Is it crazy to book an excursion a year out?

[MudderBear]

I learned a good lesson on my upcoming Barcelona to Rome cruise this year.  Book your excursions early.  I was lucky as I grabbed two in Italy months ago, and now had a hard time booking for Gibralter and Marsailles.

 

Anyway, with that in mind, we are sailing Princess in Alaska summer of 2025.  This will be a repeat cruise.  I'd like to book that special boat in Hubbards' Glacier ($299 pp YIKES!!!) now before we get locked out of that.  Its the boat that takes you as far as it can go right up close.  And yes, I've done the cruise before, but stayed on our ship and envied those that did the excursion.

 

Am I crazy to book over a year in advance?  My full payment isn't even due until next March 2025.  What do ya'll think?

 

Thanks.

 

 

[karatemom2]

No, you are NOT crazy. Book it now and lock it in if this is something important to you. That excursion will most definitely sell out and will be limited in space. The chance to take a small boat up close to the glacier is far and away superior to viewing it from the distance of the ship. We have done similar excursions twice in Tracy Arm Fjord and they were amazing. Last time we waited too long and the excursion through the ship was full, and it was not an excursion we were able to book privately.

 

It may seem pricey now - but given the recent trend, as the sailing date draws near, excursion prices seem to be going up and popular tours like this WILL sell out. So book now to be sure you have a space reserved - you can always cancel for a refund if you change your mind for any reason.

Edited March 25 by karatemom2

[Cruisemeister2002]

I am booked on Sky Princess for September and although not as long to go as yourself have just booked my third excursion which is a coach tour and stop off in Times Square at night for fear of missing out. I also have a couple of other excursions I want to do but have other expenses to look after including the cruise balance so I'm juggling the costs as I go along. 

[Senga]

If this is a Princess excursion you can always cancel if something better comes up.  Is there a roll call for your cruise?  In Gibraltar we did a small group tour with Gibraltar Rock tours by John Lopez that a fellow cruiser organized and it was AMAZING!  

[Wishing on a star]

I would want to know I had my spot booked on that one.

There is a chance this one can fill up!

If you are booking thru Princess, and they have it available...  go ahead and go for it !

I am sure that you could cancel if you did need to for some reason. 

Don't worry about what 'sounds' crazy!!!!!    Own it !!!   🙂

[LACruiser88]

It is never too early if they are available to book.

[Sea Hag]

38 minutes ago, MudderBear said:

Anyway, with that in mind, we are sailing Princess in Alaska summer of 2025.  This will be a repeat cruise.  I'd like to book that special boat in Hubbards' Glacier ($299 pp YIKES!!!) now before we get locked out of that.  Its the boat that takes you as far as it can go right up close.  And yes, I've done the cruise before, but stayed on our ship and envied those that did the excursion.

 

 

If you want that excursion, I think you ought to book it now. It sells out pretty quickly. On our August cruise, it's sold out. It's also $419.95. I don't think I'll add us to the waitlist.

Edited March 25 by Sea Hag

[Paula_MacFan]

Not crazy. Prices will only go up. We booked our 2024 Alaska excursions a long time ago and have watched prices steadily increase and sell out in many cases. We also have booked the Hubbard Glacier tour for $299, and several months ago it was only available as 'waitlist' on our cruise for $429. $299 doesn't seem so bad now, does it? 🙂

 

[Arizona Wildcat]

Think everyone will agree book it.  You can cancell.  A year out we also think about private excursions both as organizing and participating.   Your roll call is the best place I know for participating or sharing if you would coordinate a tour.  Good way to save $$.

[Paula_MacFan]

Our roll call is absolutely dead. Open over a year I believe and still on the first page. Roll calls in general on our last several cruises have been a bust, not much activity.

 

Something else to keep in mind, with bookings in Alaska and elsewhere so strong, demand for tours will be increased. I checked the port schedules for our Alaska cruise and we have as many as 6 ships in port. That's a lot of people vying for excursion spots.

Edited March 25 by Paula_MacFan

[memoak]

9 minutes ago, Paula_MacFan said:

Our roll call is absolutely dead. Open over a year I believe and still on the first page. Roll calls in general on our last several cruises have been a bust, not much activity.

