Is it worth booking an excursion ahead of time?

We always end up booking excursions once we get on the cruise. There has only been one time where an excursion we would have been interested in was full. Is there really a price saving difference between purchasing them ahead of time versus on the cruise?

From a money point of view it’s not worth it. But if your heart is set on a particular excursion then it might be a good idea to book it to secure your spot.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Yes for multiple reasons. Space is limited. Some excursions have different time options and you get the one you want. You can cancel at any time. You can get a price adjustment if you find the same excursion cheaper elsewhere. Less worry. ;p

For some ports the number of tours and or people can be a limited number. For example some resorts cap off at a set number and sell out early. Others depend to me on if I've visited the port before,one where local tours even dock side are reasonable (Grand Cayman is one) or if I might visit a local beach.

If there's an excursion with time slots, such as parasailing, or that may be fairly limited, I book in advance, knowing I can cancel prior to embarkation.

I have never seen a difference in price for advance vs. on-board booking.

I think the other posters have pretty much covered, so I'll just summarize:

Pro's of Purchase Ahead:

Guaranteed spot on excursion of your choice, at a departure time you want.

Price matching if you find an independent operator with a lower price.

Cancel anytime before 11:30PM ET day prior to sailing in order to receive full refund.

Excursion is paid well ahead of sailing (no on-board out of pocket - S&S account - cost).

Con's of Purchase Ahead:

You're out the purchase price days/weeks/months ahead of sailing.

Another pro to booking in advance:

While the on board price is the same as the online price right before sailing, the price can increase between when first available to book and sailing

This happened to me. My Freeport excursion went up about $5 per person a few days before I booked it.

The HMC cabana and FTTF both went up also, but for these it was after I booked them.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Forums mobile app

Why not , you don't have to wait on line on the ship.

Yes for multiple reasons. Space is limited. Some excursions have different time options and you get the one you want. You can cancel at any time. You can get a price adjustment if you find the same excursion cheaper elsewhere. Less worry. ;p

This

Yes for multiple reasons. Space is limited. Some excursions have different time options and you get the one you want. You can cancel at any time. You can get a price adjustment if you find the same excursion cheaper elsewhere. Less worry. ;p

This

Con- don't know if the weather will be good ahead of time.

A beach day excursion is not enjoyable in the bad weather.

I'm a compulsive planner and internet surfer, so I usually book ahead. It eases my mind, lets me shop for the 110% of the difference guarantee, and I don't want to be bothered with the excursion desk.

From a money point of view it’s not worth it. But if your heart is set on a particular excursion then it might be a good idea to book it to secure your spot.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Agreed.

I like to have it all planned and paid for before we board and that has value (worth) to me. There have been times (rarely) when the excursion I booked was offered for less than what we paid. We had one excursion get cancelled because too few people signed up for it (we were able to book a different excursion to take it's place). We had one excursion get cancelled because of weather (we stayed on the ship and enjoyed some quiet time).

I like to book excursions in advance to avoid the risk of them selling out if it's something that I really don't want to miss. If I'm booking through CCL, I use my CCL mastercard, which gives me 10% off the price of the excursion. I don't want to wait in line on board the ship, although I think I heard that you can book on your TV or via the hub app.

Now, all that being said, if you book on board at the excursion desk, the people there may be able to give you details about the various excursions in addition to what is in the writeup.

Thank you so much everyone for your thoughts on this!

Some good points I didn't think about--selling out, times selling out, etc.

Not too worried about the excursion desk line, we always book through the HUB App or on the TV (very convenient!)

Now to figure out which excursions to take for our cruise at the end of September! So much to choose from!

Not standing in line once on the ship is WORTH EVERYTHING! I absolutely book before I get on the ship. I'd rather have a drink in my hand on Lido than having to stand in line for anything. Let the fun begin!

If there's a tour we want we look to see how many ships are to be in port that day. If we're the only ship it's not a big deal to me ... but ... if there are 3, 4, or more scheduled for our day I definitely book ahead.

My advice is treat any port as if you were staying at a local hotel instead. You don't tend count on the property to provide all your daily activities unless they are advertising as an all inclusive (like Breezes) or destination resort (like Disney).

In all honesty the best and least expensive choices are always available pre-embarkation. Regardless of if you book through the cruise line, with a tour consolidator, or directly with the venue or tour company. The price matching not only applies to tours booked through a cruise line but the other 2 options will generally honor any lower rate for the same service.

In fact all of the best tours I've been on have been booked direct with the attraction, resort, boat owner, or tour operator. For many they offer personalized options for a private to semi-private tour for not much more than their "canned" tours. By booking in advance you can, the majority of the time, communicate with the owner/operator to get exactly what you want.

Con- don't know if the weather will be good ahead of time.

 

A beach day excursion is not enjoyable in the bad weather.

A beach day is the easiest do on your own thing in almost any vacation spot. At 98% you just grab a cab and tell them which beach you want. In most cases this is much, much less expensive than what the cruise line or resort would charge. A little investment of time researching what beach fits your need would be the only thing you would really invest in pre-vacation.

Why not , you don't have to wait on line on the ship.

That's a thing of the past. You can now easily book excursions on the free carnival hub app while on board (no internet plan necessary)

Sent from my iPad using Forums

We just booked our excursions a few months in advance, for two main reasons:

1. Just in case they were sold out (one was getting close) - we have some specific things we wanted to do, so why not make sure they happened?

2. Because we like to enjoy the excitement of booking something cruise related, while we wait for the cruise!

We also don't mind the side-effect of knowing we have planned out a certain aspect of the cruise "port-activity" itinerary, while still leaving a fair amount of free-wheeling the rest of the time: we booked activities for 2 out of 4 ports.

I don’t understand why anyone would wait. I like knowing what we will do and having it paid for before hand.

I don’t understand why anyone would wait. I like knowing what we will do and having it paid for before hand.

I don't know. My husband wants to wait until we board the ship. I'm indifferent except that we might miss out on some of the options by waiting. I was trying to convince him that there were better prices if we book now ;);-) Mr. Sancho's reservations (not excursion on Carnival) in Cozumel are already all booked out for our day in port, so I told him stuff is gonna start going soon if we don't do something! Our cruise is in 42 days!

I would say it depends on the excursion. I am holding off on my beach excursion because if the day is cloudy and a big chance of rain I want to be able to not go. If you pre book and the excursion is not canceled, you have to go or lose your money.

I would say it depends on the excursion. I am holding off on my beach excursion because if the day is cloudy and a big chance of rain I want to be able to not go. If you pre book and the excursion is not canceled, you have to go or lose your money.

This was one of our concerns! It seems to be a toss up on what to do!