Discount on excursions?

[flyhelper]

I've booked my first Princess cruise, and am poking around at the personalizer.

 

The ship excursions seem very pricy, especially considering we have six persons in our family. Does Princess ever offer any kind of discount on excursions (besides those kids discount listed)? Should I book the excursions now or wait till we get on the ship?

 

I read somewhere that there's something called the "Princess Book". Is it some kind of coupon book? Where can I get one? Thanks!

[Toto2Kansas]

There are no discounts on excursions. In fact, the prices you see on the personalizer now could go higher before your cruise (I have seen them go higher, but not lower in the past). If you book now, it's always best to print off what you booked and the price you paid, that way you can lock in your price. If once onboard you are charged the higher price, you can show the price you booked at and they will lower the charge to what it was at the time of booking. Keep in mind, you will not pay for your Princess excursions until you are on the ship, they will be charged to your shipboard account. ;)

[sultan_sfo]

One of our excursions which we booked at $36 is now $62! And if you change your mind you can cancel it. But read carefully the cancellation rules -- the latest time period before the excursion that one is allowed to cancel.

 

There are no discounts on excursions. In fact, the prices you see on the personalizer now could go higher before your cruise (I have seen them go higher, but not lower in the past).

...

;)

[Pam in CA]

You can probably do some research and find independent (non-Princess) excursions. If you do decide to go independently, you're on you're own to make sure you're back on the ship in time; and, if the excursion isn't what you expected or there are problems, you have no recourse. If the port is a tender port, ship's tours are on the first tenders with those going ashore independently on a first come-first served tender ticket system. Also, if you book an independent tour, make sure you never pre-pay in full; if they require a deposit, make sure it can be canceled at the last minute and your money refunded.

 

A suggestion is to join the roll call for your cruise. Sometimes, people make arrangements to put together a group tour.

[Ginnyfyr]

We booked our cruise through Princess, and the lady that called us back told us that we'd get a discount on booking excursions online before sailing and we'd be able to cancel them with no penalty up to 24 hours before the excursion. We did book one trip through the ship at $59 each - once on board we noticed the same excursion was going for $65 per person, so it does look like you can save a little by pre booking. You can always call Princess to verify cancellations/pricing online if need be...but it sounds like booking early online might be your best savings at this point.

[flyhelper]

Great info. Thanks!

[Sea Day Cruiser]

I've seen the price increase by as much as $50.00 on really popular excursions. It's definitely best to book them on line early. Just be careful to cancel before the deadline if you decide against any you have booked.

[phabric]

Check out the Port of Call threads under the ports you are going to. People give their opinions and ask for advise about different excursions booked privately. You might finds something you would like to do. Depending where you are going, taxi and tour companies are at the dock offering tours.

 

I booked our excursion in Cozumel for $59/pp online and the price increased a couple of times before sailing. When we were onboard the same excursion was offered at $119/pp. I was charged the $59. If you booked an excursion online, keep a copy of it and take it with you encase Princess charges a higher price. You are not charged for the excursion until you are onboard the ship. The tickets will be delivered to your cabin. Other cruiselines charge you as soon as you book the excursion. You have up to 24 hours to cancel the excursion, the Patter (Princess's newsletter) will tell you the cancellation date and time.

[Hlitner]

We do understand that some cruisers immediately start looking at excursions (a good thing) but folks should understand that there are alternatives to the overpriced excursions (this is particularly true in the Caribbean and Europe). We have spent more then 2 years on cruise ships (to 6 continents) and out of hundreds of ports have probably booked 4 or 5 excursions (total). Your other options are to simply do it yourself (go read the posts on the Port boards) or you might want to book private excursions online (often better and cheaper then cruise line excursions). Let me give you a couple of examples.

 

In St Thomas you could book an excursion that takes you to Magan's Bay/Beach. However, as an alternative you simply walk off the ship to the taxi stand and tell them you want to go to Magans Bay. They will put you in a large taxi and it will cost you about $12 a person. My 2nd example is for the Port of Civitavecchia which is the port city for Rome, Italy. Cruise lines charge $70 - $85 per person for a bus transfer to Rome where you can do things on your own (they also offer much more expensive tours). However, you can easily get to the Civitavecchia train station (4 blocks from the port) where you can buy a BIRG Ticket for about $14 that gives you round trip trains to Rome (faster then the bus transfers) plus that ticket also gives you all days use of Rome's Metro and buses (neither of which is included in the more expensive ship transfer). In the case of Rome a family of 4 can save about $200 just on this one transfer.

 

Hank

[Cruise2End]

I agree - definitely purchase beforehand and if for any reason you have to make changes (we changed from being charged to my husband to mine for onboard credit reasons) be sure you check as they will credit you with a previous price but charge you the increased price. Princess did make the adjustment when we brought it to their attention, but it is a good idea to book and then cancel should you decide not to take the excursion.