They're serious about shore excursions

[nini]

As we all know, not all cruisers are aware of Cruise Critic. And we also know that

people in general may receive the written "memo" regarding going onshore but

do they really "get" and process the memo for what it really is?

 

I can just see a ship docking and very excited passengers waiting to disembark at

their port of their dreams. Then they are told that they can not do that unless they

have booked an excursion through the ship.

[caribill]

10 hours ago, nini said:

As we all know, not all cruisers are aware of Cruise Critic. And we also know that

people in general may receive the written "memo" regarding going onshore but

do they really "get" and process the memo for what it really is?

 

I can just see a ship docking and very excited passengers waiting to disembark at

their port of their dreams. Then they are told that they can not do that unless they

have booked an excursion through the ship.

 

I suspect there will be more than one "memo" before the cruise and another one in each cabin on embarkation day.

 

Yet, I agree, some will not "get" the message.

 

(On a different topic about shore excursions: We were on one Princess cruise in the Greek Islands. On one island there was a Princess tour to another island. Of course it was more expensive than if one went on an independently operated tour that went to that island, so a number of passengers had not booked the Princess tour. They learned on board that the island was closed that day of the week (every week) for all but cruise ship tours. When they tried to sign up for the Princess tour, it was sold out. They were very upset at Princess for not letting them know months in advance that independent tours did not operate that day.)

[SargassoPirate]

The virus is so easy to avoid, wash your hands and wear a mask.  Get the vaccine when it's available.

 

 

[Iamcruzin]

On 10/21/2020 at 4:49 PM, Linsifer said:

So when my husband and I go to Alaska in August 2021 we won’t be allowed to just walk around town on our own?  We were there in 2005 and only went on two low cost excursions.  Other than that we just enjoy strolling in and out of stores and getting a feel for the place.  We won’t sail if they force us to buy one of their pricey excursions that we aren’t even interested in.

This seems to be the plan going forward which is why we are planning land vacations in lieu of cruising. My son went to St Thomas in August and got a great deal on an airbnb. Unfortunately two days into the trip St Thomas went into lockdown for the 2 weeks he was there. He did enjoy the private beach and the liquor stores were open along with the supermarket and take out restaurants. 

He went to some jewelry stores to see if he could find some deals. The store owners were actually pressuring him to buy something by stating that it was the last day they were open. His come back was that they need to do better on pricing if they want to see any sales. He walked out empty handed. He found what he wanted at home for better price. 

[Iamcruzin]

On 10/24/2020 at 12:28 PM, Ombud said:

My PVP said we will have shopping opportunities but in a store where we are the only ones. Supposedly found that on a memo somewhere

Oh no doubt that cruise lines will herd the passengers to the stores where they get a kick back from the establishments. These are usually the places that inflate prices especially jewelry in order to compensate for what they need to pay the cruise lines for the traffic they bring.

[Ombud]

Name 1 thing you cannot buy there (anywhere) that you cannot find in your city for almost the same price

[caribill]

32 minutes ago, Ombud said:

Name 1 thing you cannot buy there (anywhere) that you cannot find in your city for almost the same price

 

You can usually find it for a lower price at home unless it is alcohol or tobacco.

[Iamcruzin]

45 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

You can usually find it for a lower price at home unless it is alcohol or tobacco.

Also there are some types of alcohol that you can't find at home. Hennessy White comes to mind.

[Iamcruzin]

I love all of the sympathy for all of the foreign vendors and tour guides. Tourism is still suffering in the US as well. Florida must be taking the hardest hit. I'm sure many of those locals have closed up shop just as all of the souvenir shops along Fifth Ave have not reopened and many stores boarded up with for lease signs. As someone who travels to NYC frequently it's just a shadow of what it usually is.

Edited October 27, 2020 by Iamcruzin

[donaldsc]

9 hours ago, caribill said:

 

I suspect there will be more than one "memo" before the cruise and another one in each cabin on embarkation day.

 

Yet, I agree, some will not "get" the message.

