Shore Excursion Tour Company Venture Ashore

[cruiseesl]

I hope I’m posting this question in the correct place. I’ll be taking a Royal Carib. Med cruise this summer. I’ve visited some of the ports before. I’d like to avoid the big crowds on the ship’s excursions, and I came across a tour company called Venture Ashore. They seem to offer tours in every conceivable cruise stop in the world —the way Viator does, but this company is new and emphasizes small groups. I was wondering if anyone can recommend this company. https://www.ventureashore.com

[CruiserBruce]

They don't provide the tours, they are a broker. They take your money and go get a low bid contractor to provide the tour. This results in very attractive prices, but can also result in many problems with who is responsible and reachable when there is a problem. 

 

This might be a company that was known as shoreexcursions.com prior to Covid. There are many threads on brokers on the Med Ports boards. Most end with the strong recommendation to use recommended local vendors,  not brokers.

 

[Shmoo here]

1 hour ago, cruiseesl said:

I came across a tour company called Venture Ashore. They seem to offer tours in every conceivable cruise stop in the world —the way Viator does, but this company is new and emphasizes small groups. I was wondering if anyone can recommend this company. https://www.ventureashore.com

I don't think I can post a link, but I just read on another site about them.  They are not a company you'd want to deal with from what I read.

 

A few quotes from that review:

 

a friend said... they used a company called ShoreTrips to book several great excursions for this itinerary. ... I searched for ShoreTrips and was diverted to a website for a company called Venture Ashore. Something seemed off when they asked if I wanted to purchase trip insurance through them for an additional fee if for some reason the ship didn't port that day or we had to cancel due to COVID. Again, I should have done more research, but I went ahead and booked our excursion. It was transportation from the ship in St. Thomas to Coral World for a Sea Lion Swim, some time at a nearby beach, and then back to the ship. Everything seemed legit until I didn't receive the vouchers they said they would email me in 72 hours. I decided to call and the call went directly to hold music, so I went to their website and chatted with "someone". He assured me I would receive my vouchers today. This morning, I received an email with vague meeting instructions (meet at the port and look for a van that says, "Transfer to Megan's Bay" (25 minutes away from Coral World), and no vouchers. Then, I searched the internet for reviews on this company. I found nothing. Nothing on Cruise Critic. ... Nothing on Trip Advisor. So, I decided to call Coral World directly. The woman I spoke with was lovely. I asked if a company named "Venture Ashore" had booked a group of tickets on time and date of my reservation with them. She said they only sell group tickets for their dolphin swim directly to the (cruise line only), and she was sorry that I had gotten caught up in this elaborate scam. ... I hope someone here will learn from my mistake. We do have a happy ending to our story in that the Coral World rep sold me tickets to the sea lion swim interaction, and we will still get to have the experience our family wanted to have; just with a much higher price tag and a lesson learned.

[jsn55]

When an 'established' company changes its name, there's always a reason.  Usually it's not a good reason from the traveler's perspective.  I looked at ShoreWhatever several times a few years ago and their website was impressive ... but never got the chance to dig deeper.  How clever you were to call your destination directly ... thanks so much for sharing this.

[cruiseesl]

20 hours ago, Shmoo here said:

I don't think I can post a link, but I just read on another site about them.  They are not a company you'd want to deal with from what I read.

 

A few quotes from that review:

 

a friend said... they used a company called ShoreTrips to book several great excursions for this itinerary. ... I searched for ShoreTrips and was diverted to a website for a company called Venture Ashore. Something seemed off when they asked if I wanted to purchase trip insurance through them for an additional fee if for some reason the ship didn't port that day or we had to cancel due to COVID. Again, I should have done more research, but I went ahead and booked our excursion. It was transportation from the ship in St. Thomas to Coral World for a Sea Lion Swim, some time at a nearby beach, and then back to the ship. Everything seemed legit until I didn't receive the vouchers they said they would email me in 72 hours. I decided to call and the call went directly to hold music, so I went to their website and chatted with "someone". He assured me I would receive my vouchers today. This morning, I received an email with vague meeting instructions (meet at the port and look for a van that says, "Transfer to Megan's Bay" (25 minutes away from Coral World), and no vouchers. Then, I searched the internet for reviews on this company. I found nothing. Nothing on Cruise Critic. ... Nothing on Trip Advisor. So, I decided to call Coral World directly. The woman I spoke with was lovely. I asked if a company named "Venture Ashore" had booked a group of tickets on time and date of my reservation with them. She said they only sell group tickets for their dolphin swim directly to the (cruise line only), and she was sorry that I had gotten caught up in this elaborate scam. ... I hope someone here will learn from my mistake. We do have a happy ending to our story in that the Coral World rep sold me tickets to the sea lion swim interaction, and we will still get to have the experience our family wanted to have; just with a much higher price tag and a lesson learned.

THANK YOU so much for that.  Their website is elaborate and impressive, and because I am interested in non-cruise-line excursions I could have fallen for their scams.  Very much appreciate the information! I'll probably go for old reliable Viator, unless I can find personally-recommended guides in the various ports.

[cruiseesl]

9 hours ago, jsn55 said:

When an 'established' company changes its name, there's always a reason.  Usually it's not a good reason from the traveler's perspective.  I looked at ShoreWhatever several times a few years ago and their website was impressive ... but never got the chance to dig deeper.  How clever you were to call your destination directly ... thanks so much for sharing this.

Agree the website is impressive.  Thanks for the response.

[cruiseesl]

20 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

They don't provide the tours, they are a broker. They take your money and go get a low bid contractor to provide the tour. This results in very attractive prices, but can also result in many problems with who is responsible and reachable when there is a problem. 

 

This might be a company that was known as shoreexcursions.com prior to Covid. There are many threads on brokers on the Med Ports boards. Most end with the strong recommendation to use recommended local vendors,  not brokers.

 

I will start to look for local tour vendors and guides. Thank you.

[John Bull]

21 hours ago, jsn55 said:

When an 'established' company changes its name, there's always a reason.  Usually it's not a good reason from the traveler's perspective. 

 

 

Yep. 

A good track-record is valuable, so usually no desire for a change of name. 🙂

For the most part, a poor track-record can be be overcome by a simple change of name.🙄 

 

JB 🙂

[kathy2343]

Avoid like the plague. Our highly experienced travel agent recommended them under the previous name, and I found a press release online that sounds like they either changed their name or were bought out during the '20-'21 COVID epidemic. I told her about my experience, and her company has now dropped them as a vendor.

 

That's all you need to know, but in the interest of others who may consult this in the future, here's the detail. First, I left a voicemail with their group department, requesting info on one desired activity. That was March 2022, it's now June 2022 and were' back from our cruise to Alaska, and they have yet to return that call. Strike #1--woeful customer service.

 

I and other family members booked two other excursions with them for the same cruise. Thankfully I read the fine print, which said that thought they confirm the *booking* immediately (meaning they take your money), they wouldn't confirm the actual *excursion* until 30 days beforehand. Because a similar excursion was already sold out through the cruise line, that concerned me--if Venture Ashore backed out 30 days in advance, we might not be able to book through someone else. Strike #2--bad business practices.

 

I called them repeatedly to request confirmation of my excursion (not just the booking), and they kept promising they would get to it as soon as possible. After several weeks, I received word that they couldn't fulfill the booking. Thankfully they returned my money quickly, and I was able to rebook with another company. But again, very poor customer service; these should be either confirmed with the local vendors or canceled and refunded immediately.

 

Some of the other family members did receive a cancelation of their excursion because VentureAshore couldn't fulfill it. Others booked for the same one weren't canceled and went ahead. But when they showed up, the address they'd been given was wrong. They called the local vendor, who said they hadn't been at that address for a year but hadn't been able to get Venture Ashore to change it. He hastily called the bus driver, who had just left because my family's names weren't on the list--Venture Ashore had never confirmed the booking. Thankfully he was able to catch the driver to go back and they enjoyed the excursion, but he told them they've experienced this multiple times with Venture Ashore--people showing up without having been booked. Strike #3--incompetence, if not outright dishonesty.

 

As others have said, it's a booking service that uses local excursion operators who shouldn't be blamed for Venture Ashore's poor performance. I suspect that when they changed names or were bought out, they bit off way more than they could chew.

 

Run. Far and fast.

[odelouca]

On 7/1/2022 at 1:25 AM, kathy2343 said:

Avoid like the plague. Our highly experienced travel agent recommended them under the previous name, and I found a press release online that sounds like they either changed their name or were bought out during the '20-'21 COVID epidemic. I told her about my experience, and her company has now dropped them as a vendor.

 

That's all you need to know, but in the interest of others who may consult this in the future, here's the detail. First, I left a voicemail with their group department, requesting info on one desired activity. That was March 2022, it's now June 2022 and were' back from our cruise to Alaska, and they have yet to return that call. Strike #1--woeful customer service.

 

I and other family members booked two other excursions with them for the same cruise. Thankfully I read the fine print, which said that thought they confirm the *booking* immediately (meaning they take your money), they wouldn't confirm the actual *excursion* until 30 days beforehand. Because a similar excursion was already sold out through the cruise line, that concerned me--if Venture Ashore backed out 30 days in advance, we might not be able to book through someone else. Strike #2--bad business practices.

 

I called them repeatedly to request confirmation of my excursion (not just the booking), and they kept promising they would get to it as soon as possible. After several weeks, I received word that they couldn't fulfill the booking. Thankfully they returned my money quickly, and I was able to rebook with another company. But again, very poor customer service; these should be either confirmed with the local vendors or canceled and refunded immediately.

 

Some of the other family members did receive a cancelation of their excursion because VentureAshore couldn't fulfill it. Others booked for the same one weren't canceled and went ahead. But when they showed up, the address they'd been given was wrong. They called the local vendor, who said they hadn't been at that address for a year but hadn't been able to get Venture Ashore to change it. He hastily called the bus driver, who had just left because my family's names weren't on the list--Venture Ashore had never confirmed the booking. Thankfully he was able to catch the driver to go back and they enjoyed the excursion, but he told them they've experienced this multiple times with Venture Ashore--people showing up without having been booked. Strike #3--incompetence, if not outright dishonesty.

 

As others have said, it's a booking service that uses local excursion operators who shouldn't be blamed for Venture Ashore's poor performance. I suspect that when they changed names or were bought out, they bit off way more than they could chew.

 

Run. Far and fast.

Indeed, RUN FAR and FAST !!!!!

 

[AndrewNuttall]

I just wanted add some further information!

We are New Zealand Discovery Tours in Tauranga and Venture  Ashore have a number of our tours listed on there website for the port of Tauranga PLEASE BEWARE!!! WE DO NOT provide to this company and have no tours available with them! We have never received any contact from them to date.

We have reduced who we provide tours to and now only provide one tour to Shore Excursion Group and limited availability to Viator! 

As an operator i would suggest clients should try to book with established tour operators direct from recommendations direct, this way you can receive the best customer service as when you book through a broker they don't always pass on all information you give to them and vice a versa.

 

But to be clear we have no tours listed with Venture Ashore and they are showing our tours and information with  the descriptions taken from Viator!

 

[seadiamond]

I would like to offer my opinion of Venture Ashore, which may offer another reason not to use them.   I recently found out they were Shore Trips.   I have used Shore Trips in the past and never had an issue.   So I looked at Venture Ashore for my trip to Greece and Turkey.

