Paying for pre-booked excursions with OBC

[JudithLynne]

To Ken the Cruiser:

 

I posted a similar thread to yours sometime ago. We are going on a 2 wk Alaska cruise next summer and will have $1650 OBC plus free gratuities, beverage card, and internet minutes. $900 is refundable by the big box TA, the rest isn't. I think what the question boils down to is: will one be able to book shore excursions once on board or will most be sold out? I would love to hear from those that have had personal experience with this dilemma, i.e. how difficult was it to get excursions once on board? At this point we are planning to book the minute we board the ship but we are apprehensive.

 

Judith

[Ken the cruiser]

To Ken the Cruiser:

 

I posted a similar thread to yours sometime ago. We are going on a 2 wk Alaska cruise next summer and will have $1650 OBC plus free gratuities, beverage card, and internet minutes. $900 is refundable by the big box TA, the rest isn't. I think what the question boils down to is: will one be able to book shore excursions once on board or will most be sold out? I would love to hear from those that have had personal experience with this dilemma, i.e. how difficult was it to get excursions once on board? At this point we are planning to book the minute we board the ship but we are apprehensive.

 

Judith

 

Good question. We're also planning to go on a 14 day one with HAL in July. Right now we're planning to book all of our excursions onboard except for maybe one or two really cool ones we don't want to miss. However it would be nice to hear about experiences from others who have traveled with HAL to Alaska in the past and booked all of their excursions onboard.

[DaveOKC]

To Ken the Cruiser:

 

I posted a similar thread to yours sometime ago. We are going on a 2 wk Alaska cruise next summer and will have $1650 OBC plus free gratuities, beverage card, and internet minutes. $900 is refundable by the big box TA, the rest isn't. I think what the question boils down to is: will one be able to book shore excursions once on board or will most be sold out? I would love to hear from those that have had personal experience with this dilemma, i.e. how difficult was it to get excursions once on board? At this point we are planning to book the minute we board the ship but we are apprehensive.

 

Judith

 

It depends on the excursion. For example, the helicopter landing on the glacier in Juneau books up quickly due to the limited number of helicopter rides that can be provided. So, I would book that one ahead of time.

 

On the other hand, the excursions that are primarily bus tours very seldom sell out prior to sailing, as HAL can usually add more buses to fill demand (and more money for them).

 

So, consider the above when looking at which excursions to book ahead of time and which ones can wait until you board.

 

Of course, if there is a "must do" excursion for you, be sure to book it prior to sailing.

[Ken the cruiser]

It depends on the excursion. For example, the helicopter landing on the glacier in Juneau books up quickly due to the limited number of helicopter rides that can be provided. So, I would book that one ahead of time.

 

On the other hand, the excursions that are primarily bus tours very seldom sell out prior to sailing, as HAL can usually add more buses to fill demand (and more money for them).

 

So, consider the above when looking at which excursions to book ahead of time and which ones can wait until you board.

 

Of course, if there is a "must do" excursion for you, be sure to book it prior to sailing.

 

Thanks Dave OKC! Good ideas!

[Ken the cruiser]

On the second question I think if it's a full tour with a waiting list, you'd drop off the tour and go to the end of the list. I've read that here but someone will come along with a personal experience.

 

Good luck.

 

You are absolutely correct. Our PCC just passed along the following information from the Journey's Ashore (formerly Shore Excursions) office:

 

"If you cancel a waitlisted excursion, you will be put at the bottom of the waitlist line. If you cancel a pre-booked excursion that you paid for with a credit card, you are given a refund via onboard credit. If you do not use this onboard credit by the end of the cruise, your credit card will be refunded. If you have onboard credit given through a promotional offer or gift and it is not used by the end of the cruise, it is NOT refunded to your credit card.

 

One suggestion is to check directly with Journey’s Ashore, about 3-5 days prior to sailing, for availability on your pre-booked excursions. If there is plenty of space remaining, you can cancel those excursions and rebook them using OBC once onboard."

 

Just thought I'd pass this information along as it pretty much answers my questions that started this thread.