mstan Posted March 14, 2011 #1 Share Posted March 14, 2011 My wife and I are booked on the May 26 Barcelona to Copenhagen sailing on the Marina. It's our first Oceania cruise after numerous trips on Crystal, etc. In the past, we've always waited until we were onboard before booking shore excursions. Is there any compelling reason to reserve shore excursions with Oceania online in advance, assuming that we're willing to assume the risk that a particular shore excursion is sold out? With so many options in most ports, I doubt that we'd be especially upset if one or two are sold out in advance. Also, if we book online prior to sailing, what's Oceania's cancellation policy? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orchestrapal Posted March 14, 2011 #2 Share Posted March 14, 2011 My wife and I are booked on the May 26 Barcelona to Copenhagen sailing on the Marina. It's our first Oceania cruise after numerous trips on Crystal, etc. In the past, we've always waited until we were onboard before booking shore excursions. Is there any compelling reason to reserve shore excursions with Oceania online in advance, assuming that we're willing to assume the risk that a particular shore excursion is sold out? With so many options in most ports, I doubt that we'd be especially upset if one or two are sold out in advance. Also, if we book online prior to sailing, what's Oceania's cancellation policy? Thanks. Cancellation must be made 24hours before an excursion. If you have no problem with a certain trip being sold out, there is no reason you can't wait until you board the ship. If you have a credit from a TA or other on your shipboard account you will be able to use it for excursions whereas if you pre book on line you must pay immediately. Enjoy your cruise!:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebobh Posted March 14, 2011 #3 Share Posted March 14, 2011 On the now "smaller" ships, we have encountered the cancellation of the ship's shore excursions from time to time, almost always due to the lack of participation. if one elects to wait until they're onboard, the tour office may make determinations of which tours to cancel using the pre-sold (or immediately purchased) excursions, thus the one you might want could not be there, etc. With Marina, probably to early to tell if this will still be an issues, since the larger client pool should create more folks who would take any individual tour. I blend private tours with some ship tours (e.g., in Morocco, I 'm taking the ship tour to Rabat & not relying on a provider there). For the most part, I'll do the ship tour reservations ahead of time; more to have one less thing to think about once i board the ship and turn my mind off...also, the shorex desk isn't always open, and when it is, it can get pretty crowded at times, so any last-minute reservations could be more of a hassle than one might want it to be... Thanks, Bob H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wripro Posted March 14, 2011 #4 Share Posted March 14, 2011 If you have any shipboard credit it makes sense to wait until you're aboard so that the cost can be applied to the credit. If you prebook you have to pay in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwelsh Posted March 15, 2011 #5 Share Posted March 15, 2011 If you have any shipboard credit it makes sense to wait until you're aboard so that the cost can be applied to the credit. If you prebook you have to pay in advance. With the price of most tours being rather high you would need to have a very substantial OBC to cover many!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wripro Posted March 16, 2011 #6 Share Posted March 16, 2011 On some Alaska sailings they are offering $1000 OBC. That would cover some excursions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.