New policy on reserving tours before your cruise

[rtlk]

When did Princess screw up the future reservations of excursions by demanding that the tours be prepaid 6 or 7 months in advance of the cruise?

[LesK2020]

That is not right in my experience - payment now is optional

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[I_Luv_To_Travel]

I reserved a tour a few weeks ago and didn't have to pre-pay.

[dreaminofcruisin]

There is another thread about this and several roll call discussions going on. Here is the thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2480314

 

It seems to have started over about the last week or so and impacts cruises starting in Fall 2017. You can use OBC if it is posted to your account at the time of booking your excursion.

[JoRoy218]

When did Princess screw up the future reservations of excursions by demanding that the tours be prepaid 6 or 7 months in advance of the cruise?

I agree, not crazy about this arrangement. We're doing an Alaskan cruisetour in May. Looks like (since we booked last summer), they want prepayment for land tours but you can reserve excursions that take place during the cruise without prepayment. On the other hand, any excursions we have planned with non-Princess vendors do like payment when reservations are made.

[flamomo]

I agree, not crazy about this arrangement. We're doing an Alaskan cruisetour in May. Looks like (since we booked last summer), they want prepayment for land tours but you can reserve excursions that take place during the cruise without prepayment. On the other hand, any excursions we have planned with non-Princess vendors do like payment when reservations are made.

 

 

On the other hand, I have done a lot of non-Princess tours, and prepayment was not required. They do require credit card info, but the tour is not charged to your card at that time, and they allow you to pay in cash with the currency of that country at the end of the tour if you wish

[Loonbeam]

As noted, the rules are changing.

 

The short answer is too many people were booking tours they had no intention of actually taking to hold a spot while they set up private tours, just in case. Or booking multiples until they decided what they actually wanted, etc.

 

This was resulting in a very large cancellation rate near cruise date and onboard, which left spots unfilled, etc and made issues with vendor commitments.

 

I think pay 6 months in advance is excessive and suspect they will move to a pay 1-2 months in advance in the future, but given the abuses I don't see unlimited open bookings coming back any time soon, especially since most other lines don't have them anymore either.

[OCruisers]

Hate the change ... but most other cruise lines do require advance payment for their shore excursions.

[caribill]

Hate the change ... but most other cruise lines do require advance payment for their shore excursions.

 

Supposedly we cruise on Princess because they are better than the other cruise lines.

 

Making Princess more like other cruise lines by requiring payment for shore excursions before even final payment is required for the cruise itself is not the right way to go.

[dfields1814]

I thought this idea was dropped by Princess. Last summer I had to pre pay for all excursions in Alaska. It was not a good idea then.

[Coral]

Supposedly we cruise on Princess because they are better than the other cruise lines.

 

Making Princess more like other cruise lines by requiring payment for shore excursions before even final payment is required for the cruise itself is not the right way to go.

Exactly - it was one of things that made Princess stand out. With out, one may consider other lines. Or, booking more private excursions that often don't require payment in advance.

[Astro Flyer]

Supposedly we cruise on Princess because they are better than the other cruise lines.

 

Making Princess more like other cruise lines by requiring payment for shore excursions before even final payment is required for the cruise itself is not the right way to go.

Princess has decided to not be a cruise industry leader but a follower which is not the way to have a superior cruise experience.

Exactly - it was one of things that made Princess stand out. With out, one may consider other lines. Or, booking more private excursions that often don't require payment in advance.

Not only don't many private excursions not require prepayment but they are less expensive & have fewer passengers.

 

Allowing the use of OBC to prepay is an improvement over the rescinded cash only payment implemented at the end of 2016, the statement for my fall cruise is the best policy to make prepaying in cash optional or to pay during the cruise where all of our OBC is available.

Edited April 7, 2017 by Astro Flyer

[ToriaT]

I just made a reservation and it lets you prepay or pay on board. It gives you either option. This was via computer.

[Coral]

Princess has decided to not be a cruise industry leader but a follower which is not the way to have a superior cruise experience.

 

Not only don't many private excursions not require prepayment but they are less expensive & have fewer passengers.

 

Allowing the use of OBC to prepay is an improvement over the rescinded cash only payment implemented at the end of 2016, the statement for my fall cruise is the best policy to make prepaying in cash optional or to pay during the cruise where all of our OBC is available.

 

Exactly.

 

I was dealing with RCCL and apparently they allow OBC to be used for pre-booking excursions, so they are just following what other lines allow. Princess's IT people have usually been behind in technology.

[nanabananna]

I am on an Alaska land cruise in May. I have excursions that are included with the tour and have been paid for with the cruise package. If, I want to do any other tours such as I made a change from Denali History to the full day TNT, which I did need to make a difference in the price. If I decide to do other on the "land tour" excursions today, I would have to pay up front. I have no problem paying now or earlier.

