Prepay or Reserve? Excursions - Advantage?

[nu2crusin]

Other that not having the expense added your your bill at the end of the cruise, is there any advantage to pre-paying for excursions over simply reserving? I'm also assuming if you have a reservation that that's solid and you wont loose your spot. I generally use non-cruise (3rd party direct) excursions but i did pick a couple via Princess for Skagway AK next week.

[OCruisers]

We always reserve rather than prepay.

No problem, you will not lose your spot.

Also, you will be billed at what the price was at the time you reserved. (Sometimes, prices go up later.) :)

 

LuLu

[lovetotravel73]

You won't lose your spot if you only pre-reserve.

It's up to your preference. Some people prefer to pre-pay as much as possible as it takes a cost out of the onboard account.

[skynight]

Other that not having the expense added your your bill at the end of the cruise, is there any advantage to pre-paying for excursions over simply reserving? I'm also assuming if you have a reservation that that's solid and you wont loose your spot. I generally use non-cruise (3rd party direct) excursions but i did pick a couple via Princess for Skagway AK next week.

If you are on the Grand Princess this summer to Alaska then you don't have a choice, you have to pay when you reserve. If you are any other Princess ship you can reserve your tour without payment. When you reserve the cost is locked in and will not go up. The amount(s) will be debited to your on board account. If you have OBC, those credits will net against all expenses including tours.

[OCruisers]

It is my understanding that the Must Prepay for shore excursions in Alaska was a test and people are once again allowed to Reserve rather than Prepay.

Does anyone know for sure? :confused:

LuLu

[paul929207]

It is my understanding that the Must Prepay for shore excursions in Alaska was a test and people are once again allowed to Reserve rather than Prepay.

Does anyone know for sure? :confused:

LuLu

I think that test was only on one ship (Grand??). I have not seen any must pre-pay for our excursions on the Coral and Star in July

[ramrax4]

It is my understanding that the Must Prepay for shore excursions in Alaska was a test and people are once again allowed to Reserve rather than Prepay.

Does anyone know for sure? :confused:

LuLu

 

We are departing on the Grand for Alaska in June. All excursions are pre-paid as of this post.

There is currently 5% discount for reserving in advance vs after boarding the ship.

One of the disadvantages of not pre-booking excursions is that they could sell out, times slots could become limited and obviously price increase.

[JF - retired RRT]

We reserve before the cruise, because we usually have a lot of OBC to spend.

If you reserve the $$ isn't added to the onboard account until just before the excursion.

 

Another advantage to reserving (if you don't have OBC)...if the excursion is cancelled or you change your mind, you don't have to wait for a refund to your credit card.

[BratDet]

and the double Princess points I receive will boost me up to 5,000 points

 

for another 50$ of OBC for my next sailing...

 

So my Princess points of 50,000 got me 500$ off my next cruise AND 100$ OBC. :)

 

That's why I sometimes pre-pay. I like having lower end of cruise bills AND extra OBC.

 

Bernadette

[OCruisers]

and the double Princess points I receive will boost me up to 5,000 points

 

for another 50$ of OBC for my next sailing...

 

So my Princess points of 50,000 got me 500$ off my next cruise AND 100$ OBC. :)

 

That's why I sometimes pre-pay. I like having lower end of cruise bills AND extra OBC.

 

Bernadette

 

5,000 points then 50,000 points ? :confused:

Please explain exactly what these points are? :confused:

[BratDet]

I use the Princess Credit Card. Princess purchases , I get double points. I charge everything I can. I do not carry a balance. I cashed in 40,000 points and got 500$ off my cruise. 5,000 points can be cashed in for 50$ OBC, so I also cashed that in. My prepaying my excursions will bring me up to. Another 5,000 points.... If I wasn't close, I may not have bothered prepaying....but prepaying boosts me up to 5,000 points for another 50$. I'm spending the $$ on the excursions anyway, but I get a bonus by prepaying. In my case prepaying earns me $$. :) . I also have 100 shares of Princess stock, so I get a 100$ OBC from that.

Bernadette

[Corfe Mixture]

Other that not having the expense added your your bill at the end of the cruise, is there any advantage to pre-paying for excursions over simply reserving? I'm also assuming if you have a reservation that that's solid and you wont loose your spot. I generally use non-cruise (3rd party direct) excursions but i did pick a couple via Princess for Skagway AK next week.

