Prepaying Tours on Princess

[spersephone]

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.

 

We're heading to do a private version of that tour next week. I think it will be awesome. I have personally been putting onboard credit aside for months, as I don't want to have find money later. I've prepaid almost everything I possibly can, and kept aside more onboard credit to cover anything I hadn't thought of. I don't want to finish the trip with debt, so I've spread out my payments since I booked the trip in January this year.

[satxdiver]

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?

 

 

Envoyé de mon iPad en utilisant Forums

 

Some excursions are so popular that they will sell out even before the ship sails or soon after they leave port. Recently it has been our experience that the popular ones will sell out the first day and in some cases of multiple times offered only the last time will still be offered.

 

As for increased fares, it has happened occasionally where when the excursions were first offered for a future cruise the price quoted will be lower than later when one gets close to the sailing date. It does not happen often but does happen somewhat regularly. I always thought that the price increase was due to increased costs by the touring agency. Princess has on occasion offered certain excursions at a discount before cruising as part of a sale.I have also seen excursions decrease in price as we drew nearer to boarding day in which Princess gives pax a refund in the form of an OBC. Hope this helps.

[spersephone]

I would love to have booked that train ride, but we couldn't fit it in, and couldn't justify the cost for all of us. It sounded wonderful though.

[Al54]

Some excursions are so popular that they will sell out even before the ship sails or soon after they leave port. Recently it has been our experience that the popular ones will sell out the first day and in some cases of multiple times offered only the last time will still be offered.

 

 

 

As for increased fares, it has happened occasionally where when the excursions were first offered for a future cruise the price quoted will be lower than later when one gets close to the sailing date. It does not happen often but does happen somewhat regularly. I always thought that the price increase was due to increased costs by the touring agency. Princess has on occasion offered certain excursions at a discount before cruising as part of a sale.I have also seen excursions decrease in price as we drew nearer to boarding day in which Princess gives pax a refund in the form of an OBC. Hope this helps.

 

 

 

Thanks a lot, it really helped.

 

 

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[Wildblue]

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.

Astro Flyer, I've seen other people say the same thing, but when I go to my cruise Personalizer, and select anything, (internet package, soda package, whatever) it asks me to choose either Credit Card or Paypal, even though at the bottom of the same page, it says I have shareholder and military OBC available to use pre-cruise. Is there some trick to using the OBC pre-cruise?

[spookyfudge]

Cancelled my tours, awaiting a credit, day 2 and counting.

[Astro Flyer]

Astro Flyer, I've seen other people say the same thing, but when I go to my cruise Personalizer, and select anything, (internet package, soda package, whatever) it asks me to choose either Credit Card or Paypal, even though at the bottom of the same page, it says I have shareholder and military OBC available to use pre-cruise. Is there some trick to using the OBC pre-cruise?

 

Unfortunately using OBC only works for payment of tours; everything else is either by credit-card or PayPal. :(

 

Initially when requiring prepayment for tours using OBC was not an option. Thankfully they responded to passenger input & made that an option. Passengers were also unhappy waiting until final payment to have shareholder OBC to use for tours. Again they responded by allowing us to now receive shareholder OBC long before tours are available to reserve.

 

Sometimes they react positively to passenger’s opinions but so far not to using OBC to prepay for any other types of purchases.

[satxdiver]

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.

 

I have seen the non-refundable excursions before but they were for special excursions usually involving airplanes, helicopters and small boats and the number allowed was very small. I would suppose this is to protect Princess from many canceling at the last minute and costing Princess a lot of money.

 

I would love to have booked that train ride, but we couldn't fit it in, and couldn't justify the cost for all of us. It sounded wonderful though.

 

We were on a PC partial and took the train ride over to the Pacific side and Panama City. The train booked up completely months before we sailed. Our friends were on a similar cruise and the same thing happened to them except the train was already booked when they decided to take the cruise. Perhaps that is the train you are referencing.

[geoherb]

I don't mind the change now that Princess gives me the option of using any onboard credit we have to prepay for excursions. On the Royal earlier this month, though, I decided to go ahead and charge the one excursion we did in Bonaire because we weren't going to end up with any leftover OBC.

[PoohUnderstands]

Change. It is so funny that the majority of the human race hates change. I.E. this thread. I mean, yes, was I frustrated for about a milli-second when Princess changed their policy? Yes, I will admit it. But this "new" policy has not changed how I do things. I mean, I am spending much more on the cruise itself and the cost of tours is just to be part of the whole vacation package. I still do private or Princess depending on the circumstances. Nice to be able to use the OBC. The only difference I find in myself, that if I plan to do a Princess tour, I don't sign up for it until about final payment time instead of way out there when you didn't have to pay.

 

When I have cancelled anything with Princess that I have prepaid for I have received the credit on my credit card in a timely fashion, either the same day(!) or within the time frame they have given me (usually two weeks which is fine).

