Shore Things not as advertised

[WanderingBrit]

Just as a heads-up, to manage expectations, we’ve had a poor experience with Virgin marketed Shore Things where the actual excursion did not align to the marketing description - the excursions have been good, but not what was advertised.

 

In Barbados our “Walking Legends of Barbados” featured no walking but several hours on a bus. We got a 30% refund.

 

Today our “Hike & Explore World Heritage Island Trails‘, described as “In the historic Nelson's Dockyard Village, you'll set out through the Carpenter's Rock Trail and get immersed in the untapped splendor of the island's natural landscape.”, did not visit Nelson’s Dockyard at all. It did include 2 hours at Galleon Beach which wasn’t mentioned at all in the description, so we sat on a rock in the shade for 2 hours waiting for the bus to take us back to port.

 

Feedback from others on our cruise suggests these aren’t isolated cases. Buyer Beware.

[tbmrt]

I read that the VV tours in Antigua and Tortola were good...Others not so much

[MMDown Under]

38 minutes ago, WanderingBrit said:

Just as a heads-up, to manage expectations, we’ve had a poor experience with Virgin marketed Shore Things where the actual excursion did not align to the marketing description - the excursions have been good, but not what was advertised.

 

In Barbados our “Walking Legends of Barbados” featured no walking but several hours on a bus. We got a 30% refund.

 

Today our “Hike & Explore World Heritage Island Trails‘, described as “In the historic Nelson's Dockyard Village, you'll set out through the Carpenter's Rock Trail and get immersed in the untapped splendor of the island's natural landscape.”, did not visit Nelson’s Dockyard at all. It did include 2 hours at Galleon Beach which wasn’t mentioned at all in the description, so we sat on a rock in the shade for 2 hours waiting for the bus to take us back to port.

 

Feedback from others on our cruise suggests these aren’t isolated cases. Buyer Beware.

I've always found it is better and less expensive to organise your own independent tours.  I hope you got a part refund for not visiting Nelson's Dockyard, plus spending two hours on the beach,  

[cantgetin]

I haven't done Tortola with VV, but the Baths at at Virgin Gorda is a wonderful way to spend the day.  There are independent tours available, or you can organize your own transportation.

 

[the_fh_mets]

I've seen other mentions of shore excursions issues for the sailings leaving San Juan. It's not really acceptable, but it sort of makes sense because they're a newish company that's only been going to these ports for a few weeks now, and is only visiting each port a handful of times, so it's probably difficult to vet providers and maintain relationships. 

 

I'm a little concerned about a specific shore thing I have booked in Curacao that only seems to exist through Virgin, with no private providers I can find conducting similar tours that go to the same places, but fingers crossed that I'm wrong.

Edited February 15 by the_fh_mets
Grammar

[rj59]

You might look at shoreexcursions group or viator, ones that top youtube cruise expert Gary Benbridge recommend. I used SEG for a really enjoyable ebike tour of Mazatlan and a small van Amalfi Coast tour that were the highlights of both cruises. I would think that VV doesn't have the relationships built up with local tour operators that larger lines have, and their marketers want to make tours sound more flashy and cool than they might actually be, which is more often than not hopping on and off buses and walking around listening to a guide drone on. Checking cruise port schedules can also help choosing wisely--I foolishly booked an island tour of St. Kitts, not realizing that Wonder of the Seas was joining us in ports, so it was rickety bus gridlock the entire time and chaos. Going on a small or independent tour also makes sense given the late-hour events and leisurely breakfast spots on VV. Having a Caribbean esim on your phone will also help linking up with local guides and using map apps to find your way around if you want to self-explore. 

[Cloud9 Bob]

So sorry you were disappointed. Vacations are meant for fun and relaxation and I feel bad when either excursions or restaurant meals are sub par for the “vacation-ee.” One thing I’ve learned over the years is there’s always a bit of sales puffery in many travel related excursions. Don’t let that stop you in the future. A good example is the city cultural tour on the Dominican Daze itinerary. A few reviews I read were not great. Some hate shopping stops.  I went anyway and yes, it did have some stops like that but they were still interesting in some ways. I always seem to strike up a conversation with the locals and learn things about life there. Then I was pleasantly surprised by a very interesting city tour, clean air conditioned bus with surprisingly fast WiFi , and a great local meal in a beautiful garden setting. I guess sometimes you have to kiss some frogs to get to the prince 😄

[cantgetin]

We have used both shoreexcursionsgroup and viator.  Both were detailed and excellent and shore excursions group responded to a question by email.

[WanderingBrit]

The onboard shore excursions staff have taken our experience very seriously, and have made a commitment to ensure accuracy in the future - passing on my written comments verbatim to the web staff. I believe they care about getting this right and genuinely want to be proud of the experiences they deliver, so that’s very encouraging.

[CruisingWalter]

We were disappointed by shore excursions group in the past.  We started using venture ashore recently and we book independently. In four cruises with VV so far we have yet to book a Shore Thing because they are rather limited. Anything we have booked on a VV cruise has been independent. 

[neverendingcruising]

We have done a couple of really fantastic excursions through Virgin and at least one that was just meh. We don't tend to do a lot of organized excursions and just go our own way. 
 

I will say, if you get the opportunity to do the truffle hunting excursion in Marina De Carra it is probably one of the best things we have done on land if you are remotely into truffles.