Buying excursions onboard?

Can I buy excursions once on board? I'm hesitant to pay in advance and tie up funds beforehand, see the weather report for our cruise, see if we really feel like it, ect..

Yup! As long as they're not sold out. And even then you can waitlist. They even give some away at the excursions presentation if you attend.

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Yes. There's an excursions desk on the ship with someone that can help you with that. They also have brochures available advertising the various excursions. You can grab a few of these after you board the ship to look through before making a decision. Some popular excursions that are limited to a certain number of people can sell out quickly.

There are some ports with popular excursions that may be sold out when you are onboard. The Roll Call is also a good source of this information, and other privately organized excursion.

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There is usually a copy of the shore excursion booklet(Fun Ashore) in your cabin. It has all of the possible excursions for your itinerary.

As for the weather and tying up money, read the answer to question 16 on this page. The refund policy is question 31.

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2866/~/shore-excursion-faqs

We have booked an excursion on the ship, sometimes it is a good way to see what is available if you haven't done any research, and you attend the excursion talk and something really grabs you.

If you are going to Alaska, book your excursions in advance, rain, snow, sleet, sun, they wont be cancelled due to weather. If you are cruising the western Caribbean or the Bahamas, you can usually book one last minute on the ship, or create your own easily. Research, research research your ports before you leave if getting off the ship is important to you

Have a great cruise..

I always book once on board. For me, I have never had an excursion sell out and be turned down. I guess it is just my taste, I have had excursions cancelled because not enough people sign up for them. Aside from that, my personal ritual is to board the ship and settle down on the Lido deck with my lunch and look through the brochure advertising all the options and select what I might want to do, then go to the desk and make the purchase. Oh, and I usually do this while enjoying Tuna Salad Sandwich.

I actually wonder if ship excursions really sell out, or if that is just to scare folks into buying them early? I often hear the CD shilling for excursions the night before the ship hits that port.

Many excursions can just add another bus, driver and guide if demand warrants it.

I actually wonder if ship excursions really sell out, or if that is just to scare folks into buying them early? I often hear the CD shilling for excursions the night before the ship hits that port.

 

Many excursions can just add another bus, driver and guide if demand warrants it.

In general think you are correct. Have even heard them shilling for excursions as we are about to dock

Can I buy excursions once on board? I'm hesitant to pay in advance and tie up funds beforehand, see the weather report for our cruise, see if we really feel like it, ect..

If you do opt to wait until you are on board, I would strongly recommend that you go to the Excursions Desk as soon as it opens on Embarkation Day. There are some excursions that have limited availability and tend to sell out very quickly. Some things, such as renting a cabana at HMC or Grand Turk are very limited, and are typically all rented long before the cruise is scheduled to sail.

Some things, such as renting a cabana at HMC or Grand Turk are very limited, and are typically all rented long before the cruise is scheduled to sail.

Lol, yes. ;p Those are some of the few I wouldn't mess around with. I'm primarily talking about most of Cozumel and Progreso though.

Unless there is an excursion we absolutely want to take, we wait to book once on the ship.

The most popular ones do sell out quickly. ;)

I actually wonder if ship excursions really sell out, or if that is just to scare folks into buying them early? I often hear the CD shilling for excursions the night before the ship hits that port.

 

Many excursions can just add another bus, driver and guide if demand warrants it.

We sailed conquest in July and our excursion of choice was booked up. Excursion desk turned us down day before. Luckily there are lots of choices. We were pleased and pleasantly surprised at the turtle farm

I make my decision when to buy excursions based on how many ships are going to be in port on the day we are. If there are a lot (and especially with the RCCL giants) I book early - if there are only one or 2 ships I wait until the last minute on even on board.

We have booked an excursion on the ship, sometimes it is a good way to see what is available if you haven't done any research, and you attend the excursion talk and something really grabs you.

 

If you are going to Alaska, book your excursions in advance, rain, snow, sleet, sun, they wont be cancelled due to weather. If you are cruising the western Caribbean or the Bahamas, you can usually book one last minute on the ship, or create your own easily. Research, research research your ports before you leave if getting off the ship is important to you

 

Have a great cruise..

that's odd, I had 2 of my Alaska excursions cancelled, both due to fog. we were scheduled for a helicopter tour, no go. we also booked a fly fishing trip on a small plane, no go again

Unless there is an excursion we absolutely want to take, we wait to book once on the ship.

The most popular ones do sell out quickly. ;)

That's what we do too most of the time. We grab a booklet from Shore Ex and sit down and talk about it. My son has autism so there are some things that even though WE think they look great, he might not be able to tolerate because of his particular issues. On our last cruise, we chose to do a ziplining/river tubing excursion in Mo'Bay that almost turned into a disaster because it was overbooked (IMO) and turned into a lot of "Hurry the heck up and stand there and wait" which my son doesn't do very well with. Between that and the bugs (we forgot bugspray. :( ) he almost had a complete meltdown a few times throughout the day. He got upset that we were so rushed on the way back, we didn't have time to shop.

Does Carnival ever offer discounts on booking excursions before sailing?

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Does Carnival ever offer discounts on booking excursions before sailing?

 

 

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:D:D:D that's laughing

:D:D:D that's laughing

Well ive seen it on princess, which is owned by carnival. That's why I asked :)

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Does Carnival ever offer discounts on booking excursions before sailing?

 

 

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Just perusing the excursions, I've seen some that had discounts, though I couldn't begin to fathom WHY they were discounted.:confused:

Can I buy excursions once on board? I'm hesitant to pay in advance and tie up funds beforehand, see the weather report for our cruise, see if we really feel like it, ect..

Yes you can buy excursions on the ship. But you need to do it asap as most excursions sell out fast. And keep in mind...buying a Carnival-backed excursion protects you from the ship leaving you behind if your excursion is late returning to the ship.

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Even private excursions are never late for the ship. They are the same companies taking different ships passengers. This is what they do for a living and one late arrival could put them out of business. As mentioned before, this is Carnival's little fear factor to get you to book with them for a higher price.

Does Carnival ever offer discounts on booking excursions before sailing?

 

 

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They will give you a discount if you book three(?) excursions within 48 hours(?) of booking the cruise. Also, John Heald occasionally has a 5% off code(not good on FTTF or Alaska excursions).

One advantage of booking in advance is the low price guarantee. Carnival will refund 110% of the difference in OBC if you find the same excursion offered by a private tour company for a lower price.

I was successful in finding the exact same beach break in Progreso, MX with a private company. This resulted in $38 ea OBC refunded for all 6 in our party.

It's a win win situation, since you have the security of booking directly with the ship and get the lower price.

Can I buy excursions once on board? I'm hesitant to pay in advance and tie up funds beforehand, see the weather report for our cruise, see if we really feel like it, ect..

Some of the adventure types excursions, such as wave runners and ATV's will sell out. But more often, if they offer the same excursion at different times, the earlier departure will sell out.

No need to go to the excursion desk. Download the FunHub app and buy them via the App. Your tickets will be delivered the evening prior to the excursions. That is what we just did on the Breeze.