Back to Back Shore Excursions...

[Don_In_AZ]

I just got off the phone with Princess and was a bit surprised when I found out that if you have more than one shore excursion booked for a single port (and I'm talking ship sponsored shore excursions here, not 3rd party) and let's say you leave yourself an hour in between, if the first shore excursion is 90 minutes late, and causes you  to miss your second excursion, Princess will NOT refund the price of the second excursion.  In fact, the rep said that the cruise line does not recommend booking more than 1 excursion per port for this very reason.  This seemed a bit odd to me since they make a lot of money on those excursions.

I had planned to take multiple excursions in several of our upcoming Eastern Caribbean ports.  Oh well... now some hard choices have to be made.

[d9704011]

15 minutes ago, Don_In_AZ said:

This seemed a bit odd to me since they make a lot of money on those excursions.

Princess can fill up the buses with people wishing to take an excursion who won't run the risk of missing the second one and then seeking a refund.  They make money by having full buses of paying customers.

 

Tough choices sometimes; you'll enjoy yourself!

Edited December 12, 2023 by d9704011

[Don_In_AZ]

...or I can just assume the risk.  Dunno...gonna have to think on it for a bit.

I'm curious if anyone else out there books more than one excursion per port?  

Edited December 12, 2023 by Don_In_AZ

[Rick&Jeannie]

Will the online system allow you to book more than one? If so, I would think that you would have some good "ammunition" there...

[memoak]

51 minutes ago, Don_In_AZ said:

...or I can just assume the risk.  Dunno...gonna have to think on it for a bit.

I'm curious if anyone else out there books more than one excursion per port?  

I rarely even book more than 1 or 2 on an entire cruise. Nd er would book 2 in one port.  Way too many variables 

[Over from NZ]

You worry too much. It's unlikely that an excursion is late (happens.. but not frequently). You're worrying about the possibility of the cost of one excursion.. in the unlikely even the ships own excursions are late. Just book them.

[memoak]

1 minute ago, Over from NZ said:

You worry too much. It's unlikely that an excursion is late (happens.. but not frequently). You're worrying about the possibility of the cost of one excursion.. in the unlikely even the ships own excursions are late. Just book them.

Many of those excursions cost hundreds of dollars. That is not chump change. I have been on excursions that were late by over an hour

[Over from NZ]

Just now, memoak said:

Many of those excursions cost hundreds of dollars. That is not chump change. I have been on excursions that were late by over an hour

The worst might happen (in the unlikely event).. he's out by a hundred or so? Worrying far too much about a small problem in an unlikely event.. 

[Mike45LC]

I don't recall having a ship's excursion run more than 45 minutes late -- and that was a van breakdown, and the van had to be replaced.  I would think a 90 minute cushion would be enough.  Good luck.

[mrgame101]

This is interesting. Last week our excursion in Montego Bay was 2.75 hours later then the published times. I was curious what if we left ourselves an hour or so and had a massage booked? 

We also had a Panama Canal tour through the locks that was 2.5 hours late returning (I understand the tours are at the mercy of the canal authorities). 

 

As they say. Ship does happen!

[SCX22]

Another thing to worry about is whether or not the ship will arrive in port on time.  It's happened a few times on the I've been on this year that the ship has arrived late, which has delayed excursions.  It sends the ShoreEx team into a tizzy.  In Seattle this April, our arrival was delayed by 2 hours because the ship left Astoria late due to a medical emergency.  On the same cruise, our arrival into Vancouver was delayed by an hour because the pilot took his sweet time to get to the ship.  In Genoa this November, the ship was delayed by 2 hours because there was an MSC ship in our berth that was supposed to depart the night before, but couldn't due to engine problems.  We had to wait for it to be towed out of the berth.

 

There could also be a delay in the buses.  In Naples, the ship wasn't berthed in the normal location and they could only get 3 buses at a time into the staging area.  Most people were really irritated in Princess Theatre because some groups were sitting over an hour past the call time on their voucher.

Edited December 13, 2023 by SCX22

[dlh015]

It's luck (or no luck) of the draw. You make the call, but you can't expect a refund if the first excursion is late.

 

In Naples, we booked Pompei in the morning and Herculaneum in the afternoon. 90 minutes in between. Worked out fine. This was June 2022.

 

YMMV...good luck.  (like in a casino, only bet what you can afford to lose...)

[memoak]

2 hours ago, Over from NZ said:

The worst might happen (in the unlikely event).. he's out by a hundred or so? Worrying far too much about a small problem in an unlikely event.. 

Thank everyone for the validation 

[charliedalrymple]

To be honest, even one excursion in each port is too much for us.  We might book one every second or third port, and the others we'll take a relaxing stroll through the town.  If we are over-programmed during a cruise it's harder to relax--which is the main point of a cruise!

[Joanne G.]

Not on Princess, but a friend and I have booked 2 excursions in a day in a couple of ports on a Northern European cruise on NCL.   One in the morning and one in the afternoon, with enough time in between for a quick buffet lunch.   Or we'll pack snacks!   We are paying a lot for the cruise and the airfare, and we may never get to these ports again.  We want to see as much as possible.   We accept the risk of missing the afternoon one, but in my experience, the tour operators are very conscientious about keeping on schedule, so we consider it to be low risk.   

