One reason to book shore excursions through the ship

[exBFF]

...and another reason I love Holland America.

 

My son and I booked a dogsled excursion through Shore Excursions while in Juneau (on the Veendam). Amazing excursion. They helicoptered us to to the top of a glacier and dropped us off at the dog camp.

 

By the time we were done, the weather had turned and the helicopter wasn't able to fly back up to pick us up. The dogsledders took us down the mountain (how cool was that), where Holland America had arranged a car to pick us up and take us back to the ship.

 

And if that wasn't enough, because we were going to be late getting back to the ship, Holland America had tracked down my wife (onboard) to first confirm that we weren't back, then gave her frequent updates about our progress getting back....PLUS, they held the ship past departure time so we (and the other father/daughter on the excursion) could get back.

 

The captain apparently made periodic updates to the rest of the passengers (as to why the ship hadn't left port) so that when we boarded (30 minutes late), there were hundreds of people lining the railing clapping. It's a testament to the Captain and his great communication with the passengers.

 

Coolest experience EVER. And it wouldn't have happened (we'd have surely been left behind) if we'd book outside of Shore Excursions.

 

I was so incredibly impressed. We haven't cruised with anyone but Holland America since.

 

...just our experience.

 

david

[Guest LoveMyBoxer]

A lot of people complain about the high cost of ship excursion. However, for us, unless it's a place we've been to before and know the routine, it gives us peace of mind and don't mind paying extra. One of our tours back from Virgin Gorda was late returning a few years ago, but since it was through the cruise line, the ship, thankfully was waiting for us. What is peace of mind worth??? How much more would you have to pay if you missed the ship?

[Himself]

There is the cost factor involved with booking on ship but as the initiator of this post observed, there are advantages. If things go wrong, HAL will reach out and go the extra step and I don't independents that we run into in port will do the same thing.

[IRL_Joanie]

...and another reason I love Holland America.

 

My son and I booked a dogsled excursion through Shore Excursions while in Juneau (on the Veendam). Amazing excursion. They helicoptered us to to the top of a glacier and dropped us off at the dog camp.

 

By the time we were done, the weather had turned and the helicopter wasn't able to fly back up to pick us up. The dogsledders took us down the mountain (how cool was that), where Holland America had arranged a car to pick us up and take us back to the ship.

 

And if that wasn't enough, because we were going to be late getting back to the ship, Holland America had tracked down my wife (onboard) to first confirm that we weren't back, then gave her frequent updates about our progress getting back....PLUS, they held the ship past departure time so we (and the other father/daughter on the excursion) could get back.

 

The captain apparently made periodic updates to the rest of the passengers (as to why the ship hadn't left port) so that when we boarded (30 minutes late), there were hundreds of people lining the railing clapping. It's a testament to the Captain and his great communication with the passengers.

 

Coolest experience EVER. And it wouldn't have happened (we'd have surely been left behind) if we'd book outside of Shore Excursions.

 

I was so incredibly impressed. We haven't cruised with anyone but Holland America since.

 

...just our experience.

 

david

 

 

You are so right David!!! How Cool is that to be dog sledded down the mountain!!!

 

You, and the others with you all hada great excuse for not making the All Aboard time (another thread) and I am happy to see you had a great enough time to be staying with HAL. AIN'T HAL just the best line ever?? :D

 

Joanie

[Krazy Kruizers]

We also have booked 99% of our excursions through the ship[ knowing that if anything goes wrong - the ship will wait for us.

 

And it has happened to us a few times.

 

On our very first cruise on Cunard -- we were nearly 2 hours late4 getting back from a ship tour -- and that wonderful home for 2 weeks was waiting for us.

\

Also had this happen on HAL and NCL and Princess.

 

It is always a great relief to know that if you book a ship's excursion -- and something goes wrong -- the ship will ne waiting for you.

[mrsltg]

I agree. Unless it's a place I know and I know I will be hanging around fairly close to the port, I don't go off with anything other than a ship's excursion. There is just too much riding on it.

[Gerd]

..

 

Hello "all"

 

Several times it was mentioned, that the Captain would wait, if the HAL shore excursion were late.

 

But what they do, if the Captain has to go because return time exceeds much ??

