Shore excursions

Question of those of you who have been on Windstar before. We were planning to book our excursions on board to use up ship board credit. I'm noticing that the excursions offered to book now online are missing the majority of what was previously offered. Does that mean those excursions are sold out? Or do they hold some places for people to purchase once they get on board? We are leaving in a week so if I need to make other arrangements I should start now. Thanks!

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I would call-- this happened to us and at first the person on the phone said "oh yeah, that means they sold out" but when she actually checked she said "hmm, there's plenty of space, don't know why that happened". Also if you call they can give you times for the excursions, which for some reason don't appear on the website.

Not really impressed by their website but that's not the important thing. :)

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I usually avoid ship excursions, but have never heard of them holding space. Agree, you should call, but as you know, you can't use OBC until you are actually onboard.

They have been having computer "issues" this week that is playing havoc with their shore excursion listings online.

They have been having computer issues for months.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2420129

Thanks all! We aren't going to do anything until we get on the ship, but good to know that there still may be some available. If not, we won't be too disappointed.

I cannot even look at "my windstar" information because we have three booked in a cabin. Ridiculous. However, we plan to book independent excursions.

They have been having computer issues for months.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2420129

Yep, about six months to be exact. Hired a new chef though, but cannot achieve any IT success. Truly amazing, and disappointing too.

I was told that they are switching over their computer system and you will need call to book excursions until the new system is up.

I was told that they are switching over their computer system and you will need call to book excursions until the new system is up.

Yes, and I was told the same thing last DECEMBER. Then told the new system would be up and running on February 1st. Then I was told it would be up and running on March 31st. Perhaps they meant 2018!!

looking to book independent tours on their Iceland Pride tour. Anyone interested or have info for me. Prices on ship tours are crazy

looking to book independent tours on their Iceland Pride tour. Anyone interested or have info for me. Prices on ship tours are crazy

When are you sailing

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Looks like some of the 2018 dates are getting the excursion list posted. They came up for my Tahiti trip next July. They weren't there last week.

Beware of rising prices. In the past they seemed to not change. We're on the Legend in Iceland right now, and the prices in the onboard sheet sheet are 25% or more that the prebooked prices printed on out tickets. No more waiting to book or canceling and rebooking on board without paying a ton more. I don't recall this from many previous trips. Decide and book excursions early would seem a good idea.

Did not find this on our trip Venice/Rome in May, I reserved early my sister on board no price difference. Obe should ask WS.

Yep, about six months to be exact. Hired a new chef though, but cannot achieve any IT success. Truly amazing, and disappointing too.

Lets hope they are not using the same geeks as BA! :D

Waited until boarding to book excursions. Like to use my OBC. I have seen some lines allowing cruisers to use OBC before embarkation. It makes good sense. The excursions that I have booked on Windstar cruises have been excellent. They are priced too high. If you have OBC, it is a good way to use it. Also, I have been on cruises that miss ports. On a recent Spanish Serenade, I hesitated booking the ship excursion to the Alhambra. Price was $250 pp. very high!! However, I had OBC to use. The tour of the Alhambra was great. The included lunch was fabulous. The excursion was worth the price.

Can anyone share the link to check my booking, shore excursions, etc. I can't find it anywhere.

It depends

Yes, Windstar excursions tend to be more expensive, and yes in our experience they tend to be a little better. Worth the extra expense, an individual decision.

Pre book or wait, it depends? We did Petra a couple of yeas ago and Windstar did a Herculean job. The guides at the far end of valley decided to strike suddenly that afternoon stranding customers who needed assistance. Windstar hired transport that solved the problem. This might not have happened with a local tour operator, who knows. On our excursion to Luxor, Windstar had a spare empty third bus follow us, just in case. Sure enough, one broke down, all we needed to do was transfer to the spare bus rather than waiting for hours for a spare to be called.

We booked two key excursions on our next cruise which we didn't want to miss out on. Windstar might have added additional capacity, maybe not. We didn't want to take a chance.

We used our on board credit for excursions to Delphi and Olympia. I had looked into booking our own or renting a car. In the end we opted for the ship's excursions. The guides and the tours were excellent. For our upcoming trip to the Caribbean, I think we choose a couple of the ship's excursions on the smaller more remote islands. In St Lucia, I have booked our zip line directly with the zip line company as it was cheaper than the one offered by the cruise line. In this case it appears to be the same company as the cruise line. I would say do your homework and book strategically.

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Our experience was that by the time we went to book, later on the first day, some of the tours had sold out.