Excursion question

[bettywh]

I hope this isn't a stupid question, but I haven't been able to find the answer in any of the "newbie" threads. When does HAL make excursions available for purchase? I don't sail until March 1, 2016. Thank you.

[kazu]

I hope this isn't a stupid question, but I haven't been able to find the answer in any of the "newbie" threads. When does HAL make excursions available for purchase? I don't sail until March 1, 2016. Thank you.

 

no such thing as a stupid question. Some cruises they appear about 6 months out - other cruises I have seen them 9 months out. If they show up then, though, more get added so you need to keep checking.

 

 

have fun planning :)

[PandasRUs]

Thank you for asking. I had the same question.

[take us away]

Before they get listed under your account for your specific cruise, you can get a sampling of what may be offered by checking the HAL website under the Excursions tab, then select your region and the port, and a list will appear.

[Alcarondas]

Personally, while I like to review available excursions online, I never book them until I'm on the ship. I've found that sometimes they will add (or delete) excursions at the last minute, so I like to know exactly what's available before I choose.

[Alberta Quilter]

Personally, while I like to review available excursions online, I never book them until I'm on the ship. I've found that sometimes they will add (or delete) excursions at the last minute, so I like to know exactly what's available before I choose.

 

Only issue with that is that the limited capacity or popular shorex may be full before boarding and you would lose the opportunity to see what you wanted to see (assuming ship excursions are your preferred choice over private excursions).

[Randyk47]

Personally, while I like to review available excursions online, I never book them until I'm on the ship. I've found that sometimes they will add (or delete) excursions at the last minute, so I like to know exactly what's available before I choose.

 

We do a mix of ship, private, and self-guided tours. Takes some research but we typically have a pretty good idea of what we want to do and see, if anything, at a stop. We typically don't wait to book until we're on the ship but that's driven by two considerations. One, by booking on line early we can spread the cost out and not have too much "sticker shock" at the end of the cruise when they deliver our on-board bill. Two, at some ports there are for us what are "most see/do" tours. Some of these are popular and fill up quickly, sometimes well before the actual cruise. We do check once we're on the ship and have added or deleted tours but the majority of our choices have been made so it's just fine tuning.

[lazey1]

When I called and asked the excursions department they said that initially excursions are normally listed between 4 and 6 months out. Additional excursions may or may not be added at any time before sailing.

 

That said, I have noticed that excursions on popular initerary's are often listed early.

[bettywh]

Thanks everyone. I will try to remain patient. I'm hoping to spread the cost out over several months. There are so many sights I want to see.