Old Town Trolley purchase through cruise line?

[warmwinds]

I'm trying to decipher the language on the Celebrity website.  They sell OTT tickets for $25, which is about $10 less than buying direct through OTT.  HOWEVER...someone mentioned that when you buy through the cruise line, you are only allowed ONE stop, rather than the full HOHO experience.

 

Can anyone confirm this?  We want to make several stops.  I'm not even sure how anyone would be able to tell - are the cruise line tickets a different color or something so the driver knows you can't get off again??  It's very confusing to me.

 

If anyone has any experience with this issue I'd love to know.

[peter_krynicki]

That information is correct, but how do they know where you are coming from? If you go to the OTT web page there is a chat function which is very useful.

 

Pjk

[warmwinds]

3 hours ago, peter_krynicki said:

That information is correct, but how do they know where you are coming from? If you go to the OTT web page there is a chat function which is very useful.

 

Pjk

Thank you for that advice, it is not the full HOHO experience when booked through the cruise line.  I hope this is helpful to others.

[DanvilleCruiser]

On the Royal Caribbean website, they have the Trolley listed as a hop on hop off experience.  I have it booked this coming November, so hopefully their description is correct.

[nimiq]

I was also looking into this and was wondering how come the cruise line was cheaper than the OTT . 

 

From Celebrity Website :

Tour the entire island of Key West aboard a trolley and hop off where youd like to explore at your own leisure. This guided drive through Floridas southernmost city includes 12 stops where youll be able to get off and explore, dine, shop, or sightsee. Journey through Key Wests Old Town past Hemingways Home, visit the Butterfly Nature Conservatory, or go swimming in the Southernmost Beach. The possibilities are endless. KW74 THIS TOUR IS OPERATED BY A TOUR OPERATOR THAT HAS BEEN THIRD-PARTY VERIFIED TO AN INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED SUSTAINABILITY STANDARD.

 

This  is very confusing and not very honest from them as they do not say to choose only one stop. 

 

Im happy I check it here before buying it for 7 people and being disappointed 😞

 

Sea ya

 

Eric

 

[MississippiMom]

On 9/3/2019 at 5:03 PM, DanvilleCruiser said:

On the Royal Caribbean website, they have the Trolley listed as a hop on hop off experience.  I have it booked this coming November, so hopefully their description is correct.

I hope you come back after your November experience and let us know about your Trolley tour.  

 

We will be there in June with RCCL, and I would like to encourage my parents to either ride the Trolley or the Conch Train around, instead of walking everywhere.  I still haven’t figured out which RCCL tour works best for the 80 year olds, but I’ve got plenty of time to work it out.

[DanvilleCruiser]

On 9/21/2019 at 11:33 AM, MississippiMom said:

I hope you come back after your November experience and let us know about your Trolley tour.  

 

I will definitely post my impressions after the cruise.

[legaljen1969]

So, I decided to use the chat function on their site.  This is a transcript of my conversation with them.

 

OnlineHeathyr:
Heathyr:

We are live and ready to chat with you now. Say something to start a live chat.

Welcome to Old Town Trolley Tours! If you need help, simply reply to this message. We are online and ready to help.

Customer Support

 

You: Good afternoon. There is a thread on Cruise Critic indicating that Old Town Trolley Tours booked through Royal Caribbean's excursions is a one off only, and not HOHO. Is this true?

 

You: I would just like to know for purposes of planning our day in Key West.

 

Heathyr: You will have to check with your cruise line. I am not aware of how they do that through the Cruise line

 

 

You:

Do they not contract with your business?

 

Heathyr:

yes

 

You:

The excursion says the trolley has hop on/ hop off but several people are reporting being told by your company that they are only allowed to get on /off once.

 

 

Heathyr:

that may be how the Cruise ship wanted it . Some cruise ships do that

 

 

You:

 

Thank you. I will check with the ship and see if perhaps they can advise further. It just seems odd that the excursion advertises the tour as hop on/ hop off but then they would contact with your company to provide a service other than what they advertise.

 

You:

Perhaps expectations on what is being contracted are different and not being communicated well. However, you have definitely explained well that they may contract for something different.

