Excursions

Hi all

am i better to book excursions before going or onboard do you think ??

Hi all

 

am i better to book excursions before going or onboard do you think ??

I don't think there is any reason why that isn't a good idea since:

- you can change your mind once on board and cancel (but that has to be at least 24 hours in advance of the trip)

- you get a full refund (to the account from which you paid)

- if a trip is 'Limited Availability' (eg a catamaran trip, the Gold Room at the Hermitage where they can only secure a set number of places), then booking ahead will secure your place on the trip which would possibly sell out

- if there is a trip you think will be very popular and desperately want to do it then you can make sure you've got on it

We've even booked ahead, found at the Port Showcase that we would have preferred a different trip and cancelled and re-booked the one we liked better.

The one thing I would say though, remember they charge 2.5% if you use a credit card (free with a debit card). If you book onboard it goes onto your onboard account - refunds go to back to your bank account or onboard account accordingly.

I'm doing the Pride of Panama cruise and they have a sail thru the panama canal which i imagine would be quite popular , so i think i'll book that and leave the rest until on-board , thanks for the advice :)

Last April on the Celebration (Red Sea Cruise) we pre-booked 4 excursions. When we boarded we discovered if you purchased 3 trips you could have the 4th (cheaper) for free.

No problem ...... they honoured the offer and refunded to our bank account the cost of the 4th trip.

So have a look in your Cruise News when you arrive, there may be a deal on offer.

Last April on the Celebration (Red Sea Cruise) we pre-booked 4 excursions. When we boarded we discovered if you purchased 3 trips you could have the 4th (cheaper) for free.

 

No problem ...... they honoured the offer and refunded to our bank account the cost of the 4th trip.

 

So have a look in your Cruise News when you arrive, there may be a deal on offer.

yes they do this:confused: smetimes there are specials available once on board...they did this on our cruise when they offered 10% of the virgin gorda trip (the night before):(

Whatever you do don't book it through your travel agent. You will have a heck of a job to get it back :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

If there are a couple of trips we really want to do we always book in advance to make sure we have a place on them.

We haven't been disappointed by the really big ones we've booked. They have all been first class.

How do you pre book excursions? I cannot find any details on the Thomson cruise site.

Go into the Thomson site and along the top is a tab 'Shore Excursions'. Select that then you will see two boxes - one for if you have booked the other just to browse the excursions if you haven't yet booked.

If you have booked a cruise you will need to enter your details as well as the booking reference. That should take you to the excursions relevant to your cruise and you can book them at that point should you wish.

Go into the Thomson site and along the top is a tab 'Shore Excursions'. Select that then you will see two boxes - one for if you have booked the other just to browse the excursions if you haven't yet booked.

If you have booked a cruise you will need to enter your details as well as the booking reference. That should take you to the excursions relevant to your cruise and you can book them at that point should you wish.

Thank you kruzseeka :)

Just booked the trips my elderly mother wanted for her first ever cruise. May 2 on the Majesty

Sailing on her own to...at 76 :)

Thank you kruzseeka :)

 

Just booked the trips my elderly mother wanted for her first ever cruise. May 2 on the Majesty

 

Sailing on her own to...at 76 :)

Good for her! I hope she has a wonderful time - I bet she does! And lots of lovely friendly people to chat to on Thomson -I'm sure she'll find some good company too. :);)

I'm doing the Pride of Panama cruise and they have a sail thru the panama canal which i imagine would be quite popular , so i think i'll book that and leave the rest until on-board , thanks for the advice :)

Hi Iain I quite fancy doing that excursion aswell. Another excursion I fancy is the Porta Rican Amazon boat trip. I was just going to book them when I get on board at the excursion meeting .:cool:

An alternative which no one has so far mentioned is to do a tour independent of the ship which is usually much cheaper.

An alternative which no one has so far mentioned is to do a tour independent of the ship which is usually much cheaper.

Yes that's true - for example the Caribbean is great for picking up local taxis and tours dockside as well as some excellent tours you can pre-book online which are much cheaper than the ship's trips. In St Petersburg there are some highly recommended private tour companies too which can take care of the visa requirements and tailor excursions to your requirements at very similar costs to ship tours.

However it is important to have an idea of what you would like to do at a given port and how practical it is to DiY - research is important. Ease of public transport, accessibility of the attraction and distance from port all affect our decision making when we plan what we want to do. Sometimes it's local buses or taxis, sometimes prebooked local tour companies and sometimes the ship's excursions.

But there's no doubt that seeking advice and discussing options on here has proved to be the best resource for me. There's always someone who has done the ship's trip and others who have adopted an independent approach. All very valuable information to help weigh up the different options with the advantages and disadvantages taken into account!