Shore excursions sold out eight months in advance?

[FolsomMike]

We are cruising Japan next May and I see that many excursions are already showing as sold out. What are the chances that Celebrity will add more excursion availability in the coming months?

[cruisestitch]

No one knows, sorry

 

 

[shipmate13]

We are cruising with 3 other couples next July to Japan on Solstice and saw 45% off excursions. We all booked our excursions at the same time with a deal like that.  Maybe that has something to do with your cruise also.  I had 8 excursions booked on another Celebrity this November to Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam in which I booked excursions several months ago. When the discount went to 45% off this past week, I cancelled everyone of the excursions we had for Singapore trip, had money refunded and booked the same excursion all over again saving me alot of money. 

[shipmate13]

Sorry I meant to say on the Celebrity Millennium not the Solstice next July.  

[Chardonnay Char]

Sometimes -- if you use a big-company travel agent -- the travel company also sponsors its own excursions.  I recently booked one through our TA for Hawaii in a couple weeks.  The Celebrity ones were already sold out.  

[doghog]

On 9/7/2023 at 4:48 PM, FolsomMike said:

We are cruising Japan next May and I see that many excursions are already showing as sold out. What are the chances that Celebrity will add more excursion availability in the coming months?

Keep checking your CP. Also once on board stop by the shore excursion desk to see if the excursion you are interested in is available.

[hmorrow]

19 hours ago, shipmate13 said:

We are cruising with 3 other couples next July to Japan on Solstice and saw 45% off excursions. We all booked our excursions at the same time with a deal like that.  Maybe that has something to do with your cruise also.  I had 8 excursions booked on another Celebrity this November to Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam in which I booked excursions several months ago. When the discount went to 45% off this past week, I cancelled everyone of the excursions we had for Singapore trip, had money refunded and booked the same excursion all over again saving me alot of money. 

I saved over $500 on their sale. Finally! A REAL SALE!  Booked additional items for the same price I originally spent.

[robsmom]

Multiple excursions were sold out for my cruise next May when I first booked it in Late July.   Very surprising.  I was able to take advantage of the sale and saved about $500, but there was one that I had booked that I couldn’t save on because it was sold out now.   I do hope that they add some more excursions and I am also starting to research other excursion options because I have booked a few that I am not that excited about.   

[hawkesbaynz]

We are on the Millennium in April to Japan. April 9th cruise. I have booked tours through Tours4locals.com & Gowithguide.com. If you are independent minded it is cheaper and only 6-10 people to share with. I did do a Celebrity tours (Aomori as little on offer independent). 
 

I have read all the Millenium RCs for info on Japan. Research is the key. Some well informed people on there. 

 

Did the same for Solstice in November too. 

[foodsvcmgr]

Most excursions on my upcoming Eclipse South America cruise for January showed sold out five months ago.

Then about six weeks ago, additional times were added and most suddenly became available.

So I’m assuming if early demand is strong extra capacity will be added when and where possible.

[NMTraveller]

I had one or two excursions added to my cruise.  I always book early.

[Suzi66]

8 hours ago, hmorrow said:

I saved over $500 on their sale. Finally! A REAL SALE!  Booked additional items for the same price I originally spent.

I did the same.  Added a couple more excursions and upgrade our wifi and still came out way in front.

[Boatharbour]

8 hours ago, hmorrow said:

I saved over $500 on their sale. Finally! A REAL SALE!  Booked additional items for the same price I originally spent.

It may be a real sale with Celebrity but their excursion prices can be over the top. 

 

I was looking at a NZ excursion that was more than  AU$800 with Celebrity. While searching for alternatives I found exactly the same tour listed with several other cruise lines for less than AU$400. 
When the recent sale was on, the price jumped to over AU$900 with the reduced price still more than other lines. 

[chemmo]

In our experience tours by coach or minibus are often listed sold out then reappear. I assume they initially book x coaches then add more depending on uptake. It is tours using sea planes, specific types of boats etc that seem to go and then rarely come back up. Understandable, there are finite number of these resources. Still worth checking as if people cancel then limited places will reappear.

 

On 9/7/2023 at 11:48 PM, FolsomMike said:

We are cruising Japan next May and I see that many excursions are already showing as sold out. What are the chances that Celebrity will add more excursion availability in the coming months?

 

It might be worth looking at the roll call for your cruise and seeing what tours others have arranged and companies they would recommend. Some may be booking tours that have spaces on them you could join. If you are reluctant to book independently going through a roll call can be a great idea as many who do the arrangements are really well travelled and very experienced.

Edited September 11, 2023 by chemmo

[keysey222]

The 45% off sale for shore excursions was a solid deal and I suspect that's why so many are sold out. I noticed some are sold out for our South America cruise next April. If you're comfortable going on a non-ship tour, check out shoreexcursions.asia. They have lots of Japan excursions. 

[DCPIV]

We have a cruise that sails in about 13 months, and some excursions are sold out. Yeah, I think that sale did a number on inventory. 

 

As for whether they add more, that's been pretty well covered. 

[NMTraveller]

I have found that some of the small group excursions tend to sell out fast.