A 367 % price increase on shore excursions ?

[iancal]

Don't know about that.  We spent some time with an independent tour operator in the Caribbean a number of years ago.

 

He described to us how Princess tries to 'buy up' some tours so they can get a monopoly.  They beat down the local tour providers in order to get the lowest price.   He said that the cruise lines have three goals.   Get a corner on the best tours.   Get the  price as low as possible.  Charge the cruisers as much as possible for the tour/boat ride/whatever.   Cannot imagine that any of the other cruise lines are much different.   The locals resent it because so much of the money sails away with the cruise line.

[kazu]

17 minutes ago, iancal said:

Don't know about that.  We spent some time with an independent tour operator in the Caribbean a number of years ago.

 

He described to us how Princess tries to 'buy up' some tours so they can get a monopoly.  They beat down the local tour providers in order to get the lowest price.   He said that the cruise lines have three goals.   Get a corner on the best tours.   Get the  price as low as possible.  Charge the cruisers as much as possible for the tour/boat ride/whatever.   Cannot imagine that any of the other cruise lines are much different.   The locals resent it because so much of the money sails away with the cruise line.

 

That sounds very familiar as I heard the same thing from a number of tour operators in Europe.  They WON’T deal with the cruise lines and have no desire to do so for the very reasons you posted along with the fact that they prefer smaller groups.

 

Not only that, they need to commit to the day for the cruise line and the cruise line gets to cancel the shore excursion and their work if there are not enough people to suit the cruise line.

 

They are not exactly “lacking for work” booking private tours 😉 

[scubacruiserx2]

1 hour ago, VacationingCharlene said:

scubacruiserx2......

here is something to consider doing and that I have been successful at in the past.  If you KNOW that you want to go on the helicopter ride, and KNOW it is now with a particular company AND you have time to cancel without losing any money, in case you change your mind, BOOK THE HAL excursion and then immediately complete the price match guarantee .  Be sure to take a screen shot of the price and description that you see on the webpage.

Best Price Guarantee

Find a better price on any tour we offer and we'll refund you 110 percent of the price difference in the form of an onboard credit. After booking your cruise, log in to learn more and purchase your shore excursions.  Log into your HAL account, go to shore excursions, price guarantee and complete out the form. 

If it works for you, you will be given back that money and you will get it at the price you wanted originally.  It stinks that the cruise ships grab alot of the local vendors but it is what it is.  Best of luck and hope to hear it went well for you.

Happy sailing and safe travels.

 

 

Thank you Charlene . From our understanding we have to have a price from a competitor to show to HAL .

 

Guests who book an Shore Excursion and then find an identical tour available through a third party will receive a 110% refund of the price difference, in the form of a non-refundable onboard credit. Best Price Guarantee applies to competitor tours with pricing and details that are advertised publicly. 

 

It seems like there are a couple of loopholes . # 1 If HAL alters their tour in any way it is no longer identical .  # 2 There are no competitors since HAL bought out all 20 seats available and there are no other helicopters . They probably should be able to sell 20 seats . In Nanortalik the Cruise among the Icebergs tour is sold out ( unless the add tours ) . We have booked and paid for a more intensive tour - unless HAL buys them out .

 

[3rdGenCunarder]

I've always wondered about the guarantee and how much alteration to a tour makes it no longer "the same." From the wording of the description on HAL's site and then reading tour descriptions on the web, I can sometimes figure out who the vendor is. Often there's just a bit of difference, maybe a half hour time difference (HAL is usually the shorter version) or one photo stop not mentioned. And that could be HAL's "out" on the guarantee.

 

[scubacruiserx2]

10 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

I've always wondered about the guarantee and how much alteration to a tour makes it no longer "the same." From the wording of the description on HAL's site and then reading tour descriptions on the web, I can sometimes figure out who the vendor is. Often there's just a bit of difference, maybe a half hour time difference (HAL is usually the shorter version) or one photo stop not mentioned. And that could be HAL's "out" on the guarantee.

 

 

Different people can have the same tour being sold in different ways . For example the helicopter company may advertise a flight time of an hour and a half . Some one else could market their tour as 2 and a half hours , the difference being that they include the time that it takes to get to the helicopter ,  a safety video , unloading and loading or refueling - thus it's 2 and a half hours for an hour and a half flight and they can charge more .

