Excursion Waitlist

[m1k2s3]

We leave in two weeks on a French Polynesia cruise. It looks like with the inclusion of excursion credits with the Simple More package, excursions seem to book up fast. Unfortunately I guess we waited too long and we got one excursion booked but the other one we wanted is wait listed. When I called Oceania, they said it’s possible if they get enough people wait listed, they may add another tour.

 

i’m wondering if any of you have had an excursion wait listed, what your experience was. I’ve got another similar tour booked through Viator just in case but of course I’d prefer to be able to use the balance of our credit instead of having to pay for the other one.

[daydreamer62]

My experience is that we are booked on a cruise in June around Spain and I was waitlisted for one excursion which cleared after about 4 weeks. I think that many who eventually cancel their cruise book excursions before they have made the final decision on actually going and when they cancel their excursion place is reopened ( the new penalities might disuade people from doing this in future .. hopefully) 

[shepherd really]

Call Oceania and ask what your place is on the waitlist, if you're near the top you may clear.  Either way, cover yourself with a refundable private tour.  

[WESTEAST]

5 hours ago, shepherd really said:

Call Oceania and ask what your place is on the waitlist, if you're near the top you may clear.  Either way, cover yourself with a refundable private tour.  

Our experience when asking O the status of the wait list and where we placed was that they could not tell us.  Called a few times and received the same response.  Once onboard, we went to Destination Services and was informed that the wait list had cleared due to late cancellations. 

[patty1955]

How do you get waitlisted? I'd like to book an excrusion on our Sept. 2024 cruise but it says "This excursion is closed. If available, please select another time." when I try to book

[shepherd really]

10 minutes ago, WESTEAST said:

Our experience when asking O the status of the wait list and where we placed was that they could not tell us.  Called a few times and received the same response.  Once onboard, we went to Destination Services and was informed that the wait list had cleared due to late cancellations. 

My experience is the opposite.  No idea why yours was different.  

[WESTEAST]

Just now, shepherd really said:

My experience is the opposite.  No idea why yours was different.  

A mystery. Our past experience was in Aug-September 2023 and we now have 1 waitlisted for March 2024 and received the same response.  

 

[WESTEAST]

6 minutes ago, patty1955 said:

How do you get waitlisted? I'd like to book an excrusion on our Sept. 2024 cruise but it says "This excursion is closed. If available, please select another time." when I try to book

Had same issue online but called Oceania and they put us on waitlist.

[patty1955]

8 minutes ago, WESTEAST said:

Had same issue online but called Oceania and they put us on waitlist.

I called Oceania. It turns out that excursion is no longer being offered.

[babysteps]

5 hours ago, patty1955 said:

called Oceania. It turns out that excursion is no longer being offered.

 

5 hours ago, WESTEAST said:

11 hours ago, shepherd really said:

 

Our experience when asking O the status of the wait list and where we placed was that they could not tell us.  Called a few times and received the same response.  Once onboard, we went to Destination Services and was informed that the wait list had cleared due to late cancellations. 

Once we had a "waitlisted" excursion. Once onboard we checked with destination services and it had been removed / cancelled. Other times O has added additional times for popular excursions. 

 

So if your desired excursion is 'waitlisted' a plan B is definitely worth setting up imo! 

Edited January 8 by babysteps

[Iamthesea]

On 1/7/2024 at 1:39 PM, patty1955 said:

How do you get waitlisted? I'd like to book an excrusion on our Sept. 2024 cruise but it says "This excursion is closed. If available, please select another time." when I try to book

I just tried to book an excursion for March.  Says the same message that patty1955 is getting.  When I clicked on "select guest", our names come up with a red lettered "waitlisted"  next to our names. But there is no way to add that to the cart nor is there any confirmation that we are actually waitlisted.  On HAL, when we are waitlisted, we get a confirmation email.   Is this just something that happens automatically?

Edited January 9 by Iamthesea

[AMHuntFerry]

4 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

I just tried to book an excursion for March.  Says the same message that patty1955 is getting.  When I clicked on "select guest", our names come up with a red lettered "waitlisted"  next to our names. But there is no way to add that to the cart nor is there any confirmation that we are actually waitlisted.  On HAL, when we are waitlisted, we get a confirmation email.   Is this just something that happens automatically?

Do not trust the online booking...ever (well, maybe sometime in the future). Call O and get the pre-purchased shorex statement from them after confirming any bookings and waitlists. It is itemized and every detail you need is in this statement. Your TA can also send this doc if you want to check it, then call if any changes are needed.

[Iamthesea]

Can I call Oceania direct even though I booked through a large TA?  Also, I finally found an excursion that was available.  However, when I put it in the cart, the cart comes up empty.  Soooo frustrating!  

[shepherd really]

7 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

Can I call Oceania direct even though I booked through a large TA?  Also, I finally found an excursion that was available.  However, when I put it in the cart, the cart comes up empty.  Soooo frustrating!  

Yes, O will assist you on excursions, it's a big money maker for them.

[Iamthesea]

Thank you!