Shoreexcursionsgroup.com anyone used?

[Salf777]

Ok please be kind I tried searching the boards and it just showed me every post with the word excursion. 
has anyone used shoreexcursionsgroup.com?

They have a nice excursion for an upcoming cruise I want to do as the ship doesn’t offer one

[CruiserBruce]

That company is discussed frequently on the Ports boards. It is a broker, they don't actually provide a single tour. They take your money and find a low bid local provider.  Just like Viator. 

 

The plus is the prices are usually pretty good. The minus is customer service, particularly if something goes wrong. It can be very hard to reach anyone. Learned that the hard way. Other issues can include English capabilities and occasionally not getting what you paid for.

 

The common recommendation here is to use the ports boards, and find a recommended local provider, then deal with them directly. 

[Salf777]

3 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

That company is discussed frequently on the Ports boards. It is a broker, they don't actually provide a single tour. They take your money and find a low bid local provider.  Just like Viator. 

 

The plus is the prices are usually pretty good. The minus is customer service, particularly if something goes wrong. It can be very hard to reach anyone. Learned that the hard way. Other issues can include English capabilities and occasionally not getting what you paid for.

 

The common recommendation here is to use the ports boards, and find a recommended local provider, then deal with them directly. 

Thank you

[jsn55]

What a shame that an OP feels the need to state 'please be kind' with their question.  I realize that there are jerks out there who delight in hurting other people.  But I sure wish they'd all just go away and leave us normal folks to our helpful communications.  

Edited March 3 by jsn55

[John Bull]

That business was formed a good few years ago, it has a tolerably-decent reputation but like all agencies it also has the negatives mentioned by @CruiserBruce

 

Better to deal direct with a well-reviewed excursion operator.

If you name the port - and perhaps a precis of the excursion - we can try to point you in the right direction.

 

JB 🙂

[mammajamma2013]

I have used them and was very pleased with their service. 

 

I didn't have any problems, so can't speak to trying to contact them, the eight or so excursions I did with them all went off without a hitch. I'd use them again, depending on what I'm looking for. The company was helpful when I had questions when booking.

[JDincalif]

Booking directly through a tour provider is optimal, but third party vendors may provide some advantages.

 

We booked through Shore Excursions Group successfully last November and found it useful in several ways. Because searches start by entering cruise line, ship and itinerary, the results will be specific to tours available during your scheduled port times. The site allows one to easily locate excursions that pick up at the port rather than requiring passengers to make their way to an off-site central location; less wasted time. And while the search results can be used to locate and contact tour vendors directly, in one case we found that a specific tour was available only when booked through SEG, with the vendor's site showing no availability. 

[Salf777]

3 hours ago, John Bull said:

That business was formed a good few years ago, it has a tolerably-decent reputation but like all agencies it also has the negatives mentioned by @CruiserBruce

 

Better to deal direct with a well-reviewed excursion operator.

If you name the port - and perhaps a precis of the excursion - we can try to point you in the right direction.

 

JB 🙂

Hi and thank you. We are sailing on Celebrity Ascent and stopping in Tortola. We have been to the Baths often and want to get over to Jost Van Dyke for an afternoon. I have seen some direct providers mentioned that a very expensive like private excursions. We are just looking to get over to Jost and have a drink and a bite for a few hours and get back. I saw an excursion on shore excursions group.com that says it’s a 4 hour excursion there and back that includes ferry rides. I’m guessing this is them taking us to the public ferry and putting us on and telling us to get on the return. I have no problem paying them if they arrange the taxis to the ferry and the rides back. I did a google search and the first reviews that popped up were very negative but I realize that the people that make the most noise are ones that had poor experiences and anyone company can have a bad day so I figured I would ask the good people of this board if they have used them and get an idea from people who have used them from a cruise like we will be. 
Celebrity doesn’t have an excursion to Jost Van Dyke and truth be told I’m not crazy about ship excursions the meeting in the theater and waiting to go, 

 

Any guidance greatly appreciated 

[John Bull]

