Prepaid Excursions Back (No Reserve Now, Pay Onboard)

[cherylandtk]

Well, this stinks. Was wandering around my Personalizer and saw excursion listings available for one of my upcoming cruises. (Coral, Jan 2018) Except when I went in to reserve them, the ONLY booking option was to pay now, with clear wording that "Excursions are not reserved until paid for".

 

After all the hoopla last December when Princess pulled this on us the first time and then reversed that decision, I am rather put out.

 

I suppose I can hope they will change their mind again, but I'm not holding my breath. This is for a Jan. 2018 cruise, so it is very early for excursions to even show up, but they did. Perhaps this is new for all 2018 and on cruises? Perhaps the reserve now pay later option will be added later? Dunno. Just wanted to let others know what is showing up....:(...and to ask if others are seeing this.

[Fussytraveler32922]

I had the same thing happen to me!! We're cruising next week on Pacific Princess, and I ordered two cases of bottled water when booking the cruise. They asked me to pay "NOW", although I would have rather paid with some of my onboard credit !! The charge went through immediately !!

 

Maybe they had people who would book excursions in advance (without paying) and then cancel at the last minute, leaving some tour openings, causing some serious bookers not to get the tours because they were previously full. Not sure.

[pompeii]

I had the same thing happen to me!! We're cruising next week on Pacific Princess, and I ordered two cases of bottled water when booking the cruise. They asked me to pay "NOW", although I would have rather paid with some of my onboard credit !! The charge went through immediately !!

 

Maybe they had people who would book excursions in advance (without paying) and then cancel at the last minute, leaving some tour openings, causing some serious bookers not to get the tours because they were previously full. Not sure.

 

The bottled water has been like that since they introduced it. Each time I've gotten it I've had to pay at that time. Not so the excursions.

[Colo Cruiser]

I had the same thing happen to me!! We're cruising next week on Pacific Princess, and I ordered two cases of bottled water when booking the cruise. They asked me to pay "NOW", although I would have rather paid with some of my onboard credit !! The charge went through immediately !!

 

Maybe they had people who would book excursions in advance (without paying) and then cancel at the last minute, leaving some tour openings, causing some serious bookers not to get the tours because they were previously full. Not sure.

 

 

It's always been that way. Anything you order like that will require prepayment. Nothing to do with excursions.

We are done with Princess excursions regardless.

[wheezedr]

Bottled water has always been prepay and is not available for purchase at that price when on board. With that proviso, it is a very good deal. Basically $.50 a bottle plus tip. Even in third world ports local vendors usually want a buck each.

[Sea Hag]

This is nuts. I just looked at my May cruise, and it's back to pay now and onboard credit not accepted for online bookings. Not going to do that!

[cherylandtk]

Sea Hag, thanks for checking. Honestly, I am surprised that a May cruise (less than two months from now) also shows this.....perhaps there is hope for a change back after all.

[toescat]

I just copied and paste this from my cruise personalizer page for excursions and it does not say anywhere that your place is not reserved if you do not pay pre cruise. See Below

NEW

Pay Before You Sail, Or Pay Later Onboard

 

You have the option to pay for shore excursions in advance of your cruise. If you wait, we will add the charges to your onboard account which is settled at the end of the cruise.

[luv2gonow]

Wow glad I booked all mine except Valencia. Now I will wait till onboard for sure!

Kerri

[NavyVeteran]

I just checked my upcoming cruises and did not see a problem.

 

The following is listed at the bottom of the EXCURSIONS page on my May 2017 cruise and on my August 2017 cruise (both of which are currently allowing me to book excursions): "NEW Pay Before You Sail, Or Pay Later Onboard. You have the option to pay for shore excursions in advance of your cruise. If you wait, we will add the charges to your onboard account which is settled at the end of the cruise."

 

Excursions are not yet available for booking on either of my two 2018 cruises, so nothing is said about payment.

[WatchHill]

I just checked our upcoming Norway Summer Solstice cruise on the Crown for June '17 and there's nothing indicating prepayment is necessary to secure the tours. We have oodles of OBC and there's no way I will pre-pay on this port-intensive cruise. Besides, the few tours I booked through Princess were way over-priced, but a good way to use the credits in a few of the ports.

I wonder if it's another Princess experiment with tours and they are focusing on particular ships or clients in various parts of the world.

 

Darcy

[cherylandtk]

Remains to be seen how/when/where this will be applied and if it is a return to across the board policy in the future. Glad to hear that it has not happened to everyone.

 

I agree with those who said (here and last December) this really impacts the use of OBC and booking promotions. I have quite a bit I was planning to use on the upcoming cruises and will NOT prepay for excursions.

