Excursions

[nmguy27]

New to Princess.  Just signed up for a future cruise. Does Princess ever sale its excursions?

[Rick&Jeannie]

I have never seen it done...not saying they never do!

[nmguy27]

Our cruise is 2 years out. Do they increase prices? Not sure when to book & pay. Never booked this far out but it's been selling quickly. Thanks! Happy holidays!!

[mtnesterz]

The tour operators are independent, Princess only takes a cut. Not for them to offer a sale.

You may however during your cruise, buy a Future Cruise Deposit. (FCD) Depending on which type of cabin and length of cruise, this will increase the amount of On Board Credit (OBC) for your next cruise. That amount could be used towards excursions, or anything else onboard.

[Rick&Jeannie]

7 minutes ago, mtnesterz said:

The tour operators are independent, Princess only takes a cut. Not for them to offer a sale.

You may however during your cruise, buy a Future Cruise Deposit. (FCD) Depending on which type of cabin and length of cruise, this will increase the amount of On Board Credit (OBC) for your next cruise. That amount could be used towards excursions, or anything else onboard.

The key point that *might* trip up some people is that purchase of  FCD only applies to a *future* cruise...not the current cruise. You did mention that but some people may gloss over that fact.

[Rick&Jeannie]

10 minutes ago, nmguy27 said:

Our cruise is 2 years out. Do they increase prices? Not sure when to book & pay. Never booked this far out but it's been selling quickly. Thanks! Happy holidays!!

I have seen a few instances where excursion prices have gone up...usually closer to sailing and if it appears to be filling up. If there is something that you *really* want to do...just book it.

[mtnesterz]

1 minute ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

The key point that *might* trip up some people is that purchase of  FCD only applies to a *future* cruise...not the current cruise. You did mention that but some people may gloss over that fact.

Yes, I have received flame responses and questions about what I stated and it either didn't get read, or at least understood. I try to be helpful without being pedantic and I know you do too. Merry Christmas!

[PurpleTraveller]

In ten years I have never seen a sale on Princess excursions. I have seen the prices of some excursions go up including some of the ones I was looking at for my September 2025 cruise to Iceland. 

[nmguy27]

4 minutes ago, PurpleTraveller said:

In ten years I have never seen a sale on Princess excursions. I have seen the prices of some excursions go up including some of the ones I was looking at for my September 2025 cruise to Iceland. 

Thanks. I just feel silly buying March 2026 excursions this early!

[PurpleTraveller]

Just now, nmguy27 said:

Thanks. I just feel silly buying March 2026 excursions this early!

 

I completely understand as I didn't want to buy September 2025 excursions so early. I was surprised when they went up so far before the cruise. I still haven't bought mine even after seeing three of the ones I was interested in go up USD15.00 per person. I might buy one at a time but it still seems really early to buy them.

 

[beg3yrs]

5 minutes ago, nmguy27 said:

Thanks. I just feel silly buying March 2026 excursions this early!

I don't blame you at all. However I've done just that, especially if I already have some on board credit (OBC) from a promotion, a travel agent gift, military service credit or shareholder's credit.

 

Knowing you're new to Princess, I think you might not be aware of the last two sources of OBC. If you're active duty, retired or honorably discharged from the US or Canadian military, Princess will give you I believe $250 of OBC as thanks. That OBC can be used for excursions or whatever.

 

If you own at least 100 shares of Carnival Cruise Corporation stock (symbol CCL), you can get shareholder's credit with the amount depending on the length of your cruise.

 

Search this forum for much more detailed information on these credits.

[nmguy27]

1 minute ago, PurpleTraveller said:

 

I completely understand as I didn't want to buy September 2025 excursions so early. I was surprised when they went up so far before the cruise. I still haven't bought mine even after seeing three of the ones I was interested in go up USD15.00 per person. I might buy one at a time but it still seems really early to buy them.

 

Well, since they are refundable,  I may book a couple of the essentials.  On Celebrity,  they'll do a 45% sale on holidays, which can really add up!

[nmguy27]

1 minute ago, beg3yrs said:

I don't blame you at all. However I've done just that, especially if I already have some on board credit (OBC) from a promotion, a travel agent gift, military service credit or shareholder's credit.

 

Knowing you're new to Princess, I think you might not be aware of the last two sources of OBC. If you're active duty, retired or honorably discharged from the US or Canadian military, Princess will give you I believe $250 of OBC as thanks. That OBC can be used for excursions or whatever.

 

If you own at least 100 shares of Carnival Cruise Corporation stock (symbol CCL), you can get shareholder's credit with the amount depending on the length of your cruise.

 

Search this forum for much more detailed information on these credits.

Thanks. I had heard of it. We get credit for NCL shares.

[CATGUY7]

1 hour ago, nmguy27 said:

Thanks. I just feel silly buying March 2026 excursions this early!

It’s best to go ahead and book when they are available.  You can always cancel.  Some sell out, and one that we booked increased by $100.00.  

[PurpleTraveller]

2 hours ago, nmguy27 said:

Well, since they are refundable,  I may book a couple of the essentials.  On Celebrity,  they'll do a 45% sale on holidays, which can really add up!

