New RCL excursion page.....love it or hate it?

[emilygrace]

Am I the only one that is having difficulty with the new format of the excursion portion of the RCL website? First of all, let me say that I have dial up, which is part of the problem. But with their old format I just had to click on "excursions" and a new window (small one) would open up and I could either browse, or if I wanted to check the times of an excursion, I could enter my booking # and see all the info, including times. Then if I wanted to book that excursion I just clicked on "purchase" and entered my cc info and I was set.

 

With the new set up I can browse all excursions, but if I want to see the times for a particular excursion I have to enter my booking info and wait (which takes forever, by the way). Then all I can get is the excursions for the first port on my cruise, which is Bermuda. And I wasn't even trying to find the times for an excursion in Bermuda!

 

The same is true if I try to download a brochure of the excursions for my particular cruise. Apparently, we're only going to Bermuda, and it's a 12 night cruise! I've tried looking at the excursions for our other ports by just clicking on "browse all excursions" but if I try to book one or just see the times they leave, all I get is Bermuda.

 

My cruise is 10/31/06, so is this possibly the reason? We're not within 90 days of sailing yet. But I like to book excursions early and have them all paid for before I board the ship.

 

Thanks for any advice you can offer!

[lovethesun58]

I for one like the old format better. It seemed eaiser to use.

Cherie

[mrdiv]

Another vote for the old format here.

[sha88]

Once they get the "bugs" worked out, I think I will love it. No need to re-enter reservation number, etc. Love how I go to check on my excursions, and they are all on a calendar, very easy to view. I have dial up, too, but think I will like the new system much better. Just my opinion!

[Hans Solo]

I definitely like the old setup better. I could print off the entire list and make notes, cross out and highlight the excursions we were interested in booking.

[Murphy]

OLD!!!

OK, I finally figured out how to find the times of the excursions, but not until I attempt to buy it.

 

Here's what I still can't figure out how to do... how do I browse by port without putting in a reservation number? I'm attempting to research an Alaska cruise and can only figure out how to browse by excursion type (ie culinary or site seeing), not by all the excursions in a specific port. This option is activated after you have a reservation number, but not before...

[DanishBeauty]

I completely agree. Unless you have a reservation it seems you can not browse.

also a lot of the excursions i want do not seem to be available.:confused:

[masterbaker]

Another vote for the OLD format. RCI is also missing some popular Eastern Caribbean port excursions for our next cruise that have always been available in the past, like the Americas Cup and BOB.

 

I haven't been able to browse any excursions for ports not on our booked cruises.

[Havana Daydreamin]

Old Format works best for me.

 

I don't need fancy looking links to an excursion which is really all the "new" format is. Give me the old html link...worked much faster and accomplished in an efficient way what I was looking for.

 

This new format actually makes me grow weary and lose interest in booking an excursion.

[lauren0309]

Definitely the old version. It was so much easier to navigate. Maybe if enough people complain it will get changed back to the way it was (hopeful thinking?)

[lv2bcruzin]

I do prefer the old one just for the case of having all excursions on one page. If they would allow you see all with the new one that would help. On top of that it's very silly that they don't have it setup like most places do with having a "Wishlist" so that you can go through and choose all the ones you would like to book at a later date and it would save it instead of choosing some then losing your selections if you don't book. That is my biggest peave is no saveable "Wishlist". I do like the new Calendar feature though.

[LadyGodiva]

The only thing I've found better about the new format is that it's much easier to change to a different time of the same excursion than it used to be.

 

With the old way, you actually had to pay again and then RCI would refund the first one which was ridiculous! Now it just asks if you want to change to another time.

 

Otherwise, I prefer the old way also. It was easier to just browse.

[pcur]

What's with the funky calendar option deal? Like I'm going to fill out a calendar ahead of time with all my activities, etc.?

 

Off topic: I am a software development project manager, and I am fascinated by what some people rollout. I can pretty much tell how much experience the design team has in this sort of thing by seeing what the final product is. I'm sure someone said: "hey, let's give them a calendar so they can SEE when they are on shore excursions." However, you can only take 2 a day (if you time it exactly right), and you get the tickets in your stateroom to remind you, like, two days ahead of time. So, why do I need a calendar 3 months before my cruise?

 

JMO

[emilygrace]

OP here....my problem is that I cannot book any excursions for any ports other than Bermuda. I can't even SEE the excursions for our other ports, and we have 4. Do you think these will be added the closer we get to cruise date?

