Shore Excursions: Pay-in-advance vs. later with OBC

[cloudy21]

I've read through the listing of available shore excursions for my upcoming cruise and I'd like to book at least one of them. I do have a decent amount of OBC included with my room for which a shore excursion is a good use. But, I cannot pay for the excursion with OBC until I am actually on the ship - that's what Celebrity's customer service rep told me on the phone. If I book now with a credit card, my card will be charged now.

 

According to the fine print on excursions, they can be cancelled without penalty up to 24 hours prior to tour departure without penalty.

 

Could I register and pay now and then later, after I board the ship, cancel, get a refund to my credit card, and rebook with OBC?

 

What if the tour is sold out at the time of embarkation and when I cancel is it possible that my reservation will then be offered to another passenger on a waiting list rather than allowing me to rebook with OBC?

[Guindalf]

You certainly can take a chance and do that, but remember that often, refunds are added to your shipboard account, so you would not really gain anything apart from ensuring you get the excursion you want. However, if you use up the OBC, then the cash part should be refundable, but you may have to wait several weeks for that refund to appear.

[wallie5446]

There in lies the catch 22.

 

If it is a sold out tour, and you cancell, if there are any wait listed pax they will be in line and get first chance for any openings. You would be put on the back of the wait list, not able to instantly rebook.

 

You can Roll the dice and hope it does not pre sell out.

 

On our November cruise there is a tour on a cat that our Roll Call booked all the slots for the AM & PM snorkeling sail 15 months out.

 

Catch 22

[Perky1]

I think I read somewhere else that they tend to be a bit more expensive onbard than they are if you book before you go? Does anyone know if that is correct?

[Luvcrusn]

I think I read somewhere else that they tend to be a bit more expensive onbard than they are if you book before you go? Does anyone know if that is correct?

 

Yes, they are slightly more expensive, but not drastically so. Also, taking into consideration that if you are booking before you go, you are paying out of your pocket, whereas, if booking once onboard you can use OBC (if you have some), essentially making it free;)

[DaisyFire]

There in lies the catch 22.

 

If it is a sold out tour, and you cancell, if there are any wait listed pax they will be in line and get first chance for any openings. You would be put on the back of the wait list, not able to instantly rebook.

 

You can Roll the dice and hope it does not pre sell out.

 

On our November cruise there is a tour on a cat that our Roll Call booked all the slots for the AM & PM snorkeling sail 15 months out.

 

Catch 22

 

Hey EW!

 

I was on the phone with the Captains Club booking a specialty dining package for our upcoming April cruise and mentioned that I'd book other items as well but wanted to use OBC so I would wait. She told me that Celebrity is trying to work things out so that they can allow folks to use their OBC to pre-book items for their cruise vs. waiting until they are on board. She said it is actually a system limitation and they are working on making changes so it may be several months out... just passing it on :D

[Cruzin&Snuzin]

You certainly can take a chance and do that, but remember that often, refunds are added to your shipboard account, so you would not really gain anything apart from ensuring you get the excursion you want. However, if you use up the OBC, then the cash part should be refundable, but you may have to wait several weeks for that refund to appear.

 

 

 

This is exactly what happened to us on Reflection in Dec. We were late arriving to San Juan and were refunded our cost for the pre-paid excursion cost, but it went to our OBC, not to the credit card. There may be some unused OBC that can be returned to you as a credit at the end of the cruise, but I'm not familiar with the particulars of that. We still managed to spend it all though.

 

 

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[janetz]

Hey EW!

 

I was on the phone with the Captains Club booking a specialty dining package for our upcoming April cruise and mentioned that I'd book other items as well but wanted to use OBC so I would wait. She told me that Celebrity is trying to work things out so that they can allow folks to use their OBC to pre-book items for their cruise vs. waiting until they are on board. She said it is actually a system limitation and they are working on making changes so it may be several months out... just passing it on :D

 

Princess now allows this. ;)

[wallie5446]

Hey EW!

 

She said it is actually a system limitation and they are working on making changes so it may be several months out... on :D

 

Hello my dear Margarita!

Hope you and Hutch are well!

So very Jello-us that ya'll are going in April.

 

Celebrity, system limitations, several months :eek: business as normal! :D

 

EW

[gdpups]

Just off Silhouette two days ago and had a wonderful cruise. My group of 4 had booked a chef excursion before we sailed for $199 with our credit cards because we didn't want to take the chance it might it might sell out. Once on the ship we went right to the shore excursion desk and asked if the excursion was sold out.

