Tour mix-up..what's your opinion?

[cod]

On our recent Sun Honolulu-Ensenada repositioning cruise I met a fellow cruiser who was 'fuming'....Here's her story.

 

First, we made two stops in Maui. First Kahului and, 2 days later, the other side of the island...Lahaina.

 

Now her story. Before leaving home, she called NCL to cancel a snorkeling tour in Kahului (her husband wasn't up to it). The NCL person advised her to book something else instead before everything was booked up and suggested a 'shopping tour to Lahaina'. She booked it and they and about 26 others were taken to - and dropped off and picked up later! - at the exact same place the ship was going to in two days!!

 

After the day in Lahaina, she went to the tour desk and raised cain. She asked why they had a tour that takes you where the ship is about to take you! All to no avail, they wouldn't do anything about it at that point.

 

My thoughts are that it's too bad that 1) NCL didn't scratch that tour from Kahului and/or 2) she didn't do a little more checking as to where-and-when on her own.

 

At first I thought her TA had 'goofed' but she said. no, she did it herself because her TA said they didn't book tours and that she needed to call NCL herself. (No commission, no help I guess), I advised that she definitely needs a new TA! No I didn't push myself as it was not the place or the time, but I did tell her that we book tours when asked.

 

Any thoughts or like experiences?

[Druke I]

I think it is "hard cheese"!

 

When in doubt, follow the instructions.

 

No sympathy from this quarter.

[cruise4kicks]

Any thoughts or like experiences?

IMHO, let the buyer beware. If she couldn't notice that the ship was going to Lahaina AND that she was booking an excursion to go shopping in Lahaina on a day the ship was not supposed to be docked at Lahaina, well... whatever. :confused:

[salty dingo]

I don't think that was a mix-up. Maybe during the Lahaina stop they could do some other excursion around there. They made it sound like the tour was a total waste of time.

 

Did they not look at the itinerary and know where they were headed later in the week?

 

We had a tour with a slight mix up on our last cruise. It was the only ship-sponsored tour we took. I thought it was OK, but there was some confusion and some passengers complained. We all ended up with a retroactive price reduction, from the tour company.

 

I think a lot depends on the tour company and what they are willing to do. In this case, if the tour company provided a service and there were no problems, there should be no compensation. Buyer beware, I say!

[Illinitrvlr]

At some point people have to take responsibility for their own actions. She booked it, she could have cancelled after she got on the ship, but chose to actually go. Sorry, but I agree with the others, p*ss poor prior planning:D

[cruizinwithkids]

When I took the Crown to Bermuda a few years ago, I went to Hamilton on the day the ship was docked at the Naval Dockyard. The day we were in Hamilton I went to the beach.

 

I don't think the fact the ship will be on the other side of the island a few days later would necessarily determine what I did on one day versus the other.

[cliffd64]

In this case, the cruiseline delivered the tour that the customer bought. Pure and simple. If there was a question about it, it should have been asked at the time of booking.

 

Sorry they were disappointed, but the got exactly what they bought.

[Jeepgirl42]

.......My thoughts are that it's too bad that 1) NCL didn't scratch that tour from Kahului and/or 2) she didn't do a little more checking as to where-and-when on her own.

 

Exactly - did she (and the 26 others???) not know the ship was stopping in Lahaina? It does seem strange though that NCL would have an excursion from one port to a port that they were going to stop at a few days later...

[cod]

You all are so hard! (Only kidding!!!!!)

 

Yes, I agree that she should have known where she would be and when. HOWEVER, I can imagine the hard sell she got from NCL to book another tour when she called to cancel the first one she'd booked. Never having been to Hawaii before, she probably didn't know one port name from another and she didn't realize that a tour would take her to a future port.

 

I think blame can be evenly distributed. Herself, the NCL person for not noting the itinerary and pointing out that this tour went somewhere the ship would be going, and even her "lazy" TA who wouldn't take the time to help her with excursions.

 

JMHO

[garycarla]

It is pretty much the fault of the passenger. After all, NCL delivered what they promised, it appears.

 

Personally, taking a "tour" to go shopping seems like such a waste of time. I would guess the vast majority of items offered are available back home or online for less money, but to then spend time and money going on a tour. Yikes!

 

As to getting a new TA. That is a bit harsh. The time it takes to review all of the tours (most are a joke) and try to make a decision can be painful. I keep putting tour lists and reviews in front of my wife and she never makes a decision. It would not have been difficult for the poster to look at a map and the internary to see where they are going.

[cod]

I know a TA's time is valuable. I don't go over tour details word-for-word with clients or even advise what I think they should do. But I have - and will - print out some info for them (believe it or not, some folks don't have computers) and, when they make up their minds and know what they want, I will call NCL and book it for them. I've done exactly that for 2 recent NCL bookings. Never would I tell someone 'I don't do tours'. That's why I think a TA would have caught a tour to place the ship is going. I think, I hope!, I would have.

 

I think there was a little more to it than shopping. There was a huge Banyon Tree in the square that the shopping surrounded so it was probably entered in the description. So you get to 'ride', see some scenery, etc.

[jeanettep]

Here's another opinion about tour descriptions -- we took a walking tour in Lahaina that sounded very interesting. We were to get lots of historical information from two native guides. Our walking tour ended up being mostly a "standing around" tour with the guide dronning on and on about himself. Our group shrunk considerably after about a half an hour.

 

We also took a walking tour on another cruise (Pacific Northwest) which gave me a terrible backache because all we did was walk two or three feet and stand around, walk another two or three feet....well, you get the idea. Now when I see "walking tour" in the description, I put a big "X" on it.

 

You have to read between the lines of any tour description. The descriptions tend to be embelished. I learned my lesson!

[newmexicoNita]

Here's another opinion about tour descriptions -- we took a walking tour in Lahaina that sounded very interesting. We were to get lots of historical information from two native guides. Our walking tour ended up being mostly a "standing around" tour with the guide dronning on and on about himself. Our group shrunk considerably after about a half an hour.

 

We also took a walking tour on another cruise (Pacific Northwest) which gave me a terrible backache because all we did was walk two or three feet and stand around, walk another two or three feet....well, you get the idea. Now when I see "walking tour" in the description, I put a big "X" on it.

 

You have to read between the lines of any tour description. The descriptions tend to be embelished. I learned my lesson!

embelished is a pefect word. I am always trying to think of words to discruibe what advertising is all about> of course all ads, regardless will tell the side they want you to read: great word.

 

Nita