GROUP excursion booking thru ship-Now or onboard? HELP

[CRUIZIN SUZAN]

Does anyone have experience or advise about booking a group on a ships excursion thru the cruiseline?

 

 

I am one of a group of 21 sailing on RCI in July and one of my party asked if we should book an excursion we all want to go on NOW or should we wait to do it onboard. If we risk booking it online NOW- the fear ( & Murphys law) is that by time we book it under each res#/cabin, there is the chance that the trip will "sell out" before we all have booked and that someone will be left out. The goal is to see if we can all be assured we will be on the excursion together.

 

One of the tours of the Mayan Ruins is the sole reason several of the famn damily is crusing with us this time out. I suggested to those that want to do that tour to book it online NOW as it is capacity controlled. Other excursions that we all would like to do together, i.e. snorkeling, city tour, etc., have more than one tour time- so I think by waiting until onboard to book those would be the better idea so that we can see what the availabilty is for each of the various tours/times to be sure we can all participate.

 

Does anyone have persone experience booking a group for an excursion or any suggestions? I would appreciate it. This site has been a wealth of info. for my. Thank you.

[wrp96]

If you have an excursion you definitely want to do you should book it NOW!! You can always cancel for a full refund up until 24 hours before the excursion. The longer you wait, the more likely it is to fill up. They do reserve a few slots on most excursions for booking onboard, but not a large number, and I certainly wouldn't rely on there being 21 slots available on any excursion by the time you board.

 

With that large of a group though, you might look to see if there is an independent operator in your ports that can give you a deal on a large group.

[sk8teacher]

I agree, book now. If you wait your odds of getting 21 people on the same excursion is practically zero. I would probably even call the cruise line directly and talk with them rather than going through the envolved online process.

 

Cheers,

[lady_cruiser]

Count my vote to book before tim too. Depending on the tour you might not even get it by booking before the cruise. I tried to book the Livingston Explorer tour 2 years ago, within 3 months of my sail date, and I received an E-Mail from NCL telling me that the tour was all booked up and no room was available.

[firefly333]

You could also book a private excursion with that many people. google the excursion or look on the ports of call board.