Don't Let Celebrity Rip You Off Anymore!

[TexasHorseLady]

 

In my opinion, it's not that much different from paying $50 for a mediocre bottle of wine in a restaurant. Yeah, you could get the same wine at a grocery store for $15...but it's just part of the deal when dining out. I expect it.

 

 

Actually, it's not like paying for a bottle of wine in a restaurant. In that scenario your option and terms upon which you may purchase the bottle are entirely at the discretion of the restaurant.

 

I think you just proved my point further. Both the restaurant and the cruiseline are simply taking some third party's product (a bottle of wine or a shore excursion) and selling it to us at an inflated price. We as consumers know very well we could get those same products cheaper elsewhere. But we might choose to go along with their marked up prices for any number of reasons. Maybe because it's easier...or faster...or we didn't feel like doing the legwork. Or maybe it gives us peace of mind just to know they'll be responsible if something goes wrong.

[raudacruise]

If you do your homework and do some due dilegence you can find tours that the cruise ships can't/don't have. We were on a trip arranged by one of our roll call members in Costa Rica. Boat trip, stop to see tree monkeys, stop to see howler monkeys (and a place where they grow orchids), stop at a macau sanctuary, stop at a local grocery store to get coffee (and maybe some forbidden beer).

 

I will say this was an exceptional one (and helped by one of our roll call members that spoke Spanish).

 

I guess the point is do a little research and you may find some gems. Even if you don't, corresponding with your cruisemates makes the time worth while.

[Lsimon]

I'll sit on the fence on this as I often do on many topics in life.

 

Ship tours definitely have their place. I would say that somewhere between 70% and 90% of the tours we do on cruises, overall, are either independent of the cruise lines or where we are just setting out on our own - walking, taxis or even public transportation. But there are just some places where ship tours have their place.

 

And it isn't a cut and dry measure either. At times we've felt ship tours were the best option for us at some ports where others have scoffed at the idea of taking a ship tour. That makes us realize that this is a personal decision based on one's comfort level, ability and desire to research and plan on their own, and a lot of other factors.

 

The best approach is to pick your tours with the most amount of research you can do so that you are picking your touring plans with your eyes open. Even that will be different for each of us - some will spend hours figuring every detail and others will limit their "research" to a talk with the tour desk on board. And who is to say which is right and which is wrong?

 

Like so many other things in life, touring excursions are not a "one size fits all" category.

[mek]

We love private tours, especially in Europe. But there are times when I don't want to spend countless hours on the Internet to do what is necessary to make it happen. Occasionally I simply want to relax, take it easy, and book a ship excursion - a no brainer with a price attached for that convenience. Seems fair to me.

[lysolqn]

This is exaclty what I am talking about people. They are ripping you off and yet you defend it. I fail to see what is so wrong with advocating being aware of our options as consummers. The surcharge relative to the added convenience, service, security, etc. is not reasonable. Sure, in isolated examples it may be. But, in general, it's not. So there you go. Now go twist my words and this board memeber's too and have a lovley time doing it.

 

Perhaps if you lowered your defenses a bit you'd see that just because someone offers an opinion different from yours it doesn't mean that he/she is attempting to twist your or anyone else's words, and no one is defending being "ripped off."

 

There's nothing wrong with advocating consumers should be aware of their options; in fact, it's darn good advice with respect to shore excursions or anything else - on land or at sea. We rarely opt for ship sponsored shore excursions and as a rule prefer to do things on our own. However, on the rare occasions that we have opted for an excursion, we thought the "surcharge relative to the added convenience, service, security, etc." was not, as you suggest, unreasonable.

[FinelyCruising]

From the outset it sounds like someone has an axe to grind and is having a fit.

 

Reading this after an almost day of discussion, the posters who have responded have been calm and reasonable and objective. If anyone new to cruising is reading this, it is those voices that will the ones that covey the message and carry the educational weight on this topic.:)

[The_Big_M]

The myth that they have to wait until you get on board before you sail. Doesn't work that way.

 

Are there any cases that you know of that they haven't?

 

Aside from the other links people have posted (which show a 404 from the newspaper for me, so I don't know the details!), a recent cruise in New Zealand had an overnight shore excursion where those on the excursion couldn't meet back at the ship due to very bad weather, although it did wait for a while. At considerable expense, Celebrity then flew them on to the next port of call in Australia to ensure that they met up.

 

Further, many of their staff emphasise that you are guaranteed not to miss the ship, so obviously if that were to happen you would have a case. Thus, I cannot foresee a situation where the cruise line would disregard you.

[G'ma]

Sure, all the cruise lines do it, upcharge for shore excursions. I don't begrudge them a profit and just compensation for the convenience of booking thorugh the ship. And, thre are other benefits of booking through a cruise line. But, charging consistently more than double what the tour supplier charges is absurd!

 

Celebrity consistently does this and worse. They price the base cruise at a low entry price and then tripple the total cost by the time you do anything from a few tours, a few drinks, a few exercise classes, etc. Come on. The nickel and diminig is out of control.

 

So, here's the solution. Go to the roll call boards and see if others booked their tours directly through local providers. There are tons of suggested operators there along with their contact information. This will put more money in to the local economy and keep you from subsidizing the "robbery" Celebrity thinks it can get away with.

 

When I last checked one could book a $600/week cruise to Alaska but a couple of tours later the total cost more than doubled.

 

So go to the roll call boards, use the search threads to narrow the information, Google tours in the ports and book locally!

 

It's called free enterprise.

 

Cruise lines are in the business of making money. Nobody is twisting anyones arm and forcing them to buy shore excursions. No one is forcing anyone to buy drinks, photographs. Nobody leads anyone into a gift shop and forces them to buy anything.

 

Do your own thing ashore......It's quite possible to cruise and NOT buy a shore excursion. I've never bought one....and, I've not missed a thing. My brother and his wife did an Alaska cruise last year.....and didn't buy any either. At a few places, they made their own arrangments ahead of time for the things they wanted to see and do.....private tours that were 1/3 the price charged onboard.

 

The shore excursion desk is a convenience only. If you want the convenience, you'll pay for it.

[TexasHorseLady]

The myth that they have to wait until you get on board before you sail...

 

It's not a myth. You really do need to get onboard before you sail. :D

[TexasHorseLady]

From the outset it sounds like someone has an axe to grind ...

 

I agree, especially since they specifically mentioned Celebrity and not just how overinflated cruiseline shore excursions are in general. This sounds like a case of someone trying to 'get back' at Celebrity. I have only sailed Celebrity once, but I do know their markups are pretty much in line with all the other cruiselines' markups I've seen.

This is all the fun I can stand on this thread. I am unsubscribing now!

[phoenix_dream]

As many others have said, I think the main point to keep in mind if you are looking for value is to do your research ahead of time. In some ports, you couldn't pay me to do my own tour due to safety reasons. In others, where there is low crime, safe transportation, and good medical care, you may want to consider booking your own. Advice on Cruise Critic is invaluable in that analysis.

 

I do think as a general statement that ship-booked tours are up-priced a bit too much. As others have pointed out, it does vary by excursion and sometimes can be as low as 10%, but I think in general the mark-up ranges from 30-50%, which to me seems high. But it is completely optional, so they can ask for what the traffic will bear. I think it's called free enterprise, right? If you don't like the price, don't buy the excursion. Simple.:)

[dkjretired]

Good point...........but get ready for these guys to attack you for suggesting that $1/min slow Internet isn't a great deal and should be paid with a smile on your face each time.

 

This is exaclty what I am talking about people. They are ripping you off and yet you defend it. I fail to see what is so wrong with advocating being aware of our options as consummers. The surcharge relative to the added convenience, service, security, etc. is not reasonable. Sure, in isolated examples it may be. But, in general, it's not. So there you go. Now go twist my words and this board memeber's too and have a lovley time doing it.

 

The majority of people on this thread from what I read don't consider that they are getting ripped off. Nothing is wrong with advocating other options and the surcharge is not always unreasonable and in some cases the tour can be cheaper. We just have a different opinion, you are entitled to yours and we are entitled to ours....