private tour co. Port Promotions on Western Med. cruises

[lynned2899]

Has anyone used the company, Port Promotions to book shore excursions on Western Med. cruises. This private co. was recommended by the ************ agent I'm using. Cheaper than ship tours. I realize private tours can cause you to miss boat as the ship only waits for late "official" excursions.

[ajcruiser]

Had a bad experience with Port Promotions advertising a 5.5 hour tour in Aruba which turned out to be 3 hours. Promised food was not provided, promised stops were not made. Contacted them upon return and through my TA...they promised refund which has not come now two months after contact. Don't use Port Promotions.

[ajcruiser]

Refund was received after two months.

[flhokie]

We used Port Promotions in the Caribbean with no issues. When our ship was unable to get into Grand Cayman we contacted them and the tour was quickly refunded.

[chipmaster]

Has anyone used the company, Port Promotions to book shore excursions on Western Med. cruises. This private co. was recommended by the ************ agent I'm using. Cheaper than ship tours. I realize private tours can cause you to miss boat as the ship only waits for late "official" excursions.

 

 

I think its overblown that private tours cause you to miss boats. The few stories I've heard of people missing the boat has always been a combination of extreme bad luck ( weather, traffic, mechanical breakdown ), over ambitious port plannning, and no tour day adjustment as things change, and un-experienced driver.

 

One thing lost on many who take private tours for the first time, is that you are often on your own to self manage at each stop and its easy to lingering at all the wondeful attractions ( we did it at almost every stop ) Its very hard to say spend only 30' at the coliseum as an example :mad:

 

With the power of the internet between cruisecritic and google it is now so easy to search and find the private tour vendors directly. Going thru a middle man, be it your favorite internet travel agency or other, will always result in more fees. Look only at what the cruiseline tack on :eek: