My experience with shore excursions with Royal

[kim826]

I recently returned from a cruise around New Zealand on the Radiance of the Seas. My sister (who lives in Australia) and I (from the US) started planning this trip two years ago. We booked and paid for our shore excursions through Royal in May of 2017. The cruise was March of 2018. One week before the cruise was to start I received an email saying my Lord of the Rings Hobbit shore excursion was canceled. I immediately sent an email asking why. I received a reply (addressed to Nathan, which is not my name) saying they had overbooked and had to cancel the last people to book. I replied that my name wasn't Nathan and I had a difficult time believing I was the last to book when I had booked and paid 10 months previous to the cruise. They reinstated me.

 

Once my sister and I got onboard, we compared our shore excursion tickets. Her Lord of the Rings Hobbit shore excursion tickets were missing. We went down to the shore excursion desk where they told her the same story I got. She also had booked in May of 2017 and her money wasn't returned to her credit card until the day the ship started the cruise. She asked to speak to a supervisor who said there wasn't anything she could do.

 

What really fried my grits was while we were on the excursion at the lunch break a tablemate mentioned that this must have been a popular excursion as there were a number wanting to get on. I stated the problems my sister and I had. Another tablemate said she didn't sign up until she was on the ship. She was waitlisted and accepted. Even more maddening, there were three empty seats on the bus.

 

Sorry this is getting so lengthy! Our next excursion was a castle and albatross day including Devonshire tea. This was an excursion that lasted over 6 hours. The Devonshire tea (supposed to include sandwiches, etc.) was replaced by tea and scones. There was no attempt at directing people with medical issues who needed to eat to a place where they could order food to go. Fortunately the albatross station included a restaurant. Our tour was held up due to these people needing to purchase food which they found on their own. Not faulting them at all. But very poor planning on the part of Royal Caribbean. It very much soured me on purchasing their shore excursions. I do realize the guarantee of getting back to the boat, but we didn't appreciate Royal holding $500 of our money for 10 months for an excursion they kicked us out of.

[MandyMooToo]

Ouch, I would be unhappy too. I have never taken a Royal excursion, always book privately, but the only reason I would book with them would be the back to ship guarantee.

[ONECRUISER]

Sounds like might be an issue with the Excursion company, they do the trip, Rest, stops.. But sorry this happened, have you followed up with Royal? I'm sure your Sister was canceled same day as you, takes multiple days for $$ to be refunded. Empty seats could be no-shows, can't sell another seat if someone doesn't show. Sorry again...

[broberts]

Sounds like might be an issue with the Excursion company, they do the trip, Rest, stops.. But sorry this happened, have you followed up with Royal? I'm sure your Sister was canceled same day as you, takes multiple days for $$ to be refunded. Empty seats could be no-shows, can't sell another seat if someone doesn't show. Sorry again...

 

If the OP description is accurate the first issue is entirely with RCI. The excursion company has nothing to do with cancelling individual bookings.

 

Seems to me that RCI had loads of time, nearly a year, to determine that the excursion was "overbooked". The fact that it did not notice this until a short time before the event suggests incompetence and a lack of respect.

 

What I truly dislike is the "nothing I can do" excuse. It is not the truth as the person can at the very least bump it up a level. What he/she really means is that they are not interested in your problem and won't you please go away and leave them alone.

[Zach1213]

Sounds like might be an issue with the Excursion company, they do the trip, Rest, stops..

 

If Royal is willing to outsource their product, they must be willing to deal with both the good (making money off of it) and the bad (sometimes having issues with the outsourced product). They can't accept the pros without the cons.

Edited April 15, 2018 by Zach1213

[BekkaW]

I recently returned from a cruise around New Zealand on the Radiance of the Seas. My sister (who lives in Australia) and I (from the US) started planning this trip two years ago. We booked and paid for our shore excursions through Royal in May of 2017. The cruise was March of 2018. One week before the cruise was to start I received an email saying my Lord of the Rings Hobbit shore excursion was canceled. I immediately sent an email asking why. I received a reply (addressed to Nathan, which is not my name) saying they had overbooked and had to cancel the last people to book. I replied that my name wasn't Nathan and I had a difficult time believing I was the last to book when I had booked and paid 10 months previous to the cruise. They reinstated me.

 

Once my sister and I got onboard, we compared our shore excursion tickets. Her Lord of the Rings Hobbit shore excursion tickets were missing. We went down to the shore excursion desk where they told her the same story I got. She also had booked in May of 2017 and her money wasn't returned to her credit card until the day the ship started the cruise. She asked to speak to a supervisor who said there wasn't anything she could do.

 

What really fried my grits was while we were on the excursion at the lunch break a tablemate mentioned that this must have been a popular excursion as there were a number wanting to get on. I stated the problems my sister and I had. Another tablemate said she didn't sign up until she was on the ship. She was waitlisted and accepted. Even more maddening, there were three empty seats on the bus.

 

Sorry this is getting so lengthy! Our next excursion was a castle and albatross day including Devonshire tea. This was an excursion that lasted over 6 hours. The Devonshire tea (supposed to include sandwiches, etc.) was replaced by tea and scones. There was no attempt at directing people with medical issues who needed to eat to a place where they could order food to go. Fortunately the albatross station included a restaurant. Our tour was held up due to these people needing to purchase food which they found on their own. Not faulting them at all. But very poor planning on the part of Royal Caribbean. It very much soured me on purchasing their shore excursions. I do realize the guarantee of getting back to the boat, but we didn't appreciate Royal holding $500 of our money for 10 months for an excursion they kicked us out of.

 

I’m sorry you had a bad experience and I would also have been unhappy. One thing stood out that may be a ‘translation’ issue but Devonshire Tea is always tea and scones (or coffee substituted). It doesn’t and never has include sandwiches or anything else over here. Perhaps this is different in the US.

[CntPAcruiser]

I’m sorry you had a bad experience and I would also have been unhappy. One thing stood out that may be a ‘translation’ issue but Devonshire Tea is always tea and scones (or coffee substituted). It doesn’t and never has include sandwiches or anything else over here. Perhaps this is different in the US.

 

Just out of curiosity I wanted to find the description of the tour with tea that was the subject of the complaint. I'm not sure if it was for sure the one, but the description says it is a Devonshire tea with tea sandwiches, among other things, so it sounds like OP had good reason to expect it to be somewhat substantial.

 

We've largely been happy with tours booked through the ship, but on our last cruise, there was a discrepancy between our tour description and the reality, as for OP. This was a tour of the turtle farm on Grand Cayman. From the description, we understood the excursion to include lunch, but the venue did not have any lunch arranged for us. We could have purchased lunch in their restaurant, but at a substantial extra cost and wait time, which would've cut into our free time enjoyment of the facility. So instead we downed a couple of granola bars and enjoyed the snorkeling and water slide. On our return to the ship, we lodged a complaint and were given a small refund. When we've had a problem with a ship's tour in the past, they have generally dealt with it in this way.

 

The point is, sometimes what you get is not what the description of the excursion provides, so it's good to have a backup and be able to roll with it. I have a diabetic father-in-law, so we've learned to always have snacks along with us on trips, for example.