Quote:
Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive
If the ship sells shore tours and you're on one of them the ship will wait if you're late returning. Private tours--you're out of luck.
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I have often wondered about the legality of this. The ship's tour is usually double the cost of doing the exact same tour privately, so they're making a huge profit. By scaremongering ahead of time (at the port presentation they always mention leaving private tours behind) they are coercing a lot of passengers into paying double. Without that leverage they would sell a lot fewer tours.
We avoid ship's tours because getting 50 old people off and on the bus takes considerably longer than getting eight on and off a minibus. Plus, with fifty people there are always a few that get back late and delay the tour even further, resulting in less time spent at the attractions.
We have never had a problem getting back to the ship on time as the third party tour companies know that their survival depends on maintaining a good track record.