 

(On a different topic about shore excursions: We were on one Princess cruise in the Greek Islands. On one island there was a Princess tour to another island. Of course it was more expensive than if one went on an independently operated tour that went to that island, so a number of passengers had not booked the Princess tour. They learned on board that the island was closed that day of the week (every week) for all but cruise ship tours. When they tried to sign up for the Princess tour, it was sold out. They were very upset at Princess for not letting them know months in advance that independent tours did not operate that day.)

 

Why would they or you expect that Princess would give them information about non-Princess tours.  It is up to the people on the cruise to check out the availability of local tours before they leave.  I have less than zero sympathy for people who don't plan ahead and then complain.

 

I recently went on a cruise that stopped at the Falklands.  There was a penguin tour that I very much wanted to take.  The ship charged more than twice what the tour operator charged for exactly the same tour.  However, when I tried to book directly through the tour operator several months before we left, I found that the ship had reserved all the spots on the tour so it was either pay the exorbitant ship price or not go on the tour so I paid the ship price.  If I had not checked ahead of time and figured that I could book when I got to the Falklands, I would not have been able to go on the tour at all.  

 

If I hadn't planned in advance, should I have been annoyed w the cruise company for not telling me that they had all the tour spots or w me for not planning ahead.

 

If you go to your local Toyota dealer, would you be annoyed if they did not give you information about the local Nissan dealer down the block?

 

DON

[nini]

10 hours ago, caribill said:

 

I suspect there will be more than one "memo" before the cruise and another one in each cabin on embarkation day.

 

Yet, I agree, some will not "get" the message.

 

(On a different topic about shore excursions: We were on one Princess cruise in the Greek Islands. On one island there was a Princess tour to another island. Of course it was more expensive than if one went on an independently operated tour that went to that island, so a number of passengers had not booked the Princess tour. They learned on board that the island was closed that day of the week (every week) for all but cruise ship tours. When they tried to sign up for the Princess tour, it was sold out. They were very upset at Princess for not letting them know months in advance that independent tours did not operate that day.)

 

That is such a bummer. Actually, I research and research and forget that not everyone does that.

I would have known from research that I would have been unable to book anything else due to the

lack of it even existing. Still.....

[Daniel A]

On 10/21/2020 at 11:48 PM, bubbapuck said:

I can’t imagine Princess (or the port cities) would want people Walking around willy nilly without any controls. Unless they have some serious testing onboard. 

I think you're partially correct.  Having serious testing onboard won't show if you got infected in the past day or two.  You can be mingling with a lot of other people during those two days.  Then what happens if you test positive?  Put you off in Skagway or Grand Turk, or Montevideo?  If you test positive you aren't likely going to be permitted to fly home.  No, I think the cruise lines are going to need to enforce a 'bubble' like some of the sports leagues have been doing.  Just my two cents.

[Ombud]

53 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

I think you're partially correct.  Having serious testing onboard won't show if you got infected in the past day or two.  You can be mingling with a lot of other people during those two days.  Then what happens if you test positive?  Put you off in Skagway or Grand Turk, or Montevideo?  If you test positive you aren't likely going to be permitted to fly home.  No, I think the cruise lines are going to need to enforce a 'bubble' like some of the sports leagues have been doing.  Just my two cents.

umm ... ummm... Thank you for clarifying this for me. I PERSONALLY will feel a lot more comfortable on a cruise where my chances of coming across someone with Covid is minimized. I did not spend 8 months with selective interactions then months anticipating getting back onboard to come down with IT. Anything I want to buy 'there' I can get in Walnut Creek, SF, or Etsy (yes, I buy a lot on that website). What I cannot do is wake watching, visit historical sites, skip making my own food (just got back from weekly pick up @ Paneras). Maybe that's why ship only excursions are sort of comforting TO ME.

Edited October 27, 2020 by Ombud
emphasizing that this is me personally

[Daniel A]

17 minutes ago, Ombud said:

umm ... ummm... Thank you for clarifying this for me. I PERSONALLY will feel a lot more comfortable on a cruise where my chances of coming across someone with Covid is minimized. I did not spend 8 months with selective interactions then months anticipating getting back onboard to come down with IT. Anything I want to buy 'there' I can get in Walnut Creek, SF, or Etsy (yes, I buy a lot at that website). What I cannot do is wake watching, visit historical sites, skip making my own food (just got back from weekly pick up @ Paneras). Maybe that's why ship only excursions are sort of comforting TO ME.

