Carnival excursions in Alaska are SO expensive!

[shof515]

11 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

Never go thru Viator.  They are just a third party like Kayak.

Viator can be good. I have plenty of tour operators who do not have their own online booking system and use viator/trip advisor for booking

[kctwinmommy]

I agree with @shof515 - Viator is a great option for many tours. And you can always contact and work with the tour company directly as well. I had to do that for a tour in Italy. No problems at all.

[jimbo5544]

8 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

Never go thru Viator.  They are just a third party like Kayak.

Well they def are a third party and can be expensive.  By default we-look at the cruise line excursions, just easier and there is some added security.  That said, our experience has been that Viator is way better than something like Kayak, and they offer a breadth of offerings most at reasonable pricing and have always been very reliable. 

[staceyglow]

10 hours ago, kctwinmommy said:

I agree with @shof515 - Viator is a great option for many tours. And you can always contact and work with the tour company directly as well. I had to do that for a tour in Italy. No problems at all.

I agree as well. Plus if you are a member of Rakuten you can get a rebate on the cost of your tour. Often they run specials that are up to 10% cash back. 

[maxandmolly]

Lots of options!  More research to do. 

[jimbo5544]

Semi related, most network news covered a family of 7 that was traveling on NCL in Alaska and got left in Ketchikan when late returning from an excursion (self booked I believe).  Many lessons to be learned from this debacle 

 

https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Travel/family-norwegian-reimburse-costs-after-stranded-alaska-excursion/story?id=112073039

[maxandmolly]

3 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Semi related, most network news covered a family of 7 that was traveling on NCL in Alaska and got left in Ketchikan when late returning from an excursion (self booked I believe).  Many lessons to be learned from this debacle 

 

https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Travel/family-norwegian-reimburse-costs-after-stranded-alaska-excursion/story?id=112073039

If I read it right, they were on an NCL excursion. That’s scary. 

[kctwinmommy]

@jimbo5544 it says they booked it through the cruise ship, but they didn't get a hold of the right person who could relay that to the ship. But even still, if it was a NCL excursion, then why wouldn't they wait. I know they're getting reimbursed, but man! This one sounds like NCL dropped the ball. I don't how a tour wouldn't have enough room on their bus either, you took X number of people, you bring X number back!

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, kctwinmommy said:

@jimbo5544 it says they booked it through the cruise ship, but they didn't get a hold of the right person who could relay that to the ship. But even still, if it was a NCL excursion, then why wouldn't they wait. I know they're getting reimbursed, but man! This one sounds like NCL dropped the ball. I don't how a tour wouldn't have enough room on their bus either, you took X number of people, you bring X number back!

Yup, on all counts.  It has been a while, but my recollection in this logger show was in easy walking distance to the port.  Someone on the excursion company should be looking for work as well. There is a local port contact as well.  Many dropped the ball on this, this family should be cruising for free on NCL for another trip.

Edited July 19 by jimbo5544

[maxandmolly]

1 hour ago, jimbo5544 said:

Yup, on all counts.  It has been a while, but my recollection in this logger show was in easy walking distance to the port.  Someone on the excursion company should be looking for work as well. There is a local port contact as well.  Many dropped the ball on this, this family should be cruising for free on NCL for another trip.

I agree. A 20% off credit would not get me back on a ship after such a major screw up. The whole reason to book ship excursions is so you don’t get left behind. If they can’t do that right, why should I give them another chance?

[jimbo5544]

28 minutes ago, maxandmolly said:

I agree. A 20% off credit would not get me back on a ship after such a major screw up. The whole reason to book ship excursions is so you don’t get left behind. If they can’t do that right, why should I give them another chance?

When I saw the bottom line of their costs to get home, I was shocked.

Edited July 19 by jimbo5544

[maxandmolly]

51 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

When I saw the bottom line of their costs to get home, I was shocked.

Me too. 

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, maxandmolly said:

The whole reason to book ship excursions is so you don’t get left behind.

That is never the promise.  The guarantee when using a cruise line sponsored excursion is that the ship will wait if possible (which it wasn't as the ship needs full speed to make the next port if leaving at normal time), and if they cannot wait, they will pay the expenses to get you to the next port.

[maxandmolly]

5 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

That is never the promise.  The guarantee when using a cruise line sponsored excursion is that the ship will wait if possible (which it wasn't as the ship needs full speed to make the next port if leaving at normal time), and if they cannot wait, they will pay the expenses to get you to the next port.

Well, they failed at that apparently. 

[chengkp75]

2 minutes ago, maxandmolly said:

Well, they failed at that apparently. 

The next port was in Canada, and the passengers left behind did not have their passports with them.  NCL has refunded all their costs, but this is not a complete "failure" on the part of NCL, they just didn't communicate the process to the passengers.

[jimbo5544]

47 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

That is never the promise.  The guarantee when using a cruise line sponsored excursion is that the ship will wait if possible (which it wasn't as the ship needs full speed to make the next port if leaving at normal time), and if they cannot wait, they will pay the expenses to get you to the next port.

Which apparently they did not do.  

[jimbo5544]

38 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

The next port was in Canada, and the passengers left behind did not have their passports with them.  NCL has refunded all their costs, but this is not a complete "failure" on the part of NCL, they just didn't communicate the process to the passengers.

You are way more experienced on this than me, and I do appreciate your expertise.  Seems like there was multiple instances of lack of communication, by the tour company to the cruise line, the port agent at the pier, NCL to them on assisting to get them home, and who knows what else.  They have apparently agreed to pick up all charges.

 

I do have a question for you, the PVSA fines, is it customary to levy those on individuals, or the cruise line? 

[chengkp75]

8 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

I do have a question for you, the PVSA fines, is it customary to levy those on individuals, or the cruise line? 

The fine by CBP is against the cruise line, for carriage of the passenger between US ports.  However, the ticket contract of every cruise line has language where the passenger gives the cruise line the right to pass that fine on to the passenger.

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

The fine by CBP is against the cruise line, for carriage of the passenger between US ports.  However, the ticket contract of every cruise line has language where the passenger gives the cruise line the right to pass that fine on to the passenger.

Thanks.  The way I read (or saw in the news clip, I cannot remember now) it looked like it was assessed to them to get home and I might have interpreted it as from a controlling agency and NOT the cruise line passing it along after they were assessed (or fined).  I do not think I had ever seen it being directly passed to cruisers before.

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, jimbo5544 said:

Thanks.  The way I read (or saw in the news clip, I cannot remember now) it looked like it was assessed to them to get home and I might have interpreted it as from a controlling agency and NOT the cruise line passing it along after they were assessed (or fined).  I do not think I had ever seen it being directly passed to cruisers before.

There is some "creative journalism" present, I think.  But, the fine would be assessed to the passengers' onboard account, which they would have been notified of likely during their trials in getting home, and since nothing was reported until they got home, it makes it sound as if this was assessed in order to get home.

 

As I've said, the law is to proscribe carriage of a passenger, not being a passenger carried.  CBP could care less who the passenger is.

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

There is some "creative journalism" present, I think.  But, the fine would be assessed to the passengers' onboard account, which they would have been notified of likely during their trials in getting home, and since nothing was reported until they got home, it makes it sound as if this was assessed in order to get home.

 

As I've said, the law is to proscribe carriage of a passenger, not being a passenger carried.  CBP could care less who the passenger is.

thanks