Princess excursion disappears

[ravenjls]

I booked and paid for an excursion to Hobbiton in the Princess cruise planner a month ago.  When I clicked the link to see the "details" it says Oops this page is no longer available.  When I went to look at all available excursion in Taraunga its no longer listed.  (Not filled or waitlisted but gone).  I have not received any correspondence and it is still listed in my cruise planner (just none of the links work).  Has this happened to anyone here and if so did the excursion still go or was it cancelled without you being notified?

[Thrak]

7 minutes ago, ravenjls said:

I booked and paid for an excursion to Hobbiton in the Princess cruise planner a month ago.  When I clicked the link to see the "details" it says Oops this page is no longer available.  When I went to look at all available excursion in Taraunga its no longer listed.  (Not filled or waitlisted but gone).  I have not received any correspondence and it is still listed in my cruise planner (just none of the links work).  Has this happened to anyone here and if so did the excursion still go or was it cancelled without you being notified?

 

Also booked and paid for the same excursion. Like you, it still shows in my Personalizer but clicking on the link takes me to the same "Oops" page you got. Hopefully just one more Princess IT screwup.

[PacnGoNow]

3 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

Also booked and paid for the same excursion. Like you, it still shows in my Personalizer but clicking on the link takes me to the same "Oops" page you got. Hopefully just one more Princess IT screwup.

It may be updates going on.

 

I’m sure you have done screenshots of all your purchases.

 

Mine reappeared about a two week after they first disappeared.

 

It wasn’t the Hobbiton excursion though.

 

 

[Thrak]

40 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

It may be updates going on.

 

I’m sure you have done screenshots of all your purchases.

 

Mine reappeared about a two week after they first disappeared.

 

It wasn’t the Hobbiton excursion though.

 

 

 

It's listed in my Travel Summary. I have a copy  of all my Bookings and Travel Summaries on my laptop and also have printed hard copies of all of my Bookings and Travel Summaries.

[Rick&Jeannie]

You'll either hear of it being cancelled or it will magically reappear soon.  Probably *another* IT screwup... 🙄

[nasa1974]

I hope it's not cancelled. It was a really good excursion. My wife wasn't into "Lord of the Rings" but did enjoy Hobbiton. 

Good luck.

[azbirdmom]

I actually noticed the same thing on August 6th and posted on our roll call.  I am hoping that it hasn't been cancelled given what I had heard a while back from a tour operator out of Tauranga (posted below).  After I heard that I grabbed the Princess excursion.  Perhaps Princess is behind in cancelling, or maybe they are shutting down future participation in this tour but were able to get Hobbiton to allow those who signed up thus far to go?  Time will tell.

 

On a separate note our HOHO excursion for Christchurch also disappeared too.  Noticed that at the same time.

 

Here's the info I received from the independent tour operator in late May re: Hobbiton tours:

 

"I am sorry to inform you that we will not be running tours to Hobbiton for cruise ship passengers this coming season (October 2023 – April 2024). 

 

Hobbiton Movie Set have advised that they are no longer providing cruise tour operators with tour allocations on their movie set.  I understand this also applies to tours offered on board the cruise ships..

 

Unfortunately, this now means there is very limited accessibility for cruise passengers wishing to visit Hobbiton,  other than as a pre and/or post cruise tour.

 

If you are really keen to go, you would need to pre book your own tour on the movie set website & find yourself some transport – but keep in mind that timing is everything.   It is a 1.5 hour drive each way, and there is often peak-hour traffic congestion on the return trip which will put passengers at risk of being late for their ship.  

 

You may find an operator who will offer transport only, or who may be  pre-purchasing some space on the movie set to enable a few people to get there and back from our port.   However, we are not offering this.

 

It’s disappointing to find ourselves in this situation after a long relationship with Hobbiton going back many years where we have provided hundreds of cruise passengers with a Hobbiton experience.  As you can imagine we are highly upset and sorry that we are unable to help you with your request."

[Prost Seattle]

I had a kayak and hiking/swimming in the falls of Kauai8 excursion cancel, no notification.  I searched non Princess excursions to see if I could find something similar, and there was one, but it didn’t operate over weekends, and our visit was a Saturday.  I wonder if Princess used the same company and someone didn’t catch what days the excursions operated.  

 

Now our itinerary is going to change and it looks like we’ll be in Kauai on a Monday, so I’ll be interested to see if it’s offered again. 

[startedwithamouse]

2 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

It's listed in my Travel Summary. I have a copy  of all my Bookings and Travel Summaries on my laptop and also have printed hard copies of all of my Bookings and Travel Summaries.

What is your guess on port replacing Lahaina?

[Thrak]

1 hour ago, nasa1974 said:

I hope it's not cancelled. It was a really good excursion. My wife wasn't into "Lord of the Rings" but did enjoy Hobbiton. 

