Excursions selling out

[vandals04]

I'm a little over 90 days away from my sailing and noticed a few excursions are already sold out.  I remember reading somewhere that they aren't even posted until 90 days before the sailing.  Should I expect the excursions to start opening up when its under 90 days or am I just out of luck?

[sadiwest]

25 minutes ago, vandals04 said:

I'm a little over 90 days away from my sailing and noticed a few excursions are already sold out.  I remember reading somewhere that they aren't even posted until 90 days before the sailing.  Should I expect the excursions to start opening up when its under 90 days or am I just out of luck?

Everything I wanted was sold out, because we booked so close to sailing.   I checked daily and eventually either additional spots opened or people had canceled.  Keep trying.  

[OCSC Mike]

You can always book 3rd party excursions using suggestions from the Ports of Call forums here and cross-reference with TripAdvisor.

[squadron]

1 hour ago, vandals04 said:

I'm a little over 90 days away from my sailing and noticed a few excursions are already sold out.  I remember reading somewhere that they aren't even posted until 90 days before the sailing.  Should I expect the excursions to start opening up when its under 90 days or am I just out of luck?

Our sailing has not had excursions posted - told the 90 day rule.  Have cruised for many years and never had problem booking early.  Don't understand why some sailing long after ours have access to excursions!!

[Markanddonna]

It depends on the sailing. On our recent transatlantic sailing, the ship excursions were sold out months before the date of sailing. I never had this happen. I asked and they blamed the contractors. Of course, these were French ports. 🙄

[lv2cruisgrl]

It seems there are less excursion options and smaller amount of people allowed to sign up. Hence sold outs are the new norm.

[orville99]

5 hours ago, vandals04 said:

I'm a little over 90 days away from my sailing and noticed a few excursions are already sold out.  I remember reading somewhere that they aren't even posted until 90 days before the sailing.  Should I expect the excursions to start opening up when its under 90 days or am I just out of luck?

 

3 hours ago, squadron said:

Our sailing has not had excursions posted - told the 90 day rule.  Have cruised for many years and never had problem booking early.  Don't understand why some sailing long after ours have access to excursions!!

We already booked excursions for our February 2023 Panama Canal cruise (276 days out), so it apparently depends on the sailing.

[OCSC Mike]

10 minutes ago, Heymarco said:

I have always had better experiences not booking through the cruise line.

I think most people who have done independent excursions would agree. I know I do.

[vandals04]

1 hour ago, Heymarco said:

I have always had better experiences not booking through the cruise line.

 

1 hour ago, OCSC Mike said:

I think most people who have done independent excursions would agree. I know I do.

I've never booked an excursion through the cruise line before but for some reason it's actually less expensive then booking direct.

[OCSC Mike]

17 minutes ago, vandals04 said:

I've never booked an excursion through the cruise line before but for some reason it's actually less expensive then booking direct.

 

I've mostly booked excursions not offered by RC. That said, this was definitely not the case in Alaska in 2018 when I was forced to book something through RC after the same type of excursion was cancelled due to bad weather in land before we got on the ship. We found the exact company RC was using and their price was cheaper but they told us they were "sold out" b/c RC held their remaining spots.

 

Why did you book direct if it was cheaper through RC?

Edited May 22, 2022 by OCSC Mike

[rj59]

If you look at cruisedig, you'll see the ships and capacity and port schedule for your itinerary. So on my Carnival cruise next week, they'll be 12,000 possible passengers in Ketchikan while I'm there, but no other ship in Victoria, and maybe 7,000 in Juneau. I've found alternate excursions through other sites, or you can just look for other things to do through web searches and non-cruise tourists. So last year, instead of sitting on a train in Skagway for 5 hours, I rented an electric bike and explored outside of town on my own. Instead of the usual tours in Juneau, I hiked up to the Mt Roberts summit and back and rewarded myself with a few brewery visits. You also have to understand that labor is extremely tight in Alaska, with low unemployment and Alaska having a high cost of living, since everything has to be shipped in, and businesses closed and people were laid off during the shutdown. Like ship crew, many former employees have better offers or chose something else. A lot of the cruise ship labor comes from students from the lower 48 living in group dorms in the summer, which might not be appealing with covid still around and so many other jobs available. So maybe this isn't the best year to do a lot of bucket list excursions, and instead to just enjoy the ports and spend a bit to help the businesses rebound. Not sitting on a packed boat, bus, or train also will help ensure you don't get quarantined. Another option, at least for Juneau, is to try to get on a tour when you get there, since they have tour operators operating kiosks by the cruise ships, trying to pick up last-minute business for whale watching or Mendenhall visits. 

[vandals04]

Heres an example.  Nassau Blue Lagoon Dolphin Encounter is $99 (sold out) through RC and $150 direct.

 

 

Edited May 23, 2022 by vandals04