 

Something else to keep in mind, with bookings in Alaska and elsewhere so strong, demand for tours will be increased. I checked the port schedules for our Alaska cruise and we have as many as 6 ships in port. That's a lot of people vying for excursion spots.

Roll calls are not necessarily an indication of interest. I have  b2b this summer and the 2nd portion does not even have one yet. We have a Canal cruise in January and we have already booked an excursion in Columbia because it is one we have done before and really liked

[MudderBear]

To add craziness to crazy, I'm thinking now of doing the Sun Princess from Athens to Barcelona.  We were supposed to do that last year on The Enchanted, but had to cancel.  So, I am now holding two reservations for next year, Alaska and Greece.  I'll keep both for now while I make up my mind which one to do.  If I decide to keep  Alaska, I will then book Hubbards Glacier.  Thank you all for the advice.  Oh, and one last thing.....I ended up booking something totally different for Gibralter (will be going to St. Michaels cave in Gibralter which I am very excited about and then Aix-Proveno in Marsailles which I am really excited about now too.  Soooo glad I booked the two Italy excursions months ago!

Edited March 25 by MudderBear

[memoak]

16 minutes ago, MudderBear said:

To add craziness to crazy, I'm thinking now of doing the Sun Princess from Athens to Barcelona.  We were supposed to do that last year on The Enchanted, but had to cancel.  So, I am now holding two reservations for next year, Alaska and Greece.  I'll keep both for now while I make up my mind which one to do.  If I decide to keep  Alaska, I will then book Hubbards Glacier.  Thank you all for the advice.  Oh, and one last thing.....I ended up booking something totally different for Gibralter (will be going to St. Michaels cave in Gibralter which I am very excited about and then Aix-Proveno in Marsailles which I am really excited about now too.  Soooo glad I booked the two Italy excursions months ago!

Just a note on the small boat at Hubbard Glacier. They will be very little elbow room. The upper deck is usually packed shoulder to shoulder with photographers 

[NavyVeteran]

2 hours ago, MudderBear said:

To add craziness to crazy, I'm thinking now of doing the Sun Princess from Athens to Barcelona.  We were supposed to do that last year on The Enchanted, but had to cancel.  So, I am now holding two reservations for next year, Alaska and Greece.  I'll keep both for now while I make up my mind which one to do.  If I decide to keep  Alaska, I will then book Hubbards Glacier.  Thank you all for the advice.  Oh, and one last thing.....I ended up booking something totally different for Gibralter (will be going to St. Michaels cave in Gibralter which I am very excited about and then Aix-Proveno in Marsailles which I am really excited about now too.  Soooo glad I booked the two Italy excursions months ago!

You may want to go ahead and book the tour even if you're not sure you will take the cruise. That is one big advantage of Princess excursions over third party ones - they are completely refundable until approximately two days before the port. If you cancel the cruise, you will also receive a refund for the excursion.

[CatMom72]

5 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

It is never too early if they are available to book.

Totally agree.  We hesitated to book our walk with llamas last year in Norway. Then it was sold out 7 months before we cruised!  My daughter and I were able to get on the waitlist and were lucky to go because a couple of people canceled.  But my husband didn’t get to go. 😢. Better to book up front and get what you want.

[Outerdog]

I just did. Two, in fact. One of those is the same Hubbard Glacier boat thing. That sells out pretty quick.

 

$1k in excursions for May 2025. 

Edited March 26 by Outerdog

[azbirdmom]

Definitely book it.  That's the only way to get close to Hubbard Glacier when you are on a Royal Class ship.  We did it the first year that it was offered and it was a wow.  Lots of places for viewing and we didn't feel crowded at all.  Our friends stayed on the ship which looked like a tiny dot from where we ended up.  That excursion sells out and the price won't come down.

[Sudoku]

If you book this privately through Phillips Cruises, the 26 Glaciers cruise is $189.00 per person. It is the same boat that Princess uses.  We did it and it was definitely worth it.

[Donwoods123]

7 hours ago, MudderBear said:

I learned a good lesson on my upcoming Barcelona to Rome cruise this year.  Book your excursions early.  I was lucky as I grabbed two in Italy months ago, and now had a hard time booking for Gibralter and Marsailles.