 

It was still available, so we had them cancel and rebook using OBC. Note, because we had pre-booked the excursion using our credit cards they excursion amount goes back to your OBC account as "refundable" OBC, so if you don't use it during the cruise it is refunded back to your credit card.

 

You should always check your OBC, I had $100 from my ta that was "refundable", and the rest was "non refundable" OBC from Celebrity. I had cancelled another excursion I had prebooked, so I just checked my credit card account and today it shows a credit of $389 from my Silhouette cruise.

 

If you're not sure if your OBC is refundable or not check with Guest Relations on the ship and they will let you know.

[DaisyFire]

Hello my dear Margarita!

Hope you and Hutch are well!

So very Jello-us that ya'll are going in April.

 

Celebrity, system limitations, several months :eek: business as normal! :D

 

EW

 

Yes - those 'dry' spells can be hard to take... but you will be cruising again before you know it :)

 

And one day I am sure the stars will align and we will find ourselves on the same cruise! :D

[ECCruise]

Note, because we had pre-booked the excursion using our credit cards they excursion amount goes back to your OBC account as "refundable" OBC, so if you don't use it during the cruise it is refunded back to your credit card.

 

/QUOTE]

 

This is important. Just because you are credited in OBC, you do not need to spend it since it is refundable. Otherwise it would make no sense to cancel and re-book.

[easyboy]

Just off Silhouette two days ago and had a wonderful cruise. My group of 4 had booked a chef excursion before we sailed for $199 with our credit cards because we didn't want to take the chance it might it might sell out. Once on the ship we went right to the shore excursion desk and asked if the excursion was sold out.

 

It was still available, so we had them cancel and rebook using OBC. Note, because we had pre-booked the excursion using our credit cards they excursion amount goes back to your OBC account as "refundable" OBC, so if you don't use it during the cruise it is refunded back to your credit card.

 

You should always check your OBC, I had $100 from my ta that was "refundable", and the rest was "non refundable" OBC from Celebrity. I had cancelled another excursion I had prebooked, so I just checked my credit card account and today it shows a credit of $389 from my Silhouette cruise.

 

If you're not sure if your OBC is refundable or not check with Guest Relations on the ship and they will let you know.

Very well said. The right approach.

[caribill]

Princess now allows this. ;)

 

What Princess allows is booking an excursion in advance of the cruise with the option of waiting until you cruise to pay for it. If you do wait, then you can pay with OBC.

[janetz]

What Princess allows is booking an excursion in advance of the cruise with the option of waiting until you cruise to pay for it. If you do wait, then you can pay with OBC.

 

That is correct. No paying in advance.

[bobndee]

Yes, they are slightly more expensive, but not drastically so. Also, taking into consideration that if you are booking before you go, you are paying out of your pocket, whereas, if booking once onboard you can use OBC (if you have some), essentially making it free;)

 

On our TA cruise last year we had pre-booked an excursion with X. Once on-board we saw that the same excursion was $20 p/p more if booked on-board.

[cloudy21]

Thank you for all responses and advice submitted on this thread. I decided to go ahead and book my excursion: the "St. John on your own" trip offered when docked in Crown Bay, St. Thomas. It's priced close to what it would cost if you do it truly on your own (i.e., taxis & public ferry). Furthermore, prior posts suggested the onboard price may be higher than pre-cruise excursion rates so best to lock this in.

 

Now if I can cancel onboard and then pay with OBC, I'll be even happier!

[DrivesLikeMario]

Princess now allows this. ;)

 

Princess has allowed this for almost all of the past 18 years. There was a very short time period just recently which lasted about 3 months where they changed it so that everyone had to pay in advance. There was so much outrage about it, they changed it so you can now choose to pay in advance or pay once onboard with your OBC.

It's the best of both worlds and I don't understand why Celebrity can't get their act together with it too. :mad:

[SusieV]

It would be really nice to be able to do this. I want to book my dining package and an excursion but can't.

[LuAnn]

about this today and she said the a pilot program is being tested on RCCL and that Celebrity is working on offering this option and it should be available "soon"...whatever "soon" means!!! :) LuAnn

[GStonelake]

I paid for our excursions in advance to guarantee our spot with the thought if any were NOT sold out once on board I would just cancel and rebook with OBC.

 

 

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