Bioluminescent Bay Kayaking in PR

[thatjoeguy]

A group of us are sailing out on the Encore on February 9. Four of us were very interested in doing the bioluminescent bay kayaking, but by the time we got around to making a reservation, there were only two spots available on the ship tour. (It seems like only a very small amount of spots were available in the first place.) Has anyone had an experience, either positive or negative, on more spots opening while waitlisted on the ship? 
At this point, I am also looking into private reservation for the kayaking from San Juan. So far, it’s turning out to be a bit more expensive than booking through the cruise line, especially since we are planning private transport since we are a little worried about the time constraints. Has anyone used a transportation company there that has been good and reliable, and not terribly expensive? I’ve also posted this in the Puerto Rico section.

[Weluv2cruise2gether]

They usually only sell a percentage of the total amount of spots available for shore excursions pre-cruise. I hope you get to do the bay, it was really great. I would be afraid of booking it privately. When we did it last March, all aboard time was 9:30 pm with ship scheduled to depart at 10. Our tour got us back at 10:10. Since it was a ship excursion, we had no issues.

[thatjoeguy]

Per the Shore Ex agent, if all the spots are sold out pre-cruise, my only solution is to be put on the wait-list when I get on board. My understanding is that the whole saving spots for on board booking was only true of the restaurants. My hope is that, since people with the credit don't have to pay in advance, people are just "holding" reservations until they decide what they really want to do. 

I'm also a bit worried about the timing. Our kayak time is from 8:15 to 10:15, with all aboard at 11:59. With the drive time, things should go fine (and give us about 40 minutes to spare) but I'm not sure I really want to chance it. However, I guess since the ship excursion is going at the same time, the only delay we would have to worry about is if our transport breaks down on the way back...