Private excursions pre-pay or not ?

[happycruzer]

We are sailing on the Constellation in 5 weeks, and have booked some excursions with various companies recommended here on the boards...and have done the same thing every cruise.

However , I've just had an email from the company we were going to use in Barbados asking for full payment just now....we've never had this before and just wondered what other folks opinions on this might be.

It is a secure site but I'm just leary of paying $240 up front just now.

This is full payment they are asking and not a CC guarantee or deposit.

 

What would you do.We have NEVER done this before on any trip.

 

Would welcome your opinion/advice on this.

 

Regards

 

Happycruzer

[janandjon]

i WOULD ASK MYSELF WHY MUST THEY HAVE PAYMENT IN ADVANCE!!!If I were you ,I would look at the amount of money you would be saving vs

booking thru Celebrity. I doubt very seriosly that it justifys the risk you would be taking by paying in advance< with little or no recourse if the deal falls through.

 

Cheers!

[Jade13]

We are sailing on the Constellation in 5 weeks, and have booked some excursions with various companies recommended here on the boards...and have done the same thing every cruise.

However , I've just had an email from the company we were going to use in Barbados asking for full payment just now....we've never had this before and just wondered what other folks opinions on this might be.

It is a secure site but I'm just leary of paying $240 up front just now.

This is full payment they are asking and not a CC guarantee or deposit.

 

What would you do.We have NEVER done this before on any trip.

 

Would welcome your opinion/advice on this.

 

Regards

 

Happycruzer

 

I would not pre-pay. I pay in cash that day (Europe). Most didn't even ask for a credit card hold. I think it is fair to ask for a credit card hold and have cancelation fees if you do not show up. All reputable companies do not charge ANY fees if the ship does not dock that day.

[happycruzer]

Sorry I forgot to add . Their cancellation fee is 50% if cancelled within 2 weeks of the date of the tour.....

I am seriously having doubts over this tour, but feel we might struggle now to get anyone else.

We want to see a little of the Island then snorkel with turtles, a half day in total.

Does anyone know if we could jump in a taxi and do this ?

I dont want to post this on the Barbados forum as I know the girl from the tour company posts there, and i'd rather get an opinion/advice on it before I post on there.

 

thanks for all this help

 

happycruzer

[nps001]

I would not hesitate to ask for a chair that suits your health needs after surgery. Many times, design supersedes function. I can see that being a case in some of the chair. However, a designer can't design for a lot of "what ifs"

 

I'm sure if you made that request you would be obliged.

[bplazo]

I would not hesitate to ask for a chair that suits your health needs after surgery. Many times, design supersedes function. I can see that being a case in some of the chair. However, a designer can't design for a lot of "what ifs"

 

I'm sure if you made that request you would be obliged.

 

(?)

 

 

We have had a couple excursions where we have paid in full and have not had a problem. One excursion that we had paid and the island was skipped due to a hurricane a check was waiting for us when we returned.

[Host Anne]

This doesn't only apply for shore excursions but for many things you do on land or sea. We never pay in full prior to receiving a service. I have no problem with a small deposit to secure a reservation but when traveling and purchasing services from someone I don't know, I'd never give them everything up front.

 

If something goes wrong, what is your recourse if you've paid them everything before the excursion?

[bubbie617]

The only safety net you would have would be your credit card company if there were any problems.

[Lois R]

(?)

 

 

We have had a couple excursions where we have paid in full and have not had a problem. One excursion that we had paid and the island was skipped due to a hurricane a check was waiting for us when we returned.

 

Hi,:) I see your question ?....I think somehow Joe thought he was

posting on the Solstice thread:confused:that reply was about chairs in

the new main dining room. Weird!

 

As to your question, I agree with the other folks too, full payment

upfront? No way...something is not right with that one.

[ORV]

While I wouldn't pay the full amount in advance I can certainly sympathize with the tour operators if they have a lot of people cancel. If there are no consequences then I would think people would cancel anytime they changed their mind.

 

If you've paid in advance you are definitely going to do everything in your power to be there.

[California Native]

i've booked private tours/drivers all over the world some as shore excursions and others while traveling soley on land and only once was asked to prepay and that was a British Isle cruise for a tour to Giant Causeway.

you had to prepay and no refunds even if the ship didn't get into port.

I decided against it, as that freaked me out since no one has ever been that stringent anywhere on the globe from Russia to Tahiti...

turns out our ship couldn't get in, and only got into port for 1/2 the sailing season.

just my experience!

[rswallis]

Are the private tours that much better than those offered through X? 90% of the time, we've had a great experience with X-booked excursions and relax knowing that Celebrity folks will take care of all the details. I also like to know that we get 100% of our money back if the tour is cancelled, we miss a port, and, most importantly, that the ship won't leave without us. You don't get that same piece of mind on a private tour.

[California Native]

Hi Scott!

It is different for each port.

I do weigh the time we are in port, the security issues and the cost of going through a shorex department or out on my own. For example in Gdansk, Poland you port in Gydnia BUT the roads in between are torn up and a simple 40 min trip can take 2 hours. I am certainly not relying on cab driver to make it back in time with traffic. On a ships tours the ship will wait! Even though under other circumstances this is quite easy to do on your own.

After doing extensive research on what I want to see, do and experience in each port, I examine the ship's options and I check for referrals for private companies when determining what route I want to go.

The private tour plus side that I have found is: it is about what I want, I can see as much as we can fit in, I can stay longer or shorter in places. The timeframes are usually better, I can start on my adventure as soon as the ship clears, whereas some tours start much later in the morning and see much less. I have also found that most private tours I've booked and the explorations I've done on my own which are the same as ship tours are considerably less $$$$, of course this is my personal experience.

