Question on Excursions

[Sweetpea711423]

Hi.  Does anyone know how far in advance one must cancel a Crystal excursion so that you are not charged for it?

 

Thanks

[ChatKat in Ca.]

usually the day prior

[ryndam]

22 minutes ago, Sweetpea711423 said:

Hi.  Does anyone know how far in advance one must cancel a Crystal excursion so that you are not charged for it?

 

Thanks

 

27 minutes ago, ChatKat in Ca. said:

usually the day prior

 

That may have been the protocol in the past. On our most recent cruise this past January, cancellation dates were 2-3 days prior to the excursion for virtually all ports. Some excursions required an even longer cancellation, in order not to assess a penalty.

 

Attached is a copy of the shore excursion form from our last cruise. The cancellation dates are noted on page two of the attachment.

 

Rob

CRYSTAL DESTINATION EXPERIENCES REGISTRATION FORM.pdf

[Sweetpea711423]

3 minutes ago, ryndam said:

 

 

That may have been the protocol in the past. On our most recent cruise this past January, cancellation dates were 2-3 days prior to the excursion for virtually all ports. Some excursions required an even longer cancellation, in order not to assess a penalty.

 

Attached is a copy of the shore excursion form from our last cruise. The cancellation dates are noted on page two of the attachment.

 

Rob

CRYSTAL DESTINATION EXPERIENCES REGISTRATION FORM.pdf 949.7 kB · 0 downloads

Thank you.  This was very helpful.  Is this "Registration Form" with this cancellation information available in the cabin when you board?  I didn't see this information when booking the excursions (unless I'm missing it somewhere).

[ryndam]

Just now, Sweetpea711423 said:

Thank you.  This was very helpful.  Is this "Registration Form" with this cancellation information available in the cabin when you board?  I didn't see this information when booking the excursions (unless I'm missing it somewhere).

It is in your cabin once you board. I do not believe, other than the tour description and the cost,  that this additional detailed information is available online, pre-boarding.

[Keith1010]

7 hours ago, Sweetpea711423 said:

Thank you.  This was very helpful.  Is this "Registration Form" with this cancellation information available in the cabin when you board?  I didn't see this information when booking the excursions (unless I'm missing it somewhere).

You and Rob are both correct.  For the excursions the cancellation information is not available until you board the ship.  The only exception would be for overlands or a few other special tours where they will provide some additional information on that.  

 

Keith

[Busy Mum]

• Good afternoon, I have a very quick question.  Firstly, we have not cruised with Crystal before, but we are very interested as their itineraries and their ships look wonderful.  Now, my question is: are the excursions included in the price? From what I am reading I do feel the answer is no.  Thank you for any assistance you can give me, and I do apologise for the 'silly question'.

 

Vicki. 🙂 

[Keith1010]

9 minutes ago, Busy Mum said:

• Good afternoon, I have a very quick question.  Firstly, we have not cruised with Crystal before, but we are very interested as their itineraries and their ships look wonderful.  Now, my question is: are the excursions included in the price? From what I am reading I do feel the answer is no.  Thank you for any assistance you can give me, and I do apologise for the 'silly question'.

 

Vicki. 🙂 

Vicki, you are correct. They are not included in the price.  120 days prior to the cruise you may book them. The cost is not charged to your Credit Card.  It will be charged to your on board account.  They allow for cancellations and the tickets you receive on board will reflect when the excursion must be cancelled by in order to avoid a charge.

 

There is no silly or dumb question.  The only one that fits that category is when someone does not ask.

 

I hope you give Crystal a try.  We enjoy it greatly.

 

Keith 

[Busy Mum]

2 minutes ago, Keith1010 said:

Vicki, you are correct. They are not included in the price.  120 days prior to the cruise you may book them. The cost is not charged to your Credit Card.  It will be charged to your on board account.  They allow for cancellations and the tickets you receive on board will reflect when the excursion must be cancelled by in order to avoid a charge.

 

There is no silly or dumb question.  The only one that fits that category is when someone does not ask.

 

I hope you give Crystal a try.  We enjoy it greatly.

