How quickly do excursions fill? Can you cancel an excursion reservation?

[ajcolorado]

We're booked on the Freedom of the Seas for March 2007 and I see that we can start booking our excursions in April of this year. 7-9 in our group are interested in the Original Canopy Tour in Jamaica and I see in the OCT web site that groups are limited to 22 people but I don't see how many groups they can accomodate in a day. Do I need to make this reservation ASAP? If I do and we change or mind, is there a penalty for cancelling a reservation?

 

Thank you.

[Corby44]

It is best to make these reservations as soon as you know what you want. They can be cancelled with no penalty up to 24 hours before the actual tour.

[CruisinDawn]

Here is some info that might help you plan things out. Our Freedom cruise is offering 4 canopy tours. 8am, 9am, 11 & Noon. The tour last 4 hours and your ship leaves at 4pm so if your doing the noon tour you have no time after the excursion to do anything in Montego Bay. Note they also lowered the minimum age on this excursion to 12. We already booked ours :D Also take not that since we were first able to book they have added new excursions here and there so the first list you see isn't necessarly all the excursions they are going to offer.

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

[DFritz]

Excursions can usually be cancelled up to the day before the tour with no penalty. Remember that you pay for the excursion when you book it. I would book as soon as you know what you want and when you have the funds available.

[OPSoccermom]

Be careful when you say you can cancel up to the day before - When we were on Mariner last March, we tried to cancel a tour we had booked, and the Excursion Desk staff said we were not able to cancel a tour once the on-line booking closes. In all honesty, we didn't really believe them - seems like they are more than willing to accept cancellations on tours that have a waiting list, but not for those that are not fully booked.

[CruisinDawn]

A couple of points I found interesting on FAQ on Royal's site.

 

What if all the excursions I’m interested in are already sold out?

Check back often. Unfortunately it does happen that some of the more popular Shore Excursions sell out. However, other people also cancel their excursions from time to time. We recommend that you reserve all Shore Excursions as early as possible after reserving your cruise. A certain amount of capacity is reserved for sale on board the ship.

What if I need to make changes to my shore excursions within 10 days of my cruise sail date?

Unfortunately, we no longer have access to any reservations within 10 days of your cruise sail date. In order to make any type of changes to your shore excursions you will need to visit the Shore Excursion desk once on board the ship. Available times offered for excursions of interest will be advised once on board. Booking forms will be available in your cabin or at the Shore Excursion desk. Some of our ships offer an interactive system, which allows you to book your excursions from the convenience of your cabin.

Didn't realize this was an option either, guess I don't watch to much TV and always have everything booked before getting on board. Can save you a wait at the Shore Excursion desk, always see a line there the first day.

 

 

How do I cancel or change my shore excursions?

In order to cancel or change your shore excursions you must follow the following steps, PLEASE REMEMBER, YOU ONLY HAVE UP TO 10 DAYS PRIOR TO YOUR CRUISE SAIL DATE TO MAKE ANY CHANGES AND/OR CANCELLATIONS ONLINE.

1) Click on the “GO” button underneath the Purchase Image.

2) Enter your cruise reservation number, ship name, sail date and choose your preferred language. Click “Submit”. The system will access your cruise itinerary.

3) Click on the “View Cart” button. Then click on the word “Edit” next to the shore excursion you wish to cancel or change.

4) At this point you may cancel the excursion by de-selecting the individuals that are set to participate on the excursion. Do this by removing the check marks underneath the “Assign” column. Click the “Add to Cart” button and the appropriate credit will be made to your Credit Card. To replace this excursion with another one, you may click on “Continue Shopping” and follow steps 3 to 6 above as noted in question #1.

5) If you wish to add or remove particular participants, then either remove or add the appropriate check mark on the “Assign” column and click on the “Add to Cart” button then “Proceed to Payment”.

 

I always thought you had to call to cancel.

Refunds and Cancellations

No refunds are made for failure to use all of the described services included in the tour price. Cancellations by guests must be made prior to the closing deadline advised directly on board the ship. (Now that's a little vague.) Under no circumstances will refunds be made after an excursion has commenced. Remember, you may change or cancel your Shore Excursions on this website up to ten days prior to your cruise start date.

 

I also thought you could cancel with 24 hour notice. Just never had to cancel one. Not sure now.

BonVoyage

Dawna

 

 

[negc]

Since the excursion you are interested in has a capacity of only 22 people and you are sailing on a ship that carries over 3,000, I would recommend booking asap to avoid being blocked out. Even if they run as many as four of these excursions, I wouldn't want to take a chance that it sold out before I tried to book. We have booked excursions on line and have still had the option of cancelling once we were onboard as long as we did so before the cancellation deadline passed. The excursion you are interested seems to be of increasing popularity and is offered on a number of Caribbean islands, so I would expect that there could be a lot of disappointed folks who wait to late to book.