Handling of excursions when itinerary changes

[aknguyen]

I booked a cruise about a year out from the sail date. I booked excursions through Carnival about eight months out because there was a sale. About 2 months after that, Carnival flipped the itinerary to the reverse order. I called and asked what, if anything, I needed to do with those excursions that are now for the wrong dates. I was told not to do anything and they would be fixed. Sure enough, one of them got fixed after a few weeks. The other one still hasn't been fixed so I called again today and they told me to cancel it and rebook for the correct date. When I went to do that, I discovered that my excursion is sold out and of course now I'll have to pay a higher price since the sale is long gone.

 

What has your experience been when this has happened?

[emoorehead]

That really sucks.

 

The itinerary for my upcoming cruise changed, but it was only the times that we would arrive/depart 2 of our ports. Of course it was the 2 ports we had excursions planned for. But only one of our excursions was affected and the time for the excursion was automatically updated to reflect the later arrival time at the port.

 

I think if I had been in your situation, I would have attempted to rebook the affected excursion before I canceled my initial reservation reservations. That way if it had been sold out or at a higher price, I still would have had a reservation when I called customsr service to have it corrected. 

Anyway, I'm sorry that happened to you. I hope you can get it squared away with customer service. Do you still have your receipts from when you originally booked? Good luck!

[aknguyen]

Luckily I thought to check before canceling so I still have that original excursion still showing. I'm surprised it wasn't moved automatically.

[emoorehead]

10 hours ago, aknguyen said:

Luckily I thought to check before canceling so I still have that original excursion still showing. I'm surprised it wasn't moved automatically.

Oh good!! I am glad you still have that as a leg to stand on.

I'm not sure why it wasn't automatically changed. Let us know how it works out!

[mdsgu]

Have you looked into booking a private excursion?  We have often found them to be either the same or similar experience and for a lot less money.

[aknguyen]

53 minutes ago, mdsgu said:

Have you looked into booking a private excursion?  We have often found them to be either the same or similar experience and for a lot less money.

Yes, but the one we wanted to do requires a long bus ride so I thought it best to stick with a Carnival one. If I can't get this straightened out I might have to take my chances with a private one.

 

I decided to email shore excursions so that I could get something in writing. We'll see what happens.

[Bookbug53]

17 hours ago, aknguyen said:

I booked a cruise about a year out from the sail date. I booked excursions through Carnival about eight months out because there was a sale. About 2 months after that, Carnival flipped the itinerary to the reverse order. I called and asked what, if anything, I needed to do with those excursions that are now for the wrong dates. I was told not to do anything and they would be fixed. Sure enough, one of them got fixed after a few weeks. The other one still hasn't been fixed so I called again today and they told me to cancel it and rebook for the correct date. When I went to do that, I discovered that my excursion is sold out and of course now I'll have to pay a higher price since the sale is long gone.

 

What has your experience been when this has happened?

Any chance that particular stop stayed the same day?

[aknguyen]

No, all stops changed dates. We had 2 sea days, port 1, port 2, port 3, then 1 sea day. Now it's the exact reverse.

 

ETA: When I look at my booked excursions page, it shows 2 excursions on the same day in 2 different ports. One is the one that they moved for me automatically and the other is the one that they told me to cancel (that I haven't messed with yet).

Edited April 18, 2019 by aknguyen
additional info

[aknguyen]

I got a reply that says they are trying to get approval to open up more spaces on the sold out excursion. How long should I wait? We sail June 8. I don't want everything else to sell out too.

[emoorehead]

You could always book something else and cancel it if everything works out for your original excursion.

[aknguyen]

38 minutes ago, emoorehead said:

You could always book something else and cancel it if everything works out for your original excursion.

 

Do you get a full refund?

[emoorehead]

It is my understanding that you do....but full disclosure, I have not cancelled a shore excursion. You could always call customer service and ask.

[Shaded Lady]

I have done exactly what emoorehead suggested when we were concerned about a Carnival excursion being cancelled- I booked an alternate, when the first excursion issue was resolved we cancelled the second one and got a full refund.

[aknguyen]

OK, thank you for the info!