Who is responsible for bad excursion

[cruiselvr04]

They really should send staff once in a while on these excursions, especially if there have been complaints.  To sell a product they know is bad is wrong.

 

That said royal was not responsible for the naked man or the bus breaking down ( unless this happens on a regular basis.) The poor quality overall is what they are responsible for.

 

We are seasoned cruisers.  We choose carefully but still use a lot of ship excursions in certain ports.  In others we make our own plans.  I wouldn't write off the cruise line because of a bad excursion but I might choose to not use them for excursions again after they showed no responsibility for what sounds like a waste of a day.

 

A full refund is an unrealistic expectation.   A sorry and a small refund should have been what you got. Royal used to allow reviews of their excursions on their website but that didn't last long.

 

 

Edited January 17, 2020 by cruiselvr04

[ONECRUISER]

Ironic. First Cruise took my 9yr old Daughter on we saw Naked Man in our Falmouth Jamaica. There was small waterfall in between Port and town, there he was washing with all hanging out washing his parts... OP sorry experience. Over yrs learned Vehicles brake down, extra costs for everything including on Ship. Do hope you get some relief... Doesn't help now but always research Excursions. When I started Cruising 30+ yrs ago Internet wasn't available. Grateful for that and Cruise Critic, myself an Original Member since 1997...

[njkruzer]

On a Celebrity cruise several years ago and a tour in Roatan, I think, felt that it was incorrectly labeled as an easy walk when it should have been at least medium and possibly difficult.  I politely let shore excursions know, think they had me put in writing.  Wasn't looking for a refund, just suggesting they change description.   I was surprised when I got a partial refund.   Didn't ask for anything.  Sometimes I think it's how you approach the issue and not demanding something. 

[BeachChik]

29 minutes ago, Snit13 said:

 

Did you go directly to shore excursion desk when you returned to the ship?  Did you speak with an Officer in Charge or the person working the desk?

I don't feel the excursion leader is responsible for a nude man lying on the street.  Seems to be happening all over the world now.

I just watched a video of a woman walking through an airport. As she was walking she took off all her clothes and kept walking completely naked. 🤷‍♀️ 

 

While I’m sure security ended up stopping her it wasn’t anyone else’s fault she decided to strip.
 

As an adult I don’t find seeing a naked body “traumatizing”. Inappropriate sure. Out of other people’s control, yes. 

[Desert Cruizers]

I am sorry you had such an experience on this one tour but passing on the Cruise line due to  one tour and ships poor response,  I give RCC:L another chance, you very well could find a totally different experience. Each ship has their own crew. We had a bad tour during a Western sailing where we drove to some park was fed less then desirably food to our taste then went back to the ship. I still sail with Royal because all our other cruises have been wonderful.

[Tree_skier]

2 hours ago, lovescats5 said:

So one bad experience and you never want to cruise RCL again and will tell all your friends.

My thought exactly... It wasn't even a bad cruise, just one bad excursion.  It seems like an over-reaction to me. That being said, I know I have been guilty of a few knee jerk reactions.  Usually a little time and perspective helps smooth the rough spots. 

[exactorman51]

17 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

My thought exactly... It wasn't even a bad cruise, just one bad excursion.  It seems like an over-reaction to me. That being said, I know I have been guilty of a few knee jerk reactions.  Usually a little time and perspective helps smooth the rough spots. 

I did like our waiter and cabin steward. I found the food mediocre and most other elements nothing special. The crew other than the workers were aloof and not a lot of fun. The cruise offered nothing we couldn't find either as good or better on other ships. I'll give the other lines a shot.

[GarlicBread]

I don't think Royal paid a man to stand in his birthday suit in the middle of your adventures, and unless the bus breaks down every time, I don't think they can really be in the firing line for that one either...

 

 

Was it really an 'insincere inarticulate apology' or was it just a reply that you didnt want to hear? Especially as it came from a 'low level employee' rather than a 'senior executive'?  

[exactorman51]

1 minute ago, GarlicBread said:

I don't think Royal paid a man to stand in his birthday suit in the middle of your adventures, and unless the bus breaks down every time, I don't think they can really be in the firing line for that one either...

 

 

Was it really an 'insincere inarticulate apology' or was it just a reply that you didnt want to hear? Especially as it came from a 'low level employee' rather than a 'senior executive'?  

Yes it was. I will spend my money elsewhere. My money is certainly more important to me than it was to them.

[GarlicBread]

1 minute ago, exactorman51 said:

Yes it was. I will spend my money elsewhere. My money is certainly more important to me than it was to them.

