Port Adventures cancelled

RAD

DIS Veteran
Joined
Dec 15, 1999
Currently on the 4 day out of Galveston to Cozumel, which we arrive at tomorrow. This morning I get a message via the DCL app saying our PA was cancelled, the one to Chichen Itza, reason given was not enough people signed up for it. Now the only reason we took this cruise was for this excursion. So we visit the PA desk to see what the alternatives are, maybe do the Tulum adventure instead, nope can’t do that one either, cancelled due to low sign up.Turns our ALL PA’s that are on the mainland have been cancelled due to not enough people signing up for them.

Has anyone else experienced this at Cozumel? I can understand cancellations due to weather or equipment problems but just because not enough people is a poor reason IMHO. When you spend thousands of dollars on a cruise I expect DCL to not disappoint customers for that reason, they should just pick up the expense to pay the tour operator what they would be expecting. What are your thoughts?
 
I agree with Rob1872. I would hop over to cruise critic and see if you can find a recommendation for a private tour company to take you where you want to go. I would guess that people were scared off from visiting the main land due to crime warnings and that incident a while back with explosives on the ferry, explaining the low number of folks on DCL excursions. But I am sure there are still private providers running the same tour.
 


That’s an option but for something that takes this long we’re not comfortable with it. Just looking at the Wonders port schedule and how long the Disney excursion was it’s leave as soon as we dock and they’re waiting for us to return so they can leave. We don’t want to be those people on a YouTube video running down the dock as the ship is pulling away. There is an option for flying directly there but that cost is too high for us.
 
Currently on the 4 day out of Galveston to Cozumel, which we arrive at tomorrow. This morning I get a message via the DCL app saying our PA was cancelled, the one to Chichen Itza, reason given was not enough people signed up for it. Now the only reason we took this cruise was for this excursion. So we visit the PA desk to see what the alternatives are, maybe do the Tulum adventure instead, nope can’t do that one either, cancelled due to low sign up.Turns our ALL PA’s that are on the mainland have been cancelled due to not enough people signing up for them.

Has anyone else experienced this at Cozumel? I can understand cancellations due to weather or equipment problems but just because not enough people is a poor reason IMHO. When you spend thousands of dollars on a cruise I expect DCL to not disappoint customers for that reason, they should just pick up the expense to pay the tour operator what they would be expecting. What are your thoughts?
I think that is a huge bummer and would be very disappointed as well. Sorry that happened to you.
 
There's been a lot of chatter over the last months about the problems with that ferry system, I guess it's turning people away in large numbers.
 


I think there was an explosion on one of the ferries.... it wasn't mechanical or an accident .... 9-15 months ago... I don't remember the details, but I thought that DCL stopped doing excursions to the mainland because of safety concerns. I also thought that the US changed its travel advisory to the mainland to the more severe level (I do not know the correct terminology) after this event. I just remember reading about it and thinking that I personally would no longer be comfortable doing an excursion to the mainland.
 
Cozumel has been on and off the State Department's list of places not to travel to for some time now. Probably scared off most of the passengers on your cruise.
 
We had this happen to us on our 2017 Fantasy Cruise. We had a beach PA booked for Grand Cayman, that we booked months in advance, and the day before we were advised it was cancelled due to low bookings. It worked out ok as a man we were talking to at the bar told us about a beach he was planning to go to (his wife had done all sorts of research) and we ended up going there too. But yes, it was disappointing when you think you have something booked and it turns out you can't go at the last minute. I hope something works out for you.
 
Currently on the 4 day out of Galveston to Cozumel, which we arrive at tomorrow. This morning I get a message via the DCL app saying our PA was cancelled, the one to Chichen Itza, reason given was not enough people signed up for it. Now the only reason we took this cruise was for this excursion. So we visit the PA desk to see what the alternatives are, maybe do the Tulum adventure instead, nope can’t do that one either, cancelled due to low sign up.Turns our ALL PA’s that are on the mainland have been cancelled due to not enough people signing up for them.

Has anyone else experienced this at Cozumel? I can understand cancellations due to weather or equipment problems but just because not enough people is a poor reason IMHO. When you spend thousands of dollars on a cruise I expect DCL to not disappoint customers for that reason, they should just pick up the expense to pay the tour operator what they would be expecting. What are your thoughts?

i'm sorry this happened to you. Unfortunately, this kind of thing can happen on any cruise. They are not as impressive as Chichen Itza obviously, but there are some smaller Mayan ruins on the island of Cozumel at San Gervasio. You might consider a visit there.
 
As others have mentioned, there were bomb incidents on two ferries from Cozumel to Playa del Carmen earlier this year and, in March, the US issued a warning to US travelers regarding the ferries. At that point, many cruise lines cancelled PA's that required those ferries altogether. While that advisory has been lifted, it may have scared many people away from booking any Cozumel excursion that requires traveling on those ferries. I'm terribly sorry they cancelled your PA.
 
I'm sorry this happened to you. Unfortunately I'm afraid this is standard procedure for cruise lines. We were on an NCL cruise recently. We met someone who had two different excursions cancelled due to low bookings. So it's not just Disney that does this. Personally, I think it's pretty rediculous. The prices these cruise lines charge for excursions are crazy to start with (as compared to what you'd pay booking independently). To cancel them on the odd occasion where they don't stand to make a nice profit isn't exactly customer friendly. I'm sure they will make enough $$$ on their other excursions that day to make up for losing a little on yours (probably many, many times over).

I hope you find something else to do in Cozumel. I've never been there, so can't offer any suggestions, but I do sympathize with your situation. Tons of people take specific cruises with the anticipation of enjoying a specific port, and when it doesn't work out it's perfectly normal to be disappointed. While it's always important to understand that things might not go as planned, when it's cancelled because the cruise line isn't going to make enough profit it's annoying (though very common in the industry, I'm afraid.)
 
Just walk around the ships a little bit and hang on the ship. We talked to the PA manager last night, all she did was say nothing they can do, it’s in their contract.
 
Just walk around the ships a little bit and hang on the ship. We talked to the PA manager last night, all she did was say nothing they can do, it’s in their contract.

There was no excursions available at all?
 
They had things on Cozumel but nothing we wanted to do that we hadn’t done already. Plus we didn’t bring any swim ware since we were supposed to be doing something that didn’t require it.
 

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