Princess Cruise Excursion Time Appears Incorrect - Suggestions? (Sunset Cruise)

[TravelerUnknown]

My family is cruising Jan 15-Jan 22 on the Regal Princess. We've been using our onboard credits to book several excursions ahead of time. One of them we wanted to do was in St. Thomas. See below for Description. 

 

Now, there's only one time slot listed, which makes sense, but the time itself absolutely does not. 10:30AM-12:30PM. (see attached) I'm fairly certain that Princess will finally fix this, but not until the day/week of the cruise. I would just book this, but they don't allow you to book excursions with conflicting times. I'm taking the family snorkeling in the morning. I wanted to end the day with a relaxing, highly rated, champagne Catamaran cruise. 

 

Here's what I've tried:

1) Opened up live chat on princess.com. They said they got the same error(time conflict), but suggested I call the support line instead. 

 

2) Called the support number and spoke with an agent with the excursion team. She validated the error and also stated there's nothing she could do and they were not updating the time slot as that is what they were provided. I inquired about how the time slot was determined; arbitrary or does it come from the vendor. I assumed the latter. She connected me to guest services. 

 

3) Speaking to guest services, they told me that I was incorrect and was in the wrong for assuming that this would be a sunset cruise (despite the language in the description stating so.) I asked her about when in the history of the world, has there ever been a sunset cruise in the middle of the afternoon in the Caribbean? (This is actually a pleasant conversation and we had peaceful back and forth, so please don't take this out of context.) She agreed, but she also stated "then why have 10 people already booked this without complaining?" I replied with "let me put myself in their shoes. The title and description both state sunset cruise. They may be thinking the same thing I did and didn't even bother to look at the time. Sunset happens but once per evening. They may have believed it was a typo and likely believe just as well that Princess will correct it the week/day of the cruise." She actually provided me a phone number as she believes perhaps there could be an error, but the team to handle it would be reached at "480-674-1875 - ocean navigators". Upon calling that number, only options are Dining and something else unrelated. 

*Bolded the key points here*
Description
Sunset Catamaran Cruise

Sunset Cruise
The 65-foot "Castaway Girl" catamaran slowly makes her way out of the harbor as the soothing Caribbean Sea breezes gently propel here into the turquoise waters. Ample amenities on board include freshly prepared snacks, champagne and an attentive crew to ensure a memorable evening. Relaxing music accompanies the dazzling night sky that transforms from fiery red and orange to a tranquil midnight blue.

What you will see along the way:
Admire the seascape and the ships that moor in Charlotte Amalie Harbor as "Castaway Girl" makes its way around the tranquil waters and sets sail past historic Hassel Island. Located on the western edge of the harbor, it was used by the Danish in the 18th and 19th centuries to defend the busy port and Water Island, the fourth U.S. Virgin Island filled with secluded coves and rocky headlands-the perfect hiding place for pirates. On its shores, find glamorous Honeymoon Beach. Soon, the lights of Charlotte Amalie flicker across the hillside competing with the early evening stars-a signal that it's time to return to the harbor."

 

 

Thank you for reading and I hope you found humor in this. But if you have any luck with connecting with the right people to correct this, I'm all ears. I wish I could book this in addition to my current excursion, but the system won't allow it. I'm also having difficulty identifying a 3rd party (including Viator) that has a competitive rate for the same excursion. I may have to roll the dice and hope it doesn't sell out to like minded folks prior to embarkation. 

 

 

 

 

[mom says]

I can't help, but wish you good luck getting it straightened out. Princess appears to take no responsibility for the accuracy of their shore excursion descriptions.  On our current cruise, 3 of our booked excursions had their times changed without advance notice, and one eliminated the lunch which was supposed to be included. All we got from the shore excursion desk was a polite smile and shrugged shoulders.

[phabric]

I have the same problem.  My problem for my Nov 2023 cruise -

Athens in port 7am-6pm

Complete Greek Evening Experience (4.5 hours)

7:30am-12pm

With a show and a meal

 

I did not see that the excursion was in the am and not in the pm when I booked until after I paid for it. 

 

I called Excursion Dept.  I explained “how is it a evening excursion when it is 7:30am to noon”.  I was told that is what is shows on her paper.  She said maybe the time will change closer to the time.

 

Edited November 16, 2022 by phabric

[Buckeye10640]

This happened to me last December, the 'Sunset Cruise' time in Curacao was early afternoon! Eventually they corrected the time a few weeks before departure and I booked it.  This Dec I am booked for the same one you are looking at in St Thomas, it is 4pm to 6pm.

[franktown]

Might not be wrong.  Booked a sunset cruise in St Thomas in 2019 the time on the website said 1pm.  Was sure it was a typo and would be corrected when I got onboard found out Princess had 2 excursions one at 11AM and ours at 1:30PM.   Asked the excursion desk how they could call it a Sunset cruise at one in the afternoon he said that RCL and other cruise lines had booked all the later cruises.  Many cruise ships in port.  He did give us a $20 credit per person.  We decided to go and had a great time just wasn't sunset.

[TravelerUnknown]

7 hours ago, franktown said:

Might not be wrong.  Booked a sunset cruise in St Thomas in 2019 the time on the website said 1pm.  Was sure it was a typo and would be corrected when I got onboard found out Princess had 2 excursions one at 11AM and ours at 1:30PM.   Asked the excursion desk how they could call it a Sunset cruise at one in the afternoon he said that RCL and other cruise lines had booked all the later cruises.  Many cruise ships in port.  He did give us a $20 credit per person.  We decided to go and had a great time just wasn't sunset.

 
This one never even had any other options available at anytime. I reached out to the company that runs it and they even said 430. It’s a discrepancy between the vendor and Princess, but my problem is having them correct it. Another person posted that they updated the times. I doubt there will be any other ships in port as this is a January cruise. I’ve looked at all the other majors prior to booking (rcl, Carn, Norwegian) and nobody has a stop in st Thomas if you’re even lucky enough to find them sailing this way during this time. I’m hoping only 7 others are sailing! (Unlikely)

[minabruuke]

For our upcoming cruise, you can book the "Curacao By Night Cocktail Tour" that is scheduled from 7:30am-10:30am. I had a good laugh at that when I first saw it; the ship departs at 5:00pm so the time is definitely not a typo. 

[caribill]

6 hours ago, minabruuke said:

For our upcoming cruise, you can book the "Curacao By Night Cocktail Tour" that is scheduled from 7:30am-10:30am. I had a good laugh at that when I first saw it; the ship departs at 5:00pm so the time is definitely not a typo. 

 

Are the bars even open at 7:30 AM?

[minabruuke]

7 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Are the bars even open at 7:30 AM?

I wouldn't have thought so but maybe 🤷 Or maybe they'll have someone at each bar just for the group? 

 

Lets just say that I won't be surprised if that tour gets cancelled for our port stop! I know ships are often in Curacao late so I am guessing this tour would typically be in the evening but rescheduling it for early morning seems strange. To each their own I guess..

[TravelerUnknown]

Looks like I was right that they would fix the error closer to a week out. They dropped everyone who had it booked. I'm glad they corrected it, but the lady in guest services probably won't follow through on our bet.