 

Come on guys, don't get so upset about something like this! I understand the change, because I have, in the past, been guilty of picking tours that I just have on standby etc. and then changing them around as I need to. Now I make sure it is what I want before booking. And isn't that one of the reasons Princess probably changed to pre-pay?

 

Hope your Christmas was a good one and have a Happy New Year.

 

Pooh

[CarolandNate]

I have been following this thread with interest.  I am taking into account insurance costs.  In a previous cruise, I used Travelguard, through Costco.  They are door to door in their coverage, which in my case, because we piggyback some personal travel is a bteer deal.  I compared that to the Princess insurance and it covered more for less.  The catch is that there is a pre-existing conditions clause that requires revising non refundable charges within 21 days of booking said excursion or additional charge.  If one were to book the excursion after the trip began, they would not have to do this.   When we went to Alaska a couple of years back, we did just that with some excursions.  That which we could potentially lose if we cancelled said activity we covered.

 

I have seen the cancellation policy for Princess and if I am reading it correctly, one can cancel three or five days out and be good, getting all of their money back.   It is vague, but I think I would be okay if I cancelled.  I know it also puts money into OBC if you cancel inside those dates.

 

On the next trip we are taking to the Panama Canal, there are six port days.  We have decdided that we are going to do the Princess Tours.  I know that privates can be cheaper, but I don't want to deal with the possibility of not getting back in time. from a tour.  it has been said that if you are going to stress out over that possibility, then go with the ship's tours.  We WILL stress out, so.....

 

Some of the ports have what I consider must see excursions, with limited options.  If we were to miss out on a particular excursion, we would be really disappointed.  Costa Rica-rainforest; Nicaragua-volcanoes; Puerto Vallarta-beach getaway.  Those I plan to book as soon as they become available.   That would necessitate adding to the insurance within 21 days.  Hualtulco, Cartagena and Fuerte Amador have several options in each the categories of interest.  Our inclination on those, would be to wait until we are on board.  These would not have to insured.

 

The further one gets along in expenditures regarding the insurance, the more it takes to change the premium.  They are bracketed in groups of $500 once you get up over 3000-4000, so it will not change much.   For example, we booked PC a year and half before the cruise.  All we would be out at this point is a $500 or so deposit.  The premium on that is $90.  It will remain that way until 120 days before the trip when we can book excursions through Princess.  Then 30 days later, it is time to make full payment.  Adding $200-$300 might move us into another premium category, but even then it might jump up $100 in premium.  Then again, it might not.

 

Has anyone had experience with the insurance thing that I am describing?  Any thoughts on this?  Am I making more out of this than I should?

[skynight]

I think you are saying that if you have to leave a cruise for a covered reason, do you receive any prepaid excursion costs back.

 If you have to cancel a cruise before you board, Princess insurance as well as other insurance will refund your fares up to the covered amounts. In P.C. believe all pre-paid excursion monies will be refunded since the excursions are cancelled within the allowable time frame for cancellations. I don't believe there are any special  excursions, like helicopter tours in P.C..

If you have to leave the ship at any point, I would think your excursions would be cancelled, and if cancelled within the guidelines then monies would be returned. If cancelled past the cancellation deadline these costs would become part of the insurance claim. The very fine print will tell you if it is covered or not covered.

[phabric]

If you had to cancel your cruise before final payment you would receive your deposit back on the credit card that you booked on and after final payment, private or Princess insurance you would get refunded under their policy rules.

 

 If you purchased your Princess excursions/beverage packages/dining/Internet through credit card or OBC and decide to cancel, you will be refunded back by credit card or OBC before the cruise.

 

While on the ship, you decide to cancel your purchased Princess excursions, in the Patter (daily activity paper received each night in your cabin), it tells you the deadline for each port to cancel your excursion.  Go to the Shore Excursion desk to cancel and get a refund by OBC.

 

Your Excursion tickets will be in an envelope in your cabin usually the first night.

 

If you have Princess excursions and cancel before the deadline you have not lost anything.

 

I would purchase all your excursion in advance.  I have seen sometimes the price increases and are sold before you get to purchase on the ship and only a few excursions left to choose from.

 

If you have private excursions and have paid upfront and decide to cancel you would have to see what the private excursion tour company’s cancellation policy is. 

 

I had to cancel a cruise with private excursions that I purchased.  I had to prove to my travel insurance company proof of private tour company cancellation policy that I did not receive $ back from them.

 

Princess insurance only covers cruise unless you have purchased air, hotel, transfer through them.

