Anyone used ShoreTrips.com??

[LetsMakeWaves55]

I'll be on the Splendor March 21st headed for the Mexican Riviera and I've been looking into shore excursions for Mazatlan, I found ShoreTrips.com on another cruise forum and they have some cool excursions different than those found through Carnival directly, also they are a bit cheaper. HAs anyone done a trip through this company?? I'm usually always one to book through Carnival, but this is tempting....any advice?? :)

[Poseidon1]

We used them in Grand Cayman for a waverunner ride to Stingray City & snorkeling in '07. Our guides were exxellent. We would definitely use them again.

[lakedad]

We used them in 2008 for a segway tour in Nassau. It all worked out as planned. I would use them again.

 

Rick

[wenocancer2]

We also used them in Grand Cayman and they were very helpful. They parent company is based in Wisconsin, which is where we are from, so there was some comfort in that to us. Not that that makes any difference at all, but it just didn't seem like you were talking to someone half way around the world.

 

We WILL definitely use them again in the future.

[DiveCruiser]

I'll be on the Splendor March 21st headed for the Mexican Riviera and I've been looking into shore excursions for Mazatlan, I found ShoreTrips.com on another cruise forum and they have some cool excursions different than those found through Carnival directly, also they are a bit cheaper. HAs anyone done a trip through this company?? I'm usually always one to book through Carnival, but this is tempting....any advice?? :)

 

SHoreTrips.com We have used them for the last 7years with no problems. We used them in all three port on the Mexican Riviera

 

Bob

[RayJacki]

I'll be on the Splendor March 21st headed for the Mexican Riviera and I've been looking into shore excursions for Mazatlan, I found ShoreTrips.com on another cruise forum and they have some cool excursions different than those found through Carnival directly, also they are a bit cheaper. HAs anyone done a trip through this company?? I'm usually always one to book through Carnival, but this is tempting....any advice?? :)

 

I've gotta give Shore Trips a mixed review. We used them for a Pyramid excursion from Costa Maya a few years ago and had an excellent guide and a great trip, but we recently (10/2009) used them again for a historic city tour in Mazatlan and were really bummed. It turned into a shopping tour at all of the tour driver's friends' shops. Also, the air conditioning in the van was marginal at best and if we had chosen to NOT go into any of the shops, and instead wait in the van, it would have been UNBEARABLY HOT.

[meme2manthajoe]

We used them for snorkeling and a manatee hunt in Belize last April and we had a fantastic time. I will definitely use them again!

[airlink diva]

I used shoretrips in 2008 for a tour in Guadeloupe. It was alot better than what the ship was offering.

There was only six people and a guide. We went to places the mainly locals visit. The highlight was having lunch at a local home. I will look at them for options in my winter cruise.

[FamilyDoc]

We've used them in Costa Maya and had one of our best dive trips in our lives. The only caveat to remember is that obviously each different excursion is by a different subcontractor and so you may have a totally different experience. (Our divemaster didn't speak English at all but once we got underwater that didn't really matter anyway!)

[CeleBrat]

We've used them in two ports: St. Maarten (on a day trip to Antigua) and St. Thomas. Both times, it was a phenomenal experience.

 

CeleBrat

[islandwoman]

I was on a Cruise Critic group cruise in the Caribbean last year. The group organizer used shore trips to book our excursions. They did a good job. They were generally less expensive than Princess' shore excursions, but we could have booked the same or similar excursions ourselves for less.

[silveira03]

I booked a scuba excursion via shoretrips.com for our 2008 caribbean cruise for while we were in Cozumel. I booked it about a month in advance. We ended up paying $75/person instead of the $120/person that Carnival had, and we got an extra 2 hours.

 

I had a wonderful experience, however I am reluctant to book through them again. The last cruise my family went on (without me), they couldn't go to Cozumel because of the swine flu scare. If we went on that cruise (which we would have gotten the same scuba package from shoretrips.com) we would have been out $150 because they do not give refunds if your ship skips port.

 

So you have to weigh the pro's and con's yourself. Would you rather pay less and risk an intinerary change and losing your money, or pay more and feel safe knowing you will be refunded by Carnival.

[travelqueen555]

I recently was in contact with Shore Trips regarding an excursion, and they assured me if our ship was not able to stop there for some reason, they would definately reimburse our payment. Did someone find out otherwise? I hope they will be true to their word.

[silveira03]

I recently was in contact with Shore Trips regarding an excursion, and they assured me if our ship was not able to stop there for some reason, they would definately reimburse our payment. Did someone find out otherwise? I hope they will be true to their word.

 

It looks like they have updated their cancellation policies since I used them last. Here is a quote from the FAQ of their website:

 

"You may cancel your ShoreTrips booking and receive a full refund up to 11 days before the the actual date of your ShoreTrip (14 days for Europe and South America ShoreTrips). At 10 days (14 days for Europe and South America ShoreTrips) outbound, all trips become non-refundable. To cancel a ShoreTrip, log into www.shoretrips.com with your User Id and Password. Then click on "View Bookings" and click on the garbage can icon next to the booking. This will cancel your booking and refund your charge card in full."

[framerman]

I booked a scuba excursion via shoretrips.com for our 2008 caribbean cruise for while we were in Cozumel. I booked it about a month in advance. We ended up paying $75/person instead of the $120/person that Carnival had, and we got an extra 2 hours.

 

I had a wonderful experience, however I am reluctant to book through them again. The last cruise my family went on (without me), they couldn't go to Cozumel because of the swine flu scare. If we went on that cruise (which we would have gotten the same scuba package from shoretrips.com) we would have been out $150 because they do not give refunds if your ship skips port.

 

So you have to weigh the pro's and con's yourself. Would you rather pay less and risk an intinerary change and losing your money, or pay more and feel safe knowing you will be refunded by Carnival.

We have used Shoretrips a number of times. Mostly positive.

Although one time snorking in Cozumel our guide lost our boat to the other guide who was doing a scuba cert. After floating around for an hour and a half, our guide realized(finally) that our boat wasn't coming back and he called over another friends boat(full of Spaniards,if that matters) and they pulled us onboard. Clearly not happy having to pick up this American couple, they slowly took us back to our boat. Almost comical.

 

Used Shoretrips for Lamanai ruins in Belize and Zip line in Roaton. Nothing but a positive experience.

 

In FAct in One time we couldn't port in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica where we were booked for zip line there. Recieved a full refund.

[Lydia B.]

If you are going to Matazlan consider doing a tour with Matzalan Frank. Run a search on the boards and you will see he has a wonderful following and the reviews are always positive. He takes you everywere and you get to see a number of local artisans that make ceramic tiles, furniture, bricks, etc. I have been on 14 cruises and this tour still is in my top 3 of all time great excursions. Frank meets you right off the ship with you names on a card, he has a really nice van and brinks cold drinks for you. Also some of us wanted to see some nice silver jewelry and the fellas wanted cigars and he accomadated all of us. Oh yea and the best thing.....the first stop is a local bakery and when we went you picked three items for $1.00...of course we could not eat it all so gave treats to the local dogies.

[Quampapetet]

Yes, I have used ShoreTrips. They were helpful with the questions I had.

 

My TA friend who does group cruises also uses them for almost all of her excursions (actually, the only reason we're going with two different companies for two of the excursions is because I asked for them [shoreTrips doesn't do one of those excursions and the other is a tour guide I got recommended to on this board], otherwise we'd be doing all ShoreTrips [except for the self-guided things, of course]). She loves them.