Shore Excursion question

[Sunchaser46]

Along with our booking for next year, we have $200 pp shore excursion. Can book shore excursions and use that money before the start of our cruise? Same question with specialty dining - we have a Pinnacle and Tamarind dinner with our booking - can we book those before our cruise date?  Thank you!

[Florida_gal_50]

Yes you can and the sooner the better.  That said, sometimes these things aren't available until closer into the cruise.

[Sunchaser46]

Thank you! We go March, 2024, so maybe too soon?

[Cruise Suzy]

16 minutes ago, Sunchaser46 said:

Thank you! We go March, 2024, so maybe too soon?

Yes. Right now there is just a note to check back later. Lately, the ability to book shore excursions and dining has appeared about 4 months before the cruise. But check every so often. Some slots fill quickly.

[Sunchaser46]

13 minutes ago, Cruise Suzy said:

Yes. Right now there is just a note to check back later. Lately, the ability to book shore excursions and dining has appeared about 4 months before the cruise. But check every so often. Some slots fill quickly.

Thank you!

[boeckli]

I have a cruise booked for Feb 2024 and was able to book shore excursions but not specialty dining yet. I suggest log in and try 🙂

[Cruise Suzy]

Still no reservations possible for excursions or dining for our November 18, 2023 cruise. Our February 24, 2024 cruise did have excursions for Cozumel listed since December, but even those have disappeared in the last week.

[PaperSniper4]

Anyone have experience using their RCI OBC "excursion credit" for anything other than excursions? On our recent Princess cruise we had a $200 "shore excursion" credit which we used to purchase items in the ship's store. I hope RCI does things the same way as we rarely take excursions.

 

 Doug

[Cruise Suzy]

7 minutes ago, PaperSniper4 said:

Anyone have experience using their RCI OBC "excursion credit" for anything other than excursions? On our recent Princess cruise we had a $200 "shore excursion" credit which we used to purchase items in the ship's store. I hope RCI does things the same way as we rarely take excursions.

 

Did you accidentally post on the wrong forum? If you are asking about HAL's HIA shore excursion credits: you cannot use them for anything but shore excursions.

[PaperSniper4]

1 hour ago, Cruise Suzy said:

 

Did you accidentally post on the wrong forum? If you are asking about HAL's HIA shore excursion credits: you cannot use them for anything but shore excursions.

Yes, meant to type HAL not RCI. I'm hoping your experience with the shore excursion OBC is not universal. On a recent Princess cruise I heard as you stated by several people, but also that the excursion OBC could be used for other things. We were fortunate that we could use the Princess excursion credit for specialty dining and ship store items instead as we took no excursions. Since CCL owns both HAL and Princess I was hoping to use any "excursion credit" for something other than an excursion.

 

 Doug

[AnnieBelle]

Im doing a 21-day Southern Caribbean cruise in November 2023 with a partial canal transit. The only ports that have opened excursions are Cartagena, Panama Canal, and Costa Rica. We purchased an excursion at each of these ports and used our $300 excursion credits. We’re not big drinkers but do have a few sea days. The HIA is worth it for us. We also have 4 nights of specialty dining.

[lavictoria]

23 hours ago, Sunchaser46 said:

Along with our booking for next year, we have $200 pp shore excursion. Can book shore excursions and use that money before the start of our cruise? Same question with specialty dining - we have a Pinnacle and Tamarind dinner with our booking - can we book those before our cruise date?  Thank you!

I checked weekly after booking and reserved as soon as I was able. With HIA, some pax are finding it more difficult that previously to get their preferred time at specialty restaurants so book as soon as you can.

 

For shore excursions - I booked some as early as 8 months out. In a couple of cases something more interesting was added later (or a better time was added) so I cancelled and the HIA shore excursion credit immediately popped back up so I could use again it right away. In other cases the price increased as we got closer to sailing... in one case 50% increase from what I "paid" with my credit. So book ASAP!

If you book an excursion that only uses part of the credit the remainder will be applied to another that you are paying the balance on with your credit card.

[Mary229]

There seems to be a lot of late releases of shore excursions these days.  My October 1 cruise still has only a single excursion listed.  I will be soon booking private excursions.  My 2024 cruises have very limited excursions so far. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

15 hours ago, boeckli said:

I have a cruise booked for Feb 2024 and was able to book shore excursions but not specialty dining yet. I suggest log in and try 🙂

 

I have a cruise booked for Feb 2024 and neither shore excursions nor specialty restaurants are available yet. That's HAL, consistently inconsistent.

 

7 hours ago, PaperSniper4 said:

Yes, meant to type HAL not RCI. I'm hoping your experience with the shore excursion OBC is not universal. On a recent Princess cruise I heard as you stated by several people, but also that the excursion OBC could be used for other things. We were fortunate that we could use the Princess excursion credit for specialty dining and ship store items instead as we took no excursions. Since CCL owns both HAL and Princess I was hoping to use any "excursion credit" for something other than an excursion.

 

 Doug

 

No, the HIA excursion credit is for excursions only. HAL cancelled an excursion I had on my recent cruise, and there wasn't anything else I wanted to book. The leftover shorex credit did not become available for anything else. 

[terrydtx]

The bulk of the shore excursions for our Nov 4 K'Dam cruise was released yesterday and I was able to use our HIA credit to book one today.  Still too far out I guess to book the specialty restaurants with the HIA credit.

[PaperSniper4]

13 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

I have a cruise booked for Feb 2024 and neither shore excursions nor specialty restaurants are available yet. That's HAL, consistently inconsistent.

 

 

No, the HIA excursion credit is for excursions only. HAL cancelled an excursion I had on my recent cruise, and there wasn't anything else I wanted to book. The leftover shorex credit did not become available for anything else. 

Thanks, that is good to know. I wonder if that is the case on all ships.