 

Heathyr:

I understand. Best of luck

 

 

SOOO... I guess the contract is not entirely clear. Either the cruise lines don't know what they are contracting for, or they are being ripped off by the vendor if people are being given only "one off" privileges.

 

 

[KroozFoolz]

I have purchased this trolley tour through Royal Caribbean. The description on Royal's website for this excursion is as follows:

Enjoy the sights of Key West on a trolley tour with the opportunity to hop on and off at 12 stops. This tour travels around the entire island on a 90-minute adventure. You will be able to get off and explore, dine, shop, and sightsee at your own pace. Re-board at your leisure for a full and complete look at the island. Your tour will end at Mallory Square, centrally located in downtown Key West. KW74

I interpret this to mean I can get off at any stop and then re-board to continue the tour (at any or all of the 12 stops) through one complete loop. If this proves not to be the case, I will definitely be complaining at the shore excursion desk on the ship. I have printed off the above description from Royal's website to take with me. 

 

[parrothead33]

When I am booking this thru' the cruise line the time of the tour comes up as 8:30 a.m.  Does anyone know if that is the time that you have to take the tour or can you go at your leisure later in the day?

Thank you for any feedback.

[DanvilleCruiser]

I purchased the Trolley through Royal Caribbean.  We were given a sticker to wear which allowed us to ride the Trolley as much as we wanted all day.  We chose to ride the Trolley the entire circuit of 13 stops and then choose the stops that we would get off and explore.  You did have to get off at the first stop and catch a new Trolley, but the trolleys were generally only a few minutes apart so not much of a long wait.  The only downside was if you wanted to get to Trolley Stop 10 and got on at Trolley Stop 2, you had to ride through all the stops between 2 and 10.

[Magellan321]

On 11/23/2019 at 10:59 AM, DanvilleCruiser said:

I purchased the Trolley through Royal Caribbean.  We were given a sticker to wear which allowed us to ride the Trolley as much as we wanted all day.  We chose to ride the Trolley the entire circuit of 13 stops and then choose the stops that we would get off and explore.  You did have to get off at the first stop and catch a new Trolley, but the trolleys were generally only a few minutes apart so not much of a long wait.  The only downside was if you wanted to get to Trolley Stop 10 and got on at Trolley Stop 2, you had to ride through all the stops between 2 and 10.

Thank you for the update!!

[pupskate]

On 9/3/2019 at 6:03 PM, DanvilleCruiser said:

On the Royal Caribbean website, they have the Trolley listed as a hop on hop off experience.  I have it booked this coming November, so hopefully their description is correct.

Hi there! I am reading through this post and was wondering if you did the November tour. I’m still confused as to the HOHO rules if booked thru RCCL. Hope you had a great time and are able to shed any light on this. Thanks!

[DanvilleCruiser]

2 hours ago, pupskate said:

Hi there! I am reading through this post and was wondering if you did the November tour. I’m still confused as to the HOHO rules if booked thru RCCL. Hope you had a great time and are able to shed any light on this. Thanks!

Yes,  we were in Key West on November 13.  You get on the Trolley at their office and then you can get on and get off at as many stops as you wanted.  You had a little sticker to indicate that you had purchased the trolley for that day.  I booked through Royal Caribbean and got a pretty good deal since I booked during one of their sales.  We rode all the way around as did many others.  Others hopped on the Trolley, if there was room, at various stops and then got off a few stops later.  We were on a music theme cruise and needed to get back to the ship for a pool concert or we would have ridden the Trolley more.

Edited December 1, 2019 by DanvilleCruiser

[pupskate]

15 hours ago, DanvilleCruiser said:

Yes,  we were in Key West on November 13.  You get on the Trolley at their office and then you can get on and get off at as many stops as you wanted.  You had a little sticker to indicate that you had purchased the trolley for that day.  I booked through Royal Caribbean and got a pretty good deal since I booked during one of their sales.  We rode all the way around as did many others.  Others hopped on the Trolley, if there was room, at various stops and then got off a few stops later.  We were on a music theme cruise and needed to get back to the ship for a pool concert or we would have ridden the Trolley more.

Thank you so much for the info!

[late bloomer]

we booked the HOHO/Butterfly Conservatory tour on our Celebrity Equinox Cruise. I booked it early on the Celebrity Website during a shore excursion sale. It was a great deal. the Trolley representative was on the pier next to the ship. He exchanged our shore excursion vouchers for a sticker which we wore on our shirts and a ticket for the Butterfly Conservatory. He also gave us a brochure/map and very good directions on how to get to Stop 1 to catch the Trolley. We hopped off and on most of the day. Always one readily available and we enjoyed the Butterflies. Very nice way to explore Key West. Our sticker was Orange as opposed to the white one worn by the people who bought the tour at the port. Very professional company and I highly recommend them.

[c-leg5]

On 12/1/2019 at 1:54 PM, DanvilleCruiser said:

Yes,  we were in Key West on November 13.  You get on the Trolley at their office and then you can get on and get off at as many stops as you wanted.  You had a little sticker to indicate that you had purchased the trolley for that day.  I booked through Royal Caribbean and got a pretty good deal since I booked during one of their sales.  We rode all the way around as did many others.  Others hopped on the Trolley, if there was room, at various stops and then got off a few stops later.  We were on a music theme cruise and needed to get back to the ship for a pool concert or we would have ridden the Trolley more.

 

On 12/7/2019 at 8:14 PM, late bloomer said:

we booked the HOHO/Butterfly Conservatory tour on our Celebrity Equinox Cruise. I booked it early on the Celebrity Website during a shore excursion sale. It was a great deal. the Trolley representative was on the pier next to the ship. He exchanged our shore excursion vouchers for a sticker which we wore on our shirts and a ticket for the Butterfly Conservatory. He also gave us a brochure/map and very good directions on how to get to Stop 1 to catch the Trolley. We hopped off and on most of the day. Always one readily available and we enjoyed the Butterflies. Very nice way to explore Key West. Our sticker was Orange as opposed to the white one worn by the people who bought the tour at the port. Very professional company and I highly recommend them.

This is on sail for our sailing. Did you get the coupons with the cruiseline ticket and complimentary tour at the rum factory included? The main site says this is a $10 value so wondering if this is the difference?

[DanvilleCruiser]

1 hour ago, c-leg5 said:

 

This is on sail for our sailing. Did you get the coupons with the cruiseline ticket and complimentary tour at the rum factory included? The main site says this is a $10 value so wondering if this is the difference?

I do not believe that a tour of the rum factory was included with our trolley tour.   We gave our ticket to the gentleman from the company at the pier and he gave us a sticker to wear that granted us admission to the trolley for the day.

Edited December 29, 2019 by DanvilleCruiser

[CRUSINGFAMILY]

Hi everyone.....I have purchased this trolley several times.  Also purchased on one occasion the trolley and butterfly.  This is an excellent tour and you need to understand that the trolley goes in one direction around a huge loop.  It's a fantastic tour and you can get off at any or all of the stops.  If you do you must wait for the next trolley which is the same as most hop on/hop off anywhere.  One poster mentioned if you wanted to go from Stop 2 to Stop 10 that you must ride through all of Stops between 2 and 10.  This is also correct, again because the trolley goes in a loop that flows one direction.  You can however use your map and possibly walk to a stop a street or two over and catch the trolley a different numbered stop.  Do not worry about purchasing the ticket through the cruiseline being different than the regular ticket.  It is not different.

 

Somebody asked about the additional tours valued at $10.  Yes you do get them.  You just present yourself at the establishment with your sticker from the trolley and you are granted admission.  It's all very easy and enjoyable. 

 

Have fun.

[elaineb]

Hello all.  My brother and his wife purchase their HOHO tickets from Celebrity - Equinox at $25 each and were able to hop on and hop off at will.  They loved it.  So far my cruise in October isn't showing a reduced price yet, but when it does, I will jump on it!

[Missus_Aitch]

We took this trolley during a trip to Key West (not via cruise) and the tickets were for two days.  Maybe that accounts for the lower price, assuming the cruise ship is only in town for one day?

[serene56]

I know the thread is old.   But we got the tickets through the cruise lines and we got on and off as much as we wanted.   We took the tour the first time around.    then went around again to get off at the places that seemed interesting