Something fun! Posted April 24, 2018 #1 Share Posted April 24, 2018 I just noticed that the majority of the currently listed Eastern Carribean shore excursions had a large price increase (as has been recently discussed regarding Alaska). The already overpriced excursions are at their tipping point now. I know...I know....book independent excursions. However, for those cruisers that have traditionally done or still do ship sponsored excursions, are you at your breaking point? Have you upgraded your cabin to get the $50 per port excursion credit? Are luxury lines looking more mainstream? Are cruisers just as crazy as New England home buyers (You know what I mean Boston)?:eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zqvol Posted April 24, 2018 #2 Share Posted April 24, 2018 It would not surprise me to learn that the increases are directly tied to the $50 credit, plus there is another package that can be combined so some people get $100 per excursion. People need to realize that NONE of the perks are free. NCL is recouping the cost either through higher fares, higher service charges, or higher rices for excursions. Nothing is free! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motegi Posted April 24, 2018 #3 Share Posted April 24, 2018 Wow. Didn’t know that they had raised the prices in the Caribbean... The Alaska excursions for our cruise in June were quite pricey but I expected that going in so we went with third party tours for a few of them. Actually the third party excursions are quite pricey in Alaska too compared to what we’ve had elsewhere in the world. Does anyone know if the other cruise lines and/or the independent tour operators in the Caribbean have also raised their prices? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Something fun! Posted April 24, 2018 Author #4 Share Posted April 24, 2018 Yes, they increased the price of many excursions today ...the day they pulled Martinique and replaced it with St. Lucia for the 14 day Dawn to the E. Carribe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txagfan Posted April 24, 2018 #5 Share Posted April 24, 2018 It would not surprise me to learn that the increases are directly tied to the $50 credit, plus there is another package that can be combined so some people get $100 per excursion. People need to realize that NONE of the perks are free. NCL is recouping the cost either through higher fares, higher service charges, or higher rices for excursions. Nothing is free! This is a tight rope to walk. As a shareholder I hope they can make it work, but I find their pricing quite bizarre and am not that confident they are that good to do this effectively. For example, people literally RUN to get a Vibe pass and it stays the same price, but Margaritaville sits empty when for a lower nominal fee they would fill it all the time. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newmexicoNita Posted April 24, 2018 #6 Share Posted April 24, 2018 Such a simple answer: don't like the prices, book your tours independently. It is better anyway unless there is a time element involved or for some reason you have to use the ship excursions. We have always thought the cost of the ship excursions on all lines were way out of site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare shof515 Posted April 24, 2018 #7 Share Posted April 24, 2018 This is a tight rope to walk. As a shareholder I hope they can make it work, but I find their pricing quite bizarre and am not that confident they are that good to do this effectively. For example, people literally RUN to get a Vibe pass and it stays the same price, but Margaritaville sits empty when for a lower nominal fee they would fill it all the time. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk i agree with this. It kinda makes it hard on first time cruises too as the high cost for a shore excursion might make them skip that tour. and then that first time may never sail again with NCL due to this. There needs to be balancing of pricing so it incentives people waiting to book a cruise, and wanting to book a tour. most first time cruises do not know how to book private tours.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlelulu01 Posted April 25, 2018 #8 Share Posted April 25, 2018 (edited) i agree with this. It kinda makes it hard on first time cruises too as the high cost for a shore excursion might make them skip that tour. and then that first time may never sail again with NCL due to this. There needs to be balancing of pricing so it incentives people waiting to book a cruise, and wanting to book a tour. most first time cruises do not know how to book private tours.. Agree. One of my friends was planning on picking up her daughter from study abroad. She’s never considered a cruise and was nervous first time in Europe. I suggested she book a cruise which she did on the Epic. She was not comfortable booking independent excursions and when she added up the Ncl shore excursions it more than doubled her vacation costs. She ended up canceling and booked RCI new ship. Sole reason- The excursions are considerably lower priced. The ship stateroom was higher cost but with the lower prices on excursions she is actually paying a lot less on rci’s brand new symphony of the seas compared to the Epic and exact same dates, pretty much same itinerary. I’m sure she’s not the only one comparing these things and actually canceling as a result. Simply advertising a free excursion perk and then charging extra for excursions isn’t going to pass with most people anymore. I think they maxed out the sdp and ubp for a while and now working on the shore excursion profit maximization. Problem being that people are not typically gullible enough not to realize how much less the competition cruise lines excursions are. Edited April 25, 2018 by littlelulu01 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phissy Posted April 25, 2018 #9 Share Posted April 25, 2018 We just got off Jewel with repositioning itinerary. Many who booked ship excursions kept asking how we were able to do so much more on our excursions. We booked with CC Rollcall group and independant tour operator (Tours Asia). For example, Komodo Island - we were able to do Komodo dragon trek and boat to Pink Beach with snorkeling and lunch on boat. Ship offered one or the other but, not both. We were very happy with tours and cost was half what ship excursion cost. We did book one from ship, Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane. with shore excursion credit and Plat discount, cost was very reasonable.. We do Alaska every year. We book all excursions independently. Yukon White Pass RR is one example, book direct. Same train with passengers from ship excursion and those of us who paid with a discount. Alaska is a great example where it is easy to find tours offered at dock, in ports. As a Follow Up.....We are Plat Plus with NCL and our next cruise is booked with MSC, we are pretty much done with NCL. Shipboard experience was