Excursions - Minimal Options

[PMGS247]

Someone pointed this out in my roll call and I agree. Curious how widespread this issue is.  Apologies if I've managed to not find other discussions on the topic, I did a cursory search and didn't find much. 

 

Slated for 5/14 voyage on Symphony to Coco Cay, Cozumel, Roatan, Costa Maya.

 

Less than 4 months until the cruise and aside from Coco Cay, there is virtually nothing posted in the planner for excursions.  By port, # options: 3 Roatan, 1 Costa Maya (Dolphin Encounter), and the biggest shock to me - ZERO Cozumel options.

 

I'm well aware of the 3rd party options and that's probably the route I'll go, so it's not a deal breaker or anything, but sometimes I like to opt for the cruise options.  This is my first Royal Cruise so maybe it's entirely normal and one should just basically expect to go 3rd party, but seems odd to be this minimal....even in the Covid era.  I just got off another cruise with another cruise line and while the options were less plentiful than pre-covid, it was nothing like this and they were posted well before 4 months out.

 

Just curious how out of the ordinary this is, if at all...maybe it's normal for these things to be posted in the last couple months.  I get that on board reservations would be more last minute, but wouldn't expect it on excursions.  Would have expected to see them posted before we even knew the word Omicron 😄

Edited January 24, 2022 by PMGS247
typo

[firefly333]

I've mentioned it in a couple of threads. Still dont know. 

 

Sept 9/11 and sept 9/18 great sale last week. 9/18 2 excursions. ..maybe caymans is still iffy for sept, but not a huge selection for sept 11 either. I'd like to do the zoo I saw pre covid and some others. I think one offered for cozumel..

 

I'm cruising next sunday and the selection isnt good. 

[klfrodo]

Well,,,, in the midst of a world wide pandemic, it's very possible that the cruise lines and the vendors in each specific country are unable to predict the future for the next 4 months.

Are vendors still in business?

Do the vendors still have live employees?

Have each and every individual country figured out how or if to deal with tourism?

 

There are still a ton of open ended questions to be figured out.

 

Is this normal? It's the new normal for now.

Was this normal pre-pandemic? No

[gdwest]

Our Harmony cruise of March 27, 2022 visiting St. Thomas and St. Maarten show very few

excursions.  I try to check everyday in case new ones are offered.  

[hollon]

1 hour ago, PMGS247 said:

Someone pointed this out in my roll call and I agree. Curious how widespread this issue is.  Apologies if I've managed to not find other discussions on the topic, I did a cursory search and didn't find much. 

 

Slated for 5/14 voyage on Symphony to Coco Cay, Cozumel, Roatan, Costa Maya.

 

Less than 4 months until the cruise and aside from Coco Cay, there is virtually nothing posted in the planner for excursions.  By port, # options: 3 Roatan, 1 Costa Maya (Dolphin Encounter), and the biggest shock to me - ZERO Cozumel options.

 

I'm well aware of the 3rd party options and that's probably the route I'll go, so it's not a deal breaker or anything, but sometimes I like to opt for the cruise options.  This is my first Royal Cruise so maybe it's entirely normal and one should just basically expect to go 3rd party, but seems odd to be this minimal....even in the Covid era.  I just got off another cruise with another cruise line and while the options were less plentiful than pre-covid, it was nothing like this and they were posted well before 4 months out.

 

Just curious how out of the ordinary this is, if at all...maybe it's normal for these things to be posted in the last couple months.  I get that on board reservations would be more last minute, but wouldn't expect it on excursions.  Would have expected to see them posted before we even knew the word Omicron 😄

I'm going on Symphony in May and yes, I've noticed the excursion are really lacking.  I may have to find something on viator and hope for the best.

[hollon]

26 minutes ago, gdwest said:

Our Harmony cruise of March 27, 2022 visiting St. Thomas and St. Maarten show very few

excursions.  I try to check everyday in case new ones are offered.  

Me as well Eastern Caribbean - not much

[cpa09]

I'm also on Symphony sailing in August 2022 and noticed very few excursions on the cruise planner.  It is unusual and we are in unusual times as well.  Hopefully the number of excursion offerings will increase by the spring.  If not, then we will go through a third-party.  Not a deal breaker for us.  

[gsalbato]

Our 6/25 Symphony cruise actually has quite a few in Roatan, Costa Maya and Cozumel. Most of them popped up a couple months ago, but for awhile it was pretty bleak.

