Excursion cancellation policy

[kwagmyre]

I am getting ready to book some fairly pricey excursions for our upcoming cruise. And, while we have no plans to cancel, you just never know. We have trip insurance that covers the cost of the trip itself, but not all the "extras".

 

Here is the policy from Carnival's website:

 

For online cancellations that occur outside the cut-off window (24 hours prior to sailing), a full refund will automatically be posted to the credit card that was used to pay for the shore excursion order, regardless of whether or not the person who purchased the shore excursion is sailing. Please allow 7-10 business days for the credit to post to the your account. No changes can be made within the cut-off window. If you need to make changes after the cut-off date, you must wait until sailing and see the Shore Excursion Manager onboard. Once onboard, any refunds will be made to the Sail and Sign account of the Shore Excursion order contact person’s Sail & Sign account,

 

So, based on this, my reading is that, if I book excursions but then have to cancel, I would get the money back so long as I did so at least 24 hours before sailing. After that, I actually could still cancel, but I would just get OBC. Is my understanding correct? Of course, I understand that if the weather or tour operator cancels, or if we miss the port, I get the $ back regardless.

[Ken076]

Canc elling prior to sailing the refunds will be to the Credit Card you booked with - they usually take about a week. You might check further on the onboard cancellations - at some point onboard there are penalties.

 

"Once you are onboard the ship, your cancellations are subject to a 25% cancellation charge. However, all shore excursion orders are non-refundable within 24 hours of arrival in port. A refund, less any applicable cancellation charges, will be applied to the designated contact person’s sail and sign account. Carnival will only offer shipboard credit for shore excursion order refunds. Please note, any credit not utilized by the end of your cruise will be refunded via check to the order’s designated contact person on the morning of debarkation."

 

 

ken

[bbohbbneedacruise]

So, based on this, my reading is that, if I book excursions but then have to cancel, I would get the money back so long as I did so at least 24 hours before sailing. After that, I actually could still cancel, but I would just get OBC. Is my understanding correct? Of course, I understand that if the weather or tour operator cancels, or if we miss the port, I get the $ back regardless.

 

Yes you are understanding correctly.

We had cancelled an excursion before sail date our refund was on our very next credit card statement.

We also have missed a port {Thank you Hurricane Irene for pooping on HMC} our cabana refund was posted on our S&S when we boarded our ship.

 

There is a cancellation penalty if you cancel on board the ship that is 25% but you still would have to cancel within 24 hours before arriving at your port of call. Anything less is 100% loss.

Example you leave from home port on a Sunday and you have an excursion on Friday. If you cancel on Wednesday you will incur a 25% cancel penalty.

 

I hope this helps!

[4hunters]

Yes, you are correct. The funds are automatically refunded to your CC as long as you cancel before the 24 hour period. It will take a few business days to see the refund hit your card.

[old sole]

As bbohbb said there is a 25% penalty for canceling a pre-booked excursion once you are onboard the ship, even when cancelled more than 24 hrs in advance. I was successful in having that waived however with minimal argument on our Oct 25th Breeze Mediterranean cruise. Maybe that was because there was so much discontent already on that cruise with multiple missed ports and a reversed itinerary, but it only took a trip to Guest Services, where they said they would message the Shore Excursions team, and it got taken care of.

[kwagmyre]

Ok, thanks all I didn't realize about the 25% penalty on board, though that won't be an issue for us. We would only cancel if we couldn't make the trip for a covered reason. Once we are on that boat, the only things keeping us from taking our excursions would be the contrary decisions of Nature, the Captain, or God himself. :)

[serene56]

I am getting ready to book some fairly pricey excursions for our upcoming cruise. .

 

 

have you checked the port of calls board for the cheaper excursions?

I know that when we sailed the Liberty almost all excursions were available privately.

 

swimming with stingrays cost me 25.00 pp instead of 60.

 

the only excursion i would use the cruiselines for is if it was an all day excursion

[kwagmyre]

have you checked the port of calls board for the cheaper excursions?

I know that when we sailed the Liberty almost all excursions were available privately.

 

swimming with stingrays cost me 25.00 pp instead of 60.

 

the only excursion i would use the cruiselines for is if it was an all day excursion

 

Yes. We did a lot of private excursions last time around, but this time one is to Xunantunich, which is a 7-hour day in Belize. NOT where I want to miss the boat, so I'll be going with the ship tour. I'd rather see Lamanai on a private, but it's a similar timeframe, and a similar risk with young children and them only having passport cards (=no air travel). I've thought long and hard on this one, and decided to play it safe.

 

The other is to Tabyana in Roatan. Near as I can tell, the private shuttles aren't that much less than Carnival, when you account for the locker and equipment rental costs. Plus, they go back like every 20 minutes or so, vs. having to commit to a time with a private guide.

 

Cozumel may be an AI or shopping, so I guess that would be "private", but Cozumel is a very easy port in which to wing it. GC is my least favorite, I'm not even sure if I will get off the ship. We dove the shipwreck Kittiwake off of jetskis last time, not sure how I could top that or if I even want to try. It's also the last port, so might make a nice "have the ship to yourself" day.