newbie question: timing of excursions?

[Joliecat]

Hi all,

 

Am looking at the celebrity shore excursions; Norwegian Fjords, on silhouette in May.

 

Is there any way of figuring out what time the excursion is likely to run at? 

 

e.g. Would like to do the 3h kayaking tour in Geiranger, but would also like to have lunch with family at ~12:30pm in the port. Will this be doable? It says the ship will be in port 7am to 3pm.

 

If we book more than one excursion in a port, how do we know that theyre not going to be running at the same time?

 

Also, are the excursions cancellable? What happens if the weather is bad? 

 

Many thanks

 

Jinny

[Joliecat]

oh ok i just found the answer to my question! tried to book one and it gave me a drop down list of time options...

 

cancellation policy I googled and it said I can cancel penalty free up to 24h in advance - is this correct?

[dolittle]

I.M.H.O I would avoid more than one excursion per port . It is stressful enough meeting and waiting for the trip to get going once let alone twice in one day. We have found it is best to pick one that is best for us ,go with it and have some un-structured time in port not to mention the cost will really add up with more excursions. Good luck with your planning.

[Northern Aurora]

Joliecat:  I am assuming that you are talking about shore excursions booked with Celebrity, and not with private vendors.  

 

With Celebrity shore excursions the policy is that you can cancel within 24 hours with no issues.  If the weather is really bad and the port is cancelled, then you will be reimbursed in refundable OBC.  If the weather is really bad but the port call still takes place, and you are not happy with the excursion (ie, the excursion includes outdoor portion) then politely discuss the situation with Guest Relations upon your return;  sometimes folks have received partial refunds.  If you are ill the day of the excursion then also contact Guest Relations before the excursion is scheduled to begin as they can arrange a medical cancellation depending on the circumstances; again you will receive OBC for reimbursement.

[Joliecat]

1 hour ago, dolittle said:

I.M.H.O I would avoid more than one excursion per port . It is stressful enough meeting and waiting for the trip to get going once let alone twice in one day. We have found it is best to pick one that is best for us ,go with it and have some un-structured time in port not to mention the cost will really add up with more excursions. Good luck with your planning.

Great, thanks for the advice. Thats probably a good idea for us to stick with just one as well.

[Joliecat]

 

7 minutes ago, Northern Aurora said:

Joliecat:  I am assuming that you are talking about shore excursions booked with Celebrity, and not with private vendors.  

 

With Celebrity shore excursions the policy is that you can cancel within 24 hours with no issues.  If the weather is really bad and the port is cancelled, then you will be reimbursed in refundable OBC.  If the weather is really bad but the port call still takes place, and you are not happy with the excursion (ie, the excursion includes outdoor portion) then politely discuss the situation with Guest Relations upon your return;  sometimes folks have received partial refunds.  If you are ill the day of the excursion then also contact Guest Relations before the excursion is scheduled to begin as they can arrange a medical cancellation depending on the circumstances; again you will receive OBC for reimbursement.

 

thank you, thats very helpful

 

yes was referring to celebrity excursions

Edited February 15, 2020 by Joliecat

[Northern Aurora]

38 minutes ago, Joliecat said:

 

 

thank you, thats very helpful

 

yes was referring to celebrity excursions

 

 

And thank you for your kind words.  But this afternoon (at least it is late Friday afternoon in Fairbanks, Alaska as I type this) I am trying to do too many things at once, and hence have an error in my post.  If you had existing non-refundable onboard credit as a booking perk, then Celebrity will use that form of OBC first.  If you had paid for a Celebrity excursion with non-refundable OBC then if the excursion is cancelled your reimbursement would be non-refundable OBC.  If you paid for the excursion either on a credit card or used reimbursable onboard credit then the reimbursement will be on reimbursable OBC.  This is an issue in which some folks have had different experiences, but that has been ours.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

That is correct.  If you book the shore excursion with your non-refundable OBC, it will be refunded in that form.  I just cancelled one and that's what happened.  If you pay by credit card, you will receive refundable OBC.