 

Sure 👍

[LINDAE3213]

Had a disappointing excursion in Roatan last year on Allure.  In DL that night concierge asked how our day was so I explained the shortcomings of our excursion.  The next day I received a message that the operator of our tour confirmed our statements / experience and we were being refunded 50%.  

[cured]

5 hours ago, exactorman51 said:

I first want to say that the cruise and most of the onboard staff were fine, some excellent. However, we had an experience that was totally unacceptable. 

We booked an excursion, Go Native Jamaica, through the excursion desk on the ship. This excursion was a disaster from the start. The bus broke down and we had to change buses. We were supposed to spend 1 hour and 40 minutes on the bus but were on for over 4 and 1/2 hours. We were supposed to visit a plantation and farm which turned out to be a smelly, dirty chicken coop. We had a meal included that was mediocre to say the least and you had to pay extra $3 for water more for other drinks.

 

But, the worst was when we visited Saint James Church in Falmouth. A completely naked man was lying in the middle of our walk to the church. I would post pictures but have been told they are inappropriate, I did send them to some RCL Executives. We are infirm seniors. My wife was traumatized I was disgusted. We informed the excursion host and he refused to have the man removed. I immediately contacted RCCL head offices in our return. I received a call from a low level inarticulate employee who offered an insincere apology. At the very least, I thought the cost of the excursion should have been refunded and we should have received an apology from a Senior Executive.

 

My wife and I  do not think we should have been subjected to such treatment. We will never cruise with RCCL again. I just wondered if if anyone believes the cruise ship holds any liability for a disastrous excursion.

I am still trying to get over wife being traumatized by a naked man and then hubby taking pictures of same naked man and then sending "inappropriate" pictures to RCCL executives.   I can't imagine the looks on the executives' faces when opening up their emails to pictures of a naked man. Depending on how explicit the pictures were and where he sent them, good thing OP didn't get in trouble himself.

 

So, am I to understand, that only a full refund and an apology from a Senior Executive would be sufficient empathy?  I cannot imagine a Senior Executive calling every customer who experienced a vehicle breakdown and were offended by something they saw on their tour.  That is what they have people for.

 

I think you deserved a small, maybe 10-20% refund for the misrepresentation of the plantation, but nothing for a bus breakdown nor a naked man in a foreign country that RCCL has no control over.  

 

Not every cruise line is for everyone.  I wish you much joy on future cruises on a line that suits you better.

Edited January 17, 2020 by cured

[Merion_Mom]

The OP is unhappy.  He wants to never sail with Royal  Caribbean again.

 

I say, let him make that personal choice.   Let this discussion end.

[neverbeenhere]

Yup, plenty of cruise lines available. Try Holland America, I heard there were no naked people allowed in port while they are docked. 
 

 

[Johnamac123]

I sailed on the Explorer in December, and I had two excursions for snorkeling that were canceled by the excursion provider.  Both excursions were booked through RCI.

 

The second time I reschedule the excursion, I was assured by the excursion desk that there was sufficient interest for the excursion to take place.  This was the same reason given by the original excursion provider for the cancellation.  Nonetheless, the excursion provider canceled the second snorkeling excursion. I was finally able to get on a third excursion which was not a snorkeling excursion.  This was a bus tour of the island and was very enjoyable.

 

Without any further action on my part, I received an envelope in my room near the end of the cruise, with a notification that I would receive a 30% future cruise credit that had to be used within 12 months.  I already have another cruise schedule so this will be of some benefit to me.  I would highly recommend you contact Miami and let them know about your negative experience.

 

 

Edited January 17, 2020 by Johnamac123

[uvadover]

9 hours ago, Merly said:

You should always deal with issues at the time.  Also the more people who complain the better. We had a bad excursion and as soon as we got back on board we went to guest services. Quite a few others did as well. We were very polite and everyone on the excursion was refunded in full.  

Dealing with issues "at the time" also means additional time wasted on vacation.  My family had an issue on our 12/29 sailing where a pre-booked/pre-paid spa service was subject to a "system issue" whereby the spa onboard saw the reservation in one system but not another.  Alas, they were not able to honor the reservation even though my credit card was charged weeks before.  We asked the Spa to handle the refund, which they said they would, but by the end of the cruise it had not been refunded.  We contacted Guest Services and, after several backs and forths, they said it would be handled.  Yet, I am here 2 weeks after disembarking and no resolution.  I've emailed the post cruise email support that was suggested by others with no response.  I'll eventually get this resolved, but it's tiresome as heck when they put the onus on you for something that would be much easier resolved with no issue.

