Prepaying Tours on Princess

[ssbeagle]

What seems to be happening industry-wide is having to prepay for tours when you book on line through the personalizer. You can use on-board credit to pay but when that runs out you have to provide payment ahead of time. I do not like that. For years we have been booking our tours and haven't cancelled on except for illness on board. It would be so nice if Princess would institute the old way of reserving tours or at least make it a perk for Elites. Some save up for their cruises and may not have all the necessary funds to pay up front. Why Princess wants our money early is so they can make more from it. I am not happy with the new policy at all and will wait to get on board before booking any more tours. If enough people would do that then maybe they would go back to the old policy.

[skynight]

agree

we have switched to private tours

[Astro Flyer]

When the advance payment requirement was implemented, Princess told me they were changing to the prepayment requirement because it was a standard cruise industry policy.

 

It is very disappointing that Princess is becoming an industry follower instead of being an industry leader. :(

 

Besides getting our money sooner it may be an effort to reduce cancellations. Although that’s not truly effective because tours can still be canceled up to about 36 hours in advance to get a refund.

 

Many of my Princess tours increase by up to 50% so by waiting to reserve onboard they often cost more. As a result of the prepayment requirement we’re even less likely to use Princess tours & only when there isn’t a good independent tour option.

[diane.in.ny]

While I agree with not being happy about pre-paying, I don't agree with the plan to wait until you are onboard for two reasons.

 

One is that many are sold out and two they cost more when booked on board ship.

 

Basically, we do private tours but every now and there, for several reasons, we go with a Princess tour and I guess we'll just have to bite the bullet and pre-pay:(

[yags]

I guess I am the dissenting opinion so far. Although it is inconvenient to have to prepay on the spot it does keep others from taking a spot they may or may not use. If the situation changes you can always get your money back up until 72 hours from the excursion. The bright side is by paying ahead of time when the cruise becomes reality you have paid with funds you will not miss today.

[Astro Flyer]

Passengers who preferred to prepay to spread out their expenses already had that option so the only change is requiring prepayment from passengers who want to pay for prebooked tours at the end of their cruise.

 

Initially we couldn’t use OBC to “prepay” for tours but thankfully that’s now an option.

[Wildblue]

That's the way I feel. Between the ultra-high tour cost, and requiring pre-payment up front, I'm oriented towards private companies as much as I can.

 

For our upcoming New Zealand cruise, in the port of Dunedin, Princess has bought out the public train to the popular location of Taieri Gorge. Both the train company, and private tour companies, say they don't have any tickets available and there won't be any public trains available that day. The only option is to go with the Princess tour, at literally 250-300% the cost of the private tours.

 

Doing that with a family of 4 makes it cost prohibitive, paying upwards of $1,000 more than we would have with a private tour for the same thing.. At best, I might be able to do it just myself, rest of the family doing something else that day. But Princess has made it so there's no other option than pay their massive prices (ahead of time, too) for that tour.

 

Boo.

[Astro Flyer]

That's the way I feel. Between the ultra-high tour cost, and requiring pre-payment up front, I'm oriented towards private companies as much as I can.

 

For our upcoming New Zealand cruise, in the port of Dunedin, Princess has bought out the public train to the popular location of Taieri Gorge. Both the train company, and private tour companies, say they don't have any tickets available and there won't be any public trains available that day. The only option is to go with the Princess tour, at literally 250-300% the cost of the private tours.

 

Doing that with a family of 4 makes it cost prohibitive, paying upwards of $1,000 more than we would have with a private tour for the same thing.. At best, I might be able to do it just myself, rest of the family doing something else that day. But Princess has made it so there's no other option than pay their massive prices (ahead of time, too) for that tour.

 

Boo.

 

When we went to Dunedin only Princess tours could board the train at the pier. Some passengers used the Princess shuttle bus to Dunedin & by directly prebooking with the train company were able to board at the Dunedin train station. That was several years ago but it was much cheaper...any chance that’s still an option.

[Cuizer2]

I don't have a problem with prepayment. You can still cancel and get a full refund.

[Potstech]

Having had a very bad experience with a pre paid excursion with Princess getting a refund I will never pre pay for one again. If I miss out on one then so be it. 6 months to get a refund is entirely to long.

[voljeep]

15% NON-refundable deposit for ANY reason, medical included...sorry:cool:

[Cuizer2]

Having had a very bad experience with a pre paid excursion with Princess getting a refund I will never pre pay for one again. If I miss out on one then so be it. 6 months to get a refund is entirely to long.

 

I received my refund on the ship after my shore excursion was cancelled by the vendor.

[Turtle05]

I had to move my cruise, thus that included cancelling all my prepaid excursions and rebooking. I got my refund within days. I specifically waited for the refund before rebooking. What were the circumstances for cancelling that took six months? Was it within days of the excursion, or well in advance? Were you on board? I don't really have an issue with prepaying if it means I get what I want. Waiting to get on board not only makes me anxious but also detracts from the actual vacation. I don't want to have to run around doing this, that, and the other when I get on board. There is enough to do on embarkation day (specialty reservations, ensuring you get what you want in regards to the main dining room, etc) that I wouldn't want to add excursions onto that.

[Cuizer2]

I had to move my cruise, thus that included cancelling all my prepaid excursions and rebooking. I got my refund within days. I specifically waited for the refund before rebooking. What were the circumstances for cancelling that took six months? Was it within days of the excursion, or well in advance? Were you on board? I don't really have an issue with prepaying if it means I get what I want. Waiting to get on board not only makes me anxious but also detracts from the actual vacation. I don't want to have to run around doing this, that, and the other when I get on board. There is enough to do on embarkation day (specialty reservations, ensuring you get what you want in regards to the main dining room, etc) that I wouldn't want to add excursions onto that.