 

 

Edited November 29, 2018 by phabric

[CarolandNate]

The Travelguard insurance does require some sort of health issue to cancel and get one's money back.  They have a Cancel for any Reason rider, but that nearly doubles the premium.  (Bad Hair Day, etc).  The kicker is the pre existing conditions part.  If you don't add in a new excursion within 20 days of booking it, they wipe out the PE for everything.  Having had a heart issue some eight years ago, it could crop up and cause me to cancel something.  As long as I have the PE clause, I'm good.  For example, if I had a $300 for two excursion that needed to be insured, it might jump my premium by $50-$75 if I was on the edge of two brackets.  If I was in the beginning or middle, it might not make any difference.  I see that Princess will refund it all if cancelled at a certain point or put it in OBC if within the drop dead date.  Because TG bases this on non-refundable money spent, it is important to know whether one pays in full or whether they just pay a deposit which would be lost money at any point

 

[phabric]

Princess insurance is priced based on the cost of the cruise with no pre existing form to fill out or age.

[CarolandNate]

@phabric  Yes that is true.  You bring up some great points.  When we went to Alaska, we booked nearly everything ahead of time and paid the premium.  We also did them privately, but that was Alaska and we planned well so that we did excursions early enough so that we were back with plenty of time on the back end.  We also made sure that what we did later and closer to departure time was within walking distance of the ship.  That worked in Ketchikan and Juneau.  Because we had a Chef's Table on the Skagway day, we wanted to get back anyway (not to mention we were pretty exhausted after the sevn hour trip to the Yukon).  Actually another couple came into the Chef's Table late, because their excursion did not get back on time.  I felt bad, but not too bad.

 

I see what you say about prices going up if one waits or there are more limited options.  I am thinking that say for Cartagena there are at least a dozen options for city type tours and a couple more countryside.  I am figuring that while they are all different (sort of), I'm not sure if I missed Excursion A, that I would know the difference if I had to settle for B.  It is the same with Fuerte Amador and Hualtulco.  I'm willing to chance it when there are options.  It's not the same for say Costa Rica, which really seems to be about the rainforests.  There may be a few, but one or two really stand out to me  Were we not to get that one, I'd be really disappointed.  Thus we want to get in as soon as they are available.

 

I'm not overly concerned about a difference of $100 or so in premium to make sure I get to the must sees.  In fact some can be booked on the plane or in the five days before the cruise, but after we have left the house.  No need to "report" those once we are on the road.

 

Thanks for the advice.

[CarolandNate]

Yes we know that.  Because we can get more bang for our buck through TG.  Princess only covers that which you book through Princess and would cost $300-$450 before we were done.  TG starts as soon as we walk out the door from our home, meaning any plane fare, car rental etc is covered.  They also say that if you book after the start of the trip, that does not have to be insured or even reported to maintain the pre existing conditions.  We are actually going to be in the LA area six days before the cruise.  Anything we book in that six days is AFTER the start of the trip and not subject to anything having to do with PE conditions.  Also given that it is six days before the cruise, it is also a built in cushion.  When all is said and done, the TG premium might be $400, $500 max.  The 20 day reporting is the only real inconvenience.  It just means keeping track with charts.  I love charts.

[caribill]

15 hours ago, CarolandNate said:

We have decdided that we are going to do the Princess Tours.  I know that privates can be cheaper, but I don't want to deal with the possibility of not getting back in time. from a tour.  it has been said that if you are going to stress out over that possibility, then go with the ship's tours.  We WILL stress out, so.....

 

All cruise companies (not just Princess) do a good job of instilling fear of being left behind if you use an independent tour provider instead of the ship's tour.

 

Yet I cannot remember every seeing even one post about people on an independent tour being late returning to the ship and thus being left behind.

 

Yes, there are posts about people being left behind, but they are not because they chose to take an independent tour:

a) Were shopping in port and lost track of the time

b) Were in a bar/restaurant and lost track of time

c) Did not know (or forget) what time they needed to be back on board

d) Walking around the port city and became lost

[spersephone]

I believe that the really good ones also offer to pay for costs or organise getting you to the next port if for some reason they do make you late. 

 

I have very generous cancellation coverage (which I paid extra for), so that if I have to cancel something because of something else I have no control over (illness, flight delay, death in family etc), I will claim back a considerable amount of prepaid costs. Peace of mind. 

[skynight]

21 hours ago, CarolandNate said:

The Travelguard insurance does require some sort of health issue to cancel and get one's money back.  They have a Cancel for any Reason rider, but that nearly doubles the premium.  (Bad Hair Day, etc).  The kicker is the pre existing conditions part.  If you don't add in a new excursion within 20 days of booking it, they wipe out the PE for everything.  Having had a heart issue some eight years ago, it could crop up and cause me to cancel something.  As long as I have the PE clause, I'm good.  For example, if I had a $300 for two excursion that needed to be insured, it might jump my premium by $50-$75 if I was on the edge of two brackets.  If I was in the beginning or middle, it might not make any difference.  I see that Princess will refund it all if cancelled at a certain point or put it in OBC if within the drop dead date.  Because TG bases this on non-refundable money spent, it is important to know whether one pays in full or whether they just pay a deposit which would be lost money at any point

