RCCL shore tours: best book online or onboard?

[cruisin-m]

Hi everyone,

 

Because RCCL shore tours when booked in advanced are paid in local currency and have to be pre-paid by credit card, I was wandering if anyone could shed some light on whether it is better to wait and book onboard or just go ahead with pre-booking?

 

The reason I ask is that I know RCCL have some pretty bizarre exchange rates sometimes that aren't very favourable to us, so maybe someone would know if the US rates onboard for shore tours are any better or even the same in US currency (better value)?

 

Also makes it hard because unlike other cruise lines they don't charge pre-booked tours to your account, it has to be pre-paid by credit card in local currency.

 

Thanks ;)

[Kiwi Kruzer]

I think it would depend on the tour you want to do , and how badly you want to do it.:)

If its a tour where they just put on as many buses as are needed , sure you can book on board , but if its tour with a strictly limited capacity , and you really want to do it ....book it early .

On the Princess Round Australia cruise , we missed out on a couple of tours as they were all booked out before the ship even sailed.:eek:

 

 

[NSWP]

Like any cruise line, if you really want to go on a shorex pre book, often ships tours are booked out. I have seen too many cranky pax on ships at tour desks finding out shorex are all booked out.

 

I have already booked some tours for Celebrity Solstice in March, like Royal Caribbean (all same company) you have to pay up front here in AUD but you can cancel up to sailing with full refund.

[Hard-habit-to-break]

Agreed.

 

If it is something you really want to do, prebook. We waited for a couple until we got onboard and were lucky enough to get on them, but they were basic bus tours.

 

Having said that, it depends on where you are going and whether there are lots of buses available. ie we went to Bangkok and HCMC, both were 2 hours from the port, so once the buses were full, that was it.

[fishtaco]

Hi everyone,

 

Because RCCL shore tours when booked in advanced are paid in local currency and have to be pre-paid by credit card, I was wandering if anyone could shed some light on whether it is better to wait and book onboard or just go ahead with pre-booking?

 

The reason I ask is that I know RCCL have some pretty bizarre exchange rates sometimes that aren't very favourable to us, so maybe someone would know if the US rates onboard for shore tours are any better or even the same in US currency (better value)?

 

Also makes it hard because unlike other cruise lines they don't charge pre-booked tours to your account, it has to be pre-paid by credit card in local currency.

 

Thanks ;)

 

I booked 2 times Ho Chi Minh shore tours total $188 on 17th Oct through RCI and my credit card charges were $188AU +$5.69 overseas transaction fee if thats any help!.

 

I would assume the cash exchange rate on-board would be worse if you chose to pay in Australian $,s and if charged to your ship account then would cost exactly the same as it would if you pre paid because both charges go through the credit card ?

 

Book now and its something else to forget about!:)

 

Den

[The_Big_M]

If you book onboard, you can choose which currency to pay. It goes to your onboard spending then you can choose to pay in USD and let your credit card convert, or have RCCL convert to AUD then charge. If you do the latter, they'll do at the current conversion rate +3% surcharge. (Most credit card providers also have a surcharge, so it's up to to you to check which is more favourable.)

 

That said, as others pointed out, tours can sell out, so the more important thing may be how keen you are to do the tour and whether it is limited. Even if you get a better rate by waiting til onboard, if it sells out and you particularly wanted to do it, I doubt you'd prefer that outcome!

[Royalty X]

Always pre-book (and pre-pay) if you can. There was a lot of cranky people on Carnival Spirit who missed out on some great tours because they waited til they were on board. :)

[cruisin-m]

Thanks for the responses everyone, I'm interested in the tour, but I wouldn't lose any sleep over it if I missed out as there is plenty to do and see in Port Vila :P

 

Guess was just wandering how much it differed based upon their conversion from US to AUD :)

[bazzaw]

One compensation --- I have ascertained (at least to my satisfaction) that the prices RCCL are charging for their tours (In AUD on their Australian website) is identical (after taking into account the current AUD/USD exchange rate) with what they are charging in USD on the US website.

 

 

Barry

[dancinman66]

It also depends on how much obc you have

if you have alot better to book onboard as otherwise the tours are paid separately

 

otherwise only if you are desperate to do the tour and only small numbers allowed is it worth booking early

Greg