[Cruise Suzy]

In December, HAL raised the price of their excursions we were considering for Alaska 2021.  Don't know how much the really expensive ones were raised, but the ones we were thinking about increased $5 or $10. One did decrease - Hubbard Glacier & Enchanting Disenchantment Bay went from $259.95 to $229.95. None remained the same.

 

Not the big jumps in price that liquor saw on January 1, but was a bit surprised the increase came that soon after they were first posted.

 

[scubacruiserx2]

We did contact HAL and their representative read to my wife a description of the tour . She suggested that we go to the Best Price Guarantee and she transferred her . She left a message about an hour ago and is now filling out a form online so we will see .

[kazu]

9 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

We did contact HAL and their representative read to my wife a description of the tour . She suggested that we go to the Best Price Guarantee and she transferred her . She left a message about an hour ago and is now filling out a form online so we will see .

 

Good luck.  Do let us know how you make out.

[iancal]

Given a choice we will always deal with a local directly.  We are happy to see the money, in it’s entirety, go into their pockets.  
 

We have had so many great experiences dealing direct with independent operators.  On cruise port stops and on independent land tours.  It is not about price for us so a price guarantee is meaningless to us.  Just as those  so called ‘cruise line approved’ stores are.

 

Nonsense like this is just one reason why we are doing far fewer cruises in retirement in favour of independent land travel.  And we are getting far more value and enjoyment from our travel dollars.
 

 

Edited January 11, 2020 by iancal

[Mary229]

Remember the local has every right to tell HAL "No, no I don't want a higher rate".   There is no law in Greenland that I am aware of that forces the independent tour companies to accept HAL's contract.   This is not HAL, this is the tour company, they are the ones who sold out.

[scubacruiserx2]

23 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

Remember the local has every right to tell HAL "No, no I don't want a higher rate".   There is no law in Greenland that I am aware of that forces the independent tour companies to accept HAL's contract.   This is not HAL, this is the tour company, they are the ones who sold out.

 

It is HAL . If they didn't offer to buy all of the seats then the price would have stayed the same from the helicopter company .

[scubacruiserx2]

15 hours ago, kazu said:

 

Good luck.  Do let us know how you make out.

 

Thank you we will when  we hear something .

[DeeniEncinitas]

Scubacruiserx2,

Just got my coffee and wanted to see if you heard anything from HAL? I sure hope

things work out For you. I loved flying in the helicopter when we did it on our adventure. Good Luck 

Denise😊

[dogs4fun]

19 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

We did contact HAL and their representative read to my wife a description of the tour . She suggested that we go to the Best Price Guarantee and she transferred her . She left a message about an hour ago and is now filling out a form online so we will see .

Good grief! No way I would pay $800+

Hopefully things will work out in your favor. 

[scubacruiserx2]

Here's what we got from HAL last night :

 

Thank you for submitting a Shore Excursions Best Price Guarantee request. We regret to inform you that your request was not accepted because the tour submitted was not similar to the tour on our program.

 

Lower rate tour not available. Per Terms and Conditions lower rate tour must be available to book at time request is submitted. All Holland tours are operated by independent tour operators. Rates are negotiated to cover costs of many factors (insurance fee requirements, groups size, tender services, guide costs etc).

 

The tour is the same as the description on the helicopter website except someone will walk with us for the 10 minute walk to the heliport . There is not lower rate tour available because HAL bought all of the tickets . There lower rate tours available the day before we are in port . HAL as not returned multiple calls that we have left on their machine and our last Email was returned to us .

[Tom O.]

I read the HAL statement a few times, and I think what they are saying, is that the price guarantee does not apply in this case because the independent operator tour (The Lower Price Tour) is no longer available.

Of course, as you say, the reason it is no longer available is because HAL bought it all up.

I don't think the HAL Price Guarantee was set up for this situation. It is a marketing gimmick, to assure customers who. after booking, find an identical tour at a lower price. It is just a tool to lure more sales for their ship excursions. I would bet that very few people are able to take advantage of it.