 

With Princess even though they are refundable I have to take into consideration the currency exchange between USD and AUD. For my Alaska cruise last June I lost AUD120.00 in currency exchange when I cancelled and rebooked my cruise to get a better fare and all my booked excursions were cancelled and refunded. Then the excursions were all USD20.00 per person more expensive when I rebooked them. Luckily the saving from the better fare was more than the exchange loss and higher prices. That's why I am reluctant to buy the excursions so early if I'm using my money but I think I'll have to for the popular ones. If I use OBC I don't have to worry about exchange rates as my OBC is in USD.

 

I booked a heap of excursions for my two Celebrity cruises next June at 45% off and one at 50% off which saved me a huge amount. Also Celebrity charges me in AUD so if I cancel an excursion I get refunded the exact amount I paid with no exchange rate losses.

 

Edited December 26, 2023 by PurpleTraveller

[paradiselivin1]

2 hours ago, nmguy27 said:

On Celebrity,  they'll do a 45% sale on holidays, which can really add up!

Just got 50% off on some of ours for a March cruise. 😁

[SargassoPirate]

11 hours ago, PurpleTraveller said:

 

With Princess even though they are refundable I have to take into consideration the currency exchange between USD and AUD. For my Alaska cruise last June I lost AUD120.00 in currency exchange when I cancelled and rebooked my cruise to get a better fare and all my booked excursions were cancelled and refunded. Then the excursions were all USD20.00 per person more expensive when I rebooked them. Luckily the saving from the better fare was more than the exchange loss and higher prices. That's why I am reluctant to buy the excursions so early if I'm using my money but I think I'll have to for the popular ones. If I use OBC I don't have to worry about exchange rates as my OBC is in USD.

 

I booked a heap of excursions for my two Celebrity cruises next June at 45% off and one at 50% off which saved me a huge amount. Also Celebrity charges me in AUD so if I cancel an excursion I get refunded the exact amount I paid with no exchange rate losses.

 

We generally avoid cruise line excursions and book mostly though shoreexcursionsgroup.com and tourbylocals.com.

 

Shore Excursions Group offers many of the same tours that the ship does without the $hip taking a cut, and they have a return to the ship guarantee.

 

Tours By Locals will take you place the big tours don't.  The big tours go where the buses can park.

 

Some of our best port days have been when we researched the port information with whatsinport.com, and just wandered around the port city on our own.

 

 

[JF - retired RRT]

16 hours ago, beg3yrs said:

Knowing you're new to Princess, I think you might not be aware of the last two sources of OBC. If you're active duty, retired or honorably discharged from the US or Canadian military, Princess will give you I believe $250 of OBC as thanks. That OBC can be used for excursions or whatever.

 

If you own at least 100 shares of Carnival Cruise Corporation stock (symbol CCL), you can get shareholder's credit with the amount depending on the length of your cruise.

That should be UP TO $250.

Shares and Military get the same amounts.

6 days or less = $50

7-13 days = $100

14+ days = $250

[DCThunder]

3 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

We generally avoid cruise line excursions and book mostly though shoreexcursionsgroup.com and tourbylocals.com.

 

Shore Excursions Group offers many of the same tours that the ship does without the $hip taking a cut, and they have a return to the ship guarantee.

 

Tours By Locals will take you place the big tours don't.  The big tours go where the buses can park.

 

Some of our best port days have been when we researched the port information with whatsinport.com, and just wandered around the port city on our own.

 

 

Two of the best excursions I've ever been on have been through Tours By Locals.  I recently did a B2B with a turnaround day in Civitavecchia.  I booked a small group tour of the Etruscan country with TBL.  there were five of us on the tour, led by a Finnish-Italian woman who'd lived in Italy for 30 years, spoke fluent Italian, Finnish, and Dutch and was an opera singer/producer to boot. She took us all over the Etruscan countryside and ended with her husband making us lunch in their villa in Tarquinia followed by a visit to the small outdoor theatre they'd built to hold opera performances and got us back to the ship well before sailing time.  It was a magical day and not something that would ever be possible on a ship tour. 

 

So my advice is don't immediately jump into booking ship tours without doing some searching for other excursion options.  Check out Viator, Trip Advisor, TBL, Shore Excursions Group among others.  You'll find better excursions for less money than being herded along by a ship guide. None of these companies are going to strand passengers at the port, so ignore all the scare warnings about behind left behind designed to get you to book a ship tour.

 

Check out the Roll Call for the cruise and you'd be surprised at the number of people who've booked a tour for 10 (let's say) and need others to join the tour.  

[PurpleTraveller]

8 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

We generally avoid cruise line excursions and book mostly though shoreexcursionsgroup.com and tourbylocals.com.

 

Shore Excursions Group offers many of the same tours that the ship does without the $hip taking a cut, and they have a return to the ship guarantee.

 

Tours By Locals will take you place the big tours don't.  The big tours go where the buses can park.

 

Some of our best port days have been when we researched the port information with whatsinport.com, and just wandered around the port city on our own.

 

 

 

We prefer to DIY whenever we can too but have also done a number of wonderful private tours. We tend to do ship shore excursions when we have lots of OBC or there is not a lot of choice of private excursions that I am interested in or if they are on a big sale with Celebrity. I haven't used Shore Excursions Group before so will check them for tours in Iceland. Thanks.

 

Edited December 26, 2023 by PurpleTraveller