How likely are ship shore excursions to sell out?

Sailing Rome to Barcelona in October. Have OBC that can just be used for Shore excursions....hesitant to use the "way around".

Am I going to miss out on tours I want if I wait to book onboard?

Sailing Rome to Barcelona in October. Have OBC that can just be used for Shore excursions....hesitant to use the "way around".

 

Am I going to miss out on tours I want if I wait to book onboard?

Maybe, some excursions do sell out. I'm grappling with this on an upcoming cruise that I am booked on. If you book and cancel to use onboard credits you will be required to pay the current on board price, not the price it was when you originally booked the excursion.

HI Arizonasunshine, I see you have cruised a lot with Azamara .

i have found a cruise in med that looks good but my t/a has said the most people that cruise the med on Azamara are from Greece

and food are orientated towards the majority on the cruise ???. Can you in lighten me on the make up of guests on AZamara and food and is the t/a right??

Sailing Rome to Barcelona in October. Have OBC that can just be used for Shore excursions....hesitant to use the "way around".

 

Am I going to miss out on tours I want if I wait to book onboard?

I had the same concerns prior to our cruise in June but had no problem booking the excursions we wanted.

However we found at the end of the cruise we had some credit left and to our surprise we were able to spend it in the shop. I posted this information on our return and this started a bit of a discussion and if my memory is correct Bonnie posted that the OBC that was for 'shore excursions only' could now be used for anything. Perhaps a search of this board would bring this info up, I'll have a look but I'm not sure I know how to post a link.

Sailing Rome to Barcelona in October. Have OBC that can just be used for Shore excursions....hesitant to use the "way around".

 

Am I going to miss out on tours I want if I wait to book onboard?

You can book your excursion now using your credit card and then once on the ship rebook using your OBC. This information was provided by the official blogger from Azamara. Have a look at the threads on excursions.

HI Arizonasunshine, I see you have cruised a lot with Azamara .

i have found a cruise in med that looks good but my t/a has said the most people that cruise the med on Azamara are from Greece

and food are orientated towards the majority on the cruise ???. Can you in lighten me on the make up of guests on AZamara and food and is the t/a right??

Definitely not the case at all.

The majority will be from the US and UK with a mix of others including from down under.

Food to suit all tastes.

HI Arizonasunshine, I see you have cruised a lot with Azamara .

i have found a cruise in med that looks good but my t/a has said the most people that cruise the med on Azamara are from Greece

and food are orientated towards the majority on the cruise ???. Can you in lighten me on the make up of guests on AZamara and food and is the t/a right??

I think your travel agent needs educating! There's a huge mix of nationalities. US, Australian and Brits usually make up the larger numbers depending upon time of year and itinerary, but many more besides. Food caters to all tastes. International cuisine I guess you'd say. They do have a Greek themed buffet one evening though!

Phil

I had the same concerns prior to our cruise in June but had no problem booking the excursions we wanted.

However we found at the end of the cruise we had some credit left and to our surprise we were able to spend it in the shop. I posted this information on our return and this started a bit of a discussion and if my memory is correct Bonnie posted that the OBC that was for 'shore excursions only' could now be used for anything. Perhaps a search of this board would bring this info up, I'll have a look but I'm not sure I know how to post a link.

I managed to find the thread you remember, it's at http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2521582.

At post 21 Bonnie says

"Good news!

Yes, the old EBB OBC can be used for anything onboard (with the regular exceptions of the Casino or future booking deposits.)

I've just had this confirmed by our Hotel Department management."

(EBB IS Early Booking Benefit)

You can book your excursion now using your credit card and then once on the ship rebook using your OBC. This information was provided by the official blogger from Azamara. Have a look at the threads on excursions.

The bad thing about this is for us unfortunate Canadians, our dollar is so volatile we inevitably lose every time we do a US purchase and then a reimbursement. I guess one shouldn't look a gifthorse in the mouth though...OBC is essentially bonus money so we still come out ahead using that for excursions even if we take the hit on our CC reimbursement.

I had the same concerns prior to our cruise in June but had no problem booking the excursions we wanted.

However we found at the end of the cruise we had some credit left and to our surprise we were able to spend it in the shop. I posted this information on our return and this started a bit of a discussion and if my memory is correct Bonnie posted that the OBC that was for 'shore excursions only' could now be used for anything. Perhaps a search of this board would bring this info up, I'll have a look but I'm not sure I know how to post a link.

Yes, it's true that those holding the older "shorex only" OBC may now use it on any onboard expense, excluding a couple things, e.g, future cruise deposits.

Yes, it's true that those holding the older "shorex only" OBC may now use it on any onboard expense, excluding a couple things, e.g, future cruise deposits.

When did that change?? My TA told me a week ago that my OBC were only good for shore excursions. Supposedly she checked withAzamara.

I managed to find the thread you remember, it's at http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2521582.

 

At post 21 Bonnie says

"Good news!

Yes, the old EBB OBC can be used for anything onboard (with the regular exceptions of the Casino or future booking deposits.)

I've just had this confirmed by our Hotel Department management."

 

(EBB IS Early Booking Benefit)

Thank you. I found it but couldn't post the link.

I think your travel agent needs educating! There's a huge mix of nationalities. US, Australian and Brits usually make up the larger numbers depending upon time of year and itinerary, but many more besides. Food caters to all tastes. International cuisine I guess you'd say. They do have a Greek themed buffet one evening though!

 

 

Phil

I totally agree with Phil, In fact the food choices are pretty much the same no matter what part of the world you are in. There might be a buffet on one night that caters to the local cuisine, but in the MDR the food is pretty much International. In the Specialty Restureants the menu is the same for long periods of time, something that I wish Azamara would address, on multiple back to backs they can loose their specialty.

So confused. Still being told by T A our OBC for our October 14-21 cruise is only good for tours. She checked with Azamara.

Guess time will tell.

So confused. Still being told by T A our OBC for our October 14-21 cruise is only good for tours. She checked with Azamara.

Guess time will tell.

I would take it -- in writing -- from Bonnie over what any TA says! Print out the relevant post above and bring it with you.

I would take it -- in writing -- from Bonnie over what any TA says! Print out the relevant post above and bring it with you.

Great advice! This is what I've done for my upcoming T/A on Quest. I have some of that "special" SBC which were initially issued only for shore excursions...so I think having it in writing from Bonnie should do the trick! At least I hope so...with AZ these days...who knows??? LuAnn

We were definitely able to spend over $100 that we had left over in the shop at the end of the cruise.

So confused. Still being told by T A our OBC for our October 14-21 cruise is only good for tours. She checked with Azamara.

Guess time will tell.

I just came off a Adriatic cruise and was able to use old shore excursion OBC in the gift shop.

Sailing Rome to Barcelona in October. Have OBC that can just be used for Shore excursions....hesitant to use the "way around".

 

Am I going to miss out on tours I want if I wait to book onboard?

Maybe. Maybe not. There are choices in life and this is one that you are going to have to make.

DON

In answer to the OPs question yes the cruise finishing today on Journey had excursions that sold out within a few minutes of boarding starting and the one that starts today I can't book some I wanted they've gone already. To accommodate guests they exceeded their normal maximum number whilst that on one hand is understandable 33 on a trip that involves you seeing an individual craftsman at work was not an enjoyable experience. I will post a review on all the land discoveries when we get home. So far it's been very mixed with one very good, one good, two overcrowded and one very poor experience that Miami have only authorised a paltry partial refund

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