Payment for Shore Excursions

Hi All,

I am looking at booking the excursions for the Ovation Cruises we are on - but they seem to require payment now.

Wee are used to Princess and they just take the booking - and reserve it and payment is made on the ship.

Am I missing something?? Does RCI only accept immediate payment? What happens if the ship doesnt goto that port ? Full refund??

Why are they taking payment when someone like Princess doesnt?

Am I right?

help please..

Tony

Royal requires payment in full for anything booked through the cruise planner. This helps stop people from booking and reserving many things and then cancelling them later.

If by chance the ship didn't make it to port all your money would be refunded.

Royal requires payment in full for anything booked through the cruise planner. This helps stop people from booking and reserving many things and then cancelling them later.

 

If by chance the ship didn't make it to port all your money would be refunded.

Oh well guess we will arrange our own Excursions - pretty piss poor - esp when Princess doesnt..

If you book now through RCI and the port is missed you will get refunded the amount you paid. Also, I believe (unless things have changed since we last cruised) that RCI reserves a certain % of excursions for booking on board. You can go to the Excursions desk when you embark and book then and it will be charged to your on board account.

Not sure what your complaint is though-if you book your own excursions with independent vendors they are going to want payment now as well so…...

If you book now through RCI and the port is missed you will get refunded the amount you paid. Also, I believe (unless things have changed since we last cruised) that RCI reserves a certain % of excursions for booking on board. You can go to the Excursions desk when you embark and book then and it will be charged to your on board account.

 

Not sure what your complaint is though-if you book your own excursions with independent vendors they are going to want payment now as well so…...

In short - I am annoyed that we can't just reserve and then use the OBC for the excursions. I will book onboard and hope for the best.

As for independent - I mean catching a cab and looking around myself.

Oh well guess we will arrange our own Excursions - pretty piss poor - esp when Princess doesnt..

Why would you expect Royal to be the same as Princess? At the end of the day what does it matter you still have to pay for the excursion.

Why would you expect Royal to be the same as Princess? At the end of the day what does it matter you still have to pay for the excursion.

Simple answer - what if we aren't able to attend due to medical reason or the ship can't attend the port...

Based on our experience of getting refunds from RCI so far .... i have no interest in prepaying something months in advanced - when they can't even get my refund for the cancelled Ovation Cruise ... their admin area - has a lot to be desired.

I don't want to pay for it today - I want to pay for it when I am on board - as pay for it - with my OBC I have.

Don't really that unreasonable.

As for Princess - if they can do it - then RCI can do it - I am sure they have the same customers and same issues.

You are talking about 2 separate corporations. What one does has no bearing on the other. Either way you have to pay. If it bothers you that much, simply cancel RCCL and go back to Princess, which, of course, is flawless.

Simple answer - what if we aren't able to attend due to medical reason or the ship can't attend the port...

 

Based on our experience of getting refunds from RCI so far .... i have no interest in prepaying something months in advanced - when they can't even get my refund for the cancelled Ovation Cruise ... their admin area - has a lot to be desired.

 

I don't want to pay for it today - I want to pay for it when I am on board - as pay for it - with my OBC I have.

 

Don't really that unreasonable.

 

As for Princess - if they can do it - then RCI can do it - I am sure they have the same customers and same issues.

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance and still receive a full refund. In fact we cancelled an excursion 30 minutes prior after my DD was stung by a jellyfish in Labadee and the staff were great and we received a full refund for the 4 of us.

Not sure how much OBC that you have but maybe you could use some of it for other known expenditures that you will have on board such as gratuities, drinks, spa, specialty restaurants etc. Depending on how many excursions you were looking at booking possibly look at booking the popular ones or the ones that you really want to do now and then taking your chances and book the others on board.

Just my 2 cents but I would stop comparing things to Princess especially before you have even boarded the ship as you will just set yourself up for a negative experience. Accept the fact that all lines are different and have many different policies. Keep an open mind and have a great cruise

I think I will just leave it and book on board.

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Why should RCI do everything the same way Princess does?

It´s not so much the question if they could do it, but more why should they?

Every corporation Needs to do what they deem best for them.

Every cruiseline has their own policies and some I like better on one line and others I like better on another line.