 

I much preferred the old set up and NEVER had any problems with that format, even when I had to cancel an excursion. This new way is just too frustrating! I'm glad to see I'm not the only one that feels that way. I thought maybe there was some secret to being able to view the times of the excursions and that I was just not doing it right.

[dougp26364]

Like anything new, it's taken me a little while to get accustomed to the new format. I guess that once again I'm in the minority as I actually prefer the newer format vs the old. I can't say exactly why but I have an easier time navigating the new format. I'm not so worried about looking over excursions for cruises I haven't booked yet. I found that there were several times that excursions I was interested in didn't make the final cut for the cruise date we were taking anyway. It was frustrating looking for something that wasn't there.

 

The calander could use a little work IMO. I'd prefer to see the week at a glance vs each single day, then click on the day I'm interested in viewing. But, this is only a minor thing and it really doesn't matter all that much to me.

[madforcruising]

Like anything new, it's taken me a little while to get accustomed to the new format. I guess that once again I'm in the minority as I actually prefer the newer format vs the old. I can't say exactly why but I have an easier time navigating the new format. I'm not so worried about looking over excursions for cruises I haven't booked yet. I found that there were several times that excursions I was interested in didn't make the final cut for the cruise date we were taking anyway. It was frustrating looking for something that wasn't there.

 

The calander could use a little work IMO. I'd prefer to see the week at a glance vs each single day, then click on the day I'm interested in viewing. But, this is only a minor thing and it really doesn't matter all that much to me.

 

Nope, you are not the only one, though I didn´t spend much time on the new format to see everything I liked it from the first view much better, I always thought that the old format didn´t reflect RCCL very well as it was very poor designed and set up. Let´s only begin with this tiny little window that opened up with no way to enlarge it. I always thought why do I have to struggle and scroll through this litle thing when a large screen is empty around and I could have all information on a spot without scrolling.

[madforcruising]

I definitely like the old setup better. I could print off the entire list and make notes, cross out and highlight the excursions we were interested in booking.

 

You can still do this, I just printed mine for my upcoming cruise.

[madforcruising]

I completely agree. Unless you have a reservation it seems you can not browse.

also a lot of the excursions i want do not seem to be available.:confused:

 

 

Yes you can browse them, just click on browse by ship and sail date, you then choose your date and ship and can browse the excursion without entering a reservation number.

 

I don´t think that excursions not being available has anything to do with the new format, but maybe they are not offered anymore or booked out.

 

Of course it could be that they are still working on updating all excursions to the new format.

[cruisinmon]

I just tried to check excursions with the new format for Navigator 11/25.

First time in did not have Res. # handy so went in under ship and sailing date. They had quite a few excursions for Ocho Rios, Cozumel and Labadee but only a couple for Grand Cayman. Decided to go back in with Res. # and found way less excursions and NONE now for Labadee. Any thoughts? Thanks

 

-Rich

[Cindi314]

I'm on the 10/31/06 cruise also and cannot book any excursions yet either, except Bermuda. All other ports say check again when you get closer to the cruise date. Like you, I'm not looking to book anything in Bermuda, but I am trying to book an excursion in Aruba. Hopefully, they are just updating the other ports and we'll be able to book soon.

[ScottandSarah]

I love it. My only comment on it is that it is very slow.

[emilygrace]

Maybe I'm having trouble because my sailing is a repositioning cruise and not an itinerary that they do week in and week out. It's just frustrating because when I browse, I can look up each port and see what's available, but once I put in my booking # and other info, I become trapped in the Bermuda Triangle!

[SheltieLady]

I was checking excursions for our upcoming January cruise they have 3 ports available St Maartin, Antigua and St Thomas but no Nassau, San Juan or Fort Lauderdale. Hopefully these will be come available soon as I need to get the dolphins booked in Nassau.

 

I kind of like the new excursion site, which we could book the specialty restaurants ahead of time, instead of when you board the ship it would make it so much easier.

 

Christine

[Aldeya]

I'm looking to book an excursion online but I have one question.

 

If, G-d forbid, I'll need to cancel the cruise will I be able to get a refund for the excursion?

 

I tried to find the answer on RCL site but to no avail.

 

Anyone can clarify this for me?

 

Thanks.

[madforcruising]

Any online booked excursion can be cancelled up to 10 days in advance to the cruise and fully refunded. You even can still cancel onboard (I know which was not your question) up to a certain deadline that is published in the Cruise Compass. In most cases the deadline is between 24 - 48 hours prior to arrival at the port the excursion is scheduled for.

 

You can´t cancel or change any excursions in the time frame of 10 days prior to the cruise until you reach the ship.