happy with cruise not with excursion

[lovemexico]

Hello Everyone,

 

Although it is not my style talking bad about not so great shore excursions Iam having a very hard time bitting my tounge on this one.

 

We took off for a great family vacation all 22 of us on the Norwiegan Star, free style cruising was nice having the kids and the grand kids with us we did enjoy this cruise, but we only decided to do one excursion in Acapulco thru NCL. BIG MISTAKE.

 

Seeing the the grandkids had never seen the cliff divers or any other of the sites to see we opted for the Acapulco Highlites Tour sold thru NCL at 58 dollars per person grandkids did pay half price.

 

To make a long story short the organization of this tour company that NCL is using in Acapulco has a lot to be desired.

 

Frist of all we stood in a hot warehouse for over an hour waitng for our tour to begin then at one point we were divided up at this point I did express the fact that we wanted to travel together on the same bus as we were a family, the answer I recieved back from this tour person was dont worry dont worry dont worry, When we were given out some bracelts I did notice that half of our group was a different color braclet. Once again I made the comment to the person supposedly in charge whom I dont think understood my comment and once again all I got was dont worry dont worry,

 

Well we were off to one of the worst tours we had ever experienced in our lifes. And yes you have guested it our family separated all on different buses.

 

The tour guides english could not be understood on the microphone and it made it very difficult to understand exactley what he was saying or where we were going.

 

Frist stop the Fort.

 

My husband and myself have been there before and have taken the time to enjoy it but this time around we were rushed thru the fort like a bunch of cattle with the tour supervisor snapping her fingers at the tour guide to hurry it up. From there off to see the cliff divers not in the inside of the hotel but on the very hot outside platform with tons and tons of stairs on the way back I tripped up one of these stairs and no one from this tour company even offered me a kleenex to clean up my wound.

 

After that we were taken to an over priced sliver shop near the cliff divers and by this time we were very hot and thristy I asked for a drink and I was informed next stop. Must mention that are supposed 25 minute stay in this shop was over an hour.

 

I asked for the rest of my family and the same answer once again dont worry.

 

Oh well lets make the best of this I thought after all we spent almost one thousand dollars for us to enjoy this tour.

 

Next stop the flamingos hotel were once again just like cattle march right thru this stop picking up a cold refresment and walking with it.

 

We never saw the rest of our group intill the end of the tour back on the ship.

 

Last stop main sqaure were we marched across the main ave. which I considered to be very dangerous and my thoughts were with my grand children at this time.

 

Line up for a popcicle with a very strong smell of urine around us and then off to visit the church.

 

We were lead in to the church with our popciles in hand well the tour guide in a loud voice screamed out a few deatails as I observed a sign on the wall which I understood from my high school spanish no drinks or food allowed in the chruch and please remain quiet.

 

I turned around and went outside of the church with my husband to wait for the rest of the group.

 

When they returned we were allowed to wonder around for 15 minutes on our own.

 

Big mistake half the group didnt show up after the 15 minute wait.

 

Tour guide and supervisor took another 15 minutes looking for them as we then attempted to cross the main ave once again and didnt get back on the bus but just kept on walking to another shop. Another 25 minute shopping stop.

 

After this last stop I could see the ship very close by and when we saw that the 25 minute stop for more shopping had run into more than 45 minutes we left the tour and walked back to the ship.

 

 

We are not the type of people who take tours complain and ask for a refund after taking the tour this was our choice. But I will say one thing about the Tours on NCL over priced and not worth a penny for what we got for the money, the name of this tour company is Aivomar which I saw on the tour guides shrit.

 

Needless to say we did not purchase another tour from the ship and the rest of our cruise and port stops were wonderful.

 

The kids enjoyed just swimming on the beach in Ixtapa well the adults sat in the shade having a cold drink.

 

Our other ports we just wandered on our own and had a bite to eat on shore and did shopping for souvienrs at our own pace.

