excursions all on wiatlist

[carmel40]

Hi.

 

This will be my first cruise and we have booked a last minute Baltic cruise on the 21/05/2013.

 

When I have logged into my cruise personaliser it is saying that every single trip would have to go onto waitlist if we wanted to book.

 

Does anyone know if this is usally the case a few days before departure, or is it a bug on the online site.

 

I really cant see every single excursion having sold out.

 

I would also apreciate if anyone can give me any advise with regards to things to do independently onshore on a Baltic cruise.

 

We have booked a private tour in St Petersburg for the two days.

 

Many thanks.

[silver service]

I see you are a new poster. A lot of people have viewed your post,

With no one giving you an answer. I know how this feels!

Short answer is there are a limited number of available excursions.

To ensure a booking, you have to get in early. We have been on a wait

List whilst at sea, then offered a trip. If all the excursions are wait listed,

That would suggest, fully booked! But, people do cancel, for one reason

Or another. Get on that wait list, and hope for the best!

[Scriv]

Hi.. All the excursions on our recent cruise were waitlisted quite a while before departure. I think it is a good idea to get on the list if you are interested as you are there in case of a cancellation and also, you never know, maybe they may put on another coach if there is a demand.

 

Also, you can book on ship, so head off to the Excursions desk when you are on board to see what you can get.

 

Good luck.

[Essexlass2]

Hi Carmel140 and welcome to Cruise Critic! You will find there are lots of cruisers on these boards waiting to help you, just ask whatever you want to know :D

 

There's not much time to do your homework before your cruise, but you really need to look on the forum for Northern Europe here http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=192 for some good tips and information about the Baltic ports of call. Also have a look at the ports of call on here for general information about what to see at each place.

 

You can often DIY at lots of ports on a cruise and will find it much cheaper than the ship's excursions anyway. The only advantage of ship's excursions is if its to a difficult place to reach so that if your tour returns late, the ship will wait for its own excursions unlike private tours. Having said that, private tour operators all know exactly what time you have to be back to the ship and will never chance being late with their reputation at stake.

 

Enjoy your cruise! :)

[P&O SUE]

I've recently been on a Norway cruise with P&O and one port had all "wait list" on the excursions (the ones I really wanted to do I had done early) but P&O did put on lots of extra trips when we got on. I was on the waiting list and when I went to the "Explorers" desk they told me I was on the extra trip so I was very happy. I also noticed extra trips put on other days too so go there early .I would imagine being many cities on your cruise you would be able to do things independently anyway.

 

Good luck!