 

When you book a Princess cruise your invoice is for fares, port charges & taxes, and some optional items like transfers. Princess Insurance is based on this and added to the Princess billing with payment due on the final payment date. You may add Princess EZ flights to that at any time. You do this yourself through the cruise personlizer. Princess EZ Air is also covered by the Princess insurance. I never remember seeing anything regarding P.E. conditions for Princess insurance. Now to Princess ship tours. You can book these separately via the cruise personlizer or wait until you board. On board they are charged to your on board folio. When pre-booked you must pay in full either with any OBC you may have or they are charged to your credit card. You get the money back if you cancel withing the cancellation time frame. For most tours cancellation is most likely 48 hours before the tour. If, you cancel a ship tour this isn't really part of the insurance claim. If you have to leave the ship for medical reasons during the cruise some tours may be non-refundable and thus part of your claim. 

[Diver2014]

We just returned from a cruise on the Crown Princess.  I prepaid our 5 excursions booked thru Princess.  I also prepaid everything from gratuities to OBC so we wouldn't have a huge bill at the end of the cruise.  Our experience was this:  the couple who sat at the table next to us at dinner were not able to book any of the excursions onboard that they wanted because they were sold out, even with a waiting list.  They ended up just wandering around each port or taking a taxi to see some sights.  We had an amazing time while they were disappointed that they didn't see half of what we saw.  I have already prebooked our excursions for next May thru Princess because we have a lot of OBC due to a promotion that we would never have used otherwise.  When that was used up, I paid the balance using a credit card (which ended up being $19).  On our cruise last week, each day the Princess Patter listed the final cancellation date for excursions in the next port in order to receive a full refund, which would be applied according to how the excursion was purchased.  I have not experienced any problem with prepaying and I fully understand why Princess would want the commitment so people who book excursions intend to actually go on them and not cancel at the last minute. A good business decision in my opinion.  

[OCruisers]

If there are excursions we REALLY want to take, we pre-book.  

 

[CarolandNate]

@skynight  I am familiar with EZ Air.  We used it for flights on our Alaska cruise  a couple of years ago.  Because we have a lot more lead time, I am doing the credit card thing with points/miles.  I picked up a lot of Southwest points opening a card and am going to do the same with American and maybe Delta.  I get the flex fly with EZ Air, but points are better.  When you change a flight booked with points, the points go back to your account, no penalty.  Hotels are the same.  We did a princess authorized hotel in Vancouver for Alaska and it was great.  This time around, we are visiting family in the LA area for four or five days.  The night before we will go to Long Beach or San Pedro and stay in a hotel.  I have Choice points to cover a lot of nights; I have a Marriott free night each year; Hilton has a CC that will give enough points for a night.  I may book through EZ Air for the flight just to be safe. When I see flights get to a price that probably won't get any lower, I'll cancel the EZ Air.  They give you a 60 day window, which is even after final payment on the cruise.  I doubt I'll let it get that far.  The problem with flight booking, direct or EZ Air is they don't book outside of nine months generally. Southwest is like seven.

[CarolandNate]

So @name is a no-no.   What is the best way to make sure I get a response from someone like I am doing with you.  Is just replying good enough .  What if I want to get your attention on something new down the line, say a month, six months, etc.  I know they don't do private messages, so how does one seek out a specific fellow traveler.  Other than asking for an email address to communicate directly, it seems that one can put something out there and hope for the best. 

 

You have been very helpful with things that I was not aware of and I have had some follow up questions to ask, while they are on my mind.  With a year before the trip, I have time to do research and over these months, I am sure I will have new questions.

 

So on that note  This OBC gifting is not something I was aware of.  it sounds like you are saying that if I call now or in the not too distant future, I can book instead of waiting until the 120 day mark.  Good to know.  Should I consider buying OBC in advance for excursions or does that not really matter.  Like I said, I can't imagine I am going to get a better deal than the three for free that I have.  I have the room I want; I have gratuities now.  I got more OBC from Princess than I had.  Other than add on types of promos with perhaps more OBC or internet or other minor things, I can't see much that would be better.

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, OCruisers said:

If there are excursions we REALLY want to take, we pre-book.  

 

We do the same, but that also does not always work out. It was not on Princess but on another line, we once pre-booked an excursion to Arles from the port of Marseilles, an excursion we really wanted. And then the cruise line cancelled it because not enough of our fellow passengers booked it. They of course waited until late to do this I assume because they were hoping for more passengers to book it. So they had our money in advance and we did not have one of the excursions that we really wanted. (actually on that particular cruise we did most of the ports on our own, but in addition to that being an excursion we really wanted, Marseilles did not seem to be a very interesting port to do on our own.)