Excursion Reservations something new?

[geniesue]

We are booked on the British Passage, April 20th, from Ft Lauderdale.

The excursions were recently posted. The odd thing is you are unable to

Reserve them now. It states reserve on board, or wish list. We've done close to 20 Princess cruises and have never seen this. Wondering if we will have to wait until boarding to reserve. There are a couple tours we aren't comfortable doing on our own. A Berlin and a Paris due to distance from port.

[Colo Cruiser]

We are booked on the British Passage, April 20th, from Ft Lauderdale.

The excursions were recently posted. The odd thing is you are unable to

Reserve them now. It states reserve on board, or wish list. We've done close to 20 Princess cruises and have never seen this. Wondering if we will have to wait until boarding to reserve. There are a couple tours we aren't comfortable doing on our own. A Berlin and a Paris due to distance from port.

 

 

I have seen excursions come out anywhere from 50-100 plus days.

You are still a tad out.

Have never seen them kept until onboard.

Edited December 23, 2015 by Colo Cruiser

[satxdiver]

It is not something I have seen before. Perhaps it has something to do with that particular cruise but I have no idea why. I hope Princess is not quietly changing their policies on ship excursions.

[nukesubsailor]

I usually book cruises well in advance. Then I regularly check my cruise personalizer to see if excursions are available. On a couple of cruises, the itinerary on the personalizer will show the ports in blue font that will link you to the points of interest of the port. When I follow the link there will be just the points of interest and no excursions listed. I keep checking every day or two and eventually the excursions offered will appear and let me book those I want. I presume this delay has to do with getting the contracts with the tour companies finalized.

[jlf1]

Received this message from Princess today.

 

Judy

 

Our research shows that many of our guests appreciate the opportunity to pre-pay for shore excursions and to reduce the size of their bill at the conclusion of a cruise. Guests also value the assurance of guaranteed space on popular excursions that may otherwise fill up before they have a chance to book onboard.

 

All other premium cruise lines currently require pre-payment of shore excursion reservations, and Princess will assess the response to this policy among our own guests on Alaska itineraries aboard Grand Princess from May 11 to September 8, 2016. Discounts on select voyages will reward guests who reserve and pre-pay for their excursions in advance.

 

During this test, Alaska shore excursion pre-reservations will require payment within 24 hours by credit card to avoid cancellation. Onboard credit will not be accepted for pre-reservations, and will be limited to payment for excursions reserved once onboard.

 

We believe the assurance of local expertise, safe operating practices and verified value offered by Princess shore excursions, along with the convenience and confidence of pre-payment, will be well received by your clients. We currently plan to evaluate the response and make a final decision by the end of 2016 on implementing the policy fleetwide.

 

In closing, I’d also like to express our regrets that our travel agent partners were not informed about this program until it was already under way. I want to assure you that in the future we will alert you to any developments of this kind as soon as possible.

[azbirdmom]

Received this message from Princess today.

 

Judy

 

Our research shows that many of our guests appreciate the opportunity to pre-pay for shore excursions and to reduce the size of their bill at the conclusion of a cruise. Guests also value the assurance of guaranteed space on popular excursions that may otherwise fill up before they have a chance to book onboard.

 

All other premium cruise lines currently require pre-payment of shore excursion reservations, and Princess will assess the response to this policy among our own guests on Alaska itineraries aboard Grand Princess from May 11 to September 8, 2016. Discounts on select voyages will reward guests who reserve and pre-pay for their excursions in advance.

 

During this test, Alaska shore excursion pre-reservations will require payment within 24 hours by credit card to avoid cancellation. Onboard credit will not be accepted for pre-reservations, and will be limited to payment for excursions reserved once onboard.

 

We believe the assurance of local expertise, safe operating practices and verified value offered by Princess shore excursions, along with the convenience and confidence of pre-payment, will be well received by your clients. We currently plan to evaluate the response and make a final decision by the end of 2016 on implementing the policy fleetwide.

 

In closing, I’d also like to express our regrets that our travel agent partners were not informed about this program until it was already under way. I want to assure you that in the future we will alert you to any developments of this kind as soon as possible.

 

Oh boy, I do not like where this is heading but it should be no surprise. We sure like the way it is now and that the OBC is applied against any pre-reserved excursions.

[moki'smommy]

Makes me wonder about their definition of "all other premium cruise lines." I guess the three other lines we've cruised don't fit their definition.

[san diego sue]

GEnieSue

We are booked on the same cruise but leaving three days earlier from Houston. The tours are listed (as of a few days ago) and we prebooked everything. Didn't have to pay in advance either (for Alaska cruises next summer Princess wanted pay in advance).So this was the usual

reservations.On our roll call only the ones boarding in Houston and are on for 21 days have the ability to book.Getting on in Ft. Lauderdale don't think available yet. And also the people with the extended cruise, staying on after Southhampton, don't think available yer either. This cruise was sold several ways.

Perhaps after Christmas you will be okay to book. By the way some of the tours are very pricey.Call {Princess and ask how come not available to you yet.

[Dynagirl]

We are booked on the Regal April 17th TA and the excursions just opened up last week. I noticed changes to the page a couple of days prior to actually being able to reserve. Keep watching, they willhopefully be available shortly.

[eclue]

We are booked on the Royal Princess from Ft Lauderdale on April 22nd for the transatlantic....the excursions came up a few days ago and it is the same thing. You can add it to your wish list and that is about all.....I am going to call Princess after Christmas and see what is going on.

