Younger Than Most

Ship docks and you empty out into a warehouse type building.

I am an individual that understands the cliché, “You get what you pay for”. My experience with Princes Cruise Line Excursions contradicted the saying. My wife and I wanted a simple retreat. I am a long time cruiser and enjoy excursions, and willing to pay the high premium thru the cruise lines. A premium that states the cruise line guarantees help should something go wrong, during your excursion time. Well…not so with Princess Cruise Line Excursions. This was our experience. I pre-booked with Princess, two, 4.5-hour beach retreats, to the Honolulu Sheraton, which was billed at 99 dollars per person. Mind you, Uber costs about 28 dollars from ship to beach (round trip), but there is no “guarantee”. The excursion started with 17 individuals loading into a Roberts Excursion Bus. A short drive and we arrived at the Sheraton. For an added bonus, Princess gave excursionists and paper wristband, stating it was for identification purposes and a ten percent discount at the Sheraton. By the way, the Sheraton bartenders and store clerks had no idea about the ten percent, but we were able to identify each other on the beach. Our Tour Guide escorted the 17 of us to the beach, where 17 lounge chairs had been reserved. He further advised that there would be a verbal warning/ notification, at the beach, at approximately 2:15 p.m., reminding us all that the departure time was at approximately 2:30 p.m. After that, the Tour Guide was never seen again, but the day went great. Not wanting to be rushed, at 1:40 p.m. the wife and I headed to the pickup point. We arrived before 2 p.m. and met up with 11 other individuals not risking tardiness. We sat around reminiscing about the beach, while waiting for the 2:30 p.m. bus. No bus showed! Each of us confirmed with the others that the Tour Guide said, “a 2:15 p.m. warning on the beach with the bus leaving at 2:30 p.m.”, and from the same drop off location. Everyone confirmed, 13 out of the original 17. At 2:50 p.m. my wife called the 800 number given by Princess Excursions. A number given out to excursionists incase they needed help. We gathered around my wife, ease dropping on her conversation with Princess. She explained the mishap. She asked when transportation would arrive for the stranded excursionist. To our dismay Princess advised there was nothing they could do for us, because they did not have contact with the ship. Simply put, we were on our own. Everyone was shocked. What if we had been further up into the rain forest, would we miss the ship and would they care? Once the shocked gasp and fist rattling settled down it was apparent we all needed to return to the ship. Some of us had another excursion (Luau) to attend. The wife and I shared a taxi with an irritated couple, while the remaining couples called Uber or flagged down a taxi to return them to the ship. The following day several couples filled out their complaint forms, regarding the incident. Four days later we met on deck and laughed with disappointment at Princess’s resolution. We were all given a 15 percent excursion discount to cover our return taxi rides to the ship. With Princess Cruise Excursions, I suggest going the cheaper route, just grab an independent excursion after docking. Why pay a premium for something Princess will not follow through with? My suggestion is to pass on Germaine's luau. Food was sub par, their sound system was horrible and the show lacked enthusiasm.

Short boat ride to pier and shopping center. Did the waterfall hike and had a great time.

Not a fan of Ensenada, just can't relax, always on my guard. The ship paper said the taxi service was 3 dollars round trip to downtown and back. The shuttle arrived and folks climbed in, the shuttle drove off with the guide telling us to be carefull and be carefull not to buy fake silver. The shuttle drove to a shabby part of town and parked to the rear of a building, with several men standing around. Upon exit each passenger was informed the toll was 4 dollars, not three ( I guess the driver wanted his cut). I covered the extra cost for several of the older passengers that carried only three dollars. Beware of Ensenada.