excursion prices - online vs onboard

[MommaOML]

Is there a price difference between booking online vs booking onboard? I can't decide what we're going to do, and may choose at the last minute instead.

[spiritled3]

sorry read it wrong

[mlpcruiser]

There is no price difference from booking onboard or online. However, the price may go up before you actually sail. We are on the Pride in March, and I had printed out the excursions with prices in October so that DH and I could peruse them and make a decision. When I got online last week, the prices had increased by @$5. That would be one reason to book ahead online. This will be our 4th cruise, and we booked all our tours independently from the ship for the first time. And we saved well over 50%. Just a thought...:D

[mlpcruiser]

To clarify, I mean there is no price difference between booking online through Carnival, vs. booking once onboard through Carnival.

[PINEVIEW01]

Yep, no difference in $$$. Now, that you CAN book oanline they may be full by the time you get on the ship.

 

spiritled3 IS right about Cruiseline vs. Non-Cruiseline tours. just not he OP's ??:o

[MommaOML]

To clarify, I mean there is no price difference between booking online through Carnival, vs. booking once onboard through Carnival.

 

Perfect, this is exactly the question I was asking.

 

The excursion I'm pondering is the cliff divers in Acapulco. Yes, I know it's the must see thing, but if my son is in need of a nap (considering we get into port at noon), then a nap trumps cliff divers. Due to the schedule of the cliff divers, you can only see them in the mid-afternoon if you're on a cruise-excursion. The afternoon non-cruise-excursion dive happens right at noon, ship's time.

[ShelleyQT]

Perfect, this is exactly the question I was asking.

 

The excursion I'm pondering is the cliff divers in Acapulco. Yes, I know it's the must see thing, but if my son is in need of a nap (considering we get into port at noon), then a nap trumps cliff divers. Due to the schedule of the cliff divers, you can only see them in the mid-afternoon if you're on a cruise-excursion. The afternoon non-cruise-excursion dive happens right at noon, ship's time.

 

 

Actually, you can see them in the mid-afternoon, but you have to pay a little more to go in because it's a "private show" (designed for the cruise excursions). It's still cheaper to go by cab and pay your own way in rather than pay the exorbitant fee the cruiseline will charge you. The cliff divers are only about a mile away from the ship (although it is uphill). It is not a long cab ride, and it's very easy to find a cab.

 

Here's an excerpt from my upcoming review of our Dec. 16th cruise:

 

We landed in Acapulco at 11:45 ship time. This is 12:45 Acapulco time. We had wanted to see the cliff divers, and I had read on Cruise Critic that they perform for the public at 12:45 and then not again until 7:30 at night. We didn’t want to go at night. I had also read on CC that you can watch the private show (that they perform for the cruise ships) at 2:00, although it costs twice as much to get in. But I didn’t know if the times listed on CC were ship time, or Acapulco time, and I was nervous that we might not be allowed into one of the private shows. So when we landed, we rushed to get off the ship and we quickly grabbed a cab just outside the port.

 

Of course we got the cab from someone giving us a hard sell, but we eventually negotiated a very nice Suburban with seatbelts and room for all six of us, $25 both ways. He said we would pay the driver after we got to the ship. The salesman kept trying to talk us into stopping at the market, too, but I said firmly that we didn’t want to go to the market. So he put us into his friend’s Suburban, and when we got to the cliffs, the driver said he wanted to be paid $13 now. This seemed like an okay rate for all six of us, so I didn’t mind, but I suspected that he wouldn’t come back to pick us up. I asked him what time he would come back and he hemmed and hawed, and said he’d be back at 1:50. It was already 1:10, so I asked him again what time the show started. When we first got into his car, he had said it started at 1:00, but now he was telling us it started at 1:15 and would be over by 1:50. I felt like he was lying to us.

 

We left him and went to the ticket booth. They were very nice, but didn’t speak much English. My daughters have some high-school Spanish so that helped. We were told the public show was almost over, and that it costs $3.50 pp, and includes a bottled drink (soft drinks or beer). We were also told that there would be a private show at 2:30 but it would cost $7 pp. I had hoped we could at least make it into the private show, but had been nervous that it wouldn’t really exist, or that there wouldn’t really be a show at a time that worked for us, but sure enough! I’m so glad I have Cruise Critic!

[NCTribeFan]

All the excursion prices increased recently (from what I can tell). It wasn't that they were closer to sailing, just an overall increase, I believe.

 

If you don't book before you leave, I'd advise booking as soon as possible after boarding.

 

We were given extremely limited options online prior to sailing. I even emailed and asked about a certain excursion I wanted to book and knew should be available. I was told "no way of knowing if this will be available once you board."

 

It was. But DD wouldn't make a decision, and when she finally did (the afternoon before we reached that port), it was unavailable. We ended up doing the one I had originally wanted, so all was fine, but we got the final 2 slots (there were 3 times with about 20 people each).

[pe4all]

We always book Carnival excursions online before we board. On the Freedom, we booked our excursions 3 months before. Upon boarding, saw our excursion had gone up $11 per person thru the excursion desk. This was the first time I had seen this happen. But, as others have said, if there is an excursion you have your heart set on, book it before, or you may be disappointed once on board if it is sold out.