Shore excursions

[Paulchili]

I have a Seabourn newbie question about shore excursions. I tried the search engine but did not find the answer to my question.

We will be cruising on Seabourn for the first time this fall on the Canada/New England itinerary. We have a fairly large OBC that we would like to use for shore excursions (as almost everything else is included).

If we book them before the cruise, we have to pay for them; if we book them onboard we can use our OBC to pay for them.

Do most of the excursions tend to sell out or do they provide as many spaces as are required (more or less)? How important is it to book the excursions ahead of time?

TIA

[Keith1010]

Most of the excursions do not sell out but a few do.

 

I would also determine what type of OBC you have. If it is through your Travel Agent what you don't use might go as a credit on your credit card. If so, that is like getting cash back so you could book excursions early and pay for them but get a credit back later. Again, I would check with your TA on that.

 

Keith

[Tony & Trevor]

Some SB tours are jolly expensive.

 

We sometimes, depending which port / country, do our own trips at a fraction of the cost that SB now wants up front when you book the tours.

 

Our next cruise, this September from Dover to Quebec we have all ready

 

sorted out our own trips ashore in a number of ports. I have noticed with SB that on many tours you have the 'obligatory' shop stops.

 

Regent had many of the tours free ( in the cruise price )

 

Kind regards

 

Tony

[JaneBP]

>"We will be cruising on Seabourn for the first time this fall on the Canada/New England itinerary."

Which cruise? I started a Roll Call for the QUE>NYC one in mid-September. (Forget the date, the one after the crossing.)

[Paulchili]

>"We will be cruising on Seabourn for the first time this fall on the Canada/New England itinerary."

Which cruise? I started a Roll Call for the QUE>NYC one in mid-September. (Forget the date, the one after the crossing.)

 

 

I looked for it earlier - now I know why I couldn't find it.

Will join up.

Thank you all for your replies. Most of the OBC is from the TA, rest from referral credit (I hope - otherwise I will use the Amex credit, which I know is not refundable).

I will check with the TA whether that part is refundable. Is the referral credit refundable?

[Host Dan]

I looked for it earlier - now I know why I couldn't find it.

Will join up.

Thank you all for your replies. Most of the OBC is from the TA, rest from referral credit (I hope - otherwise I will use the Amex credit, which I know is not refundable).

I will check with the TA whether that part is refundable. Is the referral credit refundable?

The referral credit is not refundable.

 

Host Dan

[margbem]

We reserved a wine tasting tour on our Gems of the Adriatic cruise late September this year. Will this be reserved without pre-payment now or will they ask for payment under the new system? At $179 each I do not really want to pay in advance, and it would be coming out of our OBC anyway.

[margbem]

Just had to ring my TA who is working round the clock to sort all the problems out with bookings! We've all been given a new booking number to allow us to access our bookings on line. (You probably already know that!) I logged in and discovered that any excursions booked before 1st April will be charged to your onboard account, rather than be charged now. That's OK but my excursion isn't showing on my booking!

 

I think I'll wait until I'm on board then try to sort it out.

[wripro]

Hi Paul,

 

It used to be on SB that you just had to book an excursion online and it would be charged to your onboard account. Now that HAL has taken over you must prepay your excursions so that OBC will not help with the cost of excursions. It's just like Oceania. That's why I would wait to board to book and then you can apply the OBC. I'd say most of them will still be available. Can't wait to hear what you think about SB. Knowing your propensity for smaller ships I think you will love it.

[Paulchili]

The referral credit is not refundable.

 

Host Dan

 

Thank you Host Dan.

Apparently neither is my OBC from the TA (just checked with him).

The 2 add up to almost a $1000 so we'll take a chance and book our excursions onboard.

[Paulchili]

Hi Paul,

 

It used to be on SB that you just had to book an excursion online and it would be charged to your onboard account. Now that HAL has taken over you must prepay your excursions so that OBC will not help with the cost of excursions. It's just like Oceania. That's why I would wait to board to book and then you can apply the OBC. I'd say most of them will still be available. Can't wait to hear what you think about SB. Knowing your propensity for smaller ships I think you will love it.

 

Thanks Henry - that's what we'll do (cross posting). I am sure we'll be happy with Seabourn.

Enjoy your Alaska cruise.

[wripro]

Paul,

 

Are you sure about the OBC from your TA? That is cash he has paid and should be refundable. It certainly has been in the past.

[Paulchili]

Paul,

 

Are you sure about the OBC from your TA? That is cash he has paid and should be refundable. It certainly has been in the past.

 

I have to take his word for it.

[wripro]

Whose word? Your TAs? If he says it's not refundable it might be that he has arranged an OBC through Seabourn and not actually paid for it himself.