WC Excursions without High Pressure Sales

[soniam]

We have done Western Caribbean several times now, and I am a little tired of ending up on excursions with high pressure sales. We are not big shoppers and don't enjoy telling people over and over no thank you, we are not interested. I am planning another DCL WC cruise for summer 2017, once DCL actually releases the itineraries

Last time, we did the Dune Buggy/Snorkel excursion in Cozumel. I wouldn't do it again. Besides the dune buggy being windy and sunny and having the brakes quit on us, they had people trying to push stuff on you during the meal and afterward during the little tours that weren't really mentioned in the description. We are thinking of doing the Secret River excursion from Cozumel. The description says that there is 90 minutes of "free time" before heading back on the ferry. Is this really free time or high pressure sales time? Is there any other time where they try to get you to buy junk? I have been reading about the ferry too, but I think we will be okay.

We have done the Catamaran, Reef, and Kittiwake Sail Snorkel in Caymen and really enjoyed that. There was no sales garbage from what I can remember. Are there other snorkel excursions that people would recommend in Caymen? Not interested in any dolphin encounters though.

I think we will do Dunn's River Falls in Jamaica. DH and I have done it, but DS has not. I know, I know. I said no high pressure sails, but I think DS would really love it. So, we will brave the onslaught of purveyors of "arts and crafts" at the end of the falls. At least we know what we are getting into there.

Thanks

 

[acndis]

We have done Western Caribbean several times now, and I am a little tired of ending up on excursions with high pressure sales. We are not big shoppers and don't enjoy telling people over and over no thank you, we are not interested. I am planning another DCL WC cruise for summer 2017, once DCL actually releases the itineraries

Last time, we did the Dune Buggy/Snorkel excursion in Cozumel. I wouldn't do it again. Besides the dune buggy being windy and sunny and having the brakes quit on us, they had people trying to push stuff on you during the meal and afterward during the little tours that weren't really mentioned in the description. We are thinking of doing the Secret River excursion from Cozumel. The description says that there is 90 minutes of "free time" before heading back on the ferry. Is this really free time or high pressure sales time? Is there any other time where they try to get you to buy junk? I have been reading about the ferry too, but I think we will be okay.

We have done the Catamaran, Reef, and Kittiwake Sail Snorkel in Caymen and really enjoyed that. There was no sales garbage from what I can remember. Are there other snorkel excursions that people would recommend in Caymen? Not interested in any dolphin encounters though.

I think we will do Dunn's River Falls in Jamaica. DH and I have done it, but DS has not. I know, I know. I said no high pressure sails, but I think DS would really love it. So, we will brave the onslaught of purveyors of "arts and crafts" at the end of the falls. At least we know what we are getting into there.

Thanks

We did the Secret River and loved it. One of the best excursions ever. Free time was just that. We got ice cream and checked out the beach. We also don't shop. The only thing we bought were the pictures. No real pressure there. We usually don't even buy those but they were really good and it was a neat experience. Unless things have changed, this would be one to do!

 

[soniam]

We did the Secret River and loved it. One of the best excursions ever. Free time was just that. We got ice cream and checked out the beach. We also don't shop. The only thing we bought were the pictures. No real pressure there. We usually don't even buy those but they were really good and it was a neat experience. Unless things have changed, this would be one to do!

Great! Thanks. It does look really cool.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We have done Western Caribbean several times now, and I am a little tired of ending up on excursions with high pressure sales. We are not big shoppers and don't enjoy telling people over and over no thank you, we are not interested. I am planning another DCL WC cruise for summer 2017, once DCL actually releases the itineraries

Last time, we did the Dune Buggy/Snorkel excursion in Cozumel. I wouldn't do it again. Besides the dune buggy being windy and sunny and having the brakes quit on us, they had people trying to push stuff on you during the meal and afterward during the little tours that weren't really mentioned in the description. We are thinking of doing the Secret River excursion from Cozumel. The description says that there is 90 minutes of "free time" before heading back on the ferry. Is this really free time or high pressure sales time? Is there any other time where they try to get you to buy junk? I have been reading about the ferry too, but I think we will be okay.

We have done the Catamaran, Reef, and Kittiwake Sail Snorkel in Caymen and really enjoyed that. There was no sales garbage from what I can remember. Are there other snorkel excursions that people would recommend in Caymen? Not interested in any dolphin encounters though.

I think we will do Dunn's River Falls in Jamaica. DH and I have done it, but DS has not. I know, I know. I said no high pressure sails, but I think DS would really love it. So, we will brave the onslaught of purveyors of "arts and crafts" at the end of the falls. At least we know what we are getting into there.

