Cruise Ship Tours

[BoPippy]

Interesting thought.

I wonder what % of cruisers pre-book their tours on a computer.A large number of tours are Sold out for an upcoming cruise in April on Princess website..Does that mean for the many tourists that don't pre-book tours this way that they will not be able to book these tours once on the ship?Are there on board ones blocked for on board passengers or are they stuck figuring out their own tours because of this?i just noticed this and I feel bad for anyone boarding and thinking they will be able to book a Princess Tour?

[robgvic]

Evereyone has the opportunity t book tours in advance. Remember you can cancel any tours up to one or two days before the tour. Your tickets will be in your cabin and it will tell you when you have to cancel by.

[Pam in CA]

Interesting thought.

I wonder what % of cruisers pre-book their tours on a computer.A large number of tours are Sold out for an upcoming cruise in April on Princess website..Does that mean for the many tourists that don't pre-book tours this way that they will not be able to book these tours once on the ship?Are there on board ones blocked for on board passengers or are they stuck figuring out their own tours because of this?i just noticed this and I feel bad for anyone boarding and thinking they will be able to book a Princess Tour?

I believe they have a percentage of spots available for purchase onboard but for those who wait a while after boarding to book a tour are out of luck. I've seen this happen where only about 30-40% of the passengers were able to book any kind of tour, whether through Princess or independently. A lot of angry, upset passengers but when there are limited facilities and a big cruise ship with a lot of passengers, it can happen. Sometimes, the ship is just too damn big with too many passengers. :(

 

Evereyone has the opportunity t book tours in advance. Remember you can cancel any tours up to one or two days before the tour. Your tickets will be in your cabin and it will tell you when you have to cancel by.

Actually, they don't have a chance if they don't have Internet access. Princess used to send booklets with tour options so everyone would have the same opportunity to book a tour. That's not true today. If you don't have Internet access, you don't have that option.

[OCruisers]

The popular ones sell out rather quickly! Best to go ahead and book so you can get the one you want at the time you want.

 

LuLu

~~~~

[Cruisin' Chick]

Princess (and the other cruise lines) are aware that most of their passengers either have access to a computer with online access or can ask their TA to book their excursions for them. Considering that Princess doesn't charge your credit card for prebooking them, it makes sense to do so.

[RickEk]

Princess (and the other cruise lines) are aware that most of their passengers either have access to a computer with online access or can ask their TA to book their excursions for them. Considering that Princess doesn't charge your credit card for prebooking them' date=' it makes sense to do so.[/quote']

 

You can also call Princess and have them reserve shore excursions...

[born2cruize]

Interesting thought.

I wonder what % of cruisers pre-book their tours on a computer.A large number of tours are Sold out for an upcoming cruise in April on Princess website..Does that mean for the many tourists that don't pre-book tours this way that they will not be able to book these tours once on the ship?Are there on board ones blocked for on board passengers or are they stuck figuring out their own tours because of this?i just noticed this and I feel bad for anyone boarding and thinking they will be able to book a Princess Tour?

 

I can confirm that on our recent B2B Caribbean cruise on the Emerald Princess that the shore excursion desk had notices of full tours before anyone board the ship. As I was going to the Wheelhouse Bar in the morning between cruises the shore excursion desk had already put out the list of tours that were full and unavailable to book along with tours that were cancelled.

[Times Prince]

Interesting thought.

I wonder what % of cruisers pre-book their tours on a computer.A large number of tours are Sold out for an upcoming cruise in April on Princess website..Does that mean for the many tourists that don't pre-book tours this way that they will not be able to book these tours once on the ship?Are there on board ones blocked for on board passengers or are they stuck figuring out their own tours because of this?i just noticed this and I feel bad for anyone boarding and thinking they will be able to book a Princess Tour?

In the late 1990's everyone got a package mailed with a tours booklet and reservation sheet that could be mailed in to pre-reserve tours. Even with snail mail, we often found that tours of interest to us were fully booked prior to sailing.

 

So it is nothing new, and not restricted to internet technology.

 

What I have seen here on CC are people who book Ship's tours beforehand then start researching private tours, knowing there is no impact to them if they cancel the ship's tours. There is, however, an impact to the other cruisers who don't get an opportunity for zip lining or dolphin swims etc because someone used prebooking of ship's tours as a fall-back position with no real intent of remaining on Princess' Excursions. That, to me, is just plan rude and selfish.

[caribill]

I believe they have a percentage of spots available for purchase onboard but for those who wait a while after boarding to book a tour are out of luck. I've seen this happen where only about 30-40% of the passengers were able to book any kind of tour, whether through Princess or independently. A lot of angry, upset passengers but when there are limited facilities and a big cruise ship with a lot of passengers, it can happen. Sometimes, the ship is just too damn big with too many passengers. :(

 

 

With the number of tours marked sold out when first boarding the ship, I doubt Princess holds back any spots for onboad booking anymore.

[caribill]

Princess (and the other cruise lines) are aware that most of their passengers either have access to a computer with online access or can ask their TA to book their excursions for them.

 

You can also call Princess and have them reserve shore excursions...

 

 

The problem is that without Internet access, passengers do not know what shore excursions exist and thus do not know what excursions to ask their TA or Princess rep to book.

[as19111]

Back in 2001 we booked our very first cruise with a travel agent. We were latecomers, probably booking 8 weeks out from sailing to Alaska, and knew nothing about cruising. The agent never advised us of booking any tours in advance. When we arrived on the ship, we discovered that just about everything was booked (that was of interest to us). With that unsatisfactory experience, I became my own booking agent and took control of all our travel planning and booking any ship tours as soon as the window opened via the internet.

 

For our upcoming cruise, I am trying a travel agent again but now I know so much more about the process, that I'll be ready to book the day the window opens for excursions.

[paul929207]

On the South America cruise on the Grand January thru March, most tours were marked sold out when the tour descriptions were distributed on the first day

[sunsetbeachgal]

On our Emerald Caribbean cruise in January, I was surprised to see a fair number listed as sold out, particularly those that involved a boat, catamaran, snorkel excursion, etc. which had a fixed number of spaces.

[Amtrack Springfield]

We book before we get on the ship. We can always cancel if something changes. You cannot do that on other lines. We also do our research and book private tours.

[hillslife]

We travel almost exclusively with Princess and always arrange our tours, ship or private, before arriving on board. As someone else mentioned, no charge and you can cancel with no penalty by various dates.

 

However, we just booked a Royal Carribean cruise on one of their giant ships for DD and I....just want to check it out. We have prebooked one shore excursion, and had to pay for it up front on a CC and it has already been charged. This makes people think before reserving everything day one and leaving all tours sold out, when not really planning to take them. It prevented me from speculating on tours we really weren't sure of:o

[OCruisers]

The problem is that without Internet access, passengers do not know what shore excursions exist and thus do not know what excursions to ask their TA or Princess rep to book.

 

Our TA still has some clients who don't have computers or access to computers. It's lots of extra work for her!

 

She has them drop by her office if they live in town to show them what is offered on their sailing and the times.

If they live too far to come by, she goes over what is offered and then prints & mails the ones of interest to them to decide and let her know so she can book for them.

She also fills out all their forms and prints their boarding passes & luggage tags for them.

 

LuLu