dreadful and tendering at ports was shameful. NCL is cutting corners so much that regular NCL passengers are really seeing the cutbacks. We had many friends on this cruise who have finally called it quits with increased pricing and lowering onboard product to passenger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlelulu01 Posted April 25, 2018 #10 Share Posted April 25, 2018 Such a simple answer: don't like the prices, book your tours independently. It is better anyway unless there is a time element involved or for some reason you have to use the ship excursions. We have always thought the cost of the ship excursions on all lines were way out of site. Have you taken a look at what the other lines charge? Rci excursions are about half that of Ncl excursions. Example: Sorento $49 on rci. $99 for same excursion on Ncl. Pompeii for $135 on Ncl. It’s half that on rci for exact same excursion. The other lines are a little more than diy but Not nearly the cost of Ncl’s. Just wanted you to know that it’s not an all the lines thing. It’s an ncl anomaly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitkat343 Posted April 25, 2018 #11 Share Posted April 25, 2018 The Alaska excursions for our cruise in June were quite pricey but I expected that going in so we went with third party tours for a few of them. Actually the third party excursions are quite pricey in Alaska too compared to what we’ve had elsewhere in the world. The Alaska tourism infrastructure needs to import everything - including labor - for a relatively short tourism season. Many of the tour guides/tourism industry workers are in Hawaii from Sept-May, and then travel to Alaska for the season. The only saving grace is that the ports are very small, so it usually is quite easy to reach independent excursions, and it's all definitely worth it. I hope you have a wonderful trip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tallnthensome Posted April 25, 2018 #12 Share Posted April 25, 2018 We are on the Bliss next March for the 15 day Panama Canal. I've already started contacting private excursions in those ports. NCL's excursion prices are ridiculous now, indeed. I mean, we are a family of four including two young daughters. I swear NCL wants between $300 to $400 for basic walking/scenic tours for four. Not happening ..... We used to only use ship excursions, now they aren't getting a dime from us for them. See how well those big price jumps work now for them ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newmexicoNita Posted April 25, 2018 #13 Share Posted April 25, 2018 We just got off Jewel with repositioning itinerary. Many who booked ship excursions kept asking how we were able to do so much more on our excursions. We booked with CC Rollcall group and independant tour operator (Tours Asia). For example, Komodo Island - we were able to do Komodo dragon trek and boat to Pink Beach with snorkeling and lunch on boat. Ship offered one or the other but, not both. We were very happy with tours and cost was half what ship excursion cost. We did book one from ship, Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane. with shore excursion credit and Plat discount, cost was very reasonable.. We do Alaska every year. We book all excursions independently. Yukon White Pass RR is one example, book direct. Same train with passengers from ship excursion and those of us who paid with a discount. Alaska is a great example where it is easy to find tours offered at dock, in ports. As a Follow Up.....We are Plat Plus with NCL and our next cruise is booked with MSC, we are pretty much done with NCL. Shipboard experience was dreadful and tendering at ports was shameful. NCL is cutting corners so much that regular NCL passengers are really seeing the cutbacks. We had many friends on this cruise who have finally called it quits with increased pricing and lowering onboard product to passenger. Well I certainly can not say much about booking tours via the cruise line but I can comment on your last statement about lower on board product to the passenger. As a comparison, I our granddaughter and her husband just returned from an RCI cruise. This was their second and now have said, no matter what they will go back to NCL. The food and the service on RCI so was inferior to NCL. Of course that is just their opinion. Another friend of ours just did Celebrity. They too prefer NCL. So maybe your friends were not satisfied with NCL but there are many who are. Shore excursions have always been over priced booking through a cruise line, any cruise line. littlelulu: no I have not as we rarely book through the cruise line. We are going to on our next week cruise because hubby has mobility problems and we just feel better about going through NCL but we will be in Bermuda and probably will only do one excursion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MizDemeanor Posted April 25, 2018 #14 Share Posted April 25, 2018 How much more are the costs? Can you quantify? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare shof515 Posted April 25, 2018 #15 Share Posted April 25, 2018 How much more are the costs? Can you quantify? most tours is going up by 20 dollars or more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newmexicoNita Posted April 25, 2018 #16 Share Posted April 25, 2018 sounds like the $20 may be making up for the $50 excursion credit many of us are being given. I don't want to keep harping on whether this is fair or different from other lines, I just think, all cruise lines or businesses period will find a way to get what they can from us. One line will raise the excursion costs, another the special dining room charges, and another the drink package costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maraprince Posted April 25, 2018 #17 Share Posted April 25, 2018 Taking into consideration that NCL has raised the cost of its service charge/gratituties, Bliss is charging for go karts, lazer tag, Margaritaville is no longer free, formerly free Asian venue,and other things, at average of $20 more for already higher priced shore excursions is not the way to go. On some sailings balcony pricing has jumped up during the "Tax Free" promo as well. Passengers seem to be getting hit from all sides.:( If you are sailing solo or with another with each of you paying your own way, you may be more willing to pay the higher prices, but it only makes it harder for those with families. Sure, at times, NCL has the promo of "kids sail free", but the cost of everything else has risen. So how much more revenue will be generated is questionable with the cost of so many things being raised within a short period of time? NCL provides free ferry service to St. George in Bermuda but definitely is recouping the cost by raising shore excursion prices. Now, if oil prices continue to rise, that cost will be passed along to the passengers as well. MARAPRINCE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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