[MichaelCMTX]

Our 13-nighter in April has 7 ports.  We're just resigned that excursions may need to be booked onboard, and even then some of the ports are a crapshoot.

Sure, the excursions may be on the cruise planner, but... 

[LeeW]

The April 23 cruise has 30 Costa Maya, 31 Roatan and 45 Cozumel excursions available (a few are sold out).  

[JasperCruiser]

I've noticed the same thing for our Harmony Eastern at the end of May. Even the Coco Cay options are sparse... which was surprising to me. I wonder if the omicron variant surge is causing royal to put the breaks on future booking for now. But whatever the reason, I've never seen it like this before. 

[smokeykat]

We are on Oasis in August. Nothing is up for Puerto Rico. St. Maarten has excursions listed and we bought one during a sale and then we have Labadee as a stop. I am fine with whatever we do. You need to be ready for any change and that is the attitude you have to have 😀

[escapesnow]

A friend shared that several new excursion options popped up on her planner just 3 days before the cruise set sail. Specifically, she mentioned that the bird aviary / sanctuary in Costa Maya was one of them (that's the one I'm looking for when I sail on Feb 6 so I paid attention). Not great for planning, but perhaps there's hope that more will come.

[vacationlover_mn]

5 hours ago, PMGS247 said:

Someone pointed this out in my roll call and I agree. Curious how widespread this issue is.  Apologies if I've managed to not find other discussions on the topic, I did a cursory search and didn't find much. 

 

Slated for 5/14 voyage on Symphony to Coco Cay, Cozumel, Roatan, Costa Maya.

 

Less than 4 months until the cruise and aside from Coco Cay, there is virtually nothing posted in the planner for excursions.  By port, # options: 3 Roatan, 1 Costa Maya (Dolphin Encounter), and the biggest shock to me - ZERO Cozumel options.

 

I'm well aware of the 3rd party options and that's probably the route I'll go, so it's not a deal breaker or anything, but sometimes I like to opt for the cruise options.  This is my first Royal Cruise so maybe it's entirely normal and one should just basically expect to go 3rd party, but seems odd to be this minimal....even in the Covid era.  I just got off another cruise with another cruise line and while the options were less plentiful than pre-covid, it was nothing like this and they were posted well before 4 months out.

 

Just curious how out of the ordinary this is, if at all...maybe it's normal for these things to be posted in the last couple months.  I get that on board reservations would be more last minute, but wouldn't expect it on excursions.  Would have expected to see them posted before we even knew the word Omicron 😄

My Feb 6 Roatan cruise didn’t start showing many excursions until maybe 2 weeks ago? 😞

[Vlgg731]

We really enjoyed Maya Chan in Costa Maya.  It was a very relaxing day with excellent food and lots to drink.  Would love to go again.

[pcur]

I think it has a lot to do with RCCL's stricter COVID protocols, and the vendors have to tow the line.  I also agree they may be seriously short-staffed.

[chill6x6]

I agree there used to be a LOT more ships excursions...   But once you knock down the number of passengers on each ship going to each port...probably about 50% of normal amount of excursions would be about right. Then figure that many of the excursion operators just didn't financially make it thru two years of covid. BUT...I've seen ships add excursions as excursions are sold out many times. 

So  looking at my Eastern Caribbean on Oasis for March 27 coming up. 11 excursions for each St Thomas and St Maarten.  Of course there are plenty for Coco Cay.  For both St Thomas AND St Maarten I have private excursions booked. I DID make sure I would be issued a FULL refund in case of having to skip either port.  

You know...your itinerary is usually a pretty private excursion friendly itinerary.  Cozumel should be easy to go to one of the beach clubs....Costa Maya I'd either do Maya Chan or go to the malecon at Mahahual. Roatan...Victor Bodden is good...Rony's Tours is good too...  I wouldn't worry about ships excursions anywhere other than Coco Cay..

 

[PMGS247]

Appreciate all the insight.  sounds like most of us are in a similar boat.  Not a deal breaker, just curious whether to expect the options to continue to grow.  My past cruising experience has been entirely on princess, where generally the excursions are available 6+ months in advance and basically never change.  You would basically never see new options added this late.  This includes a post-covid cruise just a few weeks ago. Played out the same way.  Having said that, I'm noticing Royal's cruise planner is a lot more fluid in general....prices, on-board reservation availability, and apparently excursions as well.  I'm good with it, just different.  Especially for this cruise going on an Oasis class, I'm doing this primarily for the ship, not the ports...so I'm going to be pretty flexible.