Excursion Waitlists

[Av8tor]

What can you say about your experiences with Princess excursion waitlists?

 

I tried to book my wife and myself on a Princess excursion in Juneau but there was only one slot available. I am confirmed but my wife is on the waitlist. Can I assume (safely?) that she is number one on the list since both bookings were attempted at the same time and I got the last confirmed one?

 

Can Princess telephone reps confirm her position on the waitlist?

 

I know that someone may cancel or they'll add more slots and she might still get confirmed, so we'll just wait it out for now. Similar tours are provided by non-Princess operators but this is for our second excursion on that particular day and the first is only available through Princess (Tracy Arm leaving directly from the ship) so we feel "safer" booking through Princess just in case the ship or 1st tour is delayed and we can't make the second tour.

 

I imagine that if we adhere to Princess's recommended timing guidelines for multiple tours that we'd get a refund (no penalty) if we miss the 2nd tour - is that correct?

 

The Princess website says they'll e-mail us if she clears the waitlist prior to sailing, but I was wondering if anyone has, in fact, received an e-mail in such a situation?

 

Thanks for any help in understanding this process. Even though we're elite, this is our first instance of being on an excursion waitlist...

[satxdiver]

We did the wait list twice mostly because we tried to sign up late even though we had booked the cruise months before. We did not make either excursion so we opted for a private tour instead to another location. We are elite as well. If you are on one ship excursion and miss the next ship excursion, they will refund the money since it was their problem. Good luck on getting the excursion.

[cherylandtk]

...I imagine that if we adhere to Princess's recommended timing guidelines for multiple tours that we'd get a refund (no penalty) if we miss the 2nd tour - is that correct?

I would verify this onboard with the shore excursion desk. I've seen some pretty upset people who missed their second excursion and did not get a refund. Don't know if they didn't allow enough time between excursions, or what other delays may have happened. So talk to the exact people who may have to decide this for you.

[caribill]

My experience with the excursion waitlists is that most of the time I clear the list when on board the ship, usually on embarkation day when excursion tickets are delivered to your cabin.

 

If you have not cleared the list before the cruise, do check at the excursion desk to make sure that your waitlist request did make it to the computer system on the ship.

[easyboy]

If your wife does not make it on the list, just go to the shore excursion desk and arrange every detail on your excursion, including your other time concerns. It is the shore excursion desk that can confirm your status.

[Av8tor]

Thanks for the replies folks. She still hasn't cleared the wait list yet, but we'll keep our fingers crossed...

[tamsocal]

we have been told by shore excursion desk that refunds will not be issued if missed excursions due to early excursion being late if appropriate time is not allowed in between. I just can't recall what we were told re how much time was needed between each- and it varied in different ports. varied depending on where meet up was and where drop off was too. - i.e. one of the ports they said needed 1.5 hrs in between each and the two I had booked only had a 45 min gap and it was at my risk to chance it.

[tamsocal]

I would have a back up plan if whatever you are wanting to do is important to you. you can also ask the private company what their refund policy is. we have several private tours booked and they give same refund if ship is late, port cancelled etc

[kitkat343]

We booked all private tours in Alaska, and many of them did not require deposits and were much more flexible than the princess tours. Would this be covered by travel insurance if you have it?

[Av8tor]

Thanks for the continued replies...

 

I haven't been able to find our second excursion offered privately, but will continue to search.

 

Possibly being covered by insurance is a good point I hadn't thought of. That's mostly because it was a last minute booking "only" going to Alaska and I felt we could do without insurance for this trip.

 

It all might be moot now however since we've seen that our Juneau arrival has been delayed by 2 hours just like the first two Emerald RT cruises from SEA this season. No specific reason was given, just "operational needs" or some such BS. They say they're working on revised excursion timing, but the new info may not be available until we're onboard. I guess we'll just have to wait and see...

[tamsocal]

Thanks for the continued replies...

 

I haven't been able to find our second excursion offered privately, but will continue to search.

 

Possibly being covered by insurance is a good point I hadn't thought of. That's mostly because it was a last minute booking "only" going to Alaska and I felt we could do without insurance for this trip.

 

It all might be moot now however since we've seen that our Juneau arrival has been delayed by 2 hours just like the first two Emerald RT cruises from SEA this season. No specific reason was given, just "operational needs" or some such BS. They say they're working on revised excursion timing, but the new info may not be available until we're onboard. I guess we'll just have to wait and see...

what is the excursion- maybe someone on the board can help you find a private tour:)