Can't reserve excursions in advance & then pay on board?

[ennjay]

I thought I read on here that if you called the ShoreEx reservations line, you could sign up for an excursion for an upcoming cruise but not have to pay until you are on board.  We have $200 of OBC for our upcoming cruise, and I was hoping to use this for an excursion.  But when I called, a very snippy customer service rep told me that was impossible, and I'd have to pay now and couldn't (obviously) use the OBC.  He also, again quite snippily, informed me that shore excursions do sell out so that I might not be able to book it if I wait until I'm on board.  

 

This seems rather unfair, doesn't it?  It's annoying to me that the ships offer all these reservations (for excursions, dining, etc.) to the point of selling out in advance but then market heavily using the OBC.  I already have a free bev package, and the promo OBC can't be used for gratuities... if dining reservations and shore excursions are potentially sold out by the time I board, what besides shopping (which I have no interest in) can I actually use the OBC for?  

 

(Another unfair aspect in my opinion is that I was told that even though I am a Gold Latitudes member, I cannot use my discount for shore excursions for my children, even though they also have sailed -- on my dime -- on NCL multiple times and would have status if they were allowed to, which they are not.  So even though I am paying for them and have paid for their previous cruises, they aren't eligible for the same discounts until they turn 18?  That seems sort of crazy...)

 

Sorry for all the complaining this morning -- I guess I was just surprised at these policies, plus miffed at what I felt was an inappropriately snippy attitude from the NCL rep in delighting to inform me of these things (I simply asked very nicely! -- no need for snark, dude!).  Has anyone actually been shut out of a shore excursion they tried to book as soon as they came on board? 

[PTC DAWG]

Just wait until you get on board, then book excursions, pay with OBC.  

[GrammyLove]

We were able to book our excursions on our Breakaway trip in May through the Shore Excursions phone line without being charged. We have the $50 Shore Ex credit and the representative said it would be applied after our excursions were completed and we would pay the balance at the end of the cruise. I would call them back and hopefully talk to a rep that knows what is really going on! 

[casofilia]

You can Reserve and have the costs debited to your folio ONLY if you have the Shore Excursion "perk"

[LD Silver]

20 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

Just wait until you get on board, then book excursions, pay with OBC.  

 

Most of the popular excursions sell out well in advance of sailing so this strategy is a fail.

[PTC DAWG]

10 minutes ago, LD Silver said:

 

Most of the popular excursions sell out well in advance of sailing so this strategy is a fail.

IF the OBC is refundable, just book pay now, and get the refund....IF being the key.  

[GeezerCouple]

We were able to have our PCC (Norwegian agent) reserve excursions without paying, and we paid once onboard.

 

Perhaps that has changed, but in case not, just HUCA (hang up, call again) and hope to get a more knowledgeable - and polite - rep.

 

GC

[KeithJenner]

29 minutes ago, LD Silver said:

 

Most of the popular excursions sell out well in advance of sailing so this strategy is a fail.

Is that actually the case?

 

I would have thought that some of them would be kept back for booking onboard, as is the case with other things.

[KeithJenner]

1 hour ago, ennjay said:

It's annoying to me that the ships offer all these reservations (for excursions, dining, etc.) to the point of selling out in advance but then market heavily using the OBC.  I already have a free bev package, and the promo OBC can't be used for gratuities... if dining reservations and shore excursions are potentially sold out by the time I board, what besides shopping (which I have no interest in) can I actually use the OBC for?  

Dining reservations don’t sell out in advance as some (it is often stated most of them) are kept back for booking onboard. You can wait until you get onboard and make restaurant reservations.

 

In addition, you can make reservations in the a la carte places in advance with no charge anyway.

 

If you want to book places like Teppenyaki or Moderno in advance and haven’t purchased the dining package before reserving then you will have to pay for those places upfront. You can get round that to an extent by just buying one dining package.

 

We have a similar issue for our upcoming cruise as we want to use OBC towards the dining package. I purchased one for myself and was then able to book Teppenyaki and Moderno online without paying. We will then buy the dining package for my wife and son onboard, using the OBC.

Edited February 22, 2019 by KeithJenner

[yankees111]

Only a percentage of excursions are sold in advance.

[LD Silver]

7 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

Is that actually the case?

 

I would have thought that some of them would be kept back for booking onboard, as is the case with other things.

Yes - For example, both times I have booked the Escape to Jost Van Dyke at our Tortola stop it was sold out within days of it being posted on NCL.com 

[casofilia]

@LD Silver

 

Yes - For example, both times I have booked the Escape to Jost Van Dyke at our Tortola stop it was sold out within days of it being posted on NCL.com 

 

Your answer is not clear. "I have booked"; does this mean that you did book it before you boarded?  Or were you unable to when you tried both times?

If the latter did you try to book as soon as you boarded?  If you did were you successful?

[LD Silver]

1 minute ago, casofilia said:

@LD Silver

 

Yes - For example, both times I have booked the Escape to Jost Van Dyke at our Tortola stop it was sold out within days of it being posted on NCL.com 

 

Your answer is not clear. "I have booked"; does this mean that you did book it before you boarded?  Or were you unable to when you tried both times?

If the latter did you try to book as soon as you boarded?  If you did were you successful?

 

I booked it online and it was sold out within days of me booking it online.

 

Got it?

[casofilia]

Thank you for the clarification.

 

You know that all the ones being offered online were sold but do you know if that was all the places?   Do you know that there were none held back for sale on board?

 

People seem to think that not all shore excursion places are sold online but some are held for sale on board.

[herdingdogmom]

The popular excursions do sell out before boarding.  As far as I can tell, no spots are held back....except maybe behind the scenes for the concierge.

 

The Shore Ex desk onboard will sometimes start a waiting list in case there are any cancellations.  And if the list is long enough, they will add another bus/excursion IF possible.

 

 Not possible to add a tour for a single catamaran like the Rebel Yell/Jost Van Dyke trip.  Or in the case of my upcoming cruise where three 2000 pax cruise ships will be at a Thai island tender port at the same time.  Every resource on the island is booked and NCL cancelled 2 of the 5 excursions offered this week.  

Edited February 23, 2019 by herdingdogmom

[Visigoth]

12 hours ago, LD Silver said:

 

Most of the popular excursions sell out well in advance of sailing so this strategy is a fail.

If your excursion sells out you probably will wish you weren't on it.

[bluesea777]

Only a certain percentage (probably 30-35%) of excursions are sold online before the cruise, and the rest are sold onboard.

 

So if you see an excursion is sold out online, it means that the 30-35% block is sold out, so you'll have to go to the excursion desk onboard.

 

ALSO … once you buy an excursion online for a certain port, you won't see the other excursions online for that port. This is to prevent you from double booking.

 

[bluesea777]

7 hours ago, Visigoth said:

If your excursion sells out you probably will wish you weren't on it.

 

Exactly - in one case for us - it was the Great Barrier Reef one. I won't go into detail, but it did not meet my expectation. I was underwhelmed, plus there were about 200 people.

[KeithJenner]

12 hours ago, LD Silver said:

 

I booked it online and it was sold out within days of me booking it online.

 

Got it?

That in itself doesn’t mean that there weren’t more spaces that were kept back for booking onboard.

[blondie1746]

You should call back to the Shore Excursion desk again. We just called and reserved 2 excursions in Alaska without paying for them. We want to have our $50 shore ex. credit for each one and our platinum discount applied before paying. 

[KeithJenner]

15 minutes ago, blondie1746 said:

You should call back to the Shore Excursion desk again. We just called and reserved 2 excursions in Alaska without paying for them. We want to have our $50 shore ex. credit for each one and our platinum discount applied before paying. 

People often do this when they have the excursion promo, but it has been stated above that they only allow you to do so if you have that promo which may be why the OP wasn’t able to do so.

 

I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt to try again though.

[GeezerCouple]

44 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

People often do this when they have the excursion promo, but it has been stated above that they only allow you to do so if you have that promo which may be why the OP wasn’t able to do so.

 

I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt to try again though.

We were able to do this without having the promo.  In fact, we had paid, and got our payment refunded, kept the reservation, and paid on board.

But we used our PCC (Norwegian agent; he tended to have connections - alas, he left NCL).

 

GC

[casofilia]

@GeezerCouple

 

But we used our PCC (Norwegian agent; he tended to have connections - alas, he left NCL).

 

It is surprising what PCCs do just before they leave the company!!!  We were comped a VERY nice upgrade by ours a few years ago before he left!!!!

[Shidah]

3 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

People often do this when they have the excursion promo, but it has been stated above that they only allow you to do so if you have that promo which may be why the OP wasn’t able to do so.

 

I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt to try again though.

Calling back to argue with someone will not do anything.  As others have mentioned, you can only not pay in advance if you have the shore excursion credit (which you stated).  The OP needs to understand this, and either pay now or roll the dice and wait until onboard.  Yes, the good ones sell out.  If you wait to get something like a cabana on GSC you will be SOL.  The mass tours with 100’s of people though will likely still have room.

[KeithJenner]

59 minutes ago, Shidah said:

Calling back to argue with someone will not do anything.

I am most certainly not suggesting that anyone calls to argue with someone.

 

One feature of the NCL call centres, which is obvious to anyone who reads these boards, is that two different calls can result in two different answers.

 

All I am saying is that it won't hurt to phone back to ask in case they get another answer. Nothing ventured nothing gained.