Excursion cancelation DILEMNA

[marktwothousand]

I am in a bit of a dilemna with a pre booked excursion. I have a prepaid excursion at 1:30 PM on day 3 of my sailing. I called the mainline and the lady says I can cancel any time 2 days prior (which means, on the day of boarding in this case) for a refund. But all the literature I’ve read says 48 hours. What is the policy for prepaid excursions in practicality?

 

i am travelling with 3 other people who unfortunately were not able to book the excursion due to space limitations. We will try to sign them up when we board and if They don’t get on, then I will have to cancel. Problem is, I don’t board until around noon and I don’t think I will make it to the shorex desk before 1:30, so how strict is the 48 hours? Has anyone successfully been able to get a refund 2 days prior (ie at the 44 hour mark)?

[MsK64]

6 minutes ago, marktwothousand said:

I am in a bit of a dilemna with a pre booked excursion. I have a prepaid excursion at 1:30 PM on day 3 of my sailing. I called the mainline and the lady says I can cancel any time 2 days prior (which means, on the day of boarding in this case) for a refund. But all the literature I’ve read says 48 hours. What is the policy for prepaid excursions in practicality?

 

i am travelling with 3 other people who unfortunately were not able to book the excursion due to space limitations. We will try to sign them up when we board and if They don’t get on, then I will have to cancel. Problem is, I don’t board until around noon and I don’t think I will make it to the shorex desk before 1:30, so how strict is the 48 hours? Has anyone successfully been able to get a refund 2 days prior (ie at the 44 hour mark)?

The friend that I was traveling with on the Joy a couple of weeks ago, was able to get a refund for snorkeling excursion the night before it was scheduled to go out. However, that was because she had developed an allergic reaction to the seasickness patch she was taking and had to remove it—but in doing so, could not go out on the trip. The excursions desk was extremely kind and actually refunded her money without any discussion or argument. That said, this is a different situation.  However, my sense is, that if you go to the excursions desk as soon as you get on board to see if there are openings for the three other people, and if not, immediately ask for yours to be canceled, I think it’s likely they’ll do it without much of a problem. Your only other alternative would be to cancel yours now, and then see if there are four openings when you get on the ship-but that is taking a big chance that no one will go.

 

I certainly can’t guarantee anything, but given the kind of customer service that existed on my cruise, I just can’t see them quibbling over a couple of hours. (and if you do end up having to cancel, don’t mention that you’re past the 48 hours unless they do )

 

Good luck! 

[marktwothousand]

Thanks for that @msk64

 

i feel like I remember reading a rumour about “they credit your onboard account” if you cancel  less than 48 hours prior on board.

 

BUT!!! If you cancel over 48 hours prior, I heard they refund to the original credit card if it is a prepaid excursion. Does anyone know the validity of this rumour? I searched for it but couldn’t find it. 

 

Either way I am good with an OBC because I do plan on doing a little bit of spending. It’s only a $40 excursion. But I still wanna make sure I cancel somewhat on time if I have to 

Edited August 29, 2022 by marktwothousand

[victory2020]

How much of a chance is there to get on an excursion that is sold out? I waited too long to book 2 that I wanted

[missnd]

I could be wrong, but I thought you could cancel within 48 hours if you do it on the day you board.

[casofilia]

I have a number of old shorex tickets and the actual wording is "Cancellation Policy: 48 Hours Prior to PORT DATE".   It will depend on how the Shorex staff interpret that if you go on the day of boarding and it is for a day 3 shorex.   But you couldn't wait till you find out if your fellow travellers get places.   One thing you could do between now and then is to practice groveling!!   VBG

 

If you go to see the shorex desk on board they may well allow you to cancel IF they have a sale for your place.

[marktwothousand]

15 minutes ago, missnd said:

I could be wrong, but I thought you could cancel within 48 hours if you do it on the day you board.

I think this is the rumour I was thinking of, but I heard you have to take OBC. I am hoping someone can confirm this rumour 

[casofilia]

Don't take too many rumours.   Why don't you phone the Shorex people at 1 866 625 1167?   Get it from the horse's mouth.

[BirdTravels]

You should be able to cancel any shoreex on embarkation day. The only limitation is on space-limited shore excisions like helicopters and float planes where they tell you, in advance, that you have to cancel 3 days prior to embarkation. 

 

Any onboard cancellations turns into a refundable OBC. 

[n4w]

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

Any onboard cancellations turns into a refundable OBC. 

 

Do you know if this is the same if pre-booked with FCC?

[julig22]

3 hours ago, marktwothousand said:

Thanks for that @msk64

 

i feel like I remember reading a rumour about “they credit your onboard account” if you cancel  less than 48 hours prior on board.

 

BUT!!! If you cancel over 48 hours prior, I heard they refund to the original credit card if it is a prepaid excursion. Does anyone know the validity of this rumour? I searched for it but couldn’t find it. 

 

Either way I am good with an OBC because I do plan on doing a little bit of spending. It’s only a $40 excursion. But I still wanna make sure I cancel somewhat on time if I have to 

Anything you cancel onboard results in a cash credit to your onboard account.  Their onboard accounting system is completely whack so I suppose they might call it refundable obc, although I've not seen it that way on my account. If you have a positive balance at the end of the cruise you have to get the cash from guest services.

If you cancel prior to boarding the ship, it should be credited back to the original form of payment - although sometimes they lock their systems, so they might not let you cancel right before your cruise date and you'd have to do it onboard.