[crazyank]

10 hours ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

As far as the naked man, I don't see how RCI or the tour operator would be responsible for that.  While unfortunate, how would you have liked them to handle it?  The tour operator may not have had any standing to remove the man.  Probably the most he could have done was call authorities.  

 

As far as refunds, I would think 10%-25% of the cost of the tour would be appropriate. But, I don't know what the description of the tour is/was. 

I agree,  RCI and cruise operator not responsible.  Your wife was traumatized by the sight of a naked man??

[Bloodgem]

If you want any chance of a partial refund forget about the naked man, just complain about the plantation.  

[crookedhalo]

In 2013 my group was booked on a RCCL excursion in St. Kitts. It was a boat ride to St. Neves beach day etc.  Well day arrives and first thing is we are notified tour will depart about an hour later than originally scheduled.  Okay.  We go to meeting point and are then led through a maze to get to the boat.  It looked shall we say a bit worn.  Moving forward - obviously they were trying to make up time so they were hauling butt across the water - causing everyone who was in front of boat to get soaked because it was raining (no fault of RCCL here).  Reach St. Neves and the hits kept coming. One after another - highlight of the day was the lunch (followed by beach time on a beach littered with broken glass and needles - yes needles).  Make it back to dock to head back to St. Kitts to reboard boat - our boat cannot reach the dock to pick us up because smaller craft are docked all along it.  Wait for other men to hop into said boats and move them (again not RCCL fault - but it all adds up). So once again we are late - hauling butt across the water.  I am sitting in back again (on other side cause this girl understands how water works 😉 ) - watching the outboard continually come out of the water and suck air in.  Not good. As expected the engine stalled and we are now sitting in the middle of the water.  Oh and topper? The disreputable captain is circulating during this abomination of a trip asking for tips!! We finally reached the dock about 20 minutes AFTER the ship was supposed to have departed.  Got off the boat pretty much fast walking across docks to ship.  There were about 35 of us...as last one WAS ON THE GANGWAY they pulled it in radioing that all were aboard.  As the ship had already dropped lines, it took off before the door was closed behind us. Let me tell you I have never been so happy that I booked thru Royal for this one.  After I calmed down I went to GS to complain about the substandard trip.  After a bit it came to be known that the provider had over booked so they got a 'buddy' to use his boat (not approved by CL) to take a second trip (hence later departure) and then had a bunch of cabbies just 'tour' us around.  We got 75% of our excursion refunded.

[momofmab]

Maybe you have an argument for a partial refund based on the chicken coop instead of where you were supposed to go (although if I were GS, I would need other guests to be complaining about the same thing in order to trust that you weren't exaggerating about it being an actual chicken coop).  

 

Buses break down worldwide.  No way to expect RCI to oversee whether buses are in tip-top shape prior to every excursion in every port.  Also, the naked man is out of EVERYONE'S control.  That would have been hilarious to me and one of the highlights of the trip!  

[Sobro]

My wife loves chickens. OP, please post a pic of the chicken coop.

[Gwendy]

Things happen, look the other way if it offends you.  Please don’t go to Asia or Africa if you are so easily upset.  Third world countries, people do what they have  to do to get by.

i have been on one really awful excursion to see Northern  Lights in Norway organised by Cunard.  It involved lots of people sitting in a bus pulled to the side of the road..  nothing like description in brochure.  Spoke to manager of shore excursions, gave them detailed list of problems,  next day had a 50% credit on our account.  There was a problem, dealt with, moved on.  Like Elsa let it go.

Edited January 17, 2020 by Gwendy

[mjkacmom]

There was a strung out naked man in our Target last year, a Facebook friend posted a video, it was pretty entertaining. I don’t think shoppers received any compensation.

[Packlawyer17]

I mean, stuff happens. Such is life.  Some stuff is out of people's control. Oh no, someone was naked.......Big deal.  You are in a 3rd world country.  I'm sure the naked guy has bigger problems than worrying about whether his excursion went well.

Edited January 17, 2020 by Packlawyer17

[illiniwahoo]

It's totally unreasonable that the OP expects to be compensated for other people in a public place!  Frankly, I expect mediocre food on excursions and have never batted an eye at paying for beverages (bring your own water!) 

In my opinion, the bus situation is what I would complain about. Yes, "things happen", but if i ordered a cake from a bakery, their oven broke, and they didn't bake the cake, I wouldn't pay them for it!  A less than 2 hour advertised ride taking over double the time due to a broken bus does deserve some compensation in my opinion (25% maybe).