When does carnival charge for excursions

[riata1]

I just went online to book my excursions for my Jan 2 cruise and it looks like Carnival charges when you make the reservation.. This is new to me since I have always sailed on Princess or NCL and they do not charge until you actually take the excursion.

 

Can someone please clarify.

[cuyahoga11]

If you order in advance online, you pay now.

[MDavis23]

Only booked a few times through the cruise lines, as you pay about 50% cheaper for the same excursion elsewhere, but each time they have charged immediately.

 

Unless you have a specific reason for booking through the cruise line, look around, online and through these boards, to see what is out there. Good chance you can get your excursion through an independent and for a lot less money.

[shof515]

I just went online to book my excursions for my Jan 2 cruise and it looks like Carnival charges when you make the reservation.. This is new to me since I have always sailed on Princess or NCL and they do not charge until you actually take the excursion.

 

Can someone please clarify.

 

just a quick fyi, ncl has change there policy that matches carnival and a few other cruise lines where they require payment for online excursions right away instead of waiting for the ship to sail

[kbmeow]

Also if you pre book excursions online as compared to waiting until you board you will save money. I think like 10 or 20 pp less

[groo]

Yep. We cruised NCL last December and didn't pay for our excursions until onboard. This January our excursions have to be paid for when booked.

 

At least my final bill will be much smaller!

[sunsailsand]

Our last cruise, we booked on line and payment went to our on board account,and payed after our cruise.

[travelgarn]

Also if you pre book excursions online as compared to waiting until you board you will save money. I think like 10 or 20 pp less

 

So, if you pre-book with Carnival, the price is less?

 

DJ

[shof515]

So, if you pre-book with Carnival, the price is less?

 

DJ

 

sometimes, it depends if you able to catch an excursions sale or promotion. I saved 5 dollars on one excursion last year

[kyrisong1]

You pay a LOT more to take the Carnival Excursions, we usually look under ports of call, many times you can take the same tour as the CC Excursion for much less.

I have not seen advantages to taking the Carnival tours as oppossed to private tours, some say they will wait for you if you are late back from port on a CCL tour, but then others have posted they have been left behind.

For us we feel the money savings is worth it, we keep our watches on ship time and are mucho aware of when we need to be back to the ship and never push that time, like to get back at least 30 to 60 minutes before we have to. JMO but I'd rather spend my money on CCL in the shops or casino, instead of throwing it out the window on a tour I could get for much less.

Carole

[shof515]

You pay a LOT more to take the Carnival Excursions, we usually look under ports of call, many times you can take the same tour as the CC Excursion for much less.

I have not seen advantages to taking the Carnival tours as oppossed to private tours, some say they will wait for you if you are late back from port on a CCL tour, but then others have posted they have been left behind.

It used to be that you can book private tours, but lately within this year there have been alot of posts where the tour company's is required to use the cruise line and they cant offer the same tour on their site and other places

[kyrisong1]

It used to be that you can book private tours, but lately within this year there have been alot of posts where the tour company's is required to use the cruise line and they cant offer the same tour on their site and other places

You can still find fabulous tours if you research your port, I do not understand paying so much extra for something you can find, if not the same then comparable to the one offered by the cruiselines. I am not just talking about CCL but all of them.

The best tours I've taken have been independent of the cruise lines.

I just don't believe all the newbies should be sucked into the Cruise Line Excursions, we did them through the cruise line on our first cruise because we didn't know any better.

I think everyone should know that, and look at what is out there. We offer the info right here on our Ports of Call boards. There is a lot of generous sharing of info on these boards, I always appreciated it when I was steered to new and different info;)

Carole

[serene56]

Our last cruise, we booked on line and payment went to our on board account,and payed after our cruise.

 

 

Not with Carnival- Carnival has been charging for excursions when you book them ahead of time since we started cruising in 2000.

 

Some excursions will sell out more quickly then others-- (stingrays being one of those)

 

Carnival only releases a limited amount of excursions to be booked online and holds the rest for people on the cruise to book.

 

I have yet to see an excursion cheaper online then when you book on the ship.

 

But do agree that to check the port of calls to see if you can find a similiar excursion for a fraction of the cost.

[travelgarn]

Well, I have always booked my tours privately. But the excursion I want is ziplining in Belize. From the boards, it is my understanding that this excursion cannot be booked privately...that Carnival has a contract with the ziplining tours. So, if I were to save some by pre-booking, I would try to go ahead & make a decision. If not, I may wait and book onboard.

 

DJ

[Crusing Nut]

I just went online to book my excursions for my Jan 2 cruise and it looks like Carnival charges when you make the reservation.. This is new to me since I have always sailed on Princess or NCL and they do not charge until you actually take the excursion.

 

Can someone please clarify.

 

 

Every time I booked excursions prior to the cruise, it was charged to my account within24 hours. It usually is cheaper to get most excursions on your own but for a little more money you get a peace of mind that your ship will not sail without you in case something happens during the excursion. Last cruise I was on, passengers went on a excursion through the ship, a train derailed and we left port later than was scheduled because we had to wait for those passengars to return. On our Panama cruise, our bus broke down and the ship had been informed of the problem. The cruise lines would have had to wait until we returned if we hadn't gotten back on time.

[serene56]

Well, I have always booked my tours privately. But the excursion I want is ziplining in Belize. From the boards, it is my understanding that this excursion cannot be booked privately...that Carnival has a contract with the ziplining tours. So, if I were to save some by pre-booking, I would try to go ahead & make a decision. If not, I may wait and book onboard.

 

DJ

 

 

have you looked into ziplining in roatan instead?

[chocolate melting cake]

We always book with the cruise line for because the ship WILL wait for a Carnival cruise---happened to us in Barbados when the bus got a flat tire (no spare!) the ship waited. Below is a "video" taken of people who came late.

 

[skywalkr2]

We always book with the cruise line for because the ship WILL wait for a Carnival cruise---happened to us in Barbados when the bus got a flat tire (no spare!) the ship waited. Below is a "video" taken of people who came late.

 

 

Same here. I am far too conservative to risk being left behind because the tour got a flat tire or had an engine blowout. Also I don't mind paying extra for this piece of mind. I also don't gamble so I figure I owe it to Carnival to spend a few extra bucks on their ship :)