I always build in for the what if. If we need to be back by 5:30, I tell the private guide 4:30pm. I carry enough money to hail a cab or pay someone to get us back to the ship!

I will conclude with this experience we had ...My husband and I were in St. Petersburg..I should say we are usually very budget conscious...

the absolute best splurge we have ever made in our travels was booking a tour through Red October for just the two of us. Our guide was picked for our love of architecture and art history. She was able to by pass ALL LINES including gift shop lines from regular cruise ship excursions. She took us into the private apartments at the Hermitage and the Carriage Museum at Catherine's Palace...we were the only ones there, since this isn't part of a ships shore excursion...totally magical!

You can see the itinerary here if you are interested .....

 

http://when.do.we.leave.googlepages.com/st.petersburg,russia

 

On my last cruise to Tahiti/Hawaii I rented cars from Priceline for each Hawaiian island for $15.00 and the car company picked us up at the dock and brought us back...

 

Just something for you to consider!

 

 

Bon Voyage

[j!m]

we generally try to book private excursions with a guide and driver for just the two of us. we have done this all over the world, australia, south america, europe etc. in some cases we have paid deposits up front in others, the whole price

 

we have never had a problem

 

we usually use these boards or references from friends to chose the vendors and we always use these boards for general information. for example we learned from the boards many ships do not land passengers in the falklands due to rough seas(tender port) so we used a ship tour there.

 

most often our excursions cost more than we would have paid the ship however it has been our experience that when we return to ship and discuss our tours with table mates we saw far more than they did and almost always learned a lot more about the particular port as a result of the quality of the guides. when there is just the 2 of us we can come and go as we please, if we want to stop for a sandwich and beer we do if not we dont. if we have seen enough of a particular site we can move on. also the mandatory shopping stop can be avoided on a private tour. if we want to shop we can if not we just say no thanks, lets see something else

 

yes there is an issue about getting back to the ship but if one uses common sense this should not be a problem.

 

in italy we did not line up once, not for st petes, not for the vatican museum not for the florence museums, not for anything, our guides took us right in with no problem and the line ups looked very long

 

when we went to machu picchu we used a ship tour and it was about double what it would have cost for private arrangements however, the weather there is unpredictable and given flights were involved it seemed prudent to stay with the ship tours then returning to the ship 2 days later was X problem not mine.

 

so imo if you can afford to pay extra a private tour is best provided you use common sense and research the vendor you are dealing with

 

 

as for disappointments, we have had far more when we used ship tours because we couldnt find a vendor we were comfortable with. mexico was a prime example of this for us. we have rarely been disappointed with our private arrangements, perhaps because of the references from these boards

 

as for refunds, we have never had to ask for one and have always assumed if we pay by credit card it may be a problem to deal with but we will get a refund if necessary. oh yes we do try to avoid vendors who charge an administration fee or similar for missed ports (just in case)

[chasetf]

i've booked private tours/drivers all over the world some as shore excursions and others while traveling soley on land and only once was asked to prepay and that was a British Isle cruise for a tour to Giant Causeway.

 

you had to prepay and no refunds even if the ship didn't get into port.

 

I decided against it, as that freaked me out since no one has ever been that stringent anywhere on the globe from Russia to Tahiti...

 

turns out our ship couldn't get in, and only got into port for 1/2 the sailing season. just my experience!

Probably the reason they (Causeway tour) was requiring the prepayment is because they have experienced so many no shows when the ship cannot make port. Not saying it is right and I agree... I would not prepay.

[63galaxie]

We had a private excursion booked in Barbados (via the internet). We had not paid in advance, fortunately, because when we got into port, it started pouring down rain.

 

Our vendor never bothered to show up (even though the rain finally stopped after about an hour).

 

I would have been furious if I'd prepaid!

 

Personally, I'd never pay in full. There's way too much risk!

 

In four cruises, we've missed two ports (once in Grand Cayman we couldn't dock because of the weather).

 

The odds are against you!

 

However, that said, if it's a "once-in-a-lifetime" excursion and the money is not that important to you, book it.

 

Or, maybe you can email them and negotiate something with them????

 

Let us know what happens please.

[SusieV]

I assume you're talking about Glory Tours.

 

We prepaid with some worries when we visited Barbados last year, and we had a great tour and a lovely day- the review is in my signature if you're interested.

 

If you have any trouble, since the vendor does indeed read Cruise Critic, I'm sure you'd be taken care of.

[Desertbelle]

Mostly we book private tours when cruising, and many times we have been asked for deposits. In Barbados, Silvermoon Catamarans asks for a 50% deposit, and we have paid it without problems.

 

In Europe none of the companies asked for deposits, but in England we are finding everyone wants deposits. Must be a local thing.

 

As for the poster who asked if private excursions were really better than what the ships offer. Almost always the private tours are markedly better. We still book some ship excursions, but when we can do it privately, we do. I have never been let down by the recommendations from the members of Cruise Critic.

[Buckeye Geo]

I assume you're talking about Glory Tours.

 

We prepaid with some worries when we visited Barbados last year, and we had a great tour and a lovely day- the review is in my signature if you're interested.

 

If you have any trouble, since the vendor does indeed read Cruise Critic, I'm sure you'd be taken care of.

 

I hope you are right, because we are still waiting for a partial refund that was promised due to a missed attraction. It has been over a month and 4 e-mails later and no refund.

[Pontius Navigator]

Check your insurance policy. Make a specific question _

 

We want to book an independent holiday excursion with X while we cruise with Y to Z.

 

Z is on Y's itinerary but that may change without notice.

 

If we are unable to take our excursion with X because Y did not go to Z on schedule may we reclaim our lost payment?

 

If Yes then you would be protected by your credit card company for default and your insurance company for failure. Everything else you take at risk.