[knittinggirl]

We did the Peggy's Cove Extended w/ Lunch on your own, and they also offered Peggy's Cove Extended Lunch Included.  It was a 5 hour tour, but the next year they changed it to Peggy's Cove Extended - 6 hour w/ some stuff in Halifax too.  They still had the lunch included version, but eventually cancelled it, because everyone learned the Lunch on your own was a much better buy, because we could eat in the same restaurant and get a lot more items than just the chowder mentioned on the included version, for the  difference between the included version and the on your own version.   And pay in CAD which at the time were a better exchange rate than the USD booked through the cruise line.  We'd booked the 6 hour, and planned to go until they cancelled the tour entirely.  Usually when the cancel tours the night before, most of the good choices are sold out by then.

 

I guess the subtle differences between the tours mean you'd be unlikely to find an exact tour for the 110% refund offer.

[BarbinMich]

We've been to Greenland several times and never felt the need to buy an excursion.  All the ports are easily walkable and we've seen glaciers from the ship sometimes.  We've seen glaciers in various places during our travels, both by car to Canada and Glacier N.P in the US and on private tours in Iceland (reasonably priced), so never felt the need to take an expensive excursion like you describe.

 

[3rdGenCunarder]

4 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

Here's what we got from HAL last night :

 

Thank you for submitting a Shore Excursions Best Price Guarantee request. We regret to inform you that your request was not accepted because the tour submitted was not similar to the tour on our program.

 

Lower rate tour not available. Per Terms and Conditions lower rate tour must be available to book at time request is submitted. All Holland tours are operated by independent tour operators. Rates are negotiated to cover costs of many factors (insurance fee requirements, groups size, tender services, guide costs etc).

 

The tour is the same as the description on the helicopter website except someone will walk with us for the 10 minute walk to the heliport . There is not lower rate tour available because HAL bought all of the tickets . There lower rate tours available the day before we are in port . HAL as not returned multiple calls that we have left on their machine and our last Email was returned to us .

 

That's really poor customer relations, but I'm not surprised. HAL has set it up so that it's very difficult for anyone to meet the conditions of the "guarantee," and not just for this excursion. I agree with Tom O, it's a sales gimmick. They have no intention of living up to the offer because they control the differences in description.

[crystalspin]

It's basically the same as appliance stores "guaranteeing" best price, but stocking a sub-model exclusive to their company. Any other advertised models are going to be off in model by an A or -1 stuck on to the number.

[Tom O.]

4 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

It's basically the same as appliance stores "guaranteeing" best price, but stocking a sub-model exclusive to their company. Any other advertised models are going to be off in model by an A or -1 stuck on to the number.

That's right Crystal, I was thinking the same thing. A lot of stores that run big ads say they will match competition prices. The motive is that if a potential customer sees this, they will think that the store must have very good prices or they wouldn't make this promise. Most people don't bother checking. And if someone does do the research and makes a claim, there are all sorts of hurdles they must jump before they can get the better price. For most people it is not worth the trouble.

[existentialtraveler]

On 1/10/2020 at 11:04 AM, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

THE Golden Rule is to treat others as you would like to be treated . They could have honored their commitment to us and sold the remaining tickets to HAL . That's what we would have done .

Totally off subject but, I had to tell you...I like your profile pic. Very nice shot of a green moray. Where was that taken?

[Hlitner]

I am not sure what the issue is with the subject.  Are cruise excursions overprices and overcrowded?  Absolutely.  Do cruise lines enter into contracts with local tour providers that prohibit them from selling directly to cruisers at a far lower cost?  Yes. And if folks are happy paying too much money for overpriced and overcrowded cruise line excursion then that is fine.  There is nothing new here...it has been the norm for decades.  Some of use choose to avoid cruise line excursions and understand the realities.  Others are willing to pay the price for their own reasons.  Nothing new.

 

We live, for part of the year, in a cruise port where the major local tour company contracts with all the cruise lines. They will not knowingly sell the same tours to cruise line passengers (at a far lower cost) although they will sell the same excursions to those of us who can prove we live here.  As residents, we pay lower prices.  That is simply a fact of life.

 

Hank

[scubacruiserx2]

41 minutes ago, existentialtraveler said:

Totally off subject but, I had to tell you...I like your profile pic. Very nice shot of a green moray. Where was that taken?

 

In Cozumel SCUBA diving

 

[crystalspin]

2 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

In Cozumel SCUBA diving

The colors are so vivid, I thought it was a painting not a photo, until I saw the full size!