As for excursions and extras onboard I actually like RCI´s policy best of being charged right away. Obviously YMMV.

As you´ve made your decision already, you can still wait until you are onboard.

I would go to the excursion desk immediately after boarding and before going to lunch. I did that on my Independence cruise and got every excursion I wanted which came out of my OBC.

I think I will just leave it and book on board.

 

 

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I understand what you are saying. I've booked (and paid) for some of our excursions but I don't want to book all of them in advance in case our plans change,

If I know we will be doing an excursion, paying for a drink package etc, I would prefer to pay ahead then that is one less expense going on our On Board Charges that we will end up paying for in the end anyway. If we need to cancel the cruise, or switch excursions, I go back into the planner, cancel the one and add the other. The credit shows up on my Credit card within a few days of the cancellation.

I agree that many promotions include OBC and there could be a way to apply these to purchases made ahead of time.

It wouldn't really change anything as of you cancel, everything is cancelled and you haven't "gotten" anything anyway.

.

You can ways book a private excursion instead. I've taken lots of those and I've never had one ask me for the money until the end of the excursion or tour. Most likely this is because people are weary of giving their money to foreign companies, so it allows them to attract some of the cruisers by showing that they aren't trying to scam you.

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It really is because of people booking/reserving multiple excursions and then "deciding" when they were on board. Disney ran into the same thing when making reservations for the sit down restaurants in the park and they had to start making people give a credit card number when they made their reservation.

It's sad that a few selfish people ruin it for everyone else. It's a pain, yes, but I just think of it like booking a flight. You pay for that before you fly.

They are still very flexible on cancellations (unlike the airlines :) ) and I know you can cancel up to a certain point for no reason with no penalty. And if you had a medical situation the day of, most reasonable places are going to be accommodating (using Disney as an example again because I've never had to cancel a shore excursion last minute, we had to cancel a dinner reservation an hour before because someone got sick. I went to the restaurant and explained, and they removed the reservation without charging us)

I was on the Allure and someone from the roll call was trying to book the same snorkel excursion time I had. She could not book it on the web and decided to try to book it on the ship.

She tried after boarding, but could not book that time, but could book the second time. It is possible when they have two times for the excursion, that only the one excursion time still available on the web is available on the ship.

Thanks everyone for the replies.

One more.

If we book the excursions - on our credit card - and we cancel at the last minute - i.e.. 24 - 48 hours before - how do we get the money back - OBC or refund on the credit card?

Anyone know?

Thanks everyone for the replies.

 

One more.

 

 

If we book the excursions - on our credit card - and we cancel at the last minute - i.e.. 24 - 48 hours before - how do we get the money back - OBC or refund on the credit card?

 

Anyone know?

Cancellations made up to 3 days prior to embarkation are refunded directly to your credit card. Cancellations made after that and on board up to 24 hours prior to the excursion will be credited as an OBC. They also may allow cancellations day of with a credit on an individual basis based on circumstances.

Cancellations made up to 3 days prior to embarkation are refunded directly to your credit card. Cancellations made after that and on board up to 24 hours prior to the excursion will be credited as an OBC. They also may allow cancellations day of with a credit on an individual basis based on circumstances.

What Mike said above and that any refunds that are given as OBC will be fully refundable OBC and at the end of the cruise any remaining $ will be refunded to the credit card you set up with your on board account.

from RCI

"If you cancel anything it will go back to the method of payment. "

from RCI

 

"If you cancel anything it will go back to the method of payment. "

True, if you cancel 3 days before the cruise. Not true if you cancel once on the cruise.

True, if you cancel 3 days before the cruise. Not true if you cancel once on the cruise.

Thats what Royal Caribbean told me. No mention of anything different about once your on the cruise.

Thats what Royal Caribbean told me. No mention of anything different about once your on the cruise.

I don't doubt that is what you were told, unfortunately the customer service reps give inaccurate info all too often.

A cancellation onboard will result in refundable on board credit. If you have excess refundable on board credit, and you have secured your onboard account with a credit card, then the excess refundable on board credit will automatically go back to the credit card. So you could get the refund back to your credit card, as long as you don't spend too much on board.