Excursion booked through ship pre-paid?!

[cruising7]

I want to book the zip line on harvest cay for my kids....but it's making me pay now. I have never had to pay for excursions booked through NCL until the end of the cruise. Have they changed their Policy? Even last summer we booked cave tubing through NCL and didn't have to pay until the end of the cruise. Is there a way around this? Pay day happens while we are on the cruise so trying to hold off on paying for expenses until end of cruise:(!

[mjkacmom]

I want to book the zip line on harvest cay for my kids....but it's making me pay now. I have never had to pay for excursions booked through NCL until the end of the cruise. Have they changed their Policy? Even last summer we booked cave tubing through NCL and didn't have to pay until the end of the cruise. Is there a way around this? Pay day happens while we are on the cruise so trying to hold off on paying for expenses until end of cruise:(!

Yes! Our last NCL cruise was almost 4 years ago, we were charged when we booked the excursion. I don't remember it being charged later, even meals are charged when booking.

[JennaMae]

I want to book the zip line on harvest cay for my kids....but it's making me pay now. I have never had to pay for excursions booked through NCL until the end of the cruise. Have they changed their Policy? Even last summer we booked cave tubing through NCL and didn't have to pay until the end of the cruise. Is there a way around this? Pay day happens while we are on the cruise so trying to hold off on paying for expenses until end of cruise:(!

 

 

Call the excursion desk, we booked by calling and excursions were charged to our onboard account!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[AliceIn]

Have you tried calling the excursion desk? They might be able to tell you if the policy recently changed. I thought it was odd that they were looking for payment for excursions in advance. None of the other cruise lines that I've travelled had you pay the full price of the excursion up front.

 

Weather can have a big impact on whether an excursion can happen or not, and sometimes excursions are cancelled because there aren't enough people to make it worthwhile for the tour operator. I don't want to have to pay for an excursion up front and then have to wait weeks for the money to be returned to my credit card if it's cancelled due to weather, or lack of interest in that particular excursion.

 

For my upcoming cruise, I've booked some excursions with another company (doing identical excursions to NCL, btw), and I only had to pay a small deposit to reserve. I don't pay the rest until the day of the excursion. Another plus is that for 5 people, we save about $250 by not going through NCL. I know people say that you are risking missing the ship, but my gut tells me that if these companies caused loads of people to miss the ship, they would be out of business.

[NCLfamily]

I've always had to pay up front for excursions.

 

 

Not that I book many through the ship, but I've never seen it any different.

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Proopkitty]

I want to book the zip line on harvest cay for my kids....but it's making me pay now. I have never had to pay for excursions booked through NCL until the end of the cruise. Have they changed their Policy? Even last summer we booked cave tubing through NCL and didn't have to pay until the end of the cruise. Is there a way around this? Pay day happens while we are on the cruise so trying to hold off on paying for expenses until end of cruise:(!

 

I'm booked on the Getaway 09.01.17 Baltic Cruise. I've booked all my excursions through the ship and won't be billed until end of cruise. I don't know if it makes a difference but I have the shore excursions credit package. Hope you have a great trip!

[garycarla]

I may be of little help, but I thought that bookings made BEFORE the cruise were charged right away. Those onboard the ship just went to your onboard account.

[shof515]

Weather can have a big impact on whether an excursion can happen or not, and sometimes excursions are cancelled because there aren't enough people to make it worthwhile for the tour operator. I don't want to have to pay for an excursion up front and then have to wait weeks for the money to be returned to my credit card if it's cancelled due to weather, or lack of interest in that particular excursion..

 

If you purchase online before the cruise via NCL and the ship misses ports, you will automatically get a refund as a on board credit. it is usually posted to your account a few hours once they make the official announcement they are skipping the ports

 

 

If you purchase a tour outside NCL (like a directly with the company), then you might have a hard time with a refund

[casofilia]

We use NCL for shorex and book online. We have always had to pay when we book. If you book through the phone or on board you will be charged through your folio.

[casofilia]

If you purchase a tour outside NCL (like a directly with the company), then you might have a hard time with a refund

 

This situation has come up recently on a Princess Roll Call where the following appeared.

 

 

We booked the Kirkwall port tour through Princess because it was a port that was reputed to get missed and they would refund automatically. A couple of tour operators I had contacted said I would need to claim the refund through my travel insurance if the boat didn't make the port. I doubt my travel insurance would have reimbursed me.

 

A real case of Caveat Emptor.

[BirdTravels]

I want to book the zip line on harvest cay for my kids....but it's making me pay now. I have never had to pay for excursions booked through NCL until the end of the cruise. Have they changed their Policy? Even last summer we booked cave tubing through NCL and didn't have to pay until the end of the cruise. Is there a way around this? Pay day happens while we are on the cruise so trying to hold off on paying for expenses until end of cruise:(!

Prepay shore ex has been around for a long time. No change in policy.

 

The only way to pay onboard is if you have the shore ex credit.

[AliceIn]

If you purchase online before the cruise via NCL and the ship misses ports, you will automatically get a refund as a on board credit. it is usually posted to your account a few hours once they make the official announcement they are skipping the ports

 

 

If you purchase a tour outside NCL (like a directly with the company), then you might have a hard time with a refund

 

I would not want an onboard credit, though. The one booked outside NCL I paid only a small deposit ($5 per person) - I don't pay any additional funds until we actually take the excursion. If the ship misses the port, or weather prevents the excursion, I get the deposit back. I don't have to front end the money, which is what I don't like about the NCL policy. We did not encounter this on other lines.

[casofilia]

We did not encounter this on other lines.

 

 

I have a feeling that Princess have, or are going to, change to prepayment but they will allow you to use OBC

[AliceIn]

We did not encounter this on other lines.

 

 

I have a feeling that Princess have, or are going to, change to prepayment but they will allow you to use OBC

 

I hope not! We are a family of 5, so if we book excursions at 3 ports, it typically comes out to $2,000 or so. That's a lot of money up front on a credit card. Getting it back in OBC is not something that would appeal to us at all. When we went on Disney and Princess, we paid for the excursions with cash at the end of the cruise. I prefer that to putting it on my credit or debit card.

[casofilia]

It depends on WHEN you book. Book before the cruise and pay up front. Book on the ship, the price may have gone up or the shorex sold out, and it will be put on your folio.

[AliceIn]

It depends on WHEN you book. Book before the cruise and pay up front. Book on the ship, the price may have gone up or the shorex sold out, and it will be put on your folio.

 

 

Disney definitely let you book ahead online, but pay on board. I am pretty sure it was tbat way on Princess, too. It has been many years since we did Princess.

[hawkeyetlse]

Princess has gone back and forth on this over the past year, but it's clear that they really really want to make people pre-pay. As casofilia said, they have made a concession to people who have OBC as part of their booking, but any excursions charges in excess of your OBC must now be pre-paid (starting for cruises after November 2017 or something like that). Imagine NCL giving 6+ months advance notice of a change like that! :D (Of course Princess only came up with that after the big uproar over their first, much clumsier attempt at forcing the change through.)

[PegasusGM]

Yes! Our last NCL cruise was almost 4 years ago, we were charged when we booked the excursion. I don't remember it being charged later, even meals are charged when booking.

If you wait and book onboard or at Harvest Caye it is billed to your shipboard account. If you book online you pay when book it. Harvest Caye is big enough that it should be no problem booking it on board.