BUYER BEWARE! Island Tour Centre in Royal Naval Dockyard - selling the same tour under different names

[MKESail]

We were in Bermuda as part of a cruise last week. On our first day we did Glass Bottom boat tour which we booked through NCL. After we were done with that we walked around the pier area and went into Island Tour Centre to see what else we could do while in Bermuda in the next days. The lady pointed me at the big screen where they had all the tours listed for the next couple of days. We picked BERMUDA TRIANGLE TWILIGHT CRUISE (yes, there is a reason I am spelling it this way) - for the next day. Paid right there got my receipt. All good. The next day we show up, we are told to wait outside by the picnic tables so we wait, a bunch of other people sit there with us also waiting for the tour. Then the captain/tour guide shows up says "Is everyone here for the Glass Bottom boat tour?" I jumped and said "NO!" He says something like well that you will need to figure out inside so we quickly run inside. The lady sitting in there and I told her "We booked BERMUDA TRIANGLE TWILIGHT CRUISE yet the guide says he is doing GLASS BOTTOM BOAT TOUR?" She said "Oh it's the same thing" 😮 In the meantime the guide is taking everyone on to the boat and getting ready to leave. So here I have a choice to stay and argue with her which seeing her attitude didn't look like it would get me anywhere OR go take the tour we literally took the day before. So we ran to the boat and took the GLASS BOTTOM BOAT TOUR again. I must say the guide was very apologetic but it was literally the same tour we took the day before and he wasn't the one who sold us that tour under a different name. I do have my receipt which has no mention of Glass bottom boat anywhere of course - see attached. Anyways, BUYER BEWARE. Island Tour Centre is the light blue colored building, I think it's the very first building when you come off the ship. 

[1025cruise]

Buyer beware, there is no need to book ship's excursions in Bermuda.

[Charles4515]

NCL is who fooled you. They resell the locally operated tours and use whatever names they please. The Island Tour Centre is local and is using the tour operators actual name for the excursion. Your title should be beware of NCL. Always read the tour description. 

[Charles4515]

47 minutes ago, 1025cruise said:

Buyer beware, there is no need to book ship's excursions in Bermuda.

They got it backwards. Island Tour Centre is selling the original tour. NCL is selling the same tour under a different name. And probably at a higher price. 

[sportscruiser]

I just booked that tour through NCL as well but I knew that ITC also offered the same excursion. I only booked through NCL to use my shore excursion credit. @Charles4515 is correct. Same with the Hidden Gems tour(although I believe both NCL & ITC use basically the same name for that tour), the NCL tour is about $49 more than booking through NCL but if you need to use your shore excursion credit you're only spending about $19 more by booking through NCL.

[Laurab23]

I have booked many times with ITC and have never had any issues. When we walked up to their building one time and wanted to book famous homes and hideaways they said one boat was just leaving. They yelled over and told it to wait and told us to pay when we got back from the tour. 

 

Laura

[mawvkysc]

Doing research I figured out the NCL tours were Island TC tours. I booked through NCL because it was cheaper with the shorex credit. Was the time of day different for the twilight tour compared to your tour the day before?

[bjtravelnews]

On 4/23/2023 at 2:52 PM, Charles4515 said:

They got it backwards. Island Tour Centre is selling the original tour. NCL is selling the same tour under a different name. And probably at a higher price. 

You are so right!  For the past 5 years, we have used Island Tour Center when we dock in Bermuda.  The excursions are cheaper than those offered by the cruise line,  Plus, the cruise line is quick to cancel for varied reasons,  We have never had an issue with cancellation of excursions through the Island Tour Center,  Plus we are supporting the local people rather than putting more money into the pockets of the cruise line.

 

[moposh]

I've never booked through them.  I just booked through cruise line (RCI).

 

RCI offered two cruises:  the Bermuda Triangle glass bottomed boat tour and a Bermuda Pirate's Sunset Glass Bottom Cocktail cruise.  They were different, but some similarities.  Both were enjoyable.  

 

I guess next time get a description of the tour.

[Charles4515]

26 minutes ago, moposh said:

I've never booked through them.  I just booked through cruise line (RCI).

 

You are just throwing money away doing that in Bermuda. Almost all the tour operators in Bermuda except a few, not 100% but close to it, are allocating space using the Island Tour Centre booking engine. They are small and can't afford their own booking engine infrastructure and employees. Even if they have their own website they use the Island Tour Centre booking engine. The cruise lines and Viator are getting their tour space that they resell from the same source. Island Tour Centre s booking engine.......

[moposh]

3 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

You are just throwing money away doing that in Bermuda. Almost all the tour operators in Bermuda except a few, not 100% but close to it, are allocating space using the Island Tour Centre booking engine. They are small and can't afford their own booking engine infrastructure and employees. Even if they have their own website they use the Island Tour Centre booking engine. The cruise lines and Viator are getting their tour space that they resell from the same source. Island Tour Centre s booking engine.......

I didn't know about Island Tour Centre so just did via cruise line.

[mawvkysc]

On my recent glass bottom boat tour (through the ship) someone asked a question about the Bermuda Triangle. The guide asked if anyone was on the Sunset Bermuda Triangle tour. We all said no. He said good because it’s the same trip except we tell a lot of BT stories.