 

We did enjoy this family cruise with NCL, but I do suggest that NCL looks in to changing tour companies or lowering their prices. A big NO NO in my books. Thumbs down on the tour company in Acapulco.:(

 

Oh my goodness I think I have written a book on this experience, but this will not stop my husband and myself from traveling on the Mexican Rivera gotta love that weather:) Just no more shore excursions thru NCL:eek:

[fun4us2do]

Hi lovemexico! Thanks for taking to time to write about your experience. We will be going on the "Star" to the Mex. Riv. this coming September. I'm sorry the tour didn't work out as you had hoped. It's a shame spending good money and not feeling that it was well spent:(. NCL does mark up the price for an excursion as part of their regular business practice. It's just a little more frustrating when it is not an enjoyable experience. I am, however, glad that you did enjoy your cruise on the Star :). As we have never cruised to Mexico before, if you could add anything in addition about the ports you visited or any other items of interest, it would be appreciated!

 

Thanks,

Vince & Anita

[lovemexico]

The rest of our cruise was just great.:) After the Acapulco nitemare tour thru NCL we decided to take it easy and do things on our own.

 

Ixtapa as I have mentioned was nice we went to a great beach called gatas and enjoyed a day at the beach with the family the water was warm and the kids had a great ride on a bananna boat total cost for all eight of them, 200 pesos each for a 30 minute ride. The stop in Ixtapa was short but sweet.

 

After that we went to Vallarta and the water there was just a bit too cold to just jump into for my likes. We walked to the main square enjoyed some shopping time for souvenirs and enjoyed a very good local meal.

 

In Cabo San Lucas I got off with my daughter and we did what we do best shop shop shop we did find it to be one of the most expensive ports but so many things to see and buy temptation at our finger tips, the kids went with the rest of the group to see if they could just go and get on the boats to see the whales. They did and loved it but I will have to ask my Hubby how much he spent on this but anything would have been cheaper that what we dropped in Acapulco with the Tour purchased from the ship.

 

From there back to LA where we spent a couple more days before heading back to the cold winter in Toronto.

 

The cruise its self was very nice and would do it again but never purchase a tour thru NCL again. I dont mind paying the price but I would expect something better than that disaster we were sold. I would also like to mention that we were not the only people on the ship that were very dissapointed with the tour company in Acapulco.:mad:

 

Hoping that this has shed some light on the situation have a great cruise.:)

 

My last thoughts for NCL is if you are going to charge those kind of prices for your tours at least have a proper tour company performing these tours.

 

We have taken other tours thru Princess Cruises in Acapulco and have been totaly satisfied.:p So its not as if they dont exsist.

 

And with all this talking about ports and cruises I think I will go and wish my Hubby a Happy Valentines day. Hint hint;)

[melika091900]

our tour in acapulco was bad too, we booked the turtle sanctuary tour, since our daughter ( 6) wanted to do it , it was 55 per person,

and we found out later, if we would have just taken a taxi there , its free to get in there, what a bust,

and then it takes about 45 min to get there and back, and then they stopped for shopping by the boat,we wanted to leave also, but didnt,

but we didnt feel safe shopping there, it was dark, and the sellers were real pushy, and the store wasnt nothing spectacular, they had better shopping on the pier,

but weve learned our lesson, we booked a tour through NCLsince i didnt want to do anything on our own, since we have never been there,and since we had our daughter we wanted to feel safe.

well happy cruising everyone,

take care

Melissa

[lovemexico]

Shopping on a turtle tour?:confused: In a dark unsafe place with pushy sales people. Now that´s a real no no. Just also wanted to make a mention that when we were taken to the Flamingos hotel we were told to pick up a drink from the table and take a look at the hotel no guided tour no information. I noticed another smaller group beinging given a guided tour thru this hotel which does have alot of good Hollywood History behind it and was listening for a short while to another tour guide from another company obviously because she had a different uniform on.

 

Nice service I thought to myself I asked this young lady if she was on a private tour and much to my surprise she said no she wasnt just a different tour company that offers tours also with NCL. Now Iam really confused :confused: and I do think I will be making a formal complaint with NCL about the very bad service we had in Acapulco once again we are not a complaing group we are really easy going but this was really a bit too much and we did spend a pretty penny on this disaster of a tour.

 

If another tour company in Acapulco was doing a great job then why did we get bumped off with the lousy tour company? This is my question?

