Let’s talk Carnival excursion price matches

[Saint Greg]

I’m interested to know which carnival excursions you’ve successfully price matched and which excursion you’ve price matched them with. 
 

I’ll start

 

Lamanai Ruins in Belize last year

 

https://www.carnival.com/shore-excursions/belize/lamanai-mayan-ruins--river-boat-safari-with-lunch-509098

 

Carnival price: 124.99 (looks like they’ve lowered it 10 dollars since then)

partially price matched with this excursion and $32.99 OBC was issued.

 

https://belizecruiseexcursions.com/excursion/lamanai-belize-excursion-mayan-ruins/

 

 

Damajagua waterfalls in the Dominican Republic (Amber Cove) this month.

 

I didn’t do this one but others on my ship did. 

https://www.carnival.com/shore-excursions/amber-cove-dominican-republic/waterfalls-of-damajagua-adrenaline-adventure-445108

 

Carnival price:  $89.99

 

They price matched with this excursion and $33pp OBC issued.

https://www.shoreexcursioneer.com/amber-cove/damajagua-waterfalls.html

 

 

 

Edited December 30, 2019 by Saint Greg

[bakersdozen12]

In addition to the Lamanai Ruins excursion in Belize, I have also been able to receive a price match on the Grand Palladium all-inclusive excursion via Montego Bay.  I matched to the price listed on the Resort for a Day's website, which had a price of $99 per adult. I was able to receive $28.59 per person in OBC.

 

https://www.carnival.com/shore-excursions/montego-bay/grand-palladium-all-inclusive-beach-resort-423136

 

https://www.resortforaday.com/grand-palladium/

 

Edited December 30, 2019 by bakersdozen12

[ontheweb]

I can't post all the details since it was a few years ago, but we successfully price matched the Harrison Caves in Barbados.

 

And the Carnival excursion was small, not the dreaded 50 person bus. (This might be because it was on a small ship, the Fascination.)

[naxer]

In 2018 I price matched a kayak excursion in Alaska.  

[ABQrobin]

I have price matched several times, never been turned down.  

[nedac]

Can anyone explain the procedure to find the matching excursion and get the match with Carnival?

[Saint Greg]

13 minutes ago, nedac said:

Can anyone explain the procedure to find the matching excursion and get the match with Carnival?

You have to book the excursion through carnival and include the link to excursion that you are price matching with. I have seen people turned down. It’s documented in some of the port of call forums so it’s a bit of a risk if you’re paying an additional $30-40pp for the carnival excursion. That’s why I’d like to see excursions people have had success with. 
 

Here is the form you have to fill out:

 

https://www.carnival.com/request-forms/shore-excursion-best-price-guarantee.aspx

 

 

[new_cruiser_75]

Just submitted one for zip lining in Mazatlan.  I'll include more info once I know the outcome.  Thanks for reminding me about this option and for including the form link! 😁

[ABQrobin]

you have to do all the research for the port yourself, but it is possible to find here on CC many of the excursions that "match" the more popular and expensive excursions.  Not all excursions offered by the ship will have a match though.

Yes, you have to book Carnival's excursion first...then you find a match yourself, and submit that form with the LINK to the matching excursion that is cheaper.  YOu will hear back from Carnival withing 2-3 days at most.  

[purplephenom]

I’ve done a few in St Kitts, Belize and Cozumel. My first attempt is to find the excursion provider. If I can’t do that, I find something very close but better, and explain why the other excursion is better for the same price. I’ve only had 1 or 2 denials doing it this way, but I figure nothing ventured nothing gained. 

[FlyingAnchor]

3 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

I have seen people turned down. It’s documented in some of the port of call forums so it’s a bit of a risk if you’re paying an additional $30-40pp for the carnival excursion

Does Carnival allow you to cancel and refund excursions once you've booked them online prior to sailing? 

