Is it unusual that one port is missing shore excursions to purchase?

[coloradocruiselover88]

We are on Rhapsody of the Seas, June 27 out of Athens.  All of the ports have shore excursions with the exception of Crete (Chania).  While I have no problems getting off the ship and doing my own thing, I like to at least see what RCCL has to offer. Makes me wonder if stop will get cancelled.  It doesn't show up in the port schedule either.

 

RCCL has told me there aren't in inventory yet. Really 53 days before the cruise and they haven't contracted vendors yet?

 

Thoughts?

[Biker19]

Just now, coloradocruiselover88 said:

RCCL has told me there aren't in inventory yet. Really 53 days before the cruise and they haven't contracted vendors yet?

For a change, I might believe the CSR.

[mets07]

I am on a cruise in July that just yesterday for the first time showed any excursion for one of the ports, so it is possible. 

 

[RobInMN]

Had this happen on the Arctic Circle cruise on Jewel June 20th. No shore excursions for any ports for a long time, even though the Iceland/Ireland after (July 2) as a B2B had it's excursions for some time. Then probably only about 8 weeks ago 4 ports posted. Then another week or 2 later another port posted, then the last port only posted April 27th. 

Not sure if certain ports are having issues lining up the excursion operators or something?

[coloradocruiselover88]

Ok thanks everyone; just traveling with a large group and was worried they might be sold out.  So I was wondering if I needed to look into private excursions.

 

I have been to Crete before and just got of the ship and walked all around and had a fantastic day! But this is a different port as well.

I love how helpful everyone is!  THANK YOU!

 

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

Not sure you'll see this, but if so:  We just returned from a cruise on Oceania which stopped in Chania (Hania).  It was one of my absolute favorite stops on a jam-packed itinerary.  Oceania did offer excursions (Knossos, walking tour of Chania, Arkadi & Reythmno, Agia Triada Monatery, Akrotiri, Chania, and a land and sea tour of Chania.  I just got off and did my own thing, walking (with views of city across water) to the beautiful Venetian lighthouse on a breakwater you can reach from the eastern part of the city, wandering around the charming area of Splantzia, etc.  From the port about a block away, Oceania offered a city bus shuttle (free for us, but I understand others pay for it; in any case it's worth it!!)  The shuttle went to the big city market that was closed for major renovation.  From there, you can walk down to the harbor in about 10 minutes or if traditional shopping is your thing, there are some shops near by.  You may want to download a map of the area from maps.me to use offline once you get there.  It helped me, though I probably could have found things on my own with a map that was given out by a tourist rep when we left the ship.  If you're a photographer, you'll absolutely love Chania.  It's a very pretty city, with lots of surprises like a view of snow capped mountains from walk to lighthouse (at least in mid May), old city walls, the walk on a breakwater to a lighthouse (can't go in, however), tavernas on the waterfront in the other directions,  cute house decorations, graffiti, lots of churches including a church with both mosque and Greek Orthodox features, etc.  So don't despair - even if no excursions were offered, this would be a beautiful, wonderful destination on its own.  I took tons of pictures.  I would go back in a heartbeat.  

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

And just as a general reply:  I noticed that not all locations we visited seemed to have too much in the way of excursions to offer - yet, anyway.  I think cruising restart is off to a slightly slower start, and some vendors may be reluctant to offer excursions until the Covid situation and related economy situation have gotten better.  But we went to some pretty small places on our cruise, and Oceania managed to find excursions in all ports, even if the excursions weren't what some people might consider were worth the money.  But I found them to be pretty good....and usually after the excursions, I explored on my own, so I was completely happy with my days in port.

Edited May 30, 2022 by IWantToLiveOverTheSea

[firefly333]

Fairly recently my sept cruise got excursions for grand Cayman. We had the other 2 ports for months. No idea why rcl was so slow added one port but its happening a lot.

 

My jan radiance has no excursions.

[PashaPoo]

Our Feb Radiance also has no Excursions nor  Dining Packages shown either in Cruise Planner. Six days ago had the same problem with Beverage Package and was able to get a CSR to load it into our cart for purchase but now we can't get excursions or dining to take advantage of the Memorial Day Sale nor even to research what is available. Waiting on a call from a supervisor to explain???

[Nunagoras]

Europe wise, covid is not finished, economy is sort of struggling with it, and with the undirect effects of that sad Russian war on Ukraine. That may cause some disruptions on product availability.

 

That said, and industry wise, it is common for such a quite "unusual" European port of call to have their shore excursions only added very closely to embarkation date, unless you are part of a big group booking with chartered excursions for their own.

 

Have a nice day!...

[MrsKMB]

My upcoming June cruise had excursions for one port available on the app but not online. (Or was it the opposite? Can't remember. 😂) Anyhow, check both.