 

Does HAL pay for a hotel and transport to the next port ??:confused:

 

 

 

Happy cruising

 

G E R D

 

 

 

Our marvelous cruises : :)

 

MS Ryndam - Wayfarer - March 1997

MS Noordam - Transatlantic Island Hook - April 2001

MS Volendam - Southern Caribbean - April 2002

MS Volendam - Westfarer Caribbean - April 2004

MS Prinsendam - Windmills & Waterford - September 2004

MS Westerdam - Western Caribbean - April 2005

MS Statendam - Hawaii Circle - September 2005

MS Rotterdam - Vikings and Czars - July 2006

MS Veendam - Southern Caribbean - March 2007

MS Volendam - Panama Canal - April 2008

MS Noordam - Mediterranean Enchantment - September 2009

 

136 days - 34'665 Nm :

 

 

 

Future Cruise : :p

 

 

3+7 / 10-day Mediterranean Prelude & Inaugural Cruise :

 

 

 

12-day Mediterranean Empires :

 

[Johanna7]

It happened to us on 3 occasions for various reasons including the fact that our bus squished a car between the bus and the rails on a bridge. No one was hurt, the car was damaged but it delayed us several hours. Of course the ship was waiting for us and the 9 buses behind us.

 

Another time it was just my husband, also in Costa Rica, and I did not feel like riding in a ski lift thing for 90 minutes. He was several hours late along with his tour but the boat had to wait.

 

There was also one other time. Bus late getting back in Italy.

 

Once we nearly didn't make the ship when we rented a car and it got really foggy and we couldn't find our way back. Some helpful person in another car rental place took us to the place and he drove us back. We got there 5 minutes prior to departure when they were taking down the gang plank. When they saw us, they stopped, let us on and the boat took off in minutes.

 

Unless we just want to walk around the place and know we can get back in good time, we will take the shore excursions.

[Pat.bz]

Even on ship's excursions they don't always wait (depends on many factors (port rules, tides, etc). Last Fall the Carnival Spirit docked next to us in Oahu, and a day earlier they left a busload of ship-sponsored people in Kauai (Captain was on that tour but on another bus) due to port restrictons. Carnival put all those affected up in Kauai and then flew them to Oahu the next morning. BTW I still usually book private excursions (in the unlikely-emergency- event I miss the ship my travel insurance would reimburse me--there are threads on these boards to that effect).

[m steve]

but on our Med cruise coming up we decided to bite the bulledt and book all the excursions thru them as we are not as familiar with many of the places we are visiting unlike the Caribbean. With strikes in Europe that can happen any time we don't want to rely on public transportation or other possible problems.

[sealady1]

A lot of people complain about the high cost of ship excursion. What is peace of mind worth??? How much more would you have to pay if you missed the ship?

Just imagine that you are on an excursion that is not ship sponsored. Now imagine that during the course of that excursion, something has gone terribly wrong. You know that you must be back to the ship by a certain time. You also know that you are never going to make it in time. Your stress level is raising rapidly. You are crossing your fingers and silently praying that somehow, someway the ship will wait for you. But they have no idea where you are because you chose to book your own excursion. You finally make it back to the port only to see your ship sailing away in the distance. How much are those savings worth to you now?

To me, the peace of mind that comes from knowing that the ship will either wait for me or if it must leave without me, arrangements will be made to get me to the next port and back onboard the ship and not at my expense is worth the extra cost of a ship sponsored excursion. This is just my opinion.

[DaveOKC]

I agree with many of the answers thusfar, unless you are familiar with the area AND have done alot of research on the vendor, I would go with the ship's tour.

 

Another new reason is that you (each person in the cabin) earn extra sailing days on HAL for exvery $300 per person you spend per cabin during your cruise, so the cruise tours would count toward this.

 

DaveOKC

[Jade13]

BTW I still usually book private excursions (in the unlikely-emergency- event I miss the ship my travel insurance would reimburse me--there are threads on these boards to that effect).

 

Which policy? Also, I assume this may be under "missed connection" and also there may be a limit to the amount. Would it cover the cost of hotel and flight?

 

We almost always do private because the ship is not offering what we want. I know this is not typical but our last HAL excursion was bad enough that I emailed (didn't ask for a thing) and surprised that HAL offered the full amount in OBC on our next cruise.

 

We also have an excursion through Celebrity on our next cruise but that is because Celebrity has an exclusive with both kayak companies in Key West and it is the only way we can Kayak. RCCL/Celebrity has always had more reasonable prices than Carnival/HAL so in this case the excursions only $10.00 more pp but includes transportation, so basically the same price.

