How early can I book shore excursions?

[Petoonya]

Cruise May 17 Alaska and I'm overeager.

Thanks very much for your help 🙂

Edited September 9, 2019 by Petoonya

[casofilia]

As soon as they appear online.

If you have the $50 shorex perk then, DON'T book, phone the shorex desk in Miami and RESERVE.

[jlabs03]

I assume you are going to book with NCL. If you have the shorex credit call them and book as soon as they are posted.  Some of the better excursion do sell out and if you have the shorex you do not pay until the end of your cruise so you have nothing to lose.  You can also change your excursions up to 48 hours before (for most excursions).  If you are going to outside vendors or paying up front with NCL I would also book as soon as you are sure that is what you want to do.

[ggTexasGal]

1 minute ago, Petoonya said:

Cruise May 17 Alaska and I'm overeager.

Thanks very much for your help 🙂

When availability shows up ...but that could be anywhere from now until just before your cruise!

 

We have several cruises booked between now and March 2020!  Itineraries changed on each, AFTER we had booked a few available excursions, so those got canceled.  In each case, we still are waiting for appealing replacement excursions to show-up again! So, hang in there!

 

[cruisinmeme]

2 minutes ago, Petoonya said:

Cruise May 17 Alaska and I'm overeager.

Thanks very much for your help 🙂

 

Usually 120 days out from cruise.  If you want exact date. Click on your reservation.  When the list of excursions, shows and dinning shows.  It will say to early to book.  Click on it anyway and will give you the date.  I did that for a December 2019 cruise and marked  my date down. The very day it became available i booked my restaurants, shows and excursions.  I have two more cruises after that and the dates are written down and will do the same. 

Only a portion of things are offered online so i wanted to do asap. Now you may see more excursions once on ship.  You can cancel the one you do online (do it asap)

[casofilia]

@jlabs03

 

 If you have the shorex credit call them and book as soon as they are posted.

 

As I posted do NOT book, RESERVE.

[Petoonya]

4 minutes ago, casofilia said:

As soon as they appear online.

If you have the $50 shorex perk then, DON'T book, phone the shorex desk in Miami and RESERVE.

 

2 minutes ago, jlabs03 said:

I assume you are going to book with NCL

 

2 minutes ago, ggTexasGal said:

When availability shows up ...but that could be anywhere from now until just before your cruise!

No. Want to book them independently but want to know price difference. Thanks.

[Petoonya]

2 minutes ago, cruisinmeme said:

 

Usually 120 days out from cruise.  If you want exact date. Click on.....

 

2 minutes ago, casofilia said:

@jlabs03

 

 If you have the shorex credit call them and book as soon as they are posted.

 

As I posted do NOT book, RESERVE.

Nope. No shorex credit. But some OBC I might use. But mostly want to compare prices between the top of the line tours on Tripadvisor to NCL's.

[ggTexasGal]

11 minutes ago, Petoonya said:

 

Nope. No shorex credit. But some OBC I might use. But mostly want to compare prices between the top of the line tours on Tripadvisor to NCL's.

Have you tried the "generic" excursions search?  Excursion availability and Prices are subject to change, but this might help you!

https://www.ncl.com/shore-excursions

[Petoonya]

12 minutes ago, ggTexasGal said:

Have you tried the "generic" excursions search?  Excursion availability and Prices are subject to change, but this might help you!

https://www.ncl.com/shore-excursions

Oh, you are wonderful! This is exactly what I hoped to find. Thanks so much!!!!!

[Firepath]

8 hours ago, ggTexasGal said:

Have you tried the "generic" excursions search?  Excursion availability and Prices are subject to change, but this might help you!

https://www.ncl.com/shore-excursions

I love this!

[KeithJenner]

10 hours ago, cruisinmeme said:

 

Usually 120 days out from cruise.  If you want exact date. Click on your reservation.  When the list of excursions, shows and dinning shows.  It will say to early to book.  Click on it anyway and will give you the date.  I did that for a December 2019 cruise and marked  my date down. The very day it became available i booked my restaurants, shows and excursions.  I have two more cruises after that and the dates are written down and will do the same. 

Only a portion of things are offered online so i wanted to do asap. Now you may see more excursions once on ship.  You can cancel the one you do online (do it asap)

That advice is just about perfect for dining and entertainment, but doesn’t apply to excursions at all.

 

Excursions are listed when they are listed, which could be years out or just months out. As soon as they are listed they are available to book. There is no 120 day rule for them.

[pe4all]

4 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

Excursions are listed when they are listed, which could be years out or just months out. As soon as they are listed they are available to book. There is no 120 day rule for them.

This is very true.  We have booked excursions as far as 9 months to 1 year out.  Excursions are listed as soon as contracts are signed by the shore excursion providers.  If you see a very popular excursion you really, really want, I would book it asap.  You can always cancel within the penalty period if another comes up that you want more.  (we booked helicopter to Mendenhall Glacier/dog sled excursion 1 year out)

Edited September 10, 2019 by pe4all

[Greenpea2]

On 9/9/2019 at 4:02 PM, ggTexasGal said:

Have you tried the "generic" excursions search?  Excursion availability and Prices are subject to change, but this might help you!

https://www.ncl.com/shore-excursions

Thanks for this link! My excursions just started showing. For GSC, The villas show but not the cabanas yet. My CTC said they will open in a couple of weeks. Weird thing is, I was able to see them on this link but the small cabanas are more expensive than the large ones! How/why would that be??

[mapleleaves]

If you book independently, you may be able to reserve right now and at current prices.

There are hundreds of trip reports/photo journals listed at the top of the ALASKA forum ..... they are a great resource for sights, activities , and vendor names.  Plus reading the reports give you a better understanding of an activity or vendor, ie some people prefer a small boat ( under 12 pax) for whale watching whereas some people find those small boats too unstable for their motion sickness issues.