[Joliecat]

Ah ok, thank you for the clarification! 

 

It has also drawn my attention to the fact that I need to use up our obc, as I think it’s all non refundable. So more of an argument for booking celebrity excursions rather than onshore, as I don’t think we’ll be able to use it up otherwise! Might need to do some shopping.

 

Thank you all again!

[az_tchr]

7 minutes ago, Joliecat said:

Ah ok, thank you for the clarification! 

 

It has also drawn my attention to the fact that I need to use up our obc, as I think it’s all non refundable. So more of an argument for booking celebrity excursions rather than onshore, as I don’t think we’ll be able to use it up otherwise! Might need to do some shopping.

 

Thank you all again!

See me on board after you get a printed statement of your account. Some OBC is refundable and there are ways to get much of it back in cash.

On the Norway tour lots of pretty reasonable sightseeing tours from Celebrity. In Bergen buying the hayride tickets ahead and doing that a great idea.

PS - I will be the tall guy with a baseball cap and a very small moose. Probably the only one.

[Joliecat]

23 hours ago, az_tchr said:

See me on board after you get a printed statement of your account. Some OBC is refundable and there are ways to get much of it back in cash.

On the Norway tour lots of pretty reasonable sightseeing tours from Celebrity. In Bergen buying the hayride tickets ahead and doing that a great idea.

PS - I will be the tall guy with a baseball cap and a very small moose. Probably the only one.

 

Thanks for the kind offer! What is a moose? I only know of the animal kind which I presume you won’t be bringing on the cruise 😊

[Fouremco]

We did a 2-week HAL Norway cruise last summer and didn't take a single ship's excursion, choosing instead to use the services of the many private vendors with excellent reputations. Just something for you to consider.

[az_tchr]

55 minutes ago, Joliecat said:

 

Thanks for the kind offer! What is a moose? I only know of the animal kind which I presume you won’t be bringing on the cruise 😊

Actually yes. See my avatar. His name is Ignor A Moose. Has a Zenith card. And is about 20cm tall. Look for us on day 1.

[Joliecat]

3 hours ago, Fouremco said:

We did a 2-week HAL Norway cruise last summer and didn't take a single ship's excursion, choosing instead to use the services of the many private vendors with excellent reputations. Just something for you to consider.

Thank you for the suggestion 

 

yes ive been looking at private vendors but then realised we had significantly more obc than I was expecting and now feeling like we need to do more celebrity excursions to use it up! So far I’ve only used 1/10th. I think most of it may be nonrefundable as it was a bonus

[Joliecat]

3 hours ago, az_tchr said:

Actually yes. See my avatar. His name is Ignor A Moose. Has a Zenith card. And is about 20cm tall. Look for us on day 1.

Ah intriguing! Can’t quite make his avatar pic out due to pixelation. Will certainly be looking for him

[Fouremco]

Just now, Joliecat said:

Thank you for the suggestion 

 

yes ive been looking at private vendors but then realised we had significantly more obc than I was expecting and now feeling like we need to do more celebrity excursions to use it up! So far I’ve only used 1/10th. I think most of it may be nonrefundable as it was a bonus

I can certainly understand not wanting to lose your OBC. You should try to confirm if it's all non-refundable, and consider where else you could spend it. There have been a few recent threads on "where to spend my abc" worth reading. Here's one that includes a comprehensive list from @cruisestitch:

 

 

Whatever you do for excursions, you should have a wonderful time. Norway is so-o-o-o beautiful.

[upwarduk]

On 2/15/2020 at 2:24 AM, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

If you pay by credit card, you will receive refundable OBC.

My refund went back to my credit card.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

19 hours ago, upwarduk said:

My refund went back to my credit card.

 

That is what happens.  If you do not use your refundable OBC, it will be credited back to the card you used to pay for your cruise.  Nonrefundable OBC is use it or lose it.  If you purchase a shorex with nonrefundable OBC and cancel it, it will return to you as nonrefundable OBC.