 

 

Anyhow the cruise was good cruising is always good and looking forward to are next cruise very soon.:) Happy Sailing

[lovemexico]

Shopping on a turtle tour?:confused: In a dark unsafe place with pushy sales people. Now that´s a real no no. Just also wanted to make a mention that when we were taken to the Flamingos hotel we were told to pick up a drink from the table and take a look at the hotel no guided tour no information. I noticed another smaller group beinging given a guided tour thru this hotel which does have alot of good Hollywood History behind it and was listening for a short while to another tour guide from another company obviously because she had a different uniform on.

 

Nice service I thought to myself I asked this young lady if she was on a private tour and much to my surprise she said no she wasnt just a different tour company that offers tours also with NCL. Now Iam really confused :confused: and I do think I will be making a formal complaint with NCL about the very bad service we had in Acapulco once again we are not a complaing group we are really easy going but this was really a bit too much and we did spend a pretty penny on this disaster of a tour.

 

If another tour company in Acapulco was doing a great job then why did we get bumped off with the lousy tour company? This is my question?

 

 

Anyhow the cruise was good cruising is always good and looking forward to are next cruise very soon.:) Happy Sailing

[lovemexico]

Shopping on a turtle tour?:confused: In a dark unsafe place with pushy sales people. Now that´s a real no no. Just also wanted to make a mention that when we were taken to the Flamingos hotel we were told to pick up a drink from the table and take a look at the hotel no guided tour no information. I noticed another smaller group beinging given a guided tour thru this hotel which does have alot of good Hollywood History behind it and was listening for a short while to another tour guide from another company obviously because she had a different uniform on.

 

Nice service I thought to myself I asked this young lady if she was on a private tour and much to my surprise she said no she wasnt just a different tour company that offers tours also with NCL. Now Iam really confused :confused: and I do think I will be making a formal complaint with NCL about the very bad service we had in Acapulco once again we are not a complaing group we are really easy going but this was really a bit too much and we did spend a pretty penny on this disaster of a tour.

 

If another tour company in Acapulco was doing a great job then why did we get bumped off with the lousy tour company? This is my question?

 

 

Anyhow the cruise was good cruising is always good and looking forward to are next cruise very soon.:) Happy Sailing

[lovemexico]

Oh my goodness triple post I must be going crazy or my computer is. Sorry:eek:

[PACURN]

lovemexico -So sorry to hear about the tour. I'm not fond of the ship tours because of the "cattle drives" that they are. I rarely book one. I usually plan my own tours before I go. I find a great deal of info here on these boards which help me plan. It's always great to hear how things are.

I am booked on a private tour with Rosie in Acapulco. Iexpect to have a great time. I have heard nothing but positive things about her.

Melika - I thought that the turtle farm was in Manzanillo, or is there another one in Aca? I have read your great posts on Las Gatos beach. I'll be heading there with my kids. They'll love it. Thanks for the info.

[melika091900]

lovemexico -So sorry to hear about the tour. I'm not fond of the ship tours because of the "cattle drives" that they are. I rarely book one. I usually plan my own tours before I go. I find a great deal of info here on these boards which help me plan. It's always great to hear how things are.

I am booked on a private tour with Rosie in Acapulco. Iexpect to have a great time. I have heard nothing but positive things about her.

 

Melika - I thought that the turtle farm was in Manzanillo, or is there another one in Aca? I have read your great posts on Las Gatos beach. I'll be heading there with my kids. They'll love it. Thanks for the info.

 

yeah they have the turtle sanctuary in acapulco also..

it was a real bust,,

but for las gatas yes go there, the kids will love it

the water is calm, and clear,,, great for families..

have a great time.

Melissa

[PACURN]

Thanks Melissa. I'm glad to know that there are 2 farms. I will go tothe one in Manzanillo. We did the one on Tortola so I imagine it is similar.

[lovemexico]

Last year on a princess cruise we opted for a tour with Rosie and had a wonderful time. Too bad she doesnt drive a bus:D we were a group of 22 this time around. Iam sure you will have the same great time that we had with Rosie the time before.

 

Also wanted to mention that we did have an excellent tour thru Princess cruises in Acapulco a couple of years back and had a wonderful time at no given time did we feel like we were on a cattle march:) very well planned and very well organized.

 

Happy sailing:cool: