Do excursions sell out?

[Notaworryintheworld]

I've never booked an excursion through carnival besides FTTF. Do regular excursions usually fill up before the cruise? How important is it to book in advance? And how far in advance do you recommend booking them?

[okgirl]

They don't often sell out before the cruise, but I would certainly be going on line often to go through the excursions and as soon as you're sure of what you want to do go ahead and book it.

 

It saves a lot of time standing in line when on the ship or wasting time booking them through your interactive TV on the ship.

 

I like having as much paid for when I get on the ship as I can.

[Gingee]

I don't know if they sell out before the cruise but this past July our friends tried to get on one excursion shortly after they boarded the ship and it was sold out.

[Cruise Envy]

I've never booked an excursion through carnival besides FTTF. Do regular excursions usually fill up before the cruise? How important is it to book in advance? And how far in advance do you recommend booking them?

 

There are a lot of variables. Cabanas at Half Moon Cay sell out months in advance. Other excursions still have availability on board. Is there a particular one you are interested in? You might get a better response if we knew more information.

[tuxdude98]

It probbly really depends on the excursion and how many ships are in port, we were going to try to do the sea lion experience in Nassau...but being in port with 4 ships including the allure of the seas(It was one of those insanely large ships), that excursion was full so we weren't able to go on it. It's all good though, in December we'll be swimming with them when the Liberty visits St. Thomas :D

[BIG_Steve]

It certainly can happen on any cruise, especially Alaskan cruises.

[Frank12]

It depends on the excursion, but yes they do sell out.

[jimboridesmtb]

We have tried to book excursions that have sold out prior to sail date. Now we book ahead of time and can cancel if we find something else we would rather do. We always stick to what we booked but it's nice to know that you can cancel if you want, I think it's 7days prior to the excursion without penalty.

[OCruisers]

Yes, the popular ones do often sell out in advance. Best to go ahead and book.

 

LuLu

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[riclop]

I've never booked an excursion through carnival besides FTTF. Do regular excursions usually fill up before the cruise? How important is it to book in advance? And how far in advance do you recommend booking them?

Some popular ones do sell out.

[larkz]

Occasionally, they add additional times for their popular sell-out excursions, but I wouldn't count on it.

 

Even booking an excursion isn't a guarantee that you'll get on it, because weather, lack of participants, or other events may cause it to be cancelled. When I was on board Dream and learned that one of my excursions was cancelled due to lack of participation, my second/third/fourth choices were all sold out -- this was the night before, on the ship.

 

And three years ago my Bannister Island (Belize) excursion was cancelled, then reopened, then cancelled again due to breakdowns in negotiations between Carnival and whoever owns/manages the island. It turned out to be a fortunate thing for me, because I went ahead and flew from Belize airport to the nearby San Pedro, Ambergris Caye Island, which has been my favorite self-guided excursion ever since.

[BIG_Steve]

Occasionally, they add additional times for their popular sell-out excursions, but I wouldn't count on it.

 

Even booking an excursion isn't a guarantee that you'll get on it, because weather, lack of participants, or other events may cause it to be cancelled. When I was on board Dream and learned that one of my excursions was cancelled due to lack of participation, my second/third/fourth choices were all sold out -- this was the night before, on the ship.

 

Happened to us in Cozumel. Got a notice in the cabin when we went back at the end of the evening before. Was pretty upset, but we saved the day with a local tour the next day. But I hate picking tours at the dock. I'd rather pick one ahead of time online, where I have an opportunity to come to CC to get references, or take a ship tour.

[Notaworryintheworld]

Wow thanks for all the info! Guess ill figure it out and book it soon.

[ontheweb]

We once tried to book one while aboard an NCL ship in Bermuda only to be told it was already sold out.

 

On our Carnival Freedom cruise last month, we really wanted the Bob Marley bus tour in Jamaica. I'm glad we booked it way in advance. The bus was full. (I think it only held 33 passengers.)

 

You can still not get an excursion even though you booked it way in advance. This has happened to us twice. The first time was on the NCL Epic in Europe when we were informed that the excursion to Arles did not have the minimum number of passengers needed. We got that notice the day before the excursion. The second time was last month on the Freedom. They said that there was a problem with the tour provider. We got that notice right away with our excursion tickets.

[crusinpsychRN]

6 weeks ago several adventure tours were sold out for my cruise set for 10/26/13. I keep hoping they'll open a 2nd group.

[Qchell]

We wanted to do a Jeep excursion on one cruise but it got sold out a few months before the cruise.. :(

 

The flip side is that some excursions get cancelled because not enough people book in advance.

 

If you know what you want to do - best idea is to go ahead and book it.

[flounder315]

also it depends on which island or country you are visiting!!!

 

Jamacia you definetly want to book a Carnival excursion...