Princess excursions- When did line start having us pay ahead to book?

[Moxiefurball]

I’m on a cruise out of Italy in June and all excursions, drink packages must be paid for in advance.  I don’t remember this in Alaska, ( although it was back in 2012).  And my brother just cruised Caribbean princess in August and said he could just reserve excursions and pay later on shipboard account.  Is this something only for Europe cruises ?

[NavyVeteran]

I don't remember exactly when they changed the policy, but it was well before your brother's Caribbean cruise in August and it applies worldwide. You can use OBC instead of a credit card to book if the OBC has already posted to your account listed in the Cruise Personalizer. When you checkout after purchasing, it will give you the option of using your OBC and then paying the difference (if any) by credit card. If you use OBC to purchase, then it will be settled as part of your onboard account.

 

There were several threads on this subject when they made the change - you may be able to find them by searching.

 

One positive change they made in response to customer complaints was to post shareholder OBC well in advance instead of the old 90 day in advance limit so that it could be used for reserving shore excursions in advance.

[Astro Flyer]

Princess began requiring payment (chargecard or OBC) about 2 years ago & since then payment is required to pre-book all tours.  Tours can still be booked & paid for while on the ship.

[hobbyfarmer2]

Yes, it was about two years ago.  I was told that many would book tours and then cancel them prior to the cruise - easy because the cost of doing so was zero to the client.  The new policy supposedly discourages this behavior.  My feeling is that it may also put people off from booking marginal excursion choices which might be a sin for Princess.  Time will tell.

[reedprincess]

The last date/cutoff for cruises  where you could reserve in advance and pay onboard was November 2017.  All cruises after then required excursions booked in advance to be paid at time of booking. Was there slippage or occasions where the website didn't function correctly, absolutely.

But for all intents and purposes, you have to pay at time of booking for excursions. You can use any available OBC to say for excursions in advance. Some OBC isn't accessible in advance, like some your travel agent nay give you or such. 

 

[Astro Flyer]

23 minutes ago, hobbyfarmer2 said:

Yes, it was about two years ago.  I was told that many would book tours and then cancel them prior to the cruise - easy because the cost of doing so was zero to the client.  The new policy supposedly discourages this behavior.  My feeling is that it may also put people off from booking marginal excursion choices which might be a sin for Princess.  Time will tell.

I think that’s the primary reason for the change but the Princess reason I received after the change was to follow the industry standard of requiring payment to book tours before boarding the ship.

[Grego]

4 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

I think that’s the primary reason for the change but the Princess reason I received after the change was to follow the industry standard of requiring payment to book tours before boarding the ship.

I agree that it was to overcome the industry problem of folks booking tours for the sake of having them in their pocket, kinda like putting towels on deck chairs, and then canceling them at the deadline which causes problems with tour operators and the ship.  Purchasing them in advance commits the passenger to make a decision and then stay with it. 

[Coral]

I think it is purely Princess greed. I don't think many booked tours they were not going to take. If that were the reason, we could still all do it with the $800 OBC many of us get now when booking.

 

I think they changed it because all the other lines were doing it. Unfortunately it was one thing that set Princess apart. Now I look at other lines.