefer the smaller private tours.

Just make sure you know the name of the tour operator.