Shore excursion changes coming!

[kaceyisme]

Just got this email from Princess!

 

I’d like to let you know about an important shore excursion development that Princess Cruises recently began testing and will continue to evaluate in 2016.

 

Our research shows that many of our guests appreciate the opportunity to pre-pay for shore excursions and to reduce the size of their bill at the conclusion of a cruise. Guests also value the assurance of guaranteed space on popular excursions that may otherwise fill up before they have a chance to book onboard.

 

All other premium cruise lines currently require pre-payment of shore excursion reservations, and Princess will assess the response to this policy among our own guests on Alaska itineraries aboard Grand Princess from May 11 to September 8, 2016. Discounts on select voyages will reward guests who reserve and pre-pay for their excursions in advance.

 

During this test, Alaska shore excursion pre-reservations will require payment within 24 hours by credit card to avoid cancellation. Onboard credit will not be accepted for pre-reservations, and will be limited to payment for excursions reserved once onboard.

 

We believe the assurance of local expertise, safe operating practices and verified value offered by Princess shore excursions, along with the convenience and confidence of pre-payment, will be well received. We currently plan to evaluate the response and make a final decision by the end of 2016 on implementing the policy fleetwide.

Edited December 24, 2015 by kaceyisme

[katisdale]

That would be an easy choice for me. If pre-payment is required, I would make independent arrangements.

[srlafleur]

The Princess cruise I just returned from is the first cruise in quite some time that pre-booked excursions weren't also pre-paid. My most recent cruises before that were NCL, RCL, and CCL. It's been a while since a HAL cruise, but that might be included in the list as well. I never had a problem with doing that, even when I had to cancel.

While it was nice to be able to book in advance without payment, since I knew there wouldn't be any hassle involved if I cancelled or changed them, it amounted to quite the sticker shock at the end of the cruise, when added to all my other expenditures.

Princess did give me the option to pre-pay, but I had made arrangements for all ports and just wanted to wait.

I think I will stick with prepaying, perhaps booking one a month leading up to the cruise. A bit more palatable that way, one bite of the elephant at a time. :o

Edited December 24, 2015 by srlafleur

[Pam in CA]

That would be an easy choice for me. If pre-payment is required, I would make independent arrangements.

Yup. If it were optional, I wouldn't have a problem but I don't want to pre-pay. What isn't explained is what happens if you pre-pay a shore excursion and cancel. Various lines have different policies. Some require you to book another tour, for instance. Would Princess credit your credit card or give you onboard credit if the excursion is cancelled? Excursions are canceled by Princess all the time for various reasons such as weather, not enough interest, tour operator problems, etc.

[Colo Cruiser]

Its a survey, not interested in pre paying.

[Ethel5]

I always considered pre-booking without pre-paying a great perk for cruising with Princess. I really don't want to prepay for excursions.

[cr8tiv1]

And what about all that On Board Credit...(which can not be used to pre-pay). You would be "forced" to drink it away or spend it in their shops. No wonder they have become so "generous" with their offerings.

 

My vote is a "NO". Please don't change something that works because other lines are doing it. What became of standing out as different?

[moki'smommy]

I always considered pre-booking without pre-paying a great perk for cruising with Princess. I really don't want to prepay for excursions.

 

Each of the 4 lines I've cruised has allowed us to book in advance on line and pay after boarding. Most have a cut off time for changes or cancelations (like 3 days before embarkation).

 

If I had to pay in advance, I wouldn't book thru the cruise line. It's that simple.

[Jetswdo]

On Princess I like being able to not have to pay in advance for excursions. I add before the cruise enough money to gift myself OBC, so that there is very little money after the cruise is over, that is charged to credit card. On Celebrity, everything is pre-paid. I like that for specialty restaurant reservations, so it is set before getting on the ship--- but I don't like to have to prepay excursions. Then as a previous poster pointed out, OBC use is limited-- I hope Princess doesn't change their present policy with not having to pre pay excursions.

[Astro Flyer]

Hopefully this test fails miserably because of these reasons:

 

Princess already offers a prepayment option for those who want to distribute their cruise expenses.

 

Some tours will be "discounted" but will probably come with an inflated "rack rate".

 

Not being able to use OBC unless booked onboard.

 

 

Many independent tours do not require prepayment & the Princess procedures would result in me booking fewer of their more expensive tours. This has nothing to do with an improved passenger experience and instead a way to improve their profits. :rolleyes:

[thinfool]

And so Princess takes another step towards being nothing special in the world of mass market cruise lines.

 

The really disgusting and demeaning thing about it all is that their PR/marketing people think we are just a bunch of stupid lemmings.

 

Customer service and satisfaction is way in the back of the bus these days....way behind fees, fares and services. :mad:

[Loonbeam]

I'm surprised its taken them this long. Besides the obvious reasons, there is another point to consider. With no penalty, there is nothing stopping people from booking multiple excursions that they really don't plan on taking, just to hold a spot, which means either people who do want them might not get the one they want OR Princess has to expand space which may go unused.

 

I'd like to see a hybrid policy. 30 days before cruise start, all excursions 'lock' and cannot be canceled. At that point you can pre-pay or wait till on board, if you cancel your booking you get pre-paid excursions back otherwise they are added to your onboard bill whether you go or not (to allow for OBC use)

[fishywood]

The search function is failing me at the moment but I'm sure this 'trial' of mandatory pre-payment on Grand Princess in Alaska 2016 was announced by Princess and discussed in a long thread on here many months ago when said excursions were released.

 

Each of the 4 lines I've cruised has allowed us to book in advance on line and pay after boarding.

 

I'm curious which cruise lines you were on--and how long ago. Every Carnival Corp-owned line except Princess has required pre-payment since at least Spring 2013. And I had to pre-pay on Celebrity back in February 2012.

Edited December 24, 2015 by fishywood

[Colo Cruiser]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2272031&highlight=pre+pay+alaska+excursions

[fishywood]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2272031&highlight=pre+pay+alaska+excursions

 

Thanks--I knew I had already commented on this topic but couldn't find it searching my history. Though I swear it seemed longer than just eight weeks ago :D

[AKman2495]

I wouldn't mind it being optional. On our last cruise, I had no problem prepaying because the excursions were pricy (it was Europe) and that way I could clear that off without having to worry about it.

 

Obviously, there has to be a mechanism for canceling and refunds.

 

But I am not adamantly opposed to this policy.

[Woobstr112G]

Yup. If it were optional, I wouldn't have a problem but I don't want to pre-pay. What isn't explained is what happens if you pre-pay a shore excursion and cancel. Various lines have different policies. Some require you to book another tour, for instance. Would Princess credit your credit card or give you onboard credit if the excursion is cancelled? Excursions are canceled by Princess all the time for various reasons such as weather, not enough interest, tour operator problems, etc.

 

Agreed.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Woobstr112G]

Hopefully this test fails miserably because of these reasons:

 

Princess already offers a prepayment option for those who want to distribute their cruise expenses.

 

Some tours will be "discounted" but will probably come with an inflated "rack rate".

 

Not being able to use OBC unless booked onboard.

 

 

Many independent tours do not require prepayment & the Princess procedures would result in me booking fewer of their more expensive tours. This has nothing to do with an improved passenger experience and instead a way to improve their profits. :rolleyes:

 

Well said Frank. Seems like Princess is doing more and more to be just like everyone else and nothing really that special. I really love the way they tried to put a positive spin on it...:mad::mad::mad:

 

Bob

Edited December 24, 2015 by Woobstr112G

[Ethel5]

...........................SNIP..............................

I'm curious which cruise lines you were on--and how long ago. Every Carnival Corp-owned line except Princess has required pre-payment since at least Spring 2013. And I had to pre-pay on Celebrity back in February 2012.

 

I was going to ask the same thing. Other lines require payment at the time of booking.

[notentirelynormal]

I always considered pre-booking without pre-paying a great perk for cruising with Princess. I really don't want to prepay for excursions.

 

Ditto!

[latebloomer56]

This is a tough one for me. I book what we want as soon as it becomes available. I plan on what I need to pay on our credit card when we get home for these when we travel on Princess so OBC is a good thing for us toward our bill as we don't drink much or buy much in any of the shops (nothing new). Without excursions on our ship board bill not sure on some trip OBC would get used up.

On the other hand when we travel on NCL you must pay for your excursion when you book them. Though we only had them cancel one excursion was not happy because they gave us OBC. They did not refund our credit card. They said it could go toward another excursion so it would balance out. This left a sour taste with NCL excursion which compared to Princess they are seriously lacking at any rate.

So flip a coin like not paying until on board but was one less item to bank for when we returned. Tough choice maybe, but with so many tours out there and smartphones etc. to do more on your own who can say what we may do if they go this route.

[satxdiver]

One of the major reasons I like Princess is that we can reserve shore excursions ahead of time and pay for them after boarding. Frequently I use OBC to pay for my excursions. If they were to change the rule and require payment at the time of the reservation, it would make a major impact on whether to use independent tours as opposed to ship tours where most are paid for at the time of the tour.

 

If Princess continues to be like the other cruise lines then I will re-evaluate whether it would be better to return to RCCL cruises.

[IECalCruiser]

Hopefully this test fails miserably because of these reasons:

 

Princess already offers a prepayment option for those who want to distribute their cruise expenses.

 

Some tours will be "discounted" but will probably come with an inflated "rack rate".

 

Not being able to use OBC unless booked onboard.

 

Many independent tours do not require prepayment & the Princess procedures would result in me booking fewer of their more expensive tours. This has nothing to do with an improved passenger experience and instead a way to improve their profits. :rolleyes:

I hope it also fails miserably! If you want to be able to use OBC for shore excursions you will need to wait to book on board. More popular excursions may already be sold out and if they are available they will probably be at a higher price than when the excursions first go on sail. [emoji27][emoji27][emoji27] Edited December 24, 2015 by IECalCruiser

[caribill]

I also see the ability to reserve excursions and then pay when the cruise is over a positive feature for Princess.

 

However, they are experimenting with this on Alaska routes which have a high number of first time Princess cruisers who are not used to this and will think pre-payment is the way things are and should be. First time Princess cruisers are also unlikely to have much OBC and are not used to using OBC to pay for excursions.

 

I thus predict that the evaluation will show that passengers do not object to pre-payment and thus another Princess feature will disappear.

 

Those that want to take Princess excursions may need to get used to paying for them in full before final payment is due on the cruise itself.

[Astro Flyer]

I also see the ability to reserve excursions and then pay when the cruise is over a positive feature for Princess.

 

However, they are experimenting with this on Alaska routes which have a high number of first time Princess cruisers who are not used to this and will think pre-payment is the way things are and should be. First time Princess cruisers are also unlikely to have much OBC and are not used to using OBC to pay for excursions.

 

I thus predict that the evaluation will show that passengers do not object to pre-payment and thus another Princess feature will disappear.

 

Those that want to take Princess excursions may need to get used to paying for them in full before final payment is due on the cruise itself.

I was thinking the same thing about so many 1st time Princess passengers sailing Alaska and it's probably why they decided to test the changes there to not receive much negative input about the changes to justify expanding it fleetwide.