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

You have to book the excursion through carnival and include the link to excursion that you are price matching with. I have seen people turned down. It’s documented in some of the port of call forums so it’s a bit of a risk if you’re paying an additional $30-40pp for the carnival excursion. That’s why I’d like to see excursions people have had success with. 
 

Here is the form you have to fill out:

 

https://www.carnival.com/request-forms/shore-excursion-best-price-guarantee.aspx

 

 

It's not really a risk since you can cancel the Carnival excursion if they do not price match (assuming you are still in the cancellation without a penalty period.)

 

One note---you really should do this pre-cruise as you really do not have time to go through the procedure while onboard.

[ABQrobin]

2 hours ago, ontheweb said:

It's not really a risk since you can cancel the Carnival excursion if they do not price match (assuming you are still in the cancellation without a penalty period.)

 

One note---you really should do this pre-cruise as you really do not have time to go through the procedure while onboard.

 

To price match it has to be done prior to the cruise by at least a week.  You can't do it onboard.  

 

You can cancel any excursion right up until the day before the excursion, full refund.  After that it is totally up to Customer service if they want to give you a full refund day of excursion... happened to me once, was supposed to dive but woke up completely congested and couldn't equalize my ears.  Went down to excursion desk and told them I needed to cancel, didn't expect a refund...but since I was nice about it we had been booking excursions whole cruise, they were nice and gave me a full refund.  

Edited December 30, 2019 by ABQrobin

[new_cruiser_75]

So... I was denied (and I think they might be playing hard ball).  They said "Specifically, the provided tour does not visit the same location as our tour and is 30 minutes shorter".  I have the Canopy Adventure tour booked in Mazatlan and priced matched it with Zip Line Adventures though Mazatlantours dot org who even say "Compare to your ship's "Huana Coa Canopy" Excursion!"

 

Hmmm... I'll contact the local tour company and see about confirming where it's located, but it seems pretty similar to me.  Your thoughts?  Thanks for your help

[SRQbeachgirl]

1 hour ago, new_cruiser_75 said:

So... I was denied (and I think they might be playing hard ball).  They said "Specifically, the provided tour does not visit the same location as our tour and is 30 minutes shorter".  I have the Canopy Adventure tour booked in Mazatlan and priced matched it with Zip Line Adventures though Mazatlantours dot org who even say "Compare to your ship's "Huana Coa Canopy" Excursion!"

 

Hmmm... I'll contact the local tour company and see about confirming where it's located, but it seems pretty similar to me.  Your thoughts?  Thanks for your help

 

The comparison tour does have to go to the same place - not similar - as the Carnival tour to be eligible, and has to be for the same or longer duration

 

We have been successful both times we've submitted a request, but not only were they for the same locations they were actually 30 minutes to an hour longer than the ship tours.

[jdcml]

So what’s the point of doing this? I understand you get OBC, but you are paying for that OBC so it isn’t really a net gain is it? Or is it that they match and then give you that same difference as OBC? Truth be told, I’d rather give up the $20-30 OBC to not be on a crowded ship excursion in most cases I guess. Just seems like a decent amount of work and hassle for the hope of $20 but maybe I’m not understanding. 

[Saint Greg]

31 minutes ago, jdcml said:

So what’s the point of doing this? I understand you get OBC, but you are paying for that OBC so it isn’t really a net gain is it? Or is it that they match and then give you that same difference as OBC? Truth be told, I’d rather give up the $20-30 OBC to not be on a crowded ship excursion in most cases I guess. Just seems like a decent amount of work and hassle for the hope of $20 but maybe I’m not understanding. 

For me long excursions like Lamanai I prefer to have the security of knowing the ship won’t leave me because I’m on a carnival excursion.
 

My Dunn’s River falls excursion was late getting back to the ship due to traffic in Montego Bay but the ship waited because it was a carnival excursion.

 

If it’s an early excursion they’ll make sure you are one of the first off the ship. Lamanai was Belize and the line to get a tender ticket was crazy long. I didn’t have to wait in it. instead of standing in a line that extended from the coffee shop to the casino...I got to relax in the theater. They made sure I was on one of the first tender boats.

