Customer-Friendly Cruise Ship?
America's Cup yachts that 25 Constellation passengers paid the cruise line to sail on. Here, other people are sailing on the boats at the same time that we were supposed to! Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, Feb. 12, 2007, 12:05 p.m.
By Wendy Perrin
Another thing I learned on my recent cruise on Celebrity Cruises' Constellation: Just because a cruise line sells you a shore excursion doesn't mean it's going to happen.
Cruise lines encourage passengers to sign up and prepay for shore excursions online, well before the cruise. These prefab group tours are the only type of land-based activity that many passengers do. On the cruise I took, if you were to cancel a shore excursion you'd booked, you had to do so at least 36 hours ahead to get a refund. The cruise line could, however, cancel with no advance notice, potentially ruining your precious few hours in port, since it would be too late for you to make alternate plans.
I learned this the hard way. I had signed up weeks in advance for a very popular, limited-capacity shore excursion: The America's Cup Sailing Regatta, scheduled for 11:45 a.m. on our day in Sint Maarten. At 7:30 that morning Tim and I had taxied over to the prettier, French side of the island, St. Martin. We did some sightseeing in Marigot and ate breakfast and strolled on the private beach at La Samanna resort.
Tim on the beach at La Samanna resort, St. Martin, 10 a.m. on Feb 12, 2007
We raced back to the ship by 11:45, only to be informed at noon that our excursion was cancelled. Passengers who had planned their day around the America's Cup Sailing Regatta were furious -- especially those who (foolishly) had hung around the ship all morning waiting for 11:45 to roll around.
I submitted the following complaint letter to the ship's Shore Excursions Desk. Now, I ask you, if you were a cruise line and you received a complaint like this, how would YOU respond? (Please let me know by clicking on "Post a Comment" below.)
"Celebrity Cruises cancelled the America's Cup Sailing Regatta excursion today. The explanation given dockside by shore-excursion personnel is that the tour operator did not receive the cruise line's e-mail. I signed up for this excursion online several weeks ago. Celebrity Cruises had PLENTY of time to confirm plans with the tour operator. Furthermore, the Stars & Stripes racing yacht was sailing past the pier at the same time your employee was announcing that the excursion was cancelled! Clearly the cancellation was the cruise line's fault, as opposed to an 'Act of God' beyond the ship's control. Such a cancellation is unacceptable, both to me and the other 23 passengers whose day in port was disrupted.
My husband and I left the ship at 7:30 a.m. (we were the first passengers to disembark) and took a taxi to Marigot. We liked Marigot a lot. There are MANY things we could have done there today, had we known it was pointless to return to the ship by 11:45!
Out of approx. 9 hours in port (the earliest we were allowed to disembark was 7:30; the latest we could return was 4:45), Celebrity wasted 5 of them. Whenever I travel, I get confirmation numbers for everything, so I look forward to hearing how a cruise line can operate without confirmations from its tour operators. I also look forward to hearing how Celebrity plans to make this up to me AND the other 23 passengers. Thank you.
Wendy Perrin 2/12/07
Celebrity's response? On Saturday at 4:21 pm (5 days after I submitted my complaint), I finally got a reply, in the form of a voicemail message left by the Shore Excursions Manager:
"Good afternoon. This is Graham, the Shore Excursions Manager, calling. I just wanted to get back to you with regards to the Tour Comment Form you filled out for your America's Cup tour in Sint Maarten.
I'd like to personally apologize for the way that the tour was cancelled. I know there's been a lot of misinformation out there as to what went on that day. But, quite honestly, had I known earlier on that the tour wasn't going to run, I definitely would have called you to make sure that you had a different arrangement for your day, so you didn't feel like your day was being wasted. But again I do want to apologize for that.
I know there's been a lot of misinformation as well as to what the tour operator was saying. The fault does honestly lie with them, for not being as communicative as they should have been. And it's very unfortunate. It caused a hiccup in your day. And I don't like to see that because you've only got the one day in port. I would have liked to have had a better day for you. So I do apologize for that. And I want to thank you for filling out the Tour Comment Form.
I have been discussing this with the tour operator and with the Miami head office to see if any kind of compensation is authorized from them, and it's entirely up to them. If I hear anything back, I'll let you know as soon as I know, and that would be before the end of the cruise. But at this point your tour obviously has been refunded, and that's all I've been authorized to do. But I'll let you know if there's anything else. Thank you very much."
A whole lot of words that do nothing but pass the buck. As if the cruise line did not select and contract with that tour operator!
Since I never heard back from Graham, I assume the Miami head office decided that the passengers whose day on Sint Maarten was ruined -- a day that represented 20 percent of our total land time on this cruise -- deserved nothing more than an apology.
The 1:15 snuba and snorkel excursion was also cancelled that day. Again, the passengers got nothing but their money back.
Let this be a warning to any cruise passengers booking shore excursions in advance: Cruise lines take no responsibility for what happens on the shore excursions they sell.
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I had a similar problem on a coastal cruise - we wanted to see Mt St Helens on a Holland America trip. Fortunately our excursion was cancelled one day in advance so we were able to rebook an alternate tour. But to add insult to injury, as we disembark, there is the bus to the tour, but for the OTHER Holland ship in port that day! As if they could not combine the ships together to fill the tour.
We did get to see some of the beautiful Oregon coast, and had time to hire a taxi to take us to Fort Clatsop - very worthwhile. Well, I am getting another chance with Princess this May - hope it goes better this time! Lori
Posted by: lorib | February 21, 2007 at 08:54 AM
Wow, what a wimpy response letter from the shore excursion guy; even a freebie pass to something on the ship or an upgraded meal or bottle of wine at dinner would have been professional, as a gesture of goodwill.
I've never cruised, although as a former Navy person I'd love to be at sea and not have the midwatch in the engine room. This tells me that if I ever partake, I'll work my own shore excursions if at all possible.
My parents HAVE cruised, and they like to make shore arrangements through the cruise line for convenience. They are savvy travelers but are in their 70s and don't want the hassle of do-it-yourself. I'm glad that their experiences with Princess have been positive so far.
Posted by: Seafarer | February 21, 2007 at 11:35 AM
I had always thought that cruises were a place of relaxation, constant fun, and no problems. But obviously that's not the case. From the photos you posted, they look way to crowded to me. And to have excursions canceled at last minute and then not taking responsibilty - that simply stinks. No cruises for me...
Posted by: Kiwiwriter | February 21, 2007 at 11:58 AM
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