Does it cost more to buy Shore Excursions when on board?

[FmlyCrsr]

I just received an email from NCL regarding the purchase of Shore Excursions. In the email it said the following!

 

We highly recommend pre-booking shore excursions as early as possible to save money and to ensure your top choice tour doesn’t sell out! You can prebook tours up to 2 days prior to sail.

 

I don't want to purchase ahead of time because I can't be sure aboput weather conditions and I suspect that the purchase is finalized.

So do any of you know for sure whether or not they charge MORE fro shore excusions once we embark?

TIA

[sdmike]

I've never noticed them being more expensive on board, but hopefully someone will provide a more definitive answer. It's been several trips since we booked a ship excursion. Our first couple of cruises we booked ship excursions, but for our last few we have booked our own. NCL keeps 60% of the cost of the excursion with 40% going with the company. You can book on your own, sometimes from the same company, for cheaper. You can also often personalize your trips and end up with smaller crowds as well.

 

A perfect example is when we visited Stingray City in Grand Cayman. The ship wanted over $100 per person for the trip, and we booked a private company for half that amount and got to the location an hour before the huge tours got there. It was a much better experience for half the price.

Edited February 20, 2011 by sdmike

[MagnoliaBlossom]

Some excursions are offered at a discount online. Check NCLs site from time to time and see if they offer any discounts. Usually, the discount is $10.

 

As sdmike said, you can certainly book excursions on your own for much cheaper, but not everyone is comfortable doing that. If you decide to go with the ship's tours, just keep an eye on their website for possible specials.

[shorefolks]

On our recent Jade cruise, some NCL excursions that I noticed were $30 more if purchased on board rather than beforehand. However, I would echo sdmike in that non-cruiseline excursions that you book yourself are usually much cheaper than those offered by the line and can pretty much give you the same or better activities. It is not always easy to find and book them, however, and quality can vary. Do your research beforehand.

[sparks1093]

You actually only reserve them beforehand, you do not pay for them until you are onboard and will be able to cancel them with no charge up until 48 hours before the excursion leaves. I know that the Hippo Water Slice on GSC is $5 less when reserved online, not sure about others. (And if the excursion gets cancelled they won't charge you, either.)

Edited February 20, 2011 by sparks1093

[gma_pat]

I just received an email from NCL regarding the purchase of Shore Excursions. In the email it said the following!

 

We highly recommend pre-booking shore excursions as early as possible to save money and to ensure your top choice tour doesn’t sell out! You can prebook tours up to 2 days prior to sail.

 

I don't want to purchase ahead of time because I can't be sure aboput weather conditions and I suspect that the purchase is finalized.

 

So do any of you know for sure whether or not they charge MORE fro shore excusions once we embark?

 

TIA

 

We did a NCL in Tortola as the ship was leaving early and we wanted to ensure that we made it back on time (we called it "cheap" insurance ;)). The cost for the Tortola Beach Break was about 15% higher when booked on the ship rather than online, but we did have the option to cancel while on board (48 hours prior to docking) - we checked the weather predictions before we left and you can check while on board if you have an internet plan.

[PIPER50]

Be aware that if you book excursions with NCL at a certain price they can still put the price up at sailing date. This happened to us a couple of years ago as we had booked an excursion at £30pp with NCL and they put it up to $45 a couple of weeks before we were due to sail. We cancelled and got the same trip much cheaper with a local company.

[AerynSun_JohnCrighton]

Any booked online can be canceled... sometimes it's good to do it if it's a popular excursion that gets sold out...

 

You have around 48 hrs prior to excursion to cancel when you get on board, or you can call the 800 # they have if you decide you want to change or cancel. It's the # you see when you log into NCL and click Book Shore Excursions...

 

I did that yesterday as I noticed one excursion added a later time, and I wanted it, so I called and they switched me. (Cozumel Cooking Workshop which is very popular)

[4774Papa]

I just received an email from NCL regarding the purchase of Shore Excursions. In the email it said the following!

 

We highly recommend pre-booking shore excursions as early as possible to save money and to ensure your top choice tour doesn’t sell out! You can prebook tours up to 2 days prior to sail.

 

I don't want to purchase ahead of time because I can't be sure aboput weather conditions and I suspect that the purchase is finalized.

 

So do any of you know for sure whether or not they charge MORE fro shore excusions once we embark?

 

TIA

 

According to what NCL is putting out, some excursions will cost more if you wait until booking on the ship. We always book ours ahead of time, since the good ones can fill up. Also, I research to see if we can do better with a local company. Our last Med cruise on the Gem, we booked NCL excursions about half the time. Once we used a local tour (which wasn't as good as the NCL) and the rest of the time did our own thing. I will pay a little more to go with NCL. I found most of the Greek tour companies want as much, sometimes more than NCL, of course sometimes you do have a bit smaller tour group.

[MSUcruisers]

I realize the information here is from 2011. Can anyone update me on the current price difference between booking online vs. onboard. We will be cruising on the NCL Sun on January 22,

[MeHeartCruising]

I realize the information here is from 2011. Can anyone update me on the current price difference between booking online vs. onboard. We will be cruising on the NCL Sun on January 22,

 

Generally, there is no price difference across the board when booked online in advance. However, every now and then, a few excursions will have a discount offer if you book it in advance. But not all of them. And at any point in time, maybe none of them will be discounted. You really just need to look at your sailing and the offered excursions and see if any are discounted at that point in time. If they appeal to you enough, then it might be worth grabbing and paying in advance.

[jjikids]

We did not book an excursion back in May on the Gem since we were not sure we wanted it. The cost was $89 a person. When we boarded we decided to do the excursion. The price was $99 a person then. The other two excursions we had booked were the same price. You take a chance if you wait. You also have to prepay if you book ahead of time.

[Krazy Kat]

I was on the Dawn in December. I decided to wait to purchase two excursions on board to see how the weather would be. To my dismay, they were more costly on board. In speaking with staff at the excursion desk, they indicated all excursions purchased on board are $5-15 more than if pre-booked. In my case, I ended up paying $5 more for one, and $10 more for the other.

[TruckerDave]

When I did AK on the Pearl in Sept I booked a few ahead of time (actually paid for them. cc was charged and had the receipt) and the tickets were in my cabin when i got on board. I then booked two more on board and the price was the same. (I remember this because i went back and forth on doing them or not and had the price noted on my computer and it ended up being the same when I booked on board.) This might not be the case on the tropical cruises but it was for me in AK.

[Sparkygirl]

The information on this thread is old, you do not pay for shore excursions at the time of booking in full not just a reservation. Yes, they can be cancelled onboard.

[Missourianluvscruising]

The information on this thread is old, you do not pay for shore excursions at the time of booking in full not just a reservation. Yes, they can be cancelled onboard.

 

Are you referring to excursions through NCL that are booked prior to boarding? If so, your incorrect. I just cruised in December on the Dawn. I booked an excursion online through NCL. It was charged in full at that time. I can't say if it was refundable because I knew I was going to go no matter what.

[emcelh]

Are you referring to excursions through NCL that are booked prior to boarding? If so, your incorrect. I just cruised in December on the Dawn. I booked an excursion online through NCL. It was charged in full at that time. I can't say if it was refundable because I knew I was going to go no matter what.

 

That's correct. They charge in full when you book now and have been doing that for some time.