 

Keith 

Hi Keith. Firstly, thank you so very much for your quick and detailed reply, it's very much appreciated. I am very pleased that the tours are not charged to your Credit Card before we get onboard and allows for cancellations, if that is needed.

 

Yes, Crystal does look wonderful, now to look further into their itineraries, fingers crossed!  Keith, do you know when Crystal will release their 2026 itineraries? I do see the 2026 World Cruise has been released but nothing else in 2026.

 

Thanks again, Vicki. 🙂 

[Keith1010]

1 hour ago, Busy Mum said:

Hi Keith. Firstly, thank you so very much for your quick and detailed reply, it's very much appreciated. I am very pleased that the tours are not charged to your Credit Card before we get onboard and allows for cancellations, if that is needed.

 

Yes, Crystal does look wonderful, now to look further into their itineraries, fingers crossed!  Keith, do you know when Crystal will release their 2026 itineraries? I do see the 2026 World Cruise has been released but nothing else in 2026.

 

Thanks again, Vicki. 🙂 

Vicki, you are very welcome.

 

I am not sure when they will be released.  I saw a post either here or somewhere else where someone said they were told they were coming sometime soon I haven't seen or heard any additional specifics.  When they are released I am not sure if they will all be released at once or if we will see the first half of 2026 released followed by the second half.  I would just keep checking the Crystal website and you might also want to sign up for their e-mails.

 

Keith

[litigator]

I am booked on an Alaskan cruise with my children and grandchildren and the first day we were allowed to book shore excursions almost everything is listed as waitlisted and nothing was confirmed. This is really a very poor job by Crystal. We weren’t even given access to the excursion prices until 120 days prior to the cruise even though the prices had to be set well before that time. As a cruise line that emphasizes customer service and one that I have cruised on over 20 times there is no excuse. Why go to Alaska on Crystal if you can’t even get on an excursion?

Daniel

[Treasure Hunter]

Someone said that waitlist doesn’t mean what we usually think and that they can be booked. I don’t have my Symphony cruise until September. I hope this is true.

[barcrab]

We had no issue booking excursions once final payment was made at 120 days.They were confirmed online. Of course, as all cruise lines today, that does not mean they will not be modified or cancelled. Seems odd they are listed as waitlist. I would call Crystal and make sure not some kind of computer glitch. They will check it out. 
 

[litigator]

I have been in contact with Crystal for 2 days and so far all I got was the runaround and no answers or satisfaction.

Daniel

[Keith1010]

1 hour ago, litigator said:

I am booked on an Alaskan cruise with my children and grandchildren and the first day we were allowed to book shore excursions almost everything is listed as waitlisted and nothing was confirmed. This is really a very poor job by Crystal. We weren’t even given access to the excursion prices until 120 days prior to the cruise even though the prices had to be set well before that time. As a cruise line that emphasizes customer service and one that I have cruised on over 20 times there is no excuse. Why go to Alaska on Crystal if you can’t even get on an excursion?

Daniel

My guess and I think I am right is there was a system problem so just keep checking and I suspect you will be able to book excursions.

 

Keith 

[moto_italia]

I booked two excursions a couple of weeks ago (on the 120th day) for a Serenity July cruise. It showed me a button "Join the Waitlist". Once I clicked on it, it processed it all the way through to "Booked", and thus the excursions show up on my calendar as "Booked" items along with my dinner reservations.  I agree that the 'Join the Waitlist' is confusing, but it appears their app is set up to process your excursion request through a waitlist, yet fully book you immediately if the excursion is not sold out.

[Jimmycruiser]

22 hours ago, litigator said:

I have been in contact with Crystal for 2 days and so far all I got was the runaround and no answers or satisfaction.

Daniel

I had no problem on the 119th day before sailing to book excursions. Prices were clearly listed. Yes the “join the waitlist” button is misleading but when I clicked on it, it immediately booked me and the reservation was listed on my Calendar.
 

Since we are on a B2B it would not let me book the second leg, but then I realized the second leg was more than 120 days out.

 

Since nobody can book an excursion prior to 120 days that makes it fair to wait until final payment IMHO.