Sounds to me like you booked an excursion from other than the cruise line. If you had booked with the cruise line, and they had to cancel it, you would have gotten a full refund. You can't hold Princess responsible for your booking with a private excursion company. That's the chance you take when booking with a private tour. Princess doesn't need to do better, you do when it comes to your excursion planning!!
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Contributor Level:
Cruise Director
Review by lisaylo
In response to review, CrusinTim says ...
3 Answers
Contributor Level:
Captain
Hi lisaylo, DId you sail on the 8/25/15 cruise? If not, what is your sail date? And if you haven't sailed yet, I would encourage you to contact Princess for official info/updates.
Contributor Level:
Admiral
How unfortunate that you will lose your deposit on your shore excursion. This is one reason that I always book cruise shore excursion through the ship. I know that I pay more but I have never missed out on a shore excursion or lost money if the ship's itinerary changed.
Contributor Level:
Captain
I'm confused (not uncommon). Despite the cruise date of August 25th, it sounds as if you have not taken the actual cruise in your comment...
"We were told by a felllow cruiser that the ship departure time in Flaam was changed. That effects the possibility of us not able to join the paid tour on Flaam and lost the refund. I hope Princess will do better than this."
In any event, one of the many risks of booking non-cruiseline affiliated excursions is that itinerary changes are meaningless to the vendor of your choice. When in a contractual arrangement with the cruise line, the vendors are bound by the terms. If the cruise line makes an itinerary change which impacts excursions, the contracted vendor is bound to abide by contract terms, which may include refund of passenger payments and partial compensation to the vendor for loss of that revenue.
Unfortunately, when using a tour operator/vendor that is not contracted through the cruise line, you may get a cheaper rate for a tour but unless they have specific refund policies, you are also at risk for 100% loss of whatever you already paid.