 

Probably not an advantage in your particular case, but whenever the on board cruise currency is different to your home currency, the exchange rate for pre-purchases of both excursions and additional OBC is set at the time of booking and you can pre-pay at this rate right up to the last moment, whereas on board purchases are charged to your account which is settled to your credit card at the current rate.

 

As a result, depending on how the ship's currency has moved with respect to your home currency in the period between booking and travelling, it is either going to be cheaper or more expensive to pre-pay. Sometimes you win by pre-paying, sometimes you don't.

 

So for us, it is initially pre-reserve, and then make a late decision whether or not to pre-pay a couple of weeks before the cruise, depending on the exchange rate at the time.

Edited May 24, 2016 by Corfe Mixture
typo pre-pay not re-pay

[biker1972]

The prepay test is to see how much passengers object to this system which is in place on other cruise lines. The issue has to do with use of OBC and the fact that shore excursions are outsourced to local vendors. The cruise line collects a fee but not the bulk of the money paid. If OBC is used to pay for a shore excursion, the cruise line is, in effect giving, ITS money to an outsider. If the guest pays up front then their OBC will be used on the ship to the cruise line's benefit. The cost of a dinner in a specialty restaurant or a bottle of wine provides a much bigger profit than simply collecting a booking fee. By requiring prepay it simply means OBC must be used on board. And when you say that you will wait to book after boarding, there may not be spaces available or you waste a great deal of vacation time to use the OBC for excursions. The current system has no advantage for Princess and that is why it will get changed to include the entire fleet.

[Times Prince]

The prepay test is to see how much passengers object to this system which is in place on other cruise lines. The issue has to do with use of OBC and the fact that shore excursions are outsourced to local vendors. The cruise line collects a fee but not the bulk of the money paid. If OBC is used to pay for a shore excursion, the cruise line is, in effect giving, ITS money to an outsider. If the guest pays up front then their OBC will be used on the ship to the cruise line's benefit. The cost of a dinner in a specialty restaurant or a bottle of wine provides a much bigger profit than simply collecting a booking fee. By requiring prepay it simply means OBC must be used on board. And when you say that you will wait to book after boarding, there may not be spaces available or you waste a great deal of vacation time to use the OBC for excursions. The current system has no advantage for Princess and that is why it will get changed to include the entire fleet.

??? I hope not.

 

The ability to Reserve tours of my choice prior to the cruise, especially ones which may sell out, and then pay using my onboard account is a benefit that helps to keep me as a repeat customer for Princess.

 

Most OBC must be used onboard, and Princess excursions take up a lot of the OBC, and has me using Princess excursions in many ports rather than seeking out independent contractors onshore, keeping the business "in-house".

 

We've had a couple of cruises where excursions were cancelled, and we ended up purchasing goods and souvenirs onboard using the OBC.

[brian1]

Probably not an advantage in your particular case, but whenever the on board cruise currency is different to your home currency, the exchange rate for pre-purchases of both excursions and additional OBC is set at the time of booking and you can pre-pay at this rate right up to the last moment, whereas on board purchases are charged to your account which is settled to your credit card at the current rate.

 

As a result, depending on how the ship's currency has moved with respect to your home currency in the period between booking and travelling, it is either going to be cheaper or more expensive to pre-pay. Sometimes you win by pre-paying, sometimes you don't.

 

So for us, it is initially pre-reserve, and then make a late decision whether or not to pre-pay a couple of weeks before the cruise, depending on the exchange rate at the time.

Hi Corfe,Ive mentioned this on other threads,but worth repeating.We prepaid OBC via Southampton at $1.538 to the GBP,locked in for the year.This way our reserved princess excursions will work out cheaper than some private tours,cheers,Brian.

[OCruisers]

I use the Princess Credit Card. Princess purchases , I get double points. I charge everything I can. I do not carry a balance. I cashed in 40,000 points and got 500$ off my cruise. 5,000 points can be cashed in for 50$ OBC, so I also cashed that in. My prepaying my excursions will bring me up to. Another 5,000 points.... If I wasn't close, I may not have bothered prepaying....but prepaying boosts me up to 5,000 points for another 50$. I'm spending the $$ on the excursions anyway, but I get a bonus by prepaying. In my case prepaying earns me $$. :) . I also have 100 shares of Princess stock, so I get a 100$ OBC from that.

Bernadette

 

Thanks for explaining they are Princess Credit Card points. :)

LuLu