[dandelpino]

13 hours ago, marktwothousand said:

I am in a bit of a dilemna with a pre booked excursion. I have a prepaid excursion at 1:30 PM on day 3 of my sailing. I called the mainline and the lady says I can cancel any time 2 days prior (which means, on the day of boarding in this case) for a refund. But all the literature I’ve read says 48 hours. What is the policy for prepaid excursions in practicality?

 

i am travelling with 3 other people who unfortunately were not able to book the excursion due to space limitations. We will try to sign them up when we board and if They don’t get on, then I will have to cancel. Problem is, I don’t board until around noon and I don’t think I will make it to the shorex desk before 1:30, so how strict is the 48 hours? Has anyone successfully been able to get a refund 2 days prior (ie at the 44 hour mark)?

The policy is 48 hours. Anything outside of that would be up to the manager's discretion. You could get 100 replies from people telling you they got a policy deviation and were refunded. But that won't mean anything for you if the shorex manager decides not to extend you a goodwill refund. I guess I'm saying don't convince yourself that it's possible to cancel after 48hrs just because other people on other ships on totally different dates/years were successful. You might be setting yourself up to annoyed for the whole cruise if your request is denied. 

 

[RumRunner2021]

15 hours ago, marktwothousand said:

i am travelling with 3 other people who unfortunately were not able to book the excursion due to space limitations. We will try to sign them up when we board and if They don’t get on, then I will have to cancel.

Why don't you just cancel now and then there will be 4 of you trying to book at the same time?

[MotownVoice]

15 hours ago, marktwothousand said:

the lady says I can cancel any time 2 days prior (which means, on the day of boarding in this case) for a refund. But all the literature I’ve read says 48 hours.

Not for nothin' but ... 2 days is 48 hours.

Carry on.

 

[dandelpino]

11 minutes ago, MotownVoice said:

Not for nothin' but ... 2 days is 48 hours.

Carry on.

 

 

Not at all when it comes to a deadline. If a hypothetical excursion is at 10am on wednesday:

 

 

16 hours ago, marktwothousand said:

I called the mainline and the lady says I can cancel any time 2 days prior

 

• 2 days prior is monday which means you need to cancel by 11:59pm on monday
• 48 hours prior is monday at 10am

 

In one scenario you have a bunch more time than in the other so they are not equivalent.

Edited August 29, 2022 by dandelpino

[julig22]

4 minutes ago, MotownVoice said:

Not for nothin' but ... 2 days is 48 hours.

Carry on.

 

48 hours is 2 days but 2 days can be more than 48 hours. 12:01am on Monday to 11:59pm on Wednesday is 2 days but 71hrs, 58 minutes.

Most excursion tickets specifically state 48hrs prior to port arrival, not 2 days. And the excursion desk isn't open 24/7 so if port arrival is 7am for example you would need to cancel earlier than 48 hours.

 

Not uncommon to use the terms interchangeably but the devil is in the details.

[MotownVoice]

35 minutes ago, julig22 said:

Not uncommon to use the terms interchangeably but the devil is in the details.

Sure.   If you're someone who's trying to complicate the function of a doorknob.

[Just Jo]

18 hours ago, victory2020 said:

How much of a chance is there to get on an excursion that is sold out? I waited too long to book 2 that I wanted

 

We sailed on the Dawn in December and wanted to partake in a sold out excursion.  The shorex employee suggested waiting in/at that specific excursion line the morning of in case of a cancellation.  It worked in our favor and we were able to go.

[marktwothousand]

5 hours ago, Just Jo said:

 

We sailed on the Dawn in December and wanted to partake in a sold out excursion.  The shorex employee suggested waiting in/at that specific excursion line the morning of in case of a cancellation.  It worked in our favor and we were able to go.

How did it work when it came to charging you last minute? Was this a line on board or off the ship?

[marktwothousand]

Just realized the subject line should read: DILEMMA. 😱 surprised No one caught that yet 

[phillygwm]

On 8/28/2022 at 9:06 PM, MsK64 said:

I certainly can’t guarantee anything, but given the kind of customer service that existed on my cruise, I just can’t see them quibbling over a couple of hours. (and if you do end up having to cancel, don’t mention that you’re past the 48 hours unless they do )

Admittedly, I have nothing firsthand to base this on, but I'd expect if you replaced the excursion with something everyone could go on, they wouldn't give you a terribly hard time.

[Just Jo]

9 hours ago, marktwothousand said:

How did it work when it came to charging you last minute? Was this a line on board or off the ship?

 

This line was off the ship.  Just head over to where you would normally stand in line to get on the vehicle/vessel for the actual excursion.  We stood in line like we had tickets, then told the excursion person we were there to wait for a possible cancellation.  She told us to stand off to the side and wait and we would be notified.  

 

I kept an eye on the person I spoke to, and stood close by so as not to be forgotten.  Eventually the person waved us over because of the last minute cancellation.  She asked for our cabin number and gave us a hand written receipt for the charge, and we were on our way.

 

 

[MotownVoice]

9 hours ago, marktwothousand said:

Just realized the subject line should read: DILEMMA. 😱 surprised No one caught that yet 

We caught it. 
 

We just weren’t about to spell check ya over a title.  

[Sue Do-Over]

We have been able to join excursions last minute.  I'd sprained my ankle, so we opted not to wander the city center on our own, and hoped to join the NCL HOHO excursion.

 

We went to the theater where they were handing out the group-stickers and were asked to stand to the side and wait for an opening.  When there was room on one of several busses going, they gave us stickers and charged our room cards.  Waited maybe 20-30 minutes, and we weren't the only ones hoping for a 'stand by' spot.

[McFins]

Was recently told in a call with a Shore Excursion Specialist that when you board you can ask to be put on a waiting list for sold out excursions…however have not tried it myself yet.