Has anyone been able to book an excursion on the ship that was sold out online?

[hazeleyes46]

There is an excursion I want to go on but it now says sold out. I thought someone said you might be able to still reserve it once on the ship.

[Merion_Mom]

Some people will tell you that they hold back some slots for on board booking.

 

I am doubtful about that, but I  know that people do cancel.  That's what opens up the slots.

[hazeleyes46]

Just now, Merion_Mom said:

Some people will tell you that they hold back some slots for on board booking.

 

I am doubtful about that, but I  know that people do cancel.  That's what opens up the slots.

Ahh yeah maybe some will do that.

[robmtx]

Your mileage may vary?

 

Yes, we have, on multiple sailings, been able to book something that sold out online.

No, we have, on multiple sailings, been told that excursion is sold out and unavailable.

[ramja96]

2 minutes ago, robmtx said:

Your mileage may vary?

 

Yes, we have, on multiple sailings, been able to book something that sold out online.

No, we have, on multiple sailings, been told that excursion is sold out and unavailable.

🤔❓

[Sea Dog]

One cruise we decided we wanted to do the Atlantis Submarine but when we went to the excursion desk they said it was sold out. When we got to port we saw Atlantis Submarine office and inquired about going on it. We ended up going on the submarine earlier than our excursion and even cheaper.

[George C]

We were told one was sold out by excursion desk, went to suite concierge and was able to book it .

[OCSC Mike]

Have you tried booking it directly? It’s often not hard to find the company Royal is using for their excursions. They even cut & paste the description straight from the company’s website (then charge extra of course).

[rudeney]

10 minutes ago, George C said:

We were told one was sold out by excursion desk, went to suite concierge and was able to book it .

 

I was once in the SL waiting to talk to the concierge and overheard him on the phone.  When he got off, he went through the list he had just made of cancelled reservations for various spa services, excursions and specialty restaurants and asked if I needed any of those.  He explained that they always call him first and see if he has any of his guests waiting on these things, and that they usually give him some time to ask his guests before they put them back on the list for GS to offer.  

[Mum2Mercury]

21 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

Have you tried booking it directly? It’s often not hard to find the company Royal is using for their excursions. They even cut & paste the description straight from the company’s website (then charge extra of course).

Yes, often a popular activity is offered by the ship + private vendors.  With a private vendor, you're likely to be part of a smaller group.  Paying less is just a bonus.  I wouldn't want to join an already-bloated ship's excursion group.

[hazeleyes46]

1 hour ago, OCSC Mike said:

Have you tried booking it directly? It’s often not hard to find the company Royal is using for their excursions. They even cut & paste the description straight from the company’s website (then charge extra of course).

I actually don't want to do that since it is farther from the port (swimming with the pigs) and wanted to make sure I am with RCCL to do it. It is actually more expensive to do with other places too. 

[hazeleyes46]

1 hour ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Yes, often a popular activity is offered by the ship + private vendors.  With a private vendor, you're likely to be part of a smaller group.  Paying less is just a bonus.  I wouldn't want to join an already-bloated ship's excursion group.

It's actually more money to go private. 

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, hazeleyes46 said:

There is an excursion I want to go on but it now says sold out. I thought someone said you might be able to still reserve it once on the ship.

There is no reason for the cruise line to hold seats for onboard booking. They only make money when seats are full. 
 

That being said, there are often cancellations. People cancelling tours. People cancelling the cruise. So some seats may open up. 

[spooky981]

I did but I had a Genie who probably had something to do with it.

[Mum2Mercury]

1 hour ago, hazeleyes46 said:

It's actually more money to go private. 

Well, let's compare a couple excursions for my upcoming cruise in September.  These aren't cherry-picked; they're the things I'm looking at doing myself on my upcoming cruise.  You can verify the prices online:  

 

Bonaire Highlights and Sorobon Beach

- The ship charges $59 

- Shore Excursions Group.com charges $40 

 

Cave Pool & Black Stone Beach by ATV 

- The ship charges $275 

- Viator.com charges $142 

 

Couldn't compare for Curacao -- the ship apparently doesn't offer an excursion to Christoffel National Park. 

 

I was going to list a couple more, but I lost interest.  

 

 

[Mum2Mercury]

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

There is no reason for the cruise line to hold seats for onboard booking. They only make money when seats are full. 

That's just good sense.  

[CntPAcruiser]

After not getting the one we wanted and booking something different prior to the cruise, we were able to switch excursions once on board for four of us, but I believe it may have been because of a cancellation. It doesn't hurt to ask once on board.

[waterfever]

I had the same experience for my upcoming Aug. 6 cruise.  I needed 5 spots, but there were only 2 left.  I emailed the shore excursion department (Shorex@RCCL.com) & got a very quick response.  The person who responded was Lisseth  Steiger.  She said that she would check with the tour operator to see if they could add 3 more spots.  Before she heard back, though, I decided to book something else instead, and  I just cancelled my RCCL booking today.

[Coralc]

12 hours ago, hazeleyes46 said:

It's actually more money to go private. 

JMO. Swimming with the pigs sounds like fun, but I talked to friends that did it, and it is kind of a dumb excursion. Have you read the reviews? They are kind of highly food motivated and poop a lot. I thought it sounded cool at first, but now it is just a tourist thing with half-starved young pigs. Exuma in the Bahamas had the original swimming pigs. 

 

Sorry. I don't mean to discourage. You can feed them on land, why is swimming with unknown pigs in the water, special? 

Edited July 20, 2022 by Coralc

[Merion_Mom]

12 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Well, let's compare a couple excursions for my upcoming cruise in September.  These aren't cherry-picked; they're the things I'm looking at doing myself on my upcoming cruise.  You can verify the prices online:  

 

Bonaire Highlights and Sorobon Beach

- The ship charges $59 

- Shore Excursions Group.com charges $40 

 

Cave Pool & Black Stone Beach by ATV 

- The ship charges $275 

- Viator.com charges $142 

 

Couldn't compare for Curacao -- the ship apparently doesn't offer an excursion to Christoffel National Park. 

 

I was going to list a couple more, but I lost interest.  

 

 

 

She is talking specifically about HER excursion.  Not a general comment.  HER excursion would cost more to do privately.,

[hazeleyes46]

16 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Well, let's compare a couple excursions for my upcoming cruise in September.  These aren't cherry-picked; they're the things I'm looking at doing myself on my upcoming cruise.  You can verify the prices online:  

 

Bonaire Highlights and Sorobon Beach

- The ship charges $59 

- Shore Excursions Group.com charges $40 

 

Cave Pool & Black Stone Beach by ATV 

- The ship charges $275 

- Viator.com charges $142 

 

Couldn't compare for Curacao -- the ship apparently doesn't offer an excursion to Christoffel National Park. 

 

I was going to list a couple more, but I lost interest.  

 

 

Yes some are but when I looked up swimming with the pigs, it was cheaper with RCCL

[hazeleyes46]

5 hours ago, Coralc said:

JMO. Swimming with the pigs sounds like fun, but I talked to friends that did it, and it is kind of a dumb excursion. Have you read the reviews? They are kind of highly food motivated and poop a lot. I thought it sounded cool at first, but now it is just a tourist thing with half-starved young pigs. Exuma in the Bahamas had the original swimming pigs. 

 

Sorry. I don't mean to discourage. You can feed them on land, why is swimming with unknown pigs in the water, special? 

Yes, it is in Exuma. I heard good and bad things too but it is a bucket list thing and I really wanted to go if I could.