Why prepay shore exc and specialty dining on Celebrity?

[fairext11]

Wow! Am new to all this cruising stuff, and have been using these boards as an invaluable resource, and, have learned so much. But, what I've learned on this particular thread, is that it can get pretty nasty. I certainly won't be back here, and hope DH and I don't encounter any experienced cruisers like this, on our cruise.:(

[CPT Trips]

Of course it's financial, but as previous posters have noted, it is a way that cruisers can lock in ahead of time what choices they are interested in. How many people have been interested in an excursion only to stand in a long line at the desk and find out it's been sold out. By requiring pre-payment, people can book the excursions they want and know that they are getting them, or have plenty of time to make an alternate choice, and the cruise line has a commitment from the cruiser that they will probably keep that reservation == without pre-payment, you could reserve an excursion "just in case" and then cancel it, leaving someone who really wants it frozen out.

 

And has been pointed out, in the case of the specialty restaurants, you can just call in while making the reservation and tell the agent that you want to wait until you are onboard to use OBC to pay for it and you can. So that's not a problem.

 

Some passengers LIKE to have all (or nearly all) of their expenses paid for prior to the trip -- all gratuities, drinks packages, excursions and so forth and come home with no bills to pay. If you are a passenger with no OBC, and there are many of them out there, having all the decisions and costs accounted for ahead of the cruise may be preferable to having large bills follow you home

 

With the technology available on ships, it would be quite simple for them to have a (real time) display of those tours that are totally booked. With interactive TVs, they could easily allow folks to book from their cabins if the person ddid not want to ask questions of the shorex staff.

 

The charges are calculated per day, but gratuities for the MDR are only distributed on the last day. This gives a problem for select dining, as you may have different waiters every day. By prepaying, the waiters doing select divide the tips between them and the client does not have to worry about leaving a tip every evening.

 

But, doesn't all the money go into a "tip pool?" Just add the "service charge" to the shipboard account and distribute the money - it really doesn't matter where one eats.

 

Considering all that, guess it's "because, just because" and that X wants as much of your money ahead of time as they can get.

[d1cso4]

i called celebrity and the information isn't quite right..either by phone or online you must pay up front..unless your booked in a suite. i see where there coming from..people will take the booking and decide not to go..unless they can fill it ..they lose money.

[aikensbest]

That is interesting. I have not cruised Carnival, so I was unaware of this. Thank you for passing on the information. However Princess, HAL and Cunard, IME, do not charge for these things ahead of time.

To clarify. Princess does not charge ahead of time for either specialty restaurants nor for tours. HAL does charge ahead for tours.

[WpgCruise]

To clarify. Princess does not charge ahead of time for either specialty restaurants nor for tours. HAL does charge ahead for tours.

 

So then maybe Princess is the cruise line for you. Isn't it wonderful there are so many options for people as perhaps what you don't like about Celebrity I do, and what you like about Princess might not be so important to me

 

I'm not too sure why you have chosen to resurrect two old threads, this one and another about tipping, but hope you enjoy your Princess cruise(s).

[phoenix_dream]

On every single cruise I have taken the spa never was even close to being booked solid. They offered at least $50 off (and often 50% off or two-for-one treatments) and this included on sea days. Their model is to start with highly inflated prices, try to entice some people to overpay, and by mid cruise start deeply discounting to try and fill the myriad of open appointment slots.

 

I am not sure how often you have sailed with Celebrity, but on my last two cruises if you did not book specialty dining in advance, the only times left when you boarded (even within half hour of boarding) were very early or very late dining times. Within a couple of days Murano was totally sold out.

I am with you 100%. In my 23 Celebrity cruises, this has been my experience as well. I also agreed with your previous post that for some reason seemed to ignite a flame or two - not sure why:)

[dkjretired]

With the technology available on ships, it would be quite simple for them to have a (real time) display of those tours that are totally booked. With interactive TVs, they could easily allow folks to book from their cabins if the person ddid not want to ask questions of the shorex staff.