I'm coming closer and closer to deciding that I will not cruise on any line that does not require proof of vaccination for everybody to board the ship - from crew to passengers to performers even to the pilots.  I'll bet there are some cruise lines already planning for that.

[SNJCruisers]

12 hours ago, Ombud said:

Name 1 thing you cannot buy there (anywhere) that you cannot find in your city for almost the same price

 

11 hours ago, caribill said:

 

You can usually find it for a lower price at home unless it is alcohol or tobacco.

 

11 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

Also there are some types of alcohol that you can't find at home. Hennessy White comes to mind.

Another that comes to mind is Americans Coffee Liqueur, which is in a split black and white bottle that combines when you pour.

[IRMO12HD]

@SNJCruiser, I believe you're referring to Sheridan's?  You're right -- I think you might be able to buy it in Canada, but I'm pretty sure it's not available in the US as a rule.

[mcrcruiser]

Doing a ship tour in a 50 seater bus  cramed in with that many people ,bathroom breaks ,food breaks ie --NO THANKS    -- We will do land excursions from home & not cruise until that restriction is lifted will we go back to cruises  .If our Jan15 ,2022 & Oct 15 ,2022 are only via ships excursions /tours we will cancel before final payment dates

[Aulanis]

3 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

Doing a ship tour in a 50 seater bus  cramed in with that many people

I think they will limit tour sizes to 25 or maybe even 15

in a bus - walkin tours ???  who knows.

[SNJCruisers]

10 hours ago, IRMO12HD said:

@SNJCruiser, I believe you're referring to Sheridan's?  You're right -- I think you might be able to buy it in Canada, but I'm pretty sure it's not available in the US as a rule.

Yes, the auto correct on my POS phone did it again.

[nini]

4 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

Doing a ship tour in a 50 seater bus  cramed in with that many people ,bathroom breaks ,food breaks ie --NO THANKS    -- We will do land excursions from home & not cruise until that restriction is lifted will we go back to cruises  .If our Jan15 ,2022 & Oct 15 ,2022 are only via ships excursions /tours we will cancel before final payment dates

 

Exactly! That is what is silly and ironic. It is ok to explore if you flew in, but not from a cruise ship.

We would just explore the British Isles for ourselves.

We adore cruising but not with "our herd" in a bubble at every port.

[Aulanis]

18 hours ago, nini said:

We would just explore the British Isles for ourselves.

You would struggle with that at the  moment,  Brits cant even do that 🙂 

Edited October 29, 2020 by Aulanis

[Roberto256]

On 10/27/2020 at 12:36 PM, Iamcruzin said:

Florida must be taking the hardest hit. 

 

With all the canadians staying home, who will not tip at the resturants in Hollywood?

 

And, who will eat the poutine?  (which may be why they don't tip)

 

[nocl]

On 10/27/2020 at 7:52 AM, Ombud said:

Name 1 thing you cannot buy there (anywhere) that you cannot find in your city for almost the same price

a brand of hot sauce that I like that I have only been able to find on Bonaire.

[Loki S]

I would even like to see what the potential draft protocols would be, as can make a more informed decision if we cancel next year. Either way for the conversion from Australian $$ really adds up. We are booked on an Alaska August 2021 cruise purely to be able to use our air credits. Not even sure if we’ll be able to travel To certain countries by then. Don’t want to pay out more if we still can’t leave our country for non-essential travel. At least the State I live in we can travel within our state, so experiencing the adventure of the outback. We’re able to venture further but need to do research of what’s required e.g. boarder pass. 

[caribill]

On 10/28/2020 at 12:34 PM, nini said:

 

Exactly! That is what is silly and ironic. It is ok to explore if you flew in, but not from a cruise ship.

 

 

The difference is that if you fly in and catch the virus and then go home and infect others, it will not make headlines.

 

If you are on a cruise ship and contract the virus in a port while on your own and several days later infect others on the ship, it will be headline news and might cause another pause in cruising.