Booking shore excursions online

[gypzsol]

Has anyone had any trouble pre-booking shore excursions online? In April, I sailed on the NCL Star in April (Hawaii) and now I am getting ready for a mediterranean cruise (RCL -Splendour)and both times I have had terrible experiences with online booking. I thought it would be easy and convenient. Alas,it has been a headache [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif[/img]. Any advise?

[Nitemare]

Your best bet for expert advice on RCL would be to ask on the RCL board here at Cruise Critic.

[jstducky]

what is the problem you're running into? i just booked some of my shore excursions online with RCI for my September cruise?

if you've tried to book within the past couple of days that might be the problem as the RCI website has been down for most of this week.

jstducky!
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...til 9/04 - Jewel of the Seas - Canada / New England

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7/03 - Zaandam - Alaska
4/03 - Norweigan Star - Hawaii
7/96 - Noordam - Alaska
7/96 - Golden Princess - Alaska
8/94 - Jubilee - Mexican Riviera

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[fodorspeter]

The best advice I could give you about a Med cruise is to not book your excursions with the cruise line. If you thought ship excursions were expensive in the caribbean or Alaska, wait till you see some the the Med ones. Just an example from our cruise on the Grandeur a few years ago - "Florence on your own" - $56 per person. Basically what this included was a bus ride from the port of Livorno to Florence and back. The train cost us $50 for the four of us including a taxi to and from the train station.
The ship's escursion to Rome to include the vatican tour, St. Peters and lunch was $248 per person. We, again, took the train and spent a total of less than $100 for all four of us including a great lunch in the Piazza Navona and we saw the Coleseum, Forum, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Spanish Steps and did some shopping.
You can really only see the Vatican area or ancient Rome in one day.

Peter

[gypzsol]

The problem I experienced was perhaps due to trouble with the website but I also faxed my request. I finally got in touch with a supervisor and hopefully everything is straigtened out now.

Although I have cruised often and on many lines, I have never venture away from organized excursions. My DH and I may try it in the future after reading other CC's messages. Thanks.

Jstducky - I higher recommend that you confirm your excursions. The on-line servers are often problematic. This amazingly has happened on NCL in April on the Hawaii cruise. Best of luck and enjoy.

Until setting sail on the Splendour of the Seas
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