Shore excursion spots held for on-ship booking only?

[NAUdebo]

Sailing on the Magic next week! I can hardly wait!

 

Anyways, there's a sold out excursion for our stop in Marseilles. We really wanted to go to Chateauneauf-du-Pape and Avignon, but it's sold out online. Someone on our Roll Call says that Carnival holds some tickets back for each tour to be booked only on board.

 

Is this correct? Do they charge a higher price for those tickets? I remember hearing something about dynamic pricing - how much higher would pricing be if the original price of the excursion was $90 pp? This would definitely make me consider trying to get on the ship quickly and head straight to the excursion desk. Since those sites are a long way from the ship and we sail off at 5 PM, I'm nervous to book through another tour company. It's also more expensive, since it's priced in Euros and the USD sucks right now.

 

Thanks for the help!

[tiggerman101]

I say if you really want it then go ahead and book it. We are on the June 12th Magic cruise and I have seen a couple excursions become unavailable (Dubrovnik Cable Car for one). They might hold a few back, but why chance it if you don't have to?

 

I actually just had the same situation. I really want to do the Cinque Terre tour from Livorno. I almost always go with independent companies, but this was an exception. It is far away, the other companies were very high and it is a long day. I figured Carnival would be the best route to go. My problem is that we have $1,200 OBC ( I know, some problem, right?). I really wanted to use the OBC for the tour which meant I would have to book on board. I finally realized I have no idea how popular the tour is and how it is selling and it is something I really want to do. I the long run, I can always spend the OBC or get some of it back at the end of the cruise. It just wasn't worth the extra stress of hoping it would still be available when we get on the ship. I bit the bullet and paid for it yesterday. Now I am relieved because it is one less thing I have to think about. I know how many things there are to think of for this trip so I am glad to be at piece with something.

[tiggerman101]

Wow, I am tired and just realized I didn't come anywhere near helping you with your question. I didn't notice you said it was already sold out online.....

 

In that case, I would have a back up plan. Find something else you might want to do with carnival. Then go straight to the excursion desk when you board and see what they have. If your trip is there then great. If not you can book the back up tour. I would keep an eye on it everyday. The Cable Car tour I mentioned sold out, then became available again later on (now it is sold out again).