Chichen Itza Mayan Ruins, Do not take this excursion offered by Princess Cruise Lines

April 13, 2015

To: Princess Cruise Line Customer Service

From:  William Paul Conley, 2979 Desert Forest Lane, Lehi, UT 84043

             Ph:  801 867 7227   Email:  billhytek@hotmail.com

             Confirmation code: 8TDMVC, Ship Emerald Princess, Sail Date

             April 5, 2015.  Number of guest in party:  6.

Regarding:  Shore Excursion, Reference number CZM310A A 01, price of Excursion, $129.95, Chichén Itzá Mayan Ruins

CZM-310 | Island of Cozumel, Mexico

 

**** DO NOT OFFER THIS SHORE EXCURSION, STOP IMMEDIATELY!****

These shore excursions given the time parameters set out on your website are IMPOSSIBLE to meet!!!

**I AM REQUESTING A FULL REFUND OF THE PRICE I PAID FOR THIS EXCURSION ALONG WITH THE OTHER 5 PEOPLE WHO ATTENDED THIS EXCURSION WITH ME.**

William Conley, Grace Conley, Katelyn Conley, Liz, Morgan and Siena Nielsen.  Rooms R332 and R336.

Let’s look at the math as it relates to your website, then I will give you an account of what happen.

Before I begin, let me say that because of this shore excursion, the ship left port well over an hour late.  I am absolutely certain this cost the company additional monies. 

Secondly, I would like to let you know I specialize in time efficiency studies so I am well versed in the subject I am about to discuss.

Back to your website. Here is the detail of what your website says.

Ferry from Cozumel pier to Playa del Carmen pier

Details:

Travel time: 00:45 Transport type: Motorized Vessel

Time at site:00:05

Wheelchair accessible?:No

Restrooms available?:Yes

Transfer from Playa del Carmen to Chichén Itzá Ruins Site.

Details:

Travel time: 02:10 Transport type:Air Conditioned Transportation

Time at site:00:20

Walking distance (yards):250

Wheelchair accessible?:No

Restrooms available?:Yes

Free Time at Site (minutes):20

Air conditioned?:Yes

Visit and Explore the Ruins

Details:

Transport type:Walking

Time at site:01:40

Walking distance (yards):1760

Wheelchair accessible?:No

Restrooms available?:Yes

Free Time at Site (minutes):100

Air conditioned?:No

Transfer from Chichén Itzá Ruins Site back to Playa del Carmen

Details:

Travel time: 02:10 Transport type:Air Conditioned Transportation

Time at site:00:20

Wheelchair accessible?:No

Restrooms available?:Yes

Free Time at Site (minutes):20

Air conditioned?:Yes

Ferry from Playa del Carmen pier back to Cozumel pier

Details:

Travel time: 00:45 Transport type:Motorized Vessel

Time at site:00:05

Wheelchair accessible?:No

Restrooms available?:Yes

Free Time at Site (minutes):5

Air conditioned?:Yes

Tour at a Glance

You will visit:

·         Mayan Ruins

You will see:

·         Playa del Carmen

Excursion Length:
Approx. 8 hours

If you add up all the time you allocated for the excursion, you will see that it adds up to 8 hours and 20 minutes.  You indicate the tour will be approximately 8 hours. 

Right away you have a problem.  The tour was to meet at 7:20 am and we were required to be back on the boat by 3:30 pm.  If everything went perfectly (which it never does), we would arrive back at the boat at 3:40 pm.  So in a perfect world, we would arrive back 10 minutes late.

Now for reality!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The website said we would have 1 hour and 40 minutes at Chichen Itza with 100 minutes of free time. Does that mean the guided tour would only be 40 minutes long?

Our group left the ship around 7 am.  We met up with the tour at the end of the pier approximately 10 minutes after we exited the ship. 

We were instructed to wait for a period of time before being released to walk to the ferry which would take us to Playa del Carmen.  We returned to the ship approximately 4:10 pm, a full 40 minutes late and there were several passengers who were behind us that may or may not have been on the excursion.  We spent approximately 30 minutes at Chichen Itza, a full 1 hour and 10 minutes less than advertised on the website.  It was a mad rush to run around and get pictures of everything before we had to be hustled back to the ship.  We were off the ship 9 hours and 10 minutes and we spent 30 minutes at the Chichen Itza and 8 hours and 40 minutes traveling to and from Chichen Itza.  UNACCEPTABLE!!!!!!!! We did not pay for a bus and ferry ride and to move about like cattle from one location to another. 