1 hour ago, Salf777 said:

Hi and thank you. We are sailing on Celebrity Ascent and stopping in Tortola. We have been to the Baths often and want to get over to Jost Van Dyke for an afternoon. I have seen some direct providers mentioned that a very expensive like private excursions. We are just looking to get over to Jost and have a drink and a bite for a few hours and get back. I saw an excursion on shore excursions group.com that says it’s a 4 hour excursion there and back that includes ferry rides. I’m guessing this is them taking us to the public ferry and putting us on and telling us to get on the return. I have no problem paying them if they arrange the taxis to the ferry and the rides back. I did a google search and the first reviews that popped up were very negative but I realize that the people that make the most noise are ones that had poor experiences and anyone company can have a bad day so I figured I would ask the good people of this board if they have used them and get an idea from people who have used them from a cruise like we will be. 
Celebrity doesn’t have an excursion to Jost Van Dyke and truth be told I’m not crazy about ship excursions the meeting in the theater and waiting to go, 

 

Any guidance greatly appreciated 

 

 

We're usually carefree about doing our own thing, but on Tortola we used ship's excursion to Virgin Gorda (excursion boat) because there's no Plan B if the ferry fails for the return journey.

We'd take the same view with Jost Van Dyke, so can't really help (you probably know the ferries go from West End, a 20/25 minute taxi ride from Road Town).

We've been to Cane Garden Bay a couple of times (local vans), last time on Tortola we used ship's 4x4 excursion up into the north-western hills - a pleasant & convivial trip but not spectacular, and of course over-priced.

 

JB 🙂

 

 

[jsn55]

On 3/3/2024 at 11:50 AM, Salf777 said:

Hi and thank you. We are sailing on Celebrity Ascent and stopping in Tortola. We have been to the Baths often and want to get over to Jost Van Dyke for an afternoon. I have seen some direct providers mentioned that a very expensive like private excursions. We are just looking to get over to Jost and have a drink and a bite for a few hours and get back. I saw an excursion on shore excursions group.com that says it’s a 4 hour excursion there and back that includes ferry rides. I’m guessing this is them taking us to the public ferry and putting us on and telling us to get on the return. I have no problem paying them if they arrange the taxis to the ferry and the rides back. I did a google search and the first reviews that popped up were very negative but I realize that the people that make the most noise are ones that had poor experiences and anyone company can have a bad day so I figured I would ask the good people of this board if they have used them and get an idea from people who have used them from a cruise like we will be. 
Celebrity doesn’t have an excursion to Jost Van Dyke and truth be told I’m not crazy about ship excursions the meeting in the theater and waiting to go, 

 

Any guidance greatly appreciated 

You are so right about ship's excursions.  I had my first 'gather in the theatre' experience last November on NCL's Epic and it was horrendous, I just hated it.  I'll be much more careful on my next ocean cruise.  

[1bighund]

I used with no problem in Dec. 2023.  One port was skipped due to weather and they processed my cancellation before I even had a chance to contact them.

Edited March 25 by 1bighund

[Salf777]

So we went and booked a Jost Van Dyke tour thru them. Get off the ship early and tour is supposed to start at 9:15 am for the boat over to JVD. At 9:45 they tell us their boat is broken so they put us in cabs over to the public ferry and then cabs on JVD when we get there to Soggy Dollar. We were supposed to be back at the ship at 1:45 but since we were delayed going there they said stay at JVD until 2:45. After that a cab to the pier and there boat was working and a half hour ride back to the ship so what’s started bad ended up being very good

i will note that I think we could have just walked off the ship in Tortola and walked up to their booth and booked directly and saved a few bucks but not sure what their capacity is. Anyway for the price and that they gave us more time after a breakdown I give them a thumbs up and would use again. 
the JVD tour is a great afternoon by the way

[Mary229]

My TA uses them. She gets a commission and the price is the same to me, just like cruise lines operate.  She makes sure everything is moving along according to plan and provides the extra layer of advocacy if needed.