HAL book excursions early, or wait?

[zauberflote]

My apologies if this is covered elsewhere: I cannot find it by searching. 
We are not experienced cruisers and are  booked on a July/Aug 2026 HAL Norway/Iceland/Greenland/Scotland cruise. Never cruised this line. Most recent cruise was Celebrity.
 

I am curious whether, if I book shore excursions now, at the Navigator app price, I am locked in to that price forever, or if discounts come along I will be somehow able to wangle a refund for the difference. Will discounts even happen? My shopping cart has 8 excursions in it, waiting for me to fish or cut bait. Some excursions were already sold out...

 

With Celebrity (Maine&Canada), I booked excursions very late, based on laziness, inattention, and an email or maybe notification in the app that excursions were significantly discounted for a limited time. I got pretty much everything I wanted. The stakes were much lower since I live on the east coast US, and visit New England often anyway. 

edited for clarification 

Edited yesterday at 01:33 AM by zauberflote
Clarification/add text

[oakridger]

I have never seen discounts on excursions on HAL.  It may have happened, but I did not see it!  Excursions will be added or times changed between now and July 2026 so be aware that what is available this far out is just a preliminary list.  If by a rare chance that a price goes down, you can always cancel and rebook at the new price.  Cancellations will refund to the method of payment (credit card for example).

 

I think you will have a good time on HAL!

 

~Nancy

[zauberflote]

@oakridger thank you Nancy! I had thought of the cancel+re-book, but I've lost things into the wilds of cyberspace that way, too. 
 

Thanks for the encouragement! I know we will enjoy the trip!😃

chris

[Alberta Quilter]

Definitely book sooner than later because excursions sell out and I have found prices to increase closer to sailing.  If you haven't already done so, join your roll call because there will likely be some who are organizing private tours that you might be interested in.  Could be less expensive, could be more expensive but usually a smaller group.  You could always cancel the HAL tour if you choose to do a private tour.

 

FYI you will have to pay in full for the tour at time of booking.

[REOVA]

As mentioned, no discounts on HAL but have seen increases once onboard and also many sell out early, depending on cruise. 

 

But if you do want to cancel and rebook, read the cancelation rules specific to tour. Some are non refundable (penalty) and others require 24-48 hours notice. Also don't do it yourself to make changes, call your TA of HAL so you don't lose anything, they can reprice or reapply charges. 

[VMax1700]

I have never seen discounts or reductions, however bear in mind that private options in some Norhtern European ports can be limited.

[Will_Dieterich]

Book early, they do fill up and it is free to cancel unless you are a day or so away.

If there are ones that are full then get on the waitlist, once on board if they are able to get more transportation, usually the day before, they will add you to the excursion and you can freely cancel one you have paid for the other, or go to the excursion desk and cancel the one that just opened.

 

If you have OBC book and pay now, then when on the ship go to the excursion desk and have the change the payment for it.  Do not cancel because there could be people on waitlist and your canceling would remove you and give it to them.

[3rdGenCunarder]

2 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

I have never seen discounts or reductions, however bear in mind that private options in some Norhtern European ports can be limited.

 

In some small ports, HAL will lock in contracts with all the local vendors, so it's just about impossible to book anything independently. 

[zauberflote]

@Alberta Quilter thanks for advice! I am lurking on the roll call right now....

@REOVA I appreciate the advice to call TA. I may have to do that simply to book the tours! The Navigator app has "failed to complete" my transaction 5 times now🙄

@VMax1700 thanks!

@Will_Dieterichdidn't think of waitlisting! There are a couple that I'd like to do that for. 

@3rdGenCunarder thanks! I didn't know that. 

[Grandmaanne7]

How were you able to access everything on the app for your 2026 cruise? My app shows our July 2026 booking but nothing available for it. I do have a prior booking for 2025 that allows me to access dining, shore excursions,  etc. But nothing whatsoever for the 2026 cruise. Does it only work for one cruise at a time?

[REOVA]

6 hours ago, Grandmaanne7 said:

How were you able to access everything on the app for your 2026 cruise? My app shows our July 2026 booking but nothing available for it. I do have a prior booking for 2025 that allows me to access dining, shore excursions,  etc. But nothing whatsoever for the 2026 cruise. Does it only work for one cruise at a time?

The app only has 1 cruise at a time. Also it's not always reliable until you board the ship. 

[Sea42]

8 hours ago, zauberflote said:

I may have to do that simply to book the tours! The Navigator app has "failed to complete" my transaction 5 times now🙄

You probably will have no problem if you use the website instead of the Navigator app. I don't put the app on my phone until maybe a week before my cruise. Neither are great example of stellar programming but I don't see the need to use the app until close to sailing.

[zauberflote]

@Grandmaanne7 I love your screen name! My middle name is Anne, and I considered "Grannie Annie" as my grandma name for awhile. 
 

I guess booking from the app worked for me because I didn't know any better?😁 I open the app, tap the center boat icon at bottom of screen, a menu opened of several icons, I chose Excursions, and went charging on in. However, I have been thwarted in my efforts to pay, so maybe I will sign in to my actual account to pay. Odd they don't want my money😉 No idea how the pic got so big, I do apologize!

[zauberflote]

Ahhh....! Thank you @Sea42 !