 

My issue is with the pricing.  I was looking at a 4 hour group tour to in Chania, Greece, which is priced at $430/pp, yes, you read that right, a total of $860 for two on a 4 hour sightseeing trip.  I "chatted" with the company asking the question why this and other trips of theirs were very expensive.  They replied, "in Greece the tour guides are doing extensive training."   I am sure that most countries, who train tour guides have similar training and standards.   I did tell the person that and that I had looked elsewhere and other sites, were less expensive.  They apparently don't care.    Predict, they won't be in business long.  

[Hardke]

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!!!!!

They have already rebranded to get away from poor reviews and a bad reputation. They are only brokers that offer no support or refunds if the trip fails for any reason. It’s always best to use local guilds at each port but if you want more reassurance then book the more expensive trips from the cruise ship. 
I used them recently and it was the worst trip every. If they paid me I would not have gone on it. The trip was so rushed as the tour left 1 hour late (due to staff not customers). Then we were treated like cattle. It was meant to be a small group but I don’t count over 50 people a small group.

Read the google reviews.  

[flygirl8]

We have used Tours by Locals (book with a local guide with whom we can correspond ahead of time) in cities and on shore excursions for years-never an issue, always a great experience. They are fanatics about getting you back to the ship on time. You can buy cancel for any reason insurance if needed and if you take the tour, the company refunds your premium as a credit for a future tour. The guides are vetted and they like working with Tours by Locals. Although it is pricey, when we have traveled with other couples and split the cost, it is not that much more than the per person ship offered excursion and we get all the benefits of a private tour-can customize, flex the time, don't have to wait for a large group to use the rest rooms, have the opportunity to eat in local places, etc. I would not recommend booking any tours or shore excursion if you can't book and communicate directly with the guide.

[jsn55]

I think that the bad apples bank on the idea that people will sign up for their excursions online  because it's 'easy'.  Simple to put up a slick website, anyone can do it.  So they don't have to try very hard. Or they just don't try at all, leaving the customer high and dry.  Once the tour is over, the pax is gone and these scofflaws just move on to the next lazy customer.   So do your research, it's so worth it.

 

Edited May 22, 2023 by jsn55

[toolworker]

On 5/22/2023 at 8:18 AM, flygirl8 said:

We have used Tours by Locals (book with a local guide with whom we can correspond ahead of time) in cities and on shore excursions for years-never an issue, always a great experience. They are fanatics about getting you back to the ship on time. You can buy cancel for any reason insurance if needed and if you take the tour, the company refunds your premium as a credit for a future tour. The guides are vetted and they like working with Tours by Locals. Although it is pricey, when we have traveled with other couples and split the cost, it is not that much more than the per person ship offered excursion and we get all the benefits of a private tour-can customize, flex the time, don't have to wait for a large group to use the rest rooms, have the opportunity to eat in local places, etc. I would not recommend booking any tours or shore excursion if you can't book and communicate directly with the guide.

We've used ToursByLocals in the past. There are reviews of the guides, so you get an idea of who you're getting. Then once you book you're in direct touch. And always buy the Cancel for Any Reason so you can back out if you sense a problem. We did, and I just used the credits for our next tour - so you keep using the same CFAR payment over and over until you use it.

But - the prices are through the roof - especially when you're just two people. There are two young guides in Halong Bay still looking for their first review, charging around $400 + $80pp for a half day private boat tour. I priced one guide in Taipei for half a day - $800! If we were a larger group it'd be more reasonable, but this trip's just the two of us.

If you're more than two people the numbers work better, as @flygirl8 said, and otherwise ToursByLocals is a great experience.

[cruiserking]

You won't need an excursion for every port stop. Take a look at the excursions the cruise line offers at specific ports and see what interests you, then go to Tripadvisor.com and search for the best vendors that cover the similar attractions. You might start by Googling - Best tour excursions in Cannes, Tripadvisor and use that as a jumping off point. 

 

Some ports you can just easily explore on foot. As others have noted avoid all third party services. Book with the best tour companies you find and enjoy your cruise. 

 

Jonathan