Cost to cancel tours?

[whiterose]

We just booked a segment of the Amsterdam 2010 world cruise and we're excited to be back on HAL after years of sailing only on Princess. I just looked at the on shore tours for our cruise and I was surprised to see that there's a charge if you cancel a tour within 5 days of the CRUISE departure. Is that correct? Princess allows you to cancel with no penalty up to 24 hours before the TOUR departure. I like that because it gives you time, once you get on board, to find out more about the tour and whether it's the right one for you.

 

Do I have my facts right? Why would HAL be stricter than Princess since they are both owned by Carnival?

[planobob]

From HAL's website:

 

"You can easily book shore excursions online up to 5 days before departure using your booking number; changes or cancellations may be made online without penalty until 5 days prior to departure date. All cancellations that are made less than 5 days prior to cruise departure are subject to a 10% cancellation fee. In addition, if you cancel your tour reservation after the booking deadline stated in the Shore Excursions Order Form on board, or if you cancel a Signature Collection private tour, a 100% cancellation fee will apply since transportation and services will have already been arranged."

 

However, based upon past experience, on the day you board (only) excursions may be cancelled with no penalty.

 

Bob

[Krazy Kruizers]

You can cancel any shore excursion on embarkation day without any penalty. We have done it a couple of times.

After that when you cancel a tour before the deadline -- listed in the Shore Excursion sheet in your cabin you will be charged a 10% penalty. If you miss the dealine -- you lose everything.

Also we have found that rarely do we get any more information about a tour once we are on the ship.

Even though HAL and Princess are both owned by Carnival it does not mean that they will have the same policies.

[tjcox9]

If you book a cruise in advance with HAL, it is immediately charged to a credit card. However, on Princess, the pre-booked excursions are added to your onboard charges.

 

We cruise both, seldom take shorex, but when we do, certainly prefer Princess' policies over HAL's.

[RuthC]

I always book my HAL shore excursions on line well before the cruise. However, if I have any concerns about the difficulty of a given tour I check with the Shore Excursion Office after I board. They are usually quite helpful in filling in the missing info. When necessary I do cancel, or change tours, without a penalty.

[qe2]

The best thing would be to address this question to Holland America or your travel agent.

The posters on this board really don't have any authority to give you accurate information on Holland America's cancellation/change policies.

[planobob]

I think HAL's website is VERY clear on their policy:

 

From HAL's website:

 

"You can easily book shore excursions online up to 5 days before departure using your booking number; changes or cancellations may be made online without penalty until 5 days prior to departure date. All cancellations that are made less than 5 days prior to cruise departure are subject to a 10% cancellation fee. In addition, if you cancel your tour reservation after the booking deadline stated in the Shore Excursions Order Form on board, or if you cancel a Signature Collection private tour, a 100% cancellation fee will apply since transportation and services will have already been arranged."