Merry Christmas

eclue:rolleyes:

[seamwoman]

We're on the April 22 TA and I booked some Princess tours last night. Karen

[oskidunker]

They are using dynamic pricing so if an excursion is close to selling out,the price will go up.

 

Best to reserve early any you want. Don't know what i would do if they would require prepay. Probably book cheaper excursions on my own.

[geniesue]

Thanks for that info SanDiego Sue. I couldn't imagine having to wait till onboard to book. I need to follow the roll all better. Prices are high, it seems.

We're doing the British Isles cruise following the TA, making it 30 days. That'll be our longest cruise ever.

[eclue]

We're on the April 22 TA and I booked some Princess tours last night. Karen

 

That's interesting - after reading your post I went to the Princess site and tried to book our excursion and it still only allows you to have it on your wish list.

After Christmas, I plan on calling. We di very few ship excursions but now and then one comes along that is a smaller group and more interesting.

eclue:rolleyes:

[Mary Ann 2]

We are currently booked on the Grand to Alaska, and I just checked and sure enough, you now have to pay to reserve excursions. This makes me very unhappy! How does Princess expect to judge our reaction? They haven't given us much choice other than to book independent excursions!?

 

This is one reason that we stay with Princess. We booked a cruise once with Royal Caribbean and were shocked that we had to pay up front. When we had to cancel due to a death in the family, it was a pain to try to get the money back!! Fewer and fewer reasons to stay sadly...

 

Definitely NOT happy that they are testing this...

[Colo Cruiser]

It would push us to book more private excursions. :(

Edited December 24, 2015 by Colo Cruiser

[Times Prince]

I just booked several excursions for our March 6, 2016 cruise and had no problems. They do offer the option to prepay, but with the OBC's we get that is not the way to go.

 

They have stated that anything requiring air travel must be prepaid. Is that the case with the excursions others have been denied booking?

[Cruzn ELM]

We are booked on the British Passage, April 20th, from Ft Lauderdale.

The excursions were recently posted. The odd thing is you are unable to

Reserve them now. It states reserve on board, or wish list. We've done close to 20 Princess cruises and have never seen this. Wondering if we will have to wait until boarding to reserve. There are a couple tours we aren't comfortable doing on our own. A Berlin and a Paris due to distance from port.

 

I am also on this cruise and I spoke with Princess today. There are four different versions of this TA cruise with varying beginning and ending ports plus a fifth BI only cruise. Each stands alone as far as booking and excursions are concerned. I was told that no excursions can be booked for a cruise until all excursions for that specific itinerary are made available and, as yet, not all of the vendor contracts for the BI ports have been finalized. Therefore only those passengers on the two cruises disembarking in Southampton, including those who booked as two separate B2B cruises (technically disembarking in Southampton), can currently book excursions. Although it could be that these excursions will not be available for booking until it is within 120 days of the BI only cruise (Jan 9), I was told to check my personalizer frequently.

 

Terribly confusing but I hope this helped.

[kuldalai]

What a pile of spin and crap. The wretched bean counters at Princess trying to get your $ in advance . Imagine the interest Princess will earn getting pax to pay for shorex in advance . Some bright spark will get a promotion and bonus for thinking up that idea .

[Mary Ann 2]

It would push us to book more private excursions. :(

 

Yes, I am already looking at booking private excursions. The two that I probably will book either require no prepayment or $50 each to hold. Quite different that having to shell out the big $$ necessary for Alaska excursions!

[Mary Ann 2]

Received this message from Princess today.

 

Judy

 

Our research shows that many of our guests appreciate the opportunity to pre-pay for shore excursions and to reduce the size of their bill at the conclusion of a cruise. Guests also value the assurance of guaranteed space on popular excursions that may otherwise fill up before they have a chance to book onboard.

 

All other premium cruise lines currently require pre-payment of shore excursion reservations, and Princess will assess the response to this policy among our own guests on Alaska itineraries aboard Grand Princess from May 11 to September 8, 2016. Discounts on select voyages will reward guests who reserve and pre-pay for their excursions in advance.

 

During this test, Alaska shore excursion pre-reservations will require payment within 24 hours by credit card to avoid cancellation. Onboard credit will not be accepted for pre-reservations, and will be limited to payment for excursions reserved once onboard.

 

We believe the assurance of local expertise, safe operating practices and verified value offered by Princess shore excursions, along with the convenience and confidence of pre-payment, will be well received by your clients. We currently plan to evaluate the response and make a final decision by the end of 2016 on implementing the policy fleetwide.

 

In closing, I’d also like to express our regrets that our travel agent partners were not informed about this program until it was already under way. I want to assure you that in the future we will alert you to any developments of this kind as soon as possible.

 

I'm booked on the Grand for the coming year and still haven't seen any kind of notification like this. If it wasn't for these boards, I wouldn't have realized that was what was going on my cruise personalizer for excursions! I thought it was really early to have them ready to reserve, now I guess they think we want to spend money that would be spent on Christmas for excursions instead? Not!

[Pushka]

The reservations for Alaska next year appeared a few weeks ago and none were bookable until a few days later. However several have always shown as 'sold out' which is impossible. Luckily on Island Princess so no prepayment required. Land tour excursions do require prepayment.

Edited December 24, 2015 by Pushka