Good luck.

 

I read The Hobbit as a teen. There was a plain, green hardback book in a pile of books someone gave my grandmother. (It had belonged to the person's grandson.) I had never heard of it but I read it and was hooked for life. Read the series 3 or 4 times and watched the (extended) movie series 3 times. Yep, I'm a nerd.

[Thrak]

20 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

What is your guess on port replacing Lahaina?

 

In my opinion, no port can "replace" Lahaina. Sad, very sad.

[deltahog]

Oh thank goodness.

 

From the thread title, I was thinking Bermuda Triangle, Donner party, MH370.....

[PacnGoNow]

3 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

I actually noticed the same thing on August 6th and posted on our roll call.  I am hoping that it hasn't been cancelled given what I had heard a while back from a tour operator out of Tauranga (posted below).  After I heard that I grabbed the Princess excursion.  Perhaps Princess is behind in cancelling, or maybe they are shutting down future participation in this tour but were able to get Hobbiton to allow those who signed up thus far to go?  Time will tell.

 

On a separate note our HOHO excursion for Christchurch also disappeared too.  Noticed that at the same time.

 

Here's the info I received from the independent tour operator in late May re: Hobbiton tours:

 

"I am sorry to inform you that we will not be running tours to Hobbiton for cruise ship passengers this coming season (October 2023 – April 2024). 

 

Hobbiton Movie Set have advised that they are no longer providing cruise tour operators with tour allocations on their movie set.  I understand this also applies to tours offered on board the cruise ships..

 

Unfortunately, this now means there is very limited accessibility for cruise passengers wishing to visit Hobbiton,  other than as a pre and/or post cruise tour.

 

If you are really keen to go, you would need to pre book your own tour on the movie set website & find yourself some transport – but keep in mind that timing is everything.   It is a 1.5 hour drive each way, and there is often peak-hour traffic congestion on the return trip which will put passengers at risk of being late for their ship.  

 

You may find an operator who will offer transport only, or who may be  pre-purchasing some space on the movie set to enable a few people to get there and back from our port.   However, we are not offering this.

 

It’s disappointing to find ourselves in this situation after a long relationship with Hobbiton going back many years where we have provided hundreds of cruise passengers with a Hobbiton experience.  As you can imagine we are highly upset and sorry that we are unable to help you with your request."

That really stinks!  Disappointing.  I would not do it on my own.  This is one to be done through the ship to get back in time. 

Edited August 17, 2023 by PacnGoNow

[Crystabel]

2 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

What is your guess on port replacing Lahaina?

Kahului could replace Lahaina if Princess can arrange it. We docked there the last time we sailed to Maui when Lahaina was updating the tender dock. 

[coo359a2]

6 hours ago, ravenjls said:

I booked and paid for an excursion to Hobbiton in the Princess cruise planner a month ago.  When I clicked the link to see the "details" it says Oops this page is no longer available.  When I went to look at all available excursion in Taraunga its no longer listed.  (Not filled or waitlisted but gone).  I have not received any correspondence and it is still listed in my cruise planner (just none of the links work).  Has this happened to anyone here and if so did the excursion still go or was it cancelled without you being notified?

We had the same thing happen to our first  tour booked on Kangaroo Island on the 23 Oct cruise.  Had 4 spots booked and paid for, confirmation printout showing 4 spaces paid and the tour listed on our Travel Summary.  We were checking periodically to see if the tour was full and the last check there was no tour listed and we got  the OOPS page too.  Checked all over the internet for any info and finally guessed that the tour was cancelled.  Called Princess and they said no they could still see it offered as a tour.  Then a few days later another 8 hour tour was offered for Kangaroo Island and we decided to go ahead and book it.  When we got to the "pay now" button, we all had an excursion credit  for the amount that we had paid for the first tour.      

 

We had decided not to book the Princess Hobbit tour after checking with several NZ tour companies some time ago  and were told they weren't able to book the Hobbit tour at that time.  The Hobbit web site did show   tours but would have a section closed off somewhat for construction work and you would walk around those areas that are now closed off.  Hope your Hobbit tour works out better than our Kangaroo Island tour did and somehow you get your excursion to Hobbiton.

[nasa1974]

4 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

What is your guess on port replacing Lahaina?

Sad about Lahaina. We were there in 2009 for our 30th anniversary. 

[azbirdmom]

Well this was timely.  The tour company that had send me the email about the Hobbiton tour just reached out to me and said that they were able to secure some limited space after all.  So I'm wondering if Princess was able to do the same.  In any event after I get the confirmation of my booking through the private tour company I am going to cancel the mystery Hobbiton tour with Princess.