Here is what the time managers did not take into account on your website that you should realize reality is.

*Time at the pier.  Original meeting time of 7:20 am, several people were not on time.

*Time to walk from the meeting location to the ferry.

*Time to board over 200 people on a ferry, waiting for the very last person, who is traditional late to board.

*Time sitting waiting for the ferry to depart.

*Travel time was not 45 minutes but 50 minutes, we had to wait for another ferry to leave the slip before we could pull in.

*Time for 200+ people to get off the ferry and find the tour operator. 

*Time stuck in a line waiting for everyone to arrive from the ferry.

*Time to walk a half a mile.  The website said the walk was 250 yards, not true.  If you have very old people or people who can’t walk well, this walk can be very slow.

*Time to board 100+ people on buses, waiting for the very last person to board.

*Time sitting waiting for the bus to depart.

* A two hour and fifteen minute bus ride.

*Time to exit the bus, walk towards the entrance of the park, receive tickets for the part, and walk to the entrance of the park.

*There was NO time to use the bathroom after a long bus ride.

We had 30 minutes at the park.  5 of the 30 minutes were taken up looking at a map of the park, leaving us 25 minutes to explore the park. 

(we did not have 100 minutes of free time and we did not have 1 hour and 40 minutes at the park)

*We were told the bus would leave promptly at 12:15 and we needed to be at the two fir trees by 12:05 and if we wanted to finally use the bathroom, we needed to do that before 12:05, which we did, considering we hadn’t had the opportunity for nearly 3 hours to use the bathroom. I was with 5 women and the woman’s bathroom was very crowded taking extra time.

*So now it is 12:05 and we sat around waiting for everyone to show up.  We spent nearly as much time entering the part and exiting the park as we did in the park.

*Time to board the bus and ride back.

*Time to get off the bus.

*Time to walk back the half mile back to the pier.

(There was not 20 minutes to spend looking around Playa del Carmen as advertised.)

*Time for 200+ people to receive their ferry tickets and aboard the ferry.  At a very busy busy pier.

*Time sitting on the ferry waiting for it to leave.

*It took 52 minutes before we docked.

*Time for 200+ people to exit the ferry.

*Time to walk back to the ship.

*We did not have a single second to shop.

AS YOU CAN SEE BY MY ACCOUNT OF THE DAY, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU TO OFFER THIS TOUR AND HAVE PEOPLE SAFELY BACK ON THE SHIP BY 3:30, IMPOSSIBLE!  STOP OFFERING THIS TOUR UNTIL YOU FIGURE OUT A BETTER PLAN OR GIVE PEOPLE A MORE REALISTIC PICTURE OF THE TIME AT THE PARK.

What and who suffered.

We did, we were exhausted traveling 8 hours and 40 minutes.

Our time at the park was only 30 minutes.

We had not time to ship at either pier.

We all had to use the bathroom and didn’t have sufficient time to even take time to use it.

We did not book a 30 minute tour of Chichen Itza.

Nearly everyone I spoke with complained about the tour and the amount of time at the site.

The guide was beside himself.  He apologized over and over again for the lack of time we had at the site.

He blamed it on Princess and said we had to be back at the boat by 3:30, as it was, we were 40 minutes late.  The guide indicated he needed at least 2 – 3 hours to give us a proper historical tour of the site.

Our day was ruined.  Our children were grumbling and it seemed everyone was upset with Princess. 

We did express our displeasure with the shore excursion desk and we were given a 50% discount.  We are requesting a full refund. 

I hope this letter was helpful.  The last thing you want is more upset clients and that is exactly what you will get if you continue to offer this tour.

Lastly. I believe I understand why you wanted us back by 3:30 pm. That seems to be a very short period of time at a major port of call. 

If princess is part of some larger company that owns other cruise lines.  I would highly suggest you tell the other lines not to book this tour or they too will have other very angry customers.

I look forward to hearing back from you as soon as you can.

 

Sincerely

 

William Paul Conley