[Jade13]

I agree with many of the answers thusfar, unless you are familiar with the area AND have done alot of research on the vendor, I would go with the ship's tour.

 

Another new reason is that you (each person in the cabin) earn extra sailing days on HAL for exvery $300 per person you spend per cabin during your cruise, so the cruise tours would count toward this.

 

DaveOKC

 

They usually do not have what we want and once when they did the tour guide skipped that part of the tour.

 

You are right about the new marketing which is very smart on the part of HAL to add "days" to your Mariner status. We will probably use HAL for a few half day tours in Canada as the half days can work better through the ship vs hiring a private driver for half a day. Now you need to calculate how much money you need to spend to get that next "day'.

[KirkNC]

To each his own. We virtually never do cruise line excursions. You pay as much as 3-4 times what you can do it on your own for, see only half what you can see on your own and do it with 50 or 100 strangers. Are we taking a chance that the ship might leave, yep but we have never even come close to missing the ship. If we do, that would just create a new adventure. We take a credit card, info on the ships agent and have a great time. ;)

 

Kirk

[CBJ]

To each his own. We virtually never do cruise line excursions. You pay as much as 3-4 times what you can do it on your own for, see only half what you can see on your own and do it with 50 or 100 strangers. Are we taking a chance that the ship might leave, yep but we have never even come close to missing the ship. If we do, that would just create a new adventure. We take a credit card, info on the ships agent and have a great time. ;)

 

Kirk

 

I agree. Though we did come close to missing the ship once - in our very first port in fact - and it taught us the lesson to leave at least an hour of cushion time between when we plan to be back and when the ship sails.

 

I would not, however, take an excursion like the helicopter-dogsled one privately - too much chance something can go wrong. Same goes for tight port times, where you don't have much time. We did the Virgin Gorda trip through the ship because I couldn't be sure that the ferry would get us back early enough.

 

But taking a cab (or bus!) to the beach instead of paying $59 each for the HAL beach break? Or grabbing a local tour from an established operator at the dock, that promises to get us back a few hours before they lift the gangway? I have no problems with that at all.

[photomikey]

To each his own. We virtually never do cruise line excursions. You pay as much as 3-4 times what you can do it on your own for, see only half what you can see on your own and do it with 50 or 100 strangers.

The way I do the math, I'm saving ~$100 per person, per port going indy instead of cruise line excursions. On a 7 day cruise, that's saving half the price of the next cruise.

[Jade13]

I would not, however, take an excursion like the helicopter-dogsled one privately - too much chance something can go wrong.

.

 

I would, They use Temsco and you can book direct.

[carlmm]

... And it wouldn't have happened (we'd have surely been left behind) if we'd book outside of Shore Excursions.

 

How can be sure about that? And would it be right to leave passengers behind if you know about their problems and that they will be back soon?

 

As I reported previously on another thread, at least some captains do care for their passengers whether they are on a ship's excursion or not. The Queen Elizabeth 2 waited for several passengers and me when we were caught by disruptions of train traffic. People were in contact with the ship via calling the ship agent. Cunard even send extra shuttle buses to pick us up.

I would hope that the decisive factors are not only "Did the passengers buy our excursion?" but "Do we know where they are? What happend? Can we help? Can we wait without missing the tide/ delaying the next port (what ever may be important because of nautical reasons) ?"

 

Anyway, I am happy for you, that the Veendam waited for you and the captain was so good in communicating with all passengers.

[maxxedout2]

Great story.

 

:cool::cool:

[Randyk47]

Typically if it's our first time in a port we'll only book ship excursions. If we've been there before and feel comfortable about it we'll at least consider other providers. On the whole I'd say we probably still book ship excursions 90+% of the time.

[Taxguy77]

Got a taxi on Roatan and went to a spot we had heard about on the other side of the Island, just beautiful! Did not like the idea of the cab driver 'coming back' to pick us up, so just asked him to wait and bought him lunch. I didn't like the looks of the tires on his cab, so allowed 2 hours before gangplank-up for blowouts and possibly a walk to get another cab.:D Got on board 2 hours early, after tipping the poor guy more than I would in the states. He was from mainland Honduras, and said he couldn't find enough work there to feed his family. Not an unusual situation in many countries.