 

Here's the info about the private tour just in case the Princess tour remains MIA and anyone else wants to do the same:

 

"Here is the link to our website with the details of all our tours, including the new Hobbiton offering: 

https://www.zealandiertours.com/cruise-ship-visitor-tours-html/port-of-tauranga-rotorua-day-tours/

 

Please note, two different Hobbiton tour costs will apply as Hobbiton are opening a new attraction on 01 December, which is increasing the tour cost and length of the tour.

 

For tours until 30 November:  Adult: NZD $199.00 pp/ Youth 11-17 $155.00 pp  / Child 0-10 - $110.00 pp – this includes a child safety car seat for children aged under 8 years old.

From 01 December:   Adult:  NZD $230 pp/ Youth (11 -17yrs) - $170 pp/ Child (0-10yrs) - $110 pp - includes a child safety car seat for children aged under 8 years old."

[villauk]

3 hours ago, nasa1974 said:

Sad about Lahaina. We were there in 2009 for our 30th anniversary. 

 

Yes, very sad. We had our honeymoon there 25 years ago.

[Maira11]

Hi, my experience on Enchanted has been that the tour (Rome by train) got cancelled and it stopped showing in the excursions and on the webpage. You could book another tour that you like and cancel it 48 hours before if that's not the case here, just to be safe. 

[ravenjls]

10 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

Well this was timely.  The tour company that had send me the email about the Hobbiton tour just reached out to me and said that they were able to secure some limited space after all.  So I'm wondering if Princess was able to do the same.  In any event after I get the confirmation of my booking through the private tour company I am going to cancel the mystery Hobbiton tour with Princess.

 

Here's the info about the private tour just in case the Princess tour remains MIA and anyone else wants to do the same:

 

"Here is the link to our website with the details of all our tours, including the new Hobbiton offering: 

https://www.zealandiertours.com/cruise-ship-visitor-tours-html/port-of-tauranga-rotorua-day-tours/

 

Please note, two different Hobbiton tour costs will apply as Hobbiton are opening a new attraction on 01 December, which is increasing the tour cost and length of the tour.

 

For tours until 30 November:  Adult: NZD $199.00 pp/ Youth 11-17 $155.00 pp  / Child 0-10 - $110.00 pp – this includes a child safety car seat for children aged under 8 years old.

From 01 December:   Adult:  NZD $230 pp/ Youth (11 -17yrs) - $170 pp/ Child (0-10yrs) - $110 pp - includes a child safety car seat for children aged under 8 years old."

I received the email too and just booked with the above.  I will cancel the Princess tour also when I get the ticket vouchers as this is one of my must do excursions in New Zealand.  I dont want to risk Princess not doing this excursion.

[Thrak]

Just sent email to the tour company. If they can guarantee pick up and return to the ship in a timely manner I will switch the booking. I had planned to be able to use OBC to pay for this excursion but would rather pay out of pocket than miss out. It's not like we will be back in the area any time soon.

[suzyed]

On 8/16/2023 at 1:58 PM, ravenjls said:

I booked and paid for an excursion to Hobbiton in the Princess cruise planner a month ago.  When I clicked the link to see the "details" it says Oops this page is no longer available.  When I went to look at all available excursion in Taraunga its no longer listed.  (Not filled or waitlisted but gone).  I have not received any correspondence and it is still listed in my cruise planner (just none of the links work).  Has this happened to anyone here and if so did the excursion still go or was it cancelled without you being notified?

We have been notified when a tour is cancelled.

[Thrak]

Tour still MIA on the Princess site. Got a reply from the private operators. They said they are limiting their cruise ship participation to 11 spots per cruise but did say I'm the first to inquire about my specific date. I just wish I knew what Princess is up to as I would rather use OBC to pay for the excursion - even though Princess has a somewhat higher price than the private tour company. (Princess cost: $230 AUD = $147.47 USD.  Private excursions cost: $199 NZD = $118 USD.)

[Steelers36]

22 minutes ago, Thrak said:

Tour still MIA on the Princess site. Got a reply from the private operators. They said they are limiting their cruise ship participation to 11 spots per cruise but did say I'm the first to inquire about my specific date. I just wish I knew what Princess is up to as I would rather use OBC to pay for the excursion - even though Princess has a somewhat higher price than the private tour company. (Princess cost: $230 AUD = $147.47 USD.  Private excursions cost: $199 NZD = $118 USD.)

I am sure you will figure out something else to do about the OBC.

[Thrak]

8 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

I am sure you will figure out something else to do about the OBC.

 

With Australia and New Zealand cruises the excursions are excruciatingly expensive so yes, I'm sure I can figure something else out. I'm mostly just hesitant to book the private excursion. The ship is due to leave at 4:45 PM and I don't want to be late - they do guarantee to have us back in plenty of time. but if they blow the return time Princess is just going to wave bye bye as we stand on the dock.