 

We did it once years ago in St. Thomas on a Princess cruise, and another friend and I took an evening canal boat ride in Copenhagen after a Princess tour during the day.   Everything worked out fine.   

[Don_In_AZ]

Thank you to everyone for your input.  I'll probably just chance it.

[Kmkub]

5 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Will the online system allow you to book more than one? If so, I would think that you would have some good "ammunition" there...

There is language that provides the, “buyer beware/assumes all risk if booking more than one per port,” clause. Princess has their bases covered.

 

 

[Mud_Shark]

Haha, like others, we have been on many Princess excursions and for the most part, found them to be pretty reliable with their timings and return to the ship times.  So we booked two excursions in one port last year for the first time, with 90 minutes in between, thinking this would be perfect.  Port was Aruba and the first excursion was a catamaran snorkel trip.  Well, wouldn't ya know it....  Well into the trip, we have snorkeled at our two stops and by our accounting, should be heading back around a certain time, and the captain says, "since we have a little extra time, I am going to take you out to a scenic view of the coast for a while".  I asked him "weren't we supposed to be back at the ship by 1130?" (this is what the excursion said), and he responded, "No, we will be back at "our" dock at 1130, where you then get the bus back to the ship a bit later".  Hmm, sounded a bit tight, but ok, it was only about 45 min back to the ship from where we boarded the catamaran.  But we were late getting back to the dock, the bus was a bit late leaving to bring us back to the ship, and the traffic was slow.  Net result, we missed our next excursion by 5 minutes.

 

Just a bunch of bad luck, but not sure I would do it again. Just stressed us out a bit.  Don't need that.

[Paula_MacFan]

13 hours ago, charliedalrymple said:

To be honest, even one excursion in each port is too much for us.  We might book one every second or third port, and the others we'll take a relaxing stroll through the town.  If we are over-programmed during a cruise it's harder to relax--which is the main point of a cruise!

 

For people like us the cruise is all about the ports, getting out and seeing things we normally don't in our everyday lives.  We treat the ship as a floating hotel rather than the destination.  So while for you the 'main point of a cruise' is to relax, for others it's to see the world.  I can lounge around at home, or at a domestic resort hotel, but I can't see foreign ports everyday.  To each their own 🙂 

[Princess Cruises Fann]

I've done back-to-back excursions in a port pretty much without any issue, even with as small of a window as an hour to hour and a half in between. I only once had a Princess excursion that went way over the time because the guide wanted to take the group to another place that wasn't on the original itinerary. We arrived back after our other excursion left, but then went and explained the situation at the Shore Excursion desk, and they provided a full refund for our afternoon tour. If you can, I would book the tour you care about most as your early one so just in the rare instance it is delayed you don't miss out on what you really wanted to see and do in that port. 

[ba5eline]

I've also had excursions that rescheduled the start-time by 2 hours later on the morning of as another data point

[Joanne G.]

13 hours ago, charliedalrymple said:

To be honest, even one excursion in each port is too much for us.  We might book one every second or third port, and the others we'll take a relaxing stroll through the town.  If we are over-programmed during a cruise it's harder to relax--which is the main point of a cruise!

For me, a Caribbean itinerary is for relaxing, as I've been to many of those ports multiple times.   But for Europe, it's about the ports, and I fill up my days!   But I do like a sea day or two on European itineraries.   

 

To the OP, if you decide to chance it, I hope you get to enjoy everything you booked.   Out of countless ship-sponsored excursions on 20-some cruises, only once did I encounter an unexpected delay when a tour van got a flat tire.  I never encountered anything like Mud_Shark's experience when the operator simply decided to extend the tour.   On the contrary, I have had parts of a tour shortened or even eliminated if traffic or some other circumstance would cause a late return to the ship.  I suspect a tour operator who doesn't keep to the agreed-upon schedule would be dropped by the cruise line.   

[Joanne G.]

11 hours ago, Don_In_AZ said:

Thank you to everyone for your input.  I'll probably just chance it.

I often use a "worst case" scenario for making a decision like this.    What would be more disappointing - losing the $$ if you miss the second excursion or missing the opportunity to see and do what you wanted on that second excursion. 

 

The cost of the 2nd excursion would certainly be a factor.  But I also wouldn't rule out that Princess onboard might offer compensation if it is missed, as Princess Cruises Fann above noted, especially if a tour operator deliberately extends the tour just because he wants to.   

[Torfamm]

17 hours ago, Don_In_AZ said:

...or I can just assume the risk.  Dunno...gonna have to think on it for a bit.

I'm curious if anyone else out there books more than one excursion per port?  

I have. We did it once this past summer. The morning excursion was late departing the ship and they allowed us to cancel the afternoon excursion before we left.

[Torfamm]

14 hours ago, charliedalrymple said:

To be honest, even one excursion in each port is too much for us.  We might book one every second or third port, and the others we'll take a relaxing stroll through the town.  If we are over-programmed during a cruise it's harder to relax--which is the main point of a cruise!

I think that’s true for me in the Caribbean for sure. Cruises to see places I’ve never been, especially if I don’t expect to return, or ones where I’m happy to tour and sightsee a lot more of my time.