 

I agree.

[easyboy]

Previously does the reservation on shore excursions. But would rather pay onboard now if I don't find a better option from private tour operators.

[yags]

That's the way I feel. Between the ultra-high tour cost, and requiring pre-payment up front, I'm oriented towards private companies as much as I can.

 

For our upcoming New Zealand cruise, in the port of Dunedin, Princess has bought out the public train to the popular location of Taieri Gorge. Both the train company, and private tour companies, say they don't have any tickets available and there won't be any public trains available that day. The only option is to go with the Princess tour, at literally 250-300% the cost of the private tours.

 

Doing that with a family of 4 makes it cost prohibitive, paying upwards of $1,000 more than we would have with a private tour for the same thing.. At best, I might be able to do it just myself, rest of the family doing something else that day. But Princess has made it so there's no other option than pay their massive prices (ahead of time, too) for that tour.

 

Boo.

Hoarding all the tickets versus paying now or later are substantially different. I would not do an excursion where Princess excluded all other vendors. That hurts their own clients who have paid enough already without having to be involved in a shakedown. In addition it hurts the local economies.

[nini]

I recently cancelled an excursion and received the credit card refund

in about two days. Then I booked something else.

 

I am not thrilled about the change but after research on CC, I discovered

that if we wait to book on the ship, then it would cost more and/or possibly

be sold out.

[skynight]

15% NON-refundable deposit for ANY reason, medical included...sorry:cool:

Almost all port excursions are fully refundable via various processes when cancelled before the closing time for cancellations. I never heard of the 15% non refundable deposit you mention. There are a few excursions, for example helicopter tours, which have special cancellation provisions.

[ssbeagle]

I have booked Princess tours in advance just to have them cancelled by the cruise line because they didn’t get enough people to sign up. There were 18 signed up for that tour. Last minute cancellation meant no tour for that port that day. We also try to do more private tours but many of them want payment up front too. So I don’t book with them.

 

When we were in New Zealand we had some wonderful private tours. My favorite was in Dunedin where we went to the Cadbury factory. Kids would love that tour.

[kms5555]

The prepay is not bad if you use the 110% guarantee option but they already charged my credit card for it so I only get OBC. It takes some internet search but if you can find the excursion online it is usually cheaper. I received $25 pp x 6 of us back in OBC by finding the excursion from the tour company directly and emailing the form into Princess before the cruise. So prepaying was a good thing on that one But another excursion is listed on Princess as a "from (price). with an asterisk that says Prices are based on the amount Princess typically charges for each excursion, but your price may vary by voyage date and departure time..

My voyage date and departure time is $20 per person more than what is normal. That is wrong! Some get charged $109.95 but I get charged $129.95 for the same excursion. That is just gouging us. I cannot find this exact excursion to price match yet.

[satxdiver]

Princess is indeed correct that other cruise lines (carnival and RCI come to mind) require payment up front for excursion reservation prior to boarding. Having that revenue in their account was certainly one of the considerations and perhaps pax reserving an excursion and then canceling it at the last minute may also have been considerations.

 

I use both private and ship excursions depending on the port and activity. Drawbacks to waiting until on the ship to reserve are the excursion is sold out (or at least the time we wanted) and the price increase after boarding. So not wanting to reserve ahead of time then you take the chances of sold out or increased price. I have reserved a excursion ahead of time and then canceled within the time limit and received a credit on my folio almost immediately. I don't like it but unfortunately that is what the rest are doing. Princess is still a great ship to sail on.

[Potstech]

I had to move my cruise, thus that included cancelling all my prepaid excursions and rebooking. I got my refund within days. I specifically waited for the refund before rebooking. What were the circumstances for cancelling that took six months? Was it within days of the excursion, or well in advance? Were you on board? I don't really have an issue with prepaying if it means I get what I want. Waiting to get on board not only makes me anxious but also detracts from the actual vacation. I don't want to have to run around doing this, that, and the other when I get on board. There is enough to do on embarkation day (specialty reservations, ensuring you get what you want in regards to the main dining room, etc) that I wouldn't want to add excursions onto that.

 

It was an excursion paid for thru Princess. Do to equip damage the xcursion had to be cancelled. The vendor immediately repaid all who bought directly from them. They said hey would notify Princess to refund our money and gave us a receipt to that effect. Over the 6months I talked to the vendor on he phone and to,customer service at Princess. Neither could explain why it was taking so long yet all agreed the problem was with the cruise line. Never again.

[flutprop]

Passengers who preferred to prepay to spread out their expenses already had that option so the only change is requiring prepayment from passengers who want to pay for prebooked tours at the end of their cruise.

 

Initially we couldn’t use OBC to “prepay” for tours but thankfully that’s now an option.

 

Most of our OBC will be from our TA, so won't show up till on board and thus not available to use to prepay. That is why I prefer paying once on the ship

[Astro Flyer]

Most of our OBC will be from our TA, so won't show up till on board and thus not available to use to prepay. That is why I prefer paying once on the ship

 

Fortunately most of our OBC is from shareholder, military, FCD & Princess promotional credits so we can use OBC to reserve tours prior to the cruise.

[Al54]

I'm new on Princess and feel a bit anxious about this post. I have travelled with Cunard, Celebrity, Azamara and other cruiselines and (for personal reasons) always booked excursions onboard and never had increased fares or missed excursions because they were full. Is it different on Princess?

 

 

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