 

 

 

But, doesn't all the money go into a "tip pool?" Just add the "service charge" to the shipboard account and distribute the money - it really doesn't matter where one eats.

 

Considering all that, guess it's "because, just because" and that X wants as much of your money ahead of time as they can get.

 

Unless it has recently changed the tips are not pooled in the traditional area.

[CPT Trips]

Unless it has recently changed the tips are not pooled in the traditional area.

 

Guess I thought wrong.

[Widebay]

YoPhilly - we always book our shore excursions after the ship embarks. We tend check as many websites as possible, to what independant tour operators are charging & showing you, we also take into consideration the amount of time on land. If we want to see something that it close to the port, we try to do it independantly ourselves, however, if the port time is limited, and sights we want to see are further afield, then we book a ship shore excursion.

Some ports don't offer really good shore excursions, eg. Noumea & Suva.

However, at Port Denarua you definitely need to book a shore excursion to Tivua Island (lovely spot for a day)

As I said, we wait until we board the ship, knowing exactly what we want to see beforehand, then make our desision, to go independantly or booked shore excursion.

Another aspect to consider - is that a booked shore excursion on Celebrity, will mostly always, have a local guide, and they certainly know their way around, and history.

We took a Roberts of Hawaii on Maui, and he drove us right around on the bus, supplied us with a packaged lunch & drinks, and because he was Hawiian he had SO MUCH TO TELL US. I have never forgotten this guy, and his great humour. He even stopped the bus near the fruit stand near Hana so I could buy a few bananas (my favourite lunch fruit)

[cruisestitch]

You do realized that YoPhilly and most of the others on this thread were discussing this topic two years ago, and haven't been seen since? That's one of the pitfalls of resurrecting an old thread -- the participants are long gone.

[kalypso333]

You do realized that YoPhilly and most of the others on this thread were discussing this topic two years ago, and haven't been seen since? That's one of the pitfalls of resurrecting an old thread -- the participants are long gone.

 

Good point. But still a nasty thread.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[jagoffee]

To clarify. Princess does not charge ahead of time for either specialty restaurants nor for tours. HAL does charge ahead for tours.

 

Are you sure that you can make advanced reservation for Princess's specialty restaurants?

[Jayneykul]

So there is no advantage pre-booking the drinks package until onboard?I am going to book a couple of excursions as in the past they have sold out when I have been onboard (with RCL) but want to hold on to my cash for the drinks as long as possible

[Gonzo70]

So there is no advantage pre-booking the drinks package until onboard?I am going to book a couple of excursions as in the past they have sold out when I have been onboard (with RCL) but want to hold on to my cash for the drinks as long as possible

 

Only advantage would be to lock in a certain price; it is possible they will raise the price of the drink package at some point.

 

For excursions, be sure to take a look at booking excursions directly with vendors versus with the cruise line; you almost always can find a better experience for less $$$. The Port of Call and Roll Call boards on Cruise Critic as well as Trip Advisor are great resources for researching.

[Algebralovr]

So there is no advantage pre-booking the drinks package until onboard?I am going to book a couple of excursions as in the past they have sold out when I have been onboard (with RCL) but want to hold on to my cash for the drinks as long as possible

 

When you first board, there will be a table selling drink packages. You can also go to any bar in board and they will be happy to sell you a drink package. That way, you can use your drink package from the start of your cruise.

 

They will put a sticker on your card to show what package you have. The only advantage to pre-purchasing is that you will have the package code pre-printed rather than the sticker.

[Anubi]

[quote name='jagoffee']Are you sure that you can make advanced reservation for Princess's specialty restaurants?[/quote]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=blue][I]You cannot made advanced reservations for any of Princess's specialty restaurants. One of the first things we do when we get onboard is get to the restaurants we want and get the booking done. [/I][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=blue][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=blue][I]Our next cruise is our first time on Celebrity and things are done differently...because its a different cruise line!! That's why we chose a different cruise line. ;)[/I][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[Jayneykul]

Thanks everyone for your help (don't know where I would be without this website)!