Thanks

Sadly, the "high pressure sales" are not unique to DCL excursions. They are generally individuals who ply their trade to tourists. We've found them on most excursions anywhere. As well as just walking around town. Their "bread and butter" is bought with the money they make selling to tourists, and that's where the market is.

I find a simple "No", and walking away works well.

 

[soniam]

Sadly, the "high pressure sales" are not unique to DCL excursions. They are generally individuals who ply their trade to tourists. We've found them on most excursions anywhere. As well as just walking around town. Their "bread and butter" is bought with the money they make selling to tourists, and that's where the market is.

I find a simple "No", and walking away works well.

Oh, I know. We have experienced it on all of our cruises. That dune buggy excursion was really annoying, because we were at a private beach eating lunch and had no way of escaping. No thank you was not in their vocabulary. I never bought anything though. I don't mind it on the streets so much, because you can just walk away. However, I don't like paying for the privilege of being harassed

 

[gdafan1]

We did the Secret River and loved it. One of the best excursions ever. Free time was just that. We got ice cream and checked out the beach. We also don't shop. The only thing we bought were the pictures. No real pressure there. We usually don't even buy those but they were really good and it was a neat experience. Unless things have changed, this would be one to do!

Secret river is located where
?

 

[Flossbolna]

We did the Fury Catameran in Cozumel and the Beach Break in Cozumel. Both were very pressure free. On Fury they tried to sell you pictures, but not very strongly and at the Beach Break you walked through a shopping street with some vendors calling out and then a lady with massage offerings was walking around. Neither were high pressure.

But then I guess my partner and I both don't look like we would spend money as we were not even bothered very much in Cartagena, the most high pressure port I have experienced so far.

 

[soniam]

Secret river is located where
?

Port is Cozumel, but you have to take the ferry to the mainland. It's somewhere outside of Playa del Carmen.

 

[squirk]

Oh, I know. We have experienced it on all of our cruises. That dune buggy excursion was really annoying, because we were at a private beach eating lunch and had no way of escaping. No thank you was not in their vocabulary. I never bought anything though. I don't mind it on the streets so much, because you can just walk away. However, I don't like paying for the privilege of being harassed

Did you let DCL know about this? The streets and markets are one thing, but you are right, if you've paid for something like this, you shoudn't be harassed.

These shore excursions are third-party operators, so Disney does not have much control over what they do; however, Disney can choose whether or not to offer this company up as a sanctioned Port Adventure partner.

 

[soniam]

Did you let DCL know about this? The streets and markets are one thing, but you are right, if you've paid for something like this, you shoudn't be harassed.

These shore excursions are third-party operators, so Disney does not have much control over what they do; however, Disney can choose whether or not to offer this company up as a sanctioned Port Adventure partner.

We didn't. There were other issues with the excursion that were actually more serious, like the brakes going out on our dune buggy in traffic in Cozumel on the way back to the ship. DH actually rear-ended another dune buggy and then a pick up. Luckily, it was low speed. He also does amateur autoracing, so he's used to cars with bad brakes. So, the high pressure sales were actually the furthest from our minds when we made it back safely to the ship. The tour guide did get us another buggy and made sure we were okay.

 

[squirk]

We didn't. There were other issues with the excursion that were actually more serious, like the brakes going out on our dune buggy in traffic in Cozumel on the way back to the ship. DH actually rear-ended another dune buggy and then a pick up. Luckily, it was low speed. He also does amateur autoracing, so he's used to cars with bad brakes. So, the high pressure sales were actually the furthest from our minds when we made it back safely to the ship. The tour guide did get us another buggy and made sure we were okay.

Aren't those more serious issues all the more reason to have said something to DCL?

 

[acndis]

Secret river is located where
?

Playa Del Carmen (Cozumel) is the port

 

[soniam]

Aren't those more serious issues all the more reason to have said something to DCL?

We said something about the brakes, but the sales got forgotten in all of the "excitement".

 

[squirk]

We said something about the brakes, but the sales got forgotten in all of the "excitement".

Ah. I can't imagine DCL would be cool with safety issues like that, especially if they aren't isolated. Does DCL still offer that PA?

 

[soniam]

Ah. I can't imagine DCL would be cool with safety issues like that, especially if they aren't isolated. Does DCL still offer that PA?

They still offer it, but it could be through a different company now. The pics look the same, and the description sounds almost the same. We did the PA in summer 2014.

 

[mimmi]

There's no sales pressure involved with the secret river excursion. We were on our own for the free time and just has cocktails in one of the bars next to the ferry landing. Greatest excursion ever.