 

Anyway, with that in mind, we are sailing Princess in Alaska summer of 2025.  This will be a repeat cruise.  I'd like to book that special boat in Hubbards' Glacier ($299 pp YIKES!!!) now before we get locked out of that.  Its the boat that takes you as far as it can go right up close.  And yes, I've done the cruise before, but stayed on our ship and envied those that did the excursion.

 

Am I crazy to book over a year in advance?  My full payment isn't even due until next March 2025.  What do ya'll think?

 

Thanks.

 

 

We always book our Princess excursions as soon as we book the cruise.  The price seems to increase as you get closer to sailing and they are generally even more if you book while on the ship.

 

The Hubbard glacier excursion is great.  We were able to get really close to see and hear the calfing up close.  Much better than remaining on the ship.  They even offered us drinks made from glacier ice.

 

As noted above.  This excursion tends to sell out quickly.  

 

I recommend that you book this now.  It can always be canceled if you change your mind.

 

 

 

 

[nomoe]

I am booked on Caribbean Princess European Capitals for September 2024.  I booked excursions months ago. Several weeks ago I had a refund on my credit card from Princess Cruise Line without explanation. I researched my trip and one of my excursions was canceled.  A few days ago the same thing happened. I received a refund from Princess and upon checking it was another excursion canceled. I am annoyed as there was no communication from Princess about the cancelation, or was there available options to book.  I emailed my cruise personalizer but have not heard back from him.  Does anyone know if there is a customer service address or website where I can register a complaint?

[ChutChut]

NO - you're not crazy. I've done the same thing in the past.

[Grego]

15 hours ago, MudderBear said:

I learned a good lesson on my upcoming Barcelona to Rome cruise this year.  Book your excursions early.  I was lucky as I grabbed two in Italy months ago, and now had a hard time booking for Gibralter and Marsailles.

 

Anyway, with that in mind, we are sailing Princess in Alaska summer of 2025.  This will be a repeat cruise.  I'd like to book that special boat in Hubbards' Glacier ($299 pp YIKES!!!) now before we get locked out of that.  Its the boat that takes you as far as it can go right up close.  And yes, I've done the cruise before, but stayed on our ship and envied those that did the excursion.

 

Am I crazy to book over a year in advance?  My full payment isn't even due until next March 2025.  What do ya'll think?

 

Thanks.

 

 

It's not crazy if this excursion is one that is very important to you.  Too many times waiting to book later runs the risk of it being sold out and then you hope for success after being placed on the waitlist.

"Bird in the Hand".....

[Paula_MacFan]

1 hour ago, nomoe said:

I am booked on Caribbean Princess European Capitals for September 2024.  I booked excursions months ago. Several weeks ago I had a refund on my credit card from Princess Cruise Line without explanation. I researched my trip and one of my excursions was canceled.  A few days ago the same thing happened. I received a refund from Princess and upon checking it was another excursion canceled. I am annoyed as there was no communication from Princess about the cancelation, or was there available options to book.  I emailed my cruise personalizer but have not heard back from him.  Does anyone know if there is a customer service address or website where I can register a complaint?

First, sorry that happened to you.  The same thing happened to me for our upcoming Alaska cruise when our Tracy Arm excursion was cancelled with no notification.  I simply noticed a credit on my card and then checked my Personalizer and realized the excursion was gone.  I asked my Princess CVP about it and they said Princess no longer has a dedicated excursion department so there was no one to complain to really.  Later, probably a few weeks, I did finally get an email from Princess saying the excursion was cancelled because our port time changed slightly and there was no longer enough time for the excursion.  Fair enough, but I was still disappointed.

 

On another topic, we did the European Capitals cruise last fall on the Island and LOVED it!  I hope you have a marvelous time too and find some other excursions to take the place of the cancelled ones.  We had an absolute amazing time, really a bucket list trip for us.  If you have any questions about what we did I'm happy to answer. 

[JordanF]

How far in advance of the cruise to Princess Excursions become available?

[KKB]

NOPE--I also have learned that if there is an excursion you want--BOOK IT as soon as you can!

You can always cancel!!