Shore experiences not available 365 days in advance

[RBCruise23]

Hi all 🙂 Booked our first ever cruise on Iona for April 2023 but despite it being less than 365 days away it says shore experiences are not available yet on my P&O cruises - is this common, should I expect them to be available soon? Or is something glitchy here? 
Emailed P&O but get the impression they aren't the speediest at responding 😅 Thanks in advance!

[Camberley]

A snail being dragged backwards through treacle would be speedier than P&O….

 

But this sounds about right: for our last few cruises we could only really book excursions about 5 for 6 months or so before we went. Unless it depends on the cruise. 

Edited June 3, 2022 by Camberley

[pete14]

30 minutes ago, Camberley said:

A snail being dragged backwards through treacle would be speedier than P&O….

 

But this sounds about right: for our last few cruises we could only really book excursions about 5 for 6 months or so before we went. Unless it depends on the cruise. 

A lot can happen within a year so it seems prudent for P&O to leave it nearer to departure date. People already complain if excursions are cancelled or changed (understandably). Whatever they do, it seems as though they are not going to please everybody.

[RBCruise23]

56 minutes ago, Camberley said:

A snail being dragged backwards through treacle would be speedier than P&O….

 

But this sounds about right: for our last few cruises we could only really book excursions about 5 for 6 months or so before we went. Unless it depends on the cruise. 

Ah great thanks, guess I'm just over keen to get booking! 
Do you get a notification when they are available to book?

[RBCruise23]

25 minutes ago, pete14 said:

A lot can happen within a year so it seems prudent for P&O to leave it nearer to departure date. People already complain if excursions are cancelled or changed (understandably). Whatever they do, it seems as though they are not going to please everybody.

Makes sense, would rather book closer to the time than have any messing about with bookings in between.

[purplesea]

We have a cruise booked for next May and some of the ports of call have some excursions available to book and others are saying we can book in 365 days! 

I booked a cruise in April this year about 8 weeks before sailing and although excursions were available to book others where added after this date.

[gsmt47471015]

While I understand the thinking behind not been able to book too early to avoid changes/cancellations ,if its a long cruise,  say a month or longer or if its port intensive,  its nice to stagger the bookings and not have one big bill all at once. We have learnt from past experience that popular trips book up very early

[Fionboard]

As Gary would say - have a little patience!!

[P&O SUE]

I’ve got a cruise booked for October 2023 and every now and again I have a look - two days ago Malaga’s excursions popped up! (That’s the one I want to book for) Now I’ve got excursions for every port except Lisbon, but some are coming up 2 or 3 at a time!

[Fionboard]

The way itineraries are being changed at the last minute I would not bother booking anything months in advance!

[david63]

Not sure why you would want to give P&O, or any other cruise line, your money 12 months in advance of the cruise. I would never consider booking ant shore experiences until I had paid the final balance - and even that is too soon!

[gsmt47471015]

34 minutes ago, david63 said:

Not sure why you would want to give P&O, or any other cruise line, your money 12 months in advance of the cruise. I would never consider booking ant shore experiences until I had paid the final balance - and even that is too soon!

We are very selective with the shore excursion we want to take , however they are sometimes the most popular , Flam railway a prime example, the day after they were announced it was sold out , same with the Jazz and meal in New Orleans, In these instances we have no issue with giving our money early, but appreciate that less popular trips are still readily available closer to sailing dates. When they have been cancelled our money has been back in our account within two days, that applies to all the lines we have sailed with

[Trevor Fountain]

Other reputable tour companies are available. It is worth shopping around.

[devonuk]

On 6/4/2022 at 11:16 AM, gsmt47471015 said:

We are very selective with the shore excursion we want to take , however they are sometimes the most popular , Flam railway a prime example, the day after they were announced it was sold out , same with the Jazz and meal in New Orleans, In these instances we have no issue with giving our money early, but appreciate that less popular trips are still readily available closer to sailing dates. When they have been cancelled our money has been back in our account within two days, that applies to all the lines we have sailed with

Flam… we’ve never used an ‘excursion’ here and have always booked the train independently. 

[gsmt47471015]

It turned out to be irrelevant who we booked with as the whole trip got cancelled!!! However we did try to book independently before trying the ships excursion and it was fully booked , can only assume there were other ships in port on that day

[P&O SUE]

On 6/4/2022 at 10:34 AM, david63 said:

Not sure why you would want to give P&O, or any other cruise line, your money 12 months in advance of the cruise. I would never consider booking ant shore experiences until I had paid the final balance - and even that is too soon!

Don’t know if that was aimed at me or not but I’m not planning to book my Malaga excursion til nearer the time - I just like to look and see what’s available!

[gsmt47471015]

Again only a personal experience , but we have noticed the price difference between ships excursions and independent booking has narrowed considerably , more so since the pandemic, and also in some ports some of the smaller traders who sell trips do not appear to have returned? As I said its only what we have noticed and others may have different experiences

[Slugsta]

54 minutes ago, P&O SUE said:

Don’t know if that was aimed at me or not but I’m not planning to book my Malaga excursion til nearer the time - I just like to look and see what’s available!

 

I find that the cruiseline excursions can give me ideas for things to go and look at for myself.

[P&O SUE]

1 hour ago, Slugsta said:

 

I find that the cruiseline excursions can give me ideas for things to go and look at for myself.

 Same!

[Bazrat]

On 6/4/2022 at 10:34 AM, david63 said:

Not sure why you would want to give P&O, or any other cruise line, your money 12 months in advance of the cruise. I would never consider booking ant shore experiences until I had paid the final balance - and even that is too soon!

We usually book our shore experiences early incase they sell out, I can understand you view but we really don't need the hassle so close to our holiday.