~~~~

[sminfiddle]

With the number of tours marked sold out when first boarding the ship, I doubt Princess holds back any spots for onboard booking anymore.

My experience sailing on the Crown in March 2013 -

Booked a dolphin encounter for the kids, online. A week before sailing, my wife said we should get in the water too. Went online, the excursion was listed as "Sold Out."

For the 48 hours prior to sailing, the excursion system was on lockdown (this is normal).

We went to the Excursions Desk after a nice embarkation lunch and booked the two of us on the excursion. We were served with a smile. Tickets were delivered to cabin by our steward.

 

Doesn't prove that they hold back spots, there may have been cancellations. Just saying don't give up until you've asked.

 

Rick

[melody hounddog]

I always book my tours online as soon as they become available. My next cruise is over Christmas and I already know exactly which tours I will book. Planning the trip is part of the fun!

[vamom2003]

Hi,

 

We will be on our first cruise in November. How long before the the cruise does Princess let you book the tours? I need to make sure we don't miss that window..

 

Thanks!

[AKman2495]

I also book excursions online well ahead of time. Princess makes it very easy to browse through the tours and they have them broken down by interest and exertion level.

 

True, if you do not have internet access you are out of luck, but that seems to be the way of the world these days......

[busymomofboys]

It is my belief everyone has access to the internet it is just whether they chose to use it or not. Don't all libraries have internet and computers now? In my town they have and they are free! Big cities and many small cities have internet cafes. I would also be surprised that someone does not have a close friend or child who has a computer and would help them if they ask.

 

But otherwise a call to Princess or your TA will get you booked.

[BoPippy]

My mom is 86,still drives,cruises and barely knows what a computer is and what it does.I guess passengers that have been cruising all their lives are **** out of luck!!!:)Not that she wants to go on tours very much.:)

[stogho]

There are a number of reasons why a tour might be sold out, but primarily it is because of the limited space available by the suppler (tour operators). Some places just can hold a lot of passengers, others only have a certain number of transports.

 

Princess tries to accommodate all the passengers, but just can't so the best rule of thumb to go with with you book a cruise is book the tours you are interested in right away. If you can't book via the internet call Princess and get them to help out in Customer Assistance.

 

The prices may go up per ticket the longer you wait as well. So just like many things you buy the sooner the better.

[melody hounddog]

Hi,

 

We will be on our first cruise in November. How long before the the cruise does Princess let you book the tours? I need to make sure we don't miss that window..

 

Thanks!

 

I think it is 60 days? Maybe 90?

[born2cruize]

I think it is 60 days? Maybe 90?

 

Princess's web site says 120 days.