Book excursions before boarding or on ship

We are inclined to wait until we board to book, but are excursions offered cheaper, dearer or the same onboard?

I have generally not found excursions to be cheaper to book on board. Some popular excursions may be sold out if you wait to book on board.

Celebrity may have a pre-cruise sale on some excursions on some sailings. I always check.

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I almost can say with 100% certainty that they won't be cheaper while onboard. No reason to do this as they would have everybody lining up to get refunds for their already purchased excursions. The only time I have seen them go on sale is when they offer them ahead of time online. Even with that, the prices aren't too much cheaper ... note the 'up to 20% off' with 'up to' being their key wording.

I used to wait to book on board in order to use my non-refundable OBC. But now you can use your OBC to book before boarding, so there is no reason to wait.

Having said that, I usually book most of my shore excursions directly with providers rather than trough the ship. Usually, smaller groups, same or lower price, often better quality, more customized.

Never found excursions to be less expensive when waiting to book on board.

I used to wait to book on board in order to use my non-refundable OBC. But now you can use your OBC to book before boarding, so there is no reason to wait.

 

Having said that, I usually book most of my shore excursions directly with providers rather than trough the ship. Usually, smaller groups, same or lower price, often better quality, more customized.

Interesting because today my TA told me I could not use my OBC for excursions purchased before the cruise! I will probably book my excursions for Alaska in 2018 with other providers and save some money!

We are inclined to wait until we board to book, but are excursions offered cheaper, dearer or the same onboard?

They are the same $$$.

The price is the same either way, and you can only use OBC when booking them on board. We used to book them in advance, now we don't. Why, because you can watch the weather and not throw away money on an excursion that doesn't match the weather. Very occasionally they sell out, but I have rarely had that happen. If it does, just pick another, or book one off the ship.

Interesting because today my TA told me I could not use my OBC for excursions purchased before the cruise! I will probably book my excursions for Alaska in 2018 with other providers and save some money!

OBC from your TA can't be used until on the ship; in fact Celebrity has no record of the amount until shortly before sailing. OBC from Celebrity can be used before sailing for excursions, speciality restaurants and other purchases from your cruise planner.

Interesting because today my TA told me I could not use my OBC for excursions purchased before the cruise! I will probably book my excursions for Alaska in 2018 with other providers and save some money!

As Jelayne mentioned above, do not get your OBC mixed up as your TA was probably referring to the OBC they were offering and not X's OBC. The latter is now usable prior to cruising and it flashes up how much you have when you login to your reservation in 'My Celebrity' (if the new website works for you).

Additionally, for the OP, there have recently been promotions where there has been a percentage off CERTAIN excursions on your particular sailing, As someone else pointed out, it was 'up to' that percent and it was only on certain tours, not all across the board.

Interesting because today my TA told me I could not use my OBC for excursions purchased before the cruise! I will probably book my excursions for Alaska in 2018 with other providers and save some money!

That could be true for OBC that was provided by the TA.

Interesting because today my TA told me I could not use my OBC for excursions purchased before the cruise! I will probably book my excursions for Alaska in 2018 with other providers and save some money!

There's loads you can do in Alaska without booking an excursion we have found (going next month)

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There's loads you can do in Alaska without booking an excursion we have found (going next month)

 

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I have not seen any discounts on any tours we might do, so far.

I have to add that I have been factoring in the exchange rate, which seems pretty poor on Celebrity at the moment ($/£) and my credit card company gives me better rates that Celebrity, so if it's the same $$$ I will get a better exchange by booking onboard, (I can't buy in $$ from UK) and as someone has said get a chance to look at the weather.

Thanks for the comments

We have booked excursions onboard on Summit in Bermuda and on Infinity in South America. Waited because we had Celebrity nrf obc and could not use it in advance at that time. Prices were 10 to 15 % higher onboard than if we had booked them before the cruise.

Actually, on the Silhouette British Isles cruise in July for the first time I've ever known, last minute discounts of about 20 % were offered on a couple of excursions mid cruise. I didn't think of those who had already booked -- are refunds possible up to 48 hours before?

I have actually seen prices raised on board!

Anyway, wherever you're going, it'll pay to look at the Ports of Call section of the boards for your particular destination. Often, you will find the same or similar excursions for much less money as the cruise line takes a large percentage of the cost as profit. We were on one tour we actually got onto when we were in Costa Maya that cost us $25 and we were sitting with a bus full of people who booked through the ship and were paying $45!

We'll be in Curacao in October and one of our roll call group has arranges a tour with a local company and, for $30, we're touring the whole island with a beach break and snorkeling (including equipment) and free drinks (beer, soda and bottled water). A trip like that would be at least $60-70 through the ship!

Again thanks for the great info. Will have a look around, now, just 3 weeks to sailing.

We have booked excursions onboard on Summit in Bermuda and on Infinity in South America. Waited because we had Celebrity nrf obc and could not use it in advance at that time. Prices were 10 to 15 % higher onboard than if we had booked them before the cruise.

My experience also

I know this is an older thread, but I have a question about booking excursions prior to sailing. We are going to Bermuda on Summit. My cruise is paid in full. Last year the site seemed easier to use. I can't seem to get to the part where you can book excursions? Any tips? Is it because I'm trying to use my iPad? I'm sure I did it last year on my iPad. Just cants seem to get to the correct spot? Help?

Celebrity offers to us 10% discount if I book onboard past Eclipse cruise the shorex for future cruises, I choose to wait for that day with specials

I only book excursions ahead of time if it is something I must do. Alaska would be the zip-line in icy strait point.

I know this is an older thread, but I have a question about booking excursions prior to sailing. We are going to Bermuda on Summit. My cruise is paid in full. Last year the site seemed easier to use. I can't seem to get to the part where you can book excursions? Any tips? Is it because I'm trying to use my iPad? I'm sure I did it last year on my iPad. Just cants seem to get to the correct spot? Help?

I'm using a laptop with ME and had no problems logging in and selecting shore excursions. Once you've logged in then select manage reservation, explore cruise planner, click on shore excursions and pick a port.

Thanks. I'll try again today. Maybe I should use my desktop?

I usually book excursions before we board but not too long before, certainly after final payment. More to have it all done and for us to finalize our trip budget. However! We took Infinity round the horn this March and for the first time ever I was glad to have booked excursions early, before final payment. Some of the excursions were already wait listed before we boarded and I was glad to have made my selection.

So my feedback would be, it would depend on the cruise and location. Some speciality excursions in small locales can accommodate limited volumes of people. Likewise, hoping for a private operator may not be possible since the cruise line has committed the major or only operator in the location.

I don’t think it matters for major tourist destinations in big cities.

We perfer booking non cruise sponsored excursions before , mostly with other roll call members, we perfer smaller groups and you can save money .