 

A place like Amber Cove where Carnival doesn’t allow outside vendors on the property...it’s a long hike from the ship to the outside tour operators. Try that for an early excursion.

 

The next time I go to Cozumel I want to do Tulum...That’s a long haul. You can bet that will be a carnival excursion.

 

Edited December 31, 2019 by Saint Greg

[ontheweb]

13 hours ago, ABQrobin said:

 

To price match it has to be done prior to the cruise by at least a week.  You can't do it onboard.  

 

You can cancel any excursion right up until the day before the excursion, full refund.  After that it is totally up to Customer service if they want to give you a full refund day of excursion... happened to me once, was supposed to dive but woke up completely congested and couldn't equalize my ears.  Went down to excursion desk and told them I needed to cancel, didn't expect a refund...but since I was nice about it we had been booking excursions whole cruise, they were nice and gave me a full refund.  

Yes, after I posted the recommendation to do it before not during the cruise I realized you might not even be able to do it while onboard. I did not know the part about at least 1 week prior.

[ontheweb]

9 hours ago, jdcml said:

So what’s the point of doing this? I understand you get OBC, but you are paying for that OBC so it isn’t really a net gain is it? Or is it that they match and then give you that same difference as OBC? Truth be told, I’d rather give up the $20-30 OBC to not be on a crowded ship excursion in most cases I guess. Just seems like a decent amount of work and hassle for the hope of $20 but maybe I’m not understanding. 

The point is they PRICE MATCH PLUS THE 10% DIFFERENCE OBC.

Edited December 31, 2019 by ontheweb

[dltvermont]

I dont have all the details but on our Fascination cruise, in Barbados I tried to book a catamaran tour to swim with the turtles. They were "full" but I noted that it was identical to the Carnival one but cheaper. I booked the Carnival one and got OBC for the difference.

[webzila]

10 hours ago, jdcml said:

So what’s the point of doing this? I understand you get OBC, but you are paying for that OBC so it isn’t really a net gain is it? Or is it that they match and then give you that same difference as OBC? Truth be told, I’d rather give up the $20-30 OBC to not be on a crowded ship excursion in most cases I guess. Just seems like a decent amount of work and hassle for the hope of $20 but maybe I’m not understanding. 

 

You get more protection and guarantees when booking through the Cruise line.

As another poster mentioned, one of the biggest benefits is that if a cruise line organized excursion is late the ship will wait for you.

[SRQbeachgirl]

On 12/30/2019 at 10:32 PM, jdcml said:

So what’s the point of doing this? I understand you get OBC, but you are paying for that OBC so it isn’t really a net gain is it? Or is it that they match and then give you that same difference as OBC? Truth be told, I’d rather give up the $20-30 OBC to not be on a crowded ship excursion in most cases I guess. Just seems like a decent amount of work and hassle for the hope of $20 but maybe I’m not understanding. 

 

They price match AND they give you OBC, so you come out with a net $ gain. The tours we have used the guarantee for were VIP experiences with very small groups and lots of personal service, so we didn't sacrifice anything by going with the ship excursion, plus we got the added benefit of knowing we wouldn't be stranded if we got back late. This came in handy for one of the excursions, as it was an all-day affair and we made it back to the dock only minutes before the ship was scheduled to leave.

[outatouch0]

has anyone been able to price match any of the cabana rentals?

[MT_Sea_Cruisers]

On 12/30/2019 at 2:22 PM, FlyingAnchor said:

Does Carnival allow you to cancel and refund excursions once you've booked them online prior to sailing? 

Yes, I have canceled a fully paid for CC excursion (Alaska) and received a full refund to my original for of payment, whichinthis case was partially a gift card and partially to American Express.

[zorky12]

I just submitted for 2 excursions I found cheaper. Should I get a confirmation email? The form says it was submitted but I didn't receive any email showing it was submitted.