Worst tour ever

[lenquixote66]

We just returned from our cruise.Having never been to Bonaire previously be decided to take a tour titled Best Of Bonaire.One of the stops was a museum .It was a one room building with bathroom facilities ,however after washing ones hands there was nothing to dry our hands with.

It was a very hot day,about 90 degrees.The tour guide told us we would gave a refreshing cold beverage.It was a plastic cup with tap water.

We then went back on the bus to resume our tour. I noticed that a wooden block used to access the bus was left outside and told the tour guide.Although all he had to do was to have the bus driver open the door so he could step out and get the block to told the bus driver to get it .The guy had to climb around to get it.

[Charles4515]

Who was this tour booked with?

[lenquixote66]

5 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

Who was this tour booked with?

The cruise ship

[Charles4515]

21 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

The cruise ship

My experience has been that the cruise ship excursions cost more and are not as good as excursions booked independent of the ship. I am not saying always but almost always.  For my upcoming stop in Bonaire I booked an independent excursion based on reviews posted on this board. 

[hrmkr]

20 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

My experience has been that the cruise ship excursions cost more and are not as good as excursions booked independent of the ship. I am not saying always but almost always.  For my upcoming stop in Bonaire I booked an independent excursion based on reviews posted on this board. 

Charles, 

What tour company are you using?

 

Where are you in Maryland?  We are from Laurel.

[Charles4515]

2 hours ago, hrmkr said:

Charles, 

What tour company are you using?

 

Where are you in Maryland?  We are from Laurel.

We are doing a snorkel excursion with Woodwind.  

 

We are in Chevy Chase.  
 

 

[hrmkr]

1 hour ago, Charles4515 said:

We are doing a snorkel excursion with Woodwind.  

 

We are in Chevy Chase.  
 

 

We are also doing the Woodwind tour in the afternoon.  Looking for a 2-2.5 hour tour of the island before snorkeling.

 

When are you cruising?  We are on the freedom of the Seas on Dec 1.

 

Small world. Living less than 30 minutes apart

[lenquixote66]

On 11/3/2019 at 9:50 PM, Charles4515 said:

My experience has been that the cruise ship excursions cost more and are not as good as excursions booked independent of the ship. I am not saying always but almost always.  For my upcoming stop in Bonaire I booked an independent excursion based on reviews posted on this board. 

 We had a discount .We always book with the cruise line.In the event of an accident the cruise line is responsible .If you are on a private tour it is very difficult to be compensated.If you need to be airlifted to a hospital it is a mess.

[Charles4515]

5 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

 We had a discount .We always book with the cruise line.In the event of an accident the cruise line is responsible .If you are on a private tour it is very difficult to be compensated.If you need to be airlifted to a hospital it is a mess.

Those discounts often are not worth it. If you do the math the independent excursion is often less even after that discount. Also I would not want to take the “worst tour ever” because it was at a discount. 
 

When you book thru the cruise line the cruise line uses an independent contractor and disclaimers liability. Read the excursion contract. They claim they are not responsible if there is an accident. I don’t think there is any guarantee they will cover medical evacuation or injury. The only thing they guarantee is that if you miss the ship they will be responsible to get you to the next port to catch the ship. 
 

I purchase insurance that includes medical evacuation coverage for the whole trip. On land and at sea. 
 

 

Edited November 5, 2019 by Charles4515

[Charles4515]

6 hours ago, hrmkr said:

We are also doing the Woodwind tour in the afternoon.  Looking for a 2-2.5 hour tour of the island before snorkeling.

 

When are you cruising?  We are on the freedom of the Seas on Dec 1.

 

Small world. Living less than 30 minutes apart

Our Woodwind tour is in the morning at 8:30. Not much port time left for us after the tour ends. The other tour I considered was renting golf carts but they only had two seaters left to rent and we are three. 

 

We are cruising on December 9 on Celebrity Reflection. 

 

 

[lenquixote66]

On 11/5/2019 at 5:02 AM, Charles4515 said:

Those discounts often are not worth it. If you do the math the independent excursion is often less even after that discount. Also I would not want to take the “worst tour ever” because it was at a discount. 
 

When you book thru the cruise line the cruise line uses an independent contractor and disclaimers liability. Read the excursion contract. They claim they are not responsible if there is an accident. I don’t think there is any guarantee they will cover medical evacuation or injury. The only thing they guarantee is that if you miss the ship they will be responsible to get you to the next port to catch the ship. 
 

I purchase insurance that includes medical evacuation coverage for the whole trip. On land and at sea. 
 

 

Perhaps it is psychologigical but I feel more secure doing it through the cruise line.