Shore Excursion mark-up take two (special interest to CDRMARK)

[Orcrone]

Tried posting this earlier, but only the title showed up. In another thread CDRMark suggested Stuart's Cove Diving for Nassau. I went to their website, they charge $78 for a two tank dive vs. $109 if booked through HAL. So I sent them an e-mail with some questions. It turns out that HAL contracts through them for their scuba excursions there, so they can't accept a reservation from me, I'd have to go through HAL.

 

I just find it interesting that there's a $31, or almost a 40% markup, on their excursions. That doesn't take into account that I'm sure HAL does not pay the full $78 per person to Staurt's Cove.

[gizmo]

There is nothing unusual about this. It is not just Hal but all cruise lines do this. Sometimes the cruise line has a contract with the tour that does not allow them to accept outside bookings.

 

There is always a mark up in price by the cruise line and it is not just a couple of bucks.

[RDWills]

It turns out that HAL contracts through them for their scuba excursions there, so they can't accept a reservation from me, I'd have to go through HAL.

 

I certianly don't find the mark up surprising, I am a 'little' surprised by the exclusivity arrangement. Could you just book with them without telling them what ship you are from?

 

-Robin

[boards]

Could that mark up be like insurance? I understand that a ship will leave port until all passengers have returned from any excursions that have been made through the ship.

Just a wondering, some have suggested it is worth the extra, others of course say not so.

[gizmo]

I certianly don't find the mark up surprising, I am a 'little' surprised by the exclusivity arrangement. Could you just book with them without telling them what ship you are from?

 

-Robin

 

Some tour companies will do this and some won't. It might depend on the contract they have with the cruise line and how many slots are contracted for.

 

Look at it from the tour companies side. If they have 25 available slots for a tour and contract with the cruise line to make all 25 available, they wouldn't know until 24 hours ahead of time how many the cruise line actually sold. It would be difficult for them to guarantee a slot for someone trying to book the tour weeks ahead of time.

[Orcrone]

This is a copy of the e-mail I received from them.

"Thank you for giving Stuart Cove's the opportunity to assist you with your Bahamas vacation plans.

 

Since we have a contract with the Holland American Line, you will have to book any type of diving with them. Please consult the Shore Excursions' Desk on your cruise."

It seems pretty specific that they wouldn't allow me to book with them directly if I identified myself as a Holland America passenger.

 

Gizmo - I really wasn't flaming the cruise line for this. Everyone knows that they make money on the excursions. I was posting this as it quantifies it to some extent.

[BigDogMom]

The markup may include the cost of the transportation from ship to the dive shop. I also think it's like insurance. We were on an excursion from the Rotterdam in Europe. The excursion ran 1 1/2 hours late due to really bad traffic and the ship waited. The captain wasn't happy but he wasn't about to sail away and leave 3 bus loads of passengers on a HAL sanctioned excursion.

[gizmo]

Orcrone,

 

I just wanted to clarify all cruise lines do this.

 

Why not google and check out some other dive opportunities? You neve know what you may find.

[elmorejj]

I have been on shore excursions that have people from other cruise lines on them, and its amazing the difference in prices charged by the different lines for the same tour....jean :cool:

[shipcafe]

Tried posting this earlier, but only the title showed up. In another thread CDRMark suggested Stuart's Cove Diving for Nassau. I went to their website, they charge $78 for a two tank dive vs. $109 if booked through HAL. So I sent them an e-mail with some questions. It turns out that HAL contracts through them for their scuba excursions there, so they can't accept a reservation from me, I'd have to go through HAL.

 

I just find it interesting that there's a $31, or almost a 40% markup, on their excursions. That doesn't take into account that I'm sure HAL does not pay the full $78 per person to Staurt's Cove.

 

I've researched this myself previously and still tend to go with cruise line excursions in most cases. Booking a tour independently will not hold the ship if your tour returns late. A ship's shore excursion could be late and the ship will not leave until its return. If I were in the case of returning to the ship late by having done my own excursion and the ship left, that "value added" markup would surely pay for itself ten times over :D

[Orcrone]

I've researched this myself previously and still tend to go with cruise line excursions in most cases. Booking a tour independently will not hold the ship if your tour returns late. A ship's shore excursion could be late and the ship will not leave until its return. If I were in the case of returning to the ship late by having done my own excursion and the ship left, that "value added" markup would surely pay for itself ten times over :D

What you say is true. If it looks like there could be a problem I wouldn't book independently. However, if the excursion is supposed to end 5 hours before the ship leaves (as was the case with one I booked in the fall) then I'll take the chance.

 

However, saving money is only one advantage of an independent excursion. With something like scuba diving (and many other tours) the cruiseline excursions tend to be cattle cars. If the boat will hold 20 divers, then they'll do their best to put 20 divers on the boat. With independent tours you tend to get smaller crowds going to less crowded areas.

[michmike]

orcone is exactly right. You get MUCH more personalized service if you book excursions on your own. And if you think someone's little darlin is a pain in the butt just being in your proximity on the ship, try being cooped up in a bus for 2 hours with them.

 

That having been said, you don't want to cut it too close with times. We normally do our excursions in the morning or early afternoon and leave plenty of time for eventualities. With proper planning and a little common sense you can enjoy the benefits of doing excursions on your own and still not have to worry about being left standing at the dock. Our snorkel charter captain referred to the cruise snorkeling trips as "cattlemarans". He wasn't wrong. Same way at sting ray city where we chartered a boat for the four of us at not much more than the ship excursion would have cost and then watched as they pulled up with 200 on a boat... no thanks!

[wander]

Agree with the "little darling" and a bus comment. Most cruising kids I have met have been great, but one was NOT. One bus trip with him was enough (same could be said for his Dad). However, on an independent trip there is no guarantee that there will not be another "little darling", unless you set-up a private activity.

 

Overall I agree with the above. In a port where we can easily get around and going to a place where one could take a taxi back to the ship if stranded, we like independent travel. However, if there is a potential time crunch or we are going into a distant or isolated area, we stick with the ship tours.

[obriendan]

On the subject of HAL excursions vs independent tours, not only are they often less expensive, have many fewer passengers, but they are often better. On a stop at Port Stanley we opted to take an independent tour. For $15 per person we hired a van with six passengers. We toured the island and had a one hour stop at the penguin colony and then were dropped at the museum. The HAL sponsored tour for $38 was on a 40 passenger bus and it didn't stop at the penguin colony!

[CDRMark]

When DW and I dived (had diven?) with Stuart Cove, we were not off a ship, so never encountered any problem (a lovely week at the British Colonial; we love Nassau). They have been extermely responsive to suggestions in the past, I wonder if you could book thru HAL but e-mail them a request for a specific itinerary? Worth a try.

We discovered in St Maarten that the 12 meter race is handled exactly the same way; viz, if on a cruise ship, must book thru the line.

Cheers (and happy diving)

MarkB