Why is it so necessary to wait to pay? If OBC is the method of paying I have reserved and that payment will be processed on ship.

I made a private Whale Watching excursion and I had to pay 1/2 at reservation time and the bal. will be paid 30 days Before the Whale excursion. Most private tours I found did want 1/2 up front and bal due 30 days before.

[cruzrbachoua]

I am on a Classic Canada cruise this October and they are requiring prepayment on our excursions that just opened 4/4. But when you click the pay now it has a button you can click that will apply your OBC. It then moves the excursions out of your cart and into confirmed but when you return to another screen that shows payments and credits it still shows you have an open balance and still shows you have all your OBC. So I called they confirmed I was good, same thing for a friend of mine on same cruise. Was glad 1. we got to use obc , 2. we each got the same answer as she called as well asking why it still showed a balance due. While I hate that they can sit on my money for 6 months I would have to have paid the difference between cost of excursions and my OBC as I didn't have enough to cover all of them at some point...now less to check on my folio and it should be real small with already paying for the photo pkg, prepaid gratuities...less to settle and view at end of cruise! But I did tell the rep I was extremely disappointed princess was moving this direction.....she said she would pass along. My friend did the same thing.

[caribill]

 

Allowing the use of OBC to prepay is an improvement over the rescinded cash only payment implemented at the end of 2016.

 

Except that all OBC is not available many months before the cruise although excursions may be reserved (and then paid for). For example the stockholder's OBC is at best only available within 90 days of the cruise.

[caribill]

I have no problem paying now or earlier.

Why is it so necessary to wait to pay? If OBC is the method of paying I have reserved and that payment will be processed on ship.

 

The new policy is being gradually implemented. It does not apply to the cruise you are on.

 

When the new policy does apply to one of your cruises, you cannot wait to have the payment processed on the ship but must instead pay at the time you make the reservation.

 

For many it is necessary to wait to pay because they are still accumulating the $$$ to make their final payment and do not currently have many $$$ around to pay for shore excursions that are months in the future.

[Thrak]

I have to agree that it is almost certainly due to all of the people who (as recommended by many here on CC) book excursions in advance because it cost them nothing when they likely won't actually be taking the excursion. The "why not book it anyway" mindset left a lot of people unable to book because others had booked way in advance and then only cancelled the day before the excursion.

[casofilia]

Why do Princess not implement a "Non Refundable Deposit" for reserved shorex?

[Loonbeam]

I suspect this is where things are going in some form, but the systems that handle purchases (as opposed to bookings) aren't set up that way so need to be built out.

Why do Princess not implement a "Non Refundable Deposit" for reserved shorex?

[cruiseintoheaven]

Another unhappy cruiser with a question - has the cancellation time frame changed as well?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[satxdiver]

We have an AK cruise this July. Luckily I had reserved a ship tour earlier under the old rules. When I tried to book a new tour a few weeks ago, Princess wanted the money or OBC. I did it as a trial to see what others were saying and it is true. For us it will encourage private tours or waiting until we board to book an excursion and of course risk it being sold out. It will be interesting to see how the pre-boarding shore excursions will be going compared to the previous more open policy. While we have canceled a few excursions in the past, the majority by far we have followed through on taking.

[cflutist]

Except that all OBC is not available many months before the cruise although excursions may be reserved (and then paid for). For example the stockholder's OBC is at best only available within 90 days of the cruise.

 

Correct, also some TA's give obc that doesn't show up until you board the ship. That is the case with our Norway cruise at the end of June, we have $1730 of obc from the TA that is not in our Personalizer now but should show up when we board the Pacific Princess. Luckily we can still use it to pay for shorex onboard for that sailing. However, we switched TA's for our October CA Coastal cruise. Rather than obc, this TA just discounts the cruise by about 8.5-9.0 %. When I tried to book a shorex for this sailing two days ago, it said pay within 24 hrs, or lose the reservation. Don't have my CCL obc yet because it is too early.

[Travelbug1978]

We have an AK cruise this July. Luckily I had reserved a ship tour earlier under the old rules. When I tried to book a new tour a few weeks ago, Princess wanted the money or OBC. I did it as a trial to see what others were saying and it is true. For us it will encourage private tours or waiting until we board to book an excursion and of course risk it being sold out. It will be interesting to see how the pre-boarding shore excursions will be going compared to the previous more open policy. While we have canceled a few excursions in the past, the majority by far we have followed through on taking.

 

 

I did a dummy booking the other day for our cruise in july to alaska do see if it asked for payment and it didn