Shore Excursion cancellation fees

[sofietucker]

So I went online to cancel an excursion on Sept. 19th. Instead of being reimbursed $240, we were going to get $40 back. Figured it was a glitch, but over the course of several days, it stayed the same. Called HAL. Whoops, they said. You are within the cancellation schedule window that will only return 50% of your booking price. I pointed out that they were still keeping most of our money, not just 50%. She had no answer for that. We didn't cancel.

 

My question to y'all: is this cancellation schedule new, or have I simply been oblivious all these years? I always thought you had until 3 days before the actual shorex  to be fully refunded... When onboard, they gave you little daily warnings that for instance, if you were going on a tour on (3 days from now), you had until  midnight to cancel... (You could also add shorex at the last minute by dropping your paper signup form in their mailbox.) Am I remembering protocols on another cruise line altogether?

[sue1898]

From here on their website: https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/shore-excursions.html

[Crew News]

1 hour ago, sofietucker said:

So I went online to cancel an excursion on Sept. 19th. Instead of being reimbursed $240, we were going to get $40 back. Figured it was a glitch, but over the course of several days, it stayed the same. Called HAL. Whoops, they said. You are within the cancellation schedule window that will only return 50% of your booking price. I pointed out that they were still keeping most of our money, not just 50%. She had no answer for that. We didn't cancel.

 

My question to y'all: is this cancellation schedule new, or have I simply been oblivious all these years? I always thought you had until 3 days before the actual shorex  to be fully refunded... When onboard, they gave you little daily warnings that for instance, if you were going on a tour on (3 days from now), you had until  midnight to cancel... (You could also add shorex at the last minute by dropping your paper signup form in their mailbox.) Am I remembering protocols on another cruise line altogether?

I have cancelled many excursions just a few weeks before boarding and always received 100% refund within a few days. 

[Florida_gal_50]

Sometimes I wonder if hal does this to see if they can get away with it.  So shady!  I hope you get your money back.

[Mary229]

There are some excursions with a cancellation fee.  I have one that is non refundable once you click buy.  This is unusual but there are a few 

[oakridger]

Referring to what @Mary229 said, the only nonrefundable excursions I have seen in the past are the special ones that require chartering some sort of transportation or venue outside the normal type tours.  It was always clearly stated as such in the excursion descriptions.

 

~Nancy

Edited August 31, 2022 by oakridger

[Veenendaal6]

Did you purchased the excursions with your Have it All credit? In that case you will have an a credit of USD 100 pp in your account.