Rebooking shore excursions

[Lesliealbert]

We have received an OBC from our TA.  We have already booked our shore excursions.  Can we cancel the shore excursions when we get on the ship and rebook with our OBC?

[Loreto]

1 minute ago, Lesliealbert said:

We have received an OBC from our TA.  We have already booked our shore excursions.  Can we cancel the shore excursions when we get on the ship and rebook with our OBC?

Hi Lesliealbert,

Unless you received a huge amount of OBC from your TA it would probably not cover the cost of your already booked excursions.  You can cancel your excursions now before you sail and get a refund to your credit card (I have done this before) and then select your shore excursions once onboard.  If you wait until onboard you risk a cancellation fee, and a special excursion may be sold out. 

 

You will have other expenses onboard: the hotel service charge of up to $16pp per day depending on your stateroom category that you could use your OBC for to lessen your final bill.

 

Karen

[catl331]

If it's a popular excursion that has a waiting list you may not be able to rebook once you cancel, as you go to the bottom of the list. OBC from your TA should be refunded to you in cash if you don't use it all.

Edited August 1, 2019 by catl331

[Lesliealbert]

We have the beverage pkg. and free gratuities so don't need the OBC to cover those.  I would like to buy the Premium Internet pkg which is much cheaper if you buy it before boarding.  The OBC would help to cover the shore excursions we have purchased.  

[drowelf]

22 minutes ago, Lesliealbert said:

We have the beverage pkg. and free gratuities so don't need the OBC to cover those.  I would like to buy the Premium Internet pkg which is much cheaper if you buy it before boarding.  The OBC would help to cover the shore excursions we have purchased.  

As stated above, of course you can cancel our pre-purchased excursions and rebook onboard. The only caveat is that if the one(s) you want are sold out, you get waitlisted with the possibility of not getting it. 

[DaveOKC]

Sure wish HAL would let us use OBC to pre-book excursions!

 

[catl331]

28 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

Sure wish HAL would let us use OBC to pre-book excursions!

 

And get 3/4/5 star discounts on wine packages and specialty dinners when pre-booked!

[DrFUN]

2 minutes ago, catl331 said:

And get 3/4/5 star discounts on wine packages and specialty dinners when pre-booked!

 

Agreed! It's indeed confounding why HAL CAN'T figure out how to charge the correct amount per Mariner status on the dinners or packages--because HAL CAN (instantly) offer the correct special discounts on specific sailings (such as a discount for early booking of an EXC)--though it does get credited back to your onboard account.... ⁉️

[TAD2005]

Easy answer why HAL is hesitant to do this.  CASH !!!!

They want you to use your cash to buy as much as possible before your cruise, then use the OBC for much lower markup items.   That's why there's a $10 penalty per day if you wait to buy the SBP when you board the ship.  Many people do that, to use the HAL provided OBC.   To discourage that, they now charge $10 (plus 15% SC) extra to buy it onboard.   Same for the internet, which basically costs HAL next to nothing to provide.  They would rather you buy it online at a discount with your cash, instead of using OBC .   Same for shore excursions and specialty dinners.   So far they haven't put a surcharge on those if you purchase onboard, but there is the possibility that if you wait until you're onboard, you may be wait listed.   It's all about the money, no surprise there.