Can excursions sell out before a cruise?

[pittnh]

I noticed a few excursions say only 3 spots available, or aren't being offered at a discount like other ones at the port stop/  I'm still 4 months out from my cruise, am I in danger of being shut out if I don't book soon?

[SWACruising]

There will usually be something available but yes, some do sell out

[firefly333]

The longer raft excursion in Belize sold out. Never came back. Some sell out.

[PhillyFan33579]

From my experience excursions sell out all the time. 

[SG65CB]

For any given ship excursion you can usually find third parties who offer similar excursions, often at a lower cost. 

 

This website has a message board for each port of call where you can get information about reputable excursion operators in each port. 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/2-ports-of-call/

 

 

[topnole]

Yes.  Some do and some don’t.  But they certainly can and will.  

[PolicromaSol]

Yes, they can. The good news is often you'll have like 5-6 different tours offering the exact same thing and the only difference is a dancing or cooking lesson at the beginning or some other minor feature that probably wouldn't make or break your day if it wasn't included. And if enough sell out they will often open up more similar tours with a different gimmick. Make sure to read them all carefully to see what they include. 

 

Others have mentioned privately booking. Advantage: Cheap. Disadvantage: If you don't know what you're getting into, you could end up back late and the ship won't guarantee they will wait for you. And then you get to be the person that gets laughed at following the big boat in a little motorized fishing boat trying to get back on. (Which from my understanding they will let you back on, but there you go.)

 

Yeeeeaaaah, I think I'm sticking with the official tours for now. 🤣 I'm a chicken.

[gdwest]

We wanted the single rider ATV excursion in Cozumel for the two of us.  The planner only

had one available.  I emailed the RC excursion office approx one month before the cruise...

they replied a week or so before the departure that one had become available. I went straight

the the planner..and behold! I reserved!

[pittnh]

do you think if an excursion is no longer being offered at a discount that would be an indicator that it is close to being filled?

[ARandomTraveler]

32 minutes ago, pittnh said:

do you think if an excursion is no longer being offered at a discount that would be an indicator that it is close to being filled?

Probably