 

If that means I miss out on some excursions, then so be it. I'll be spending my OBC where I can and taking the refundable part home...which has never happened before.

[greenie082756]

This is from the Princess website FAQ's:

 

 

Get the most out of your experience at port by booking a shore excursion. Princess® offers a variety of excursions perfect for families, sightseeing, adventure, and exploring wildlife and nature. You can book your shore excursion with Cruise Personalizer® from approximately 180 days before travel, and up to 5 days before you depart. Learn more about our ports and excursions.

Onboard credit will not be accepted for pre-reservations, however, it can be used once onboard to off-set payment for additional excursions purchased onboard.

So, I am interpreting this that in regards to payment for a Princess excursion that before you board and reserve it requires payment.

If you book an excursion once on the ship, then they will use the OBC that you have.

Since my future cruise is in October, I can't test this out on their website.

Its a shame if they are changing the process, however from a business point of view I see why.

DH and I signed up for a tour and thought all was great and was told 2 days beforehand that it was cancelled because not enough signed up for it. :(

[Tranquility Base]

edit

I agree with those who said (here and last December) this really impacts the use of OBC and booking promotions. I have quite a bit I was planning to use on the upcoming cruises and will NOT prepay for excursions.

edit

Under this new system it uses OBC if you have them in order to confirm the excursion booking.

 

If you have sufficient available OBC the prepaid system automatically uses those.

No credit card required in that case.

[cherylandtk]

Tranquility Base. Thank You! THAT is an option I had not seen before, and I was booking excursions just last January. And yes, one can now use OBC to prebook the excursions...so thanks!

[jpom18]

NM, I see what Tranquility Base was talking about, when you check out it allows you to use the OBC.

Thanks for that info

Edited March 30, 2017 by jpom18

[cherylandtk]

This is from the Princess website FAQ's:

Onboard credit will not be accepted for pre-reservations, however, it can be used once onboard to off-set payment for additional excursions purchased onboard.

Teresa, it does indeed say this, and it always worked this way in the past. But I checked what Tranquility Base said and yes, you actually can apply OBC to your Excursion reservations.

[greenie082756]

Teresa, it does indeed say this, and it always worked this way in the past. But I checked what Tranquility Base said and yes, you actually can apply OBC to your Excursion reservations.

 

 

Well I certainly hope so! Like many other frequent Princess cruisers, we get a substantial amount of OBC and this is one of the ways we enjoy spending it. Thanks Princess!! :D

[RDC1]

This is nuts. I just looked at my May cruise, and it's back to pay now and onboard credit not accepted for online bookings. Not going to do that!

 

Where is your May cruise to? They did their initial experiment on Alaska cruises.

[casofilia]

We have two cruises in June/July and still have the following for both:-

Pay Before You Sail, Or Pay Later Onboard

 

You have the option to pay for shore excursions in advance of your cruise. If you wait, we will add the charges to your onboard account which is settled at the end of the cruise.

[caribill]

This is from the Princess website FAQ's:

 

 

Get the most out of your experience at port by booking a shore excursion. Princess® offers a variety of excursions perfect for families, sightseeing, adventure, and exploring wildlife and nature. You can book your shore excursion with Cruise Personalizer® from approximately 180 days before travel, and up to 5 days before you depart. Learn more about our ports and excursions.

Onboard credit will not be accepted for pre-reservations, however, it can be used once onboard to off-set payment for additional excursions purchased onboard.

So, I am interpreting this that in regards to payment for a Princess excursion that before you board and reserve it requires payment.

If you book an excursion once on the ship, then they will use the OBC that you have.

Since my future cruise is in October, I can't test this out on their website.

 

That was the wording put in last year when they implemented the policy of having to pay for excursions that were booked in advance.

 

When that policy was retracted, Princess did not charge this wording on their web site.

[Colo Cruiser]

Under this new system it uses OBC if you have them in order to confirm the excursion booking.

 

If you have sufficient available OBC the prepaid system automatically uses those.

No credit card required in that case.

 

Not all OBC is available at that time or qualifies. :(

[shepp]

Bottled water has always been prepay and is not available for purchase at that price when on board. With that proviso, it is a very good deal. Basically $.50 a bottle plus tip. Even in third world ports local vendors usually want a buck each.

 

Yeah, much better deal than that pure, free water that comes from the tap.

[shepp]

Ah, yet another CC tempest in a teapot. I went online, booked a tour for my October cruise, and got confirmed reservations with the option of prepaying. No problem.

[susancruzs]

I checked my October transatlantic reservation and my shore excursions are still booked and I did not have to pay for them. I have an onboard credit which will cover the cost once I'm onboard.