Shore Excursions. Booking in Advance

[gooselace]

I'm not exactly a newbie -- was on the old Rotterdam many years ago and on a few cruises on other lines, but my experience is hopelessly out of date.

This has probably been covered somewhere, but I can't find it on the board. How necessary or advisable is it to book shore excursions online before departure (for Dec. 5 Westerdam)? If we wait until boarding, how likely that some activities may be filled? I'm especially interested in the raft trip in Jamaica, which my husband and I went on when we vacationed there several years ago. It was great and I'd really want to do it again.

Any other excursions you've been on and especially recommend?

Also, someplace on this board there was mention of dinner menus being available. Are these specific for each trip/ship? If so where are they available? I want to make reservations for the Pinnacle for one night, but don't want to miss something special in the main dining room.

[jhannah]

I can't help you with everything ... but others will be along shortly to fill in the blanks. Regarding shore excursions, I would highly recommend you purchase them in advance online. Sometimes the more exotic/unique offerings are very limited in the number of participants. And since you enjoyed the raft trip so much, there are probably many more who are looking to be repeaters like you. Booking online as soon as you can assures you won't be disappointed later on. When you book, your credit card is charged right then ... so you can have it paid for before you go.

[Stevesan]

If there's a trip you definitely want to do, book it early. HAL will charge your CC, but you can cancel up to ten days before the cruise without penalty. Even after boarding there's only a ten percent penalty for cancelling before the cutoff date (usually the day before the excursion date). I've swapped tours after boarding without being charged the penalty for the canceled tour.

[sheephugs]

I've found booking online very simple and the tickets are delivered directly to your cabin. My in-laws are going with us on this cruise & they had trouble booking online. They called HAL & apparently they couldn't book online becasue they have a MAC computer so they did it over the phone.

[localady]

I concur with the above writers. If it is something you are really interested in doing or that has a limited availablity, book ahead of time! :)

That allows you the most flexibility with departure times and ensures you a spot on the excursion if there is limited availablity. We have had many many positive comments about the Tortugero Canals excursion on our upcoming Rotterdam trip from our friends here at CC. We were told that the best time to see the wildlife is early in the morning so we made sure to book the first excursion of the 3 offered that day! If it was just a day at the beach I would hesitate and probably book that on the ship.:cool: