Booking NCL tours--

[sharonann24]

I would like to start booking a couple of the NCL tours for our trip to Iceland and Norway this summer.  My question is when will I be charged for them?  I would like to reserve the slot but don't know if my credit card will get charged automatically, or whether the card is charged once we are on board.  It has been a long time since I have booked a ship tour other than the one I did last minute when we were actually on board (it was for a post cruise tour in Ft. Lauderdale).  

[vacation44]

NCL charges you as soon as you book the excursion.    

[sharonann24]

That is what I was afraid of!  I hate loading up my credit card like this.  Many of the tour operators such as Viator allow you to book and do not charge until the day before your tour.  I wish NCL had that option.

[JandC_Cruising]

If you pre-book your excursions, your cc will be charged immediately.  I don't think you can "reserve" an excursion spot without pre-paying any longer.  Pre-pandemic you could by calling NCL rather than booking online, but no longer (please correct me if I'm wrong).  

 

When you pre-book and pay, they will apply any Shore Excursion credits and Lattitude discounts to reduce the overall cost.

 

 

 

[julig22]

10 minutes ago, JandC_Cruising said:

If you pre-book your excursions, your cc will be charged immediately.  I don't think you can "reserve" an excursion spot without pre-paying any longer.  Pre-pandemic you could by calling NCL rather than booking online, but no longer (please correct me if I'm wrong).  

 

When you pre-book and pay, they will apply any Shore Excursion credits and Lattitude discounts to reduce the overall cost.

 

 

 

You are correct.  They stopped the "reserve" option just prior to COVID.  Which also means you also can't use OBC to pay for excursions if you book in advance.

And as a reminder, if you book onboard you have to ask for any latitudes discounts - the $50 excursion credit is automatic (applied after you go on the excursion) but you have to let them know if you have a latitudes discount.  If you use the app to book while onboard you still have to go to the excursion desk later to get your discount applied.

[destar]

1 hour ago, sharonann24 said:

I would like to start booking a couple of the NCL tours for our trip to Iceland and Norway this summer.  My question is when will I be charged for them?  I would like to reserve the slot but don't know if my credit card will get charged automatically, or whether the card is charged once we are on board.  It has been a long time since I have booked a ship tour other than the one I did last minute when we were actually on board (it was for a post cruise tour in Ft. Lauderdale).  

NCL charges your CC as soon as you book. The only choice is you want a guarantee spot on a specific excursion is to book early. Some excursions sell out some don't. On a positive note, booking with cruise line you are guarantee that you won't be stranded and if the excursion is cancelled for any reason you'll get your money back in your account no problem.

[Cauzneffct]

In addition to having to prepay, once you book, you’re “locked out” of that day and can’t see what excursions are offered.  We missed out on our first choices and have no way of seeing if anyone cancels or if additional slots or tours open up.  

[bedfordmom]

Agree if you really want a particular excursion book it before  It seems that you can book most while on the ship, making sure to ask for your latitudes discount.  I also agree that if the ship does not make port, you could potentially lose your deposit or full money. Thats why when I book w/ a private vendor, I make sure that I have them verify that if we don't make port that they will refund our money. One vendor even stated that if we catch covid on the ship they would refund which is new to me.  Yes the ship excursion will wait for you. I fondly remember coming back from a long Cayman Island excursion w/ 50 other folks to cheers. But if something goes horribly wrong like the lady that broke her leg on the St. Kitts volcano ship excursion who had to stay in port for the hospital, they won't wait.  I always weigh out the advantages vs disadvantages of private vs ship sponsored. With the $50 credit, prices tends to be similar but advantage to the private is that there are often times less participants making a more pleasant excursion.

[Joanne G.]

2 hours ago, Cauzneffct said:

In addition to having to prepay, once you book, you’re “locked out” of that day and can’t see what excursions are offered.  We missed out on our first choices and have no way of seeing if anyone cancels or if additional slots or tours open up.  

That is such an annoyance.   On my last booked NCL cruise - which ended up being a covid cancelation - people were asking each other on the roll call to see what excursions may have become available that they were unable to see.  

[julig22]

20 minutes ago, Joanne G. said:

That is such an annoyance.   On my last booked NCL cruise - which ended up being a covid cancelation - people were asking each other on the roll call to see what excursions may have become available that they were unable to see.  

I've pretty much told every PCC, CN onboard manager and land-based excursion rep I've ever had contact with that they need to fix this.  It's not something that can't be fixed - and pretty easily (IMHO as a former database developer). No reason that they can't show you what's available and just block you from putting it in your cart if it overlaps.

[BirdTravels]

5 hours ago, sharonann24 said:

That is what I was afraid of!  I hate loading up my credit card like this.  Many of the tour operators such as Viator allow you to book and do not charge until the day before your tour.  I wish NCL had that option.

Be aware that popular shore excursions will sell out. And it is already getting close to your cruise date. 

[sharonann24]

I get it.  I know how quickly they book up.  That will be my charge in the early morning light tomorrow.  We typically don't do a lot of ship excursions but there are a couple that may be worth the pre book. The funny thing is that this trip is a last minute addition--not even on our short term radar!  Traveling with my soon to be 94 year old dad who has never been to Iceland!  We are along for the ride which is cool, but now requires a bit of juggling!

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

Be aware that popular shore excursions will sell out. And it is already getting close to your cruise date. 

 

[ontheweb]

It would be nice if they could show how many slots are still available for an excursion to give one an idea of how well it is filling. I believe Princess does this, or at least used to pre-Covid.

[9tee2Sea]

sometimes excursions are for a limited time only.  On my last sailing ( Feb 2023), there was an overnight excursion to Cairo ( to see the Pyramids).  I had booked that many many months in advance.  while talking to passengers on the ship, I found out the excursion had limited quantity, and it sold out in about 90 min.  My opinion, if it's something you REALLY want to do, just go for it and pay for it now.  

[ontheweb]

15 hours ago, sharonann24 said:

I get it.  I know how quickly they book up.  That will be my charge in the early morning light tomorrow.  We typically don't do a lot of ship excursions but there are a couple that may be worth the pre book. The funny thing is that this trip is a last minute addition--not even on our short term radar!  Traveling with my soon to be 94 year old dad who has never been to Iceland!  We are along for the ride which is cool, but now requires a bit of juggling!

 

And then there are those that do not sell out. We did a Western Mediterranean cruise on the Epic in 2012 for our 35th anniversary. There were 2 shore excursions we really wanted. One of them was to Arles (where Van Gogh did most of his paintings) from the port of Marseilles. We paid for it in advance as we really wanted it with DW being an art teacher and Van Gogh being a favorite artist for both of us. And then on the day of the excursion, we were told it was cancelled due to not enough passengers having signed up for it. (6000 passengers and you can't get enough to sign up for it really sucked) And paying in advance for something they no longer provided also sucked.

[Seminole1975]

Looking at excursions for our Lisbon to Rome cruise in August. If NCL cancels an excursion or changes a port, don't you get your money back? What if you change your mind and want to change your excursion or cancel it altogether? 

[eileeshb]

5 hours ago, ontheweb said:

It would be nice if they could show how many slots are still available for an excursion to give one an idea of how well it is filling. I believe Princess does this, or at least used to pre-Covid.

That capacity can be a bit of a moving target for some excursions. When I did the western Mediterranean there were a few excursions that had multiple bus loads so the excursion providers can add on buses as the demand requires but then there are others that have a strictly limited capacity. It would be great if they gave that info but I suspect there are a few reasons they don’t :

1. They want the money as quickly as possible

2. They need to be sure the excursion providers have sufficient capacity or will other backup providers need to be added

I’m sure there’ll be more reasons.

Also sometimes the available excursions listings change as provider contracts are renewed or cancelled, and sometime the providers have to cancel for an entire season.

e.g. One excursion in Alaska that I saw mentioned as highly recommended was completely cancelled last year due to staff shortages at the business hosting the excursion but they didn’t know that until the season started. 
 

[bedfordmom]

Yes some excursions fail to meet minimum numbers. On my recent cruise we were thrilled to learn st Martin replaced St Lucia. Even happier to see the America’s Cup being offered. We were supposed to do that years ago but the port was cancelled due to Hurricane Maria. Only 3 signed up so it was cancelled. I thought the same with 4K passengers only 3 so only one other person including us signed up