excursions disappeared from 4 ports

[ontheweb]

I was looking at the NCL excursions for our upcoming summer cruise mainly for ideas as they seem to be excessively expensive, but found 4 ports that previously had excursions listed can no longer be accessed. Go to the next 5 and go back to the previous 5 both skip the ports between Bergen and Reykjavik, The ports are Alesund (Norway), Geiranger (Norway), Akureyri (Iceland), and Isafjordur (Iceland). All 4 previously showed a few excursions when clicking on something else to do for the day.

 

Could they all be sold out already over 4 months in advance and before final payment is due? Could they have been pulled because there are no longer vetted local tour operators to be used by NCL?

[BirdTravels]

Try filtering on the port you want. On the app, use the filter. On a laptop select the port on the navigation bar on the left. 

[shof515]

do you currently have any excursions booked for any of these ports? if you do, the website will automatically remove any excursions that conflict with what you booked

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, shof515 said:

do you currently have any excursions booked for any of these ports? if you do, the website will automatically remove any excursions that conflict with what you booked

No, no excursions booked.

[bonvoyagie]

It could be many things from sold out online (they save back a few seats for onboard sales) to the tour company backed out. Try checking TripAdvisor to see if any tour companies are doing similar tours.

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Try filtering on the port you want. On the app, use the filter. On a laptop select the port on the navigation bar on the left. 

On a laptop, I tried clicking on the ports on the left, and nothing happened.

[ontheweb]

Just now, bonvoyagie said:

It could be many things from sold out online (they save back a few seats for onboard sales) to the tour company backed out. Try checking TripAdvisor to see if any tour companies are doing similar tours.

I was looking to see what things were there and then to look for private tours as the NCL tours I previously saw were very expensive. (For instance in Reykjavik which is still there with tours, my DW said she wants us to go to the Blue Lagoon, and we can find it much less expensive privately. No worries about getting back after the ship leaves as it is an overnight.)

 

I thought of the same possibilities of sold out or tour companies no longer being approved, but it is 4 ports over 2 countries. If it was only 1 or even 2 in the same country, maybe these would be possibilities, but it seemed odd for 4 ports in 2 countries.

[Turtles06]

Are the folks on your Roll Call experiencing the same issues?  
 

You can call NCL’s shorex desk and see what they say. 

[bluesea777]

We were on the Iceland and Norway cruise on the Star last year July. Were supposed to go to Greenland, but switched to Norway due to some bad weather brewing up at sea between Iceland and Greenland. Our pre-booked and pre-paid Greenland excursions (NCL) got cancelled and refunded (automatically). The Shore Excursion desk was so busy selling the new Norwegian excursions they managed to round up, but by the time we got there they all were sold out. BUT, all is not lost! There are HOHO buses outside the ship's dock area in Alesund, Bergen and Trondheim, and there is a couple or so places to go to buy excursions when you exit the ship in Olden. I went on a coach excursion in Olden and it turned out to be one of the best excursions I've ever been on and NCL isn't selling this kind of excursion!

 

Akureyri has a gift shop with an excursions desk in the dock area as you exit the ship.

 

Another thing, they (NCL) do not sell 100% of the excursions on-line. They sell only a fraction (I think 1/3) online and sell the rest on board. So you might want to make a beeline to the Shore Excursion desk when you embark the ship.

 

 

Edited March 25, 2023 by bluesea777

[luv2kroooz]

If everything disappeared, you might check to see if an itinerary change has been announced or if port times are being adjusted. I have personally experienced this situation where I had shore excursions "favorited" in my account one day and then the next day they were all removed. An itinerary change was announced. For thext day or so, no excursions were available at all and then within 2 or 3 days later, the excursions were reposted with the adjusted times. Not saying this is the case with you, because I don't know, but that is what happened with us!

[kitkat343]

This is tough, because the NCL computer system sometimes glitches out so its possible for the excursions to disappear just because they are having a technical glitch.  But lost excursions may also be the first sign of an itinerary change.  I'd agree with the previous poster who recommending calling or chatting with NCL to see if they still have access to the excursions.

 

Most people take a panoramic bus around Geiranger; you can book this privately usually for less than the shore excursions (although if you have the $50 shore excursion credit that might not make the shore excursions as much of an overpriced thing as usual).  But do be careful and ask about refund policies - there are some ports, like the Dominican Republic, in which the private tour operators are very familiar with NCL cancelling stops there, and have very lenient refund policies (someone on my cruise in January first realized something was wrong when contacting private tour operators in the DR, who asked if he was sure he was stopping there and kept mentioning their refund policies instead of focusing on selling him a tour).  

 

 

 

Edited March 25, 2023 by kitkat343

[ontheweb]

6 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

Are the folks on your Roll Call experiencing the same issues?  
 

You can call NCL’s shorex desk and see what they say. 

I did consider calling NCL, but I had a feeling that a weekend was not the best time to get someone who knew what was going on. 

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, luv2kroooz said:

If everything disappeared, you might check to see if an itinerary change has been announced or if port times are being adjusted. I have personally experienced this situation where I had shore excursions "favorited" in my account one day and then the next day they were all removed. An itinerary change was announced. For thext day or so, no excursions were available at all and then within 2 or 3 days later, the excursions were reposted with the adjusted times. Not saying this is the case with you, because I don't know, but that is what happened with us!

I think changing the ports is a remote possibility. After all there are 4 ports, and they do have to get from Bergen to Reykjavik.

[casofilia]

@ontheweb

 

What ship?  What date?  What start and end ports?

[Turtles06]

12 hours ago, ontheweb said:

The ports are Alesund (Norway), Geiranger (Norway), Akureyri (Iceland), and Isafjordur (Iceland).

 

I know you want to get the mystery solved as to why these ports have disappeared from your NCL shorex options, and you said you wanted to see the NCL options to get ideas for private tours, but in the meantime...

If you head over to the Northern Europe forum and do a search for each of those ports, you'll find ideas and recommended private tour operators.  I've been to all of those ports except Geiranger.  Alesund can be a nice DIY day, taking the "city train" (which isn't a real train) around town and up to the Mount Aksla viewpoint, and then back down, and wander around on your own.  Akureyri is the jumping off point for the classic "Lake Myvatn" tour, which I highly recommend; a fabulous day.  Private tour operators available for that.  One option from Isafjordur is to visit the Dynjandi Waterfall.   

 

Good luck and enjoy your cruise!

 

(Alesund, from Mount Aksla, by turtles06)

 

 

[julig22]

9 hours ago, bonvoyagie said:

It could be many things from sold out online (they save back a few seats for onboard sales) to the tour company backed out. Try checking TripAdvisor to see if any tour companies are doing similar tours.

They do NOT hold back excursions for onboard sales - there is no reason to do so, as excursions must be prepaid.   Holding back would be counterproductive as it could drive people to private excursions.

There is no penalty for booking in advance, so people do cancel excursions and space may become available at anytime.

[ontheweb]

8 hours ago, casofilia said:

@ontheweb

 

What ship?  What date?  What start and end ports?

Prima 8/6 London (Southampton) to Reykjavik

[bluesea777]

8 hours ago, julig22 said:

They do NOT hold back excursions for onboard sales - there is no reason to do so, as excursions must be prepaid.   Holding back would be counterproductive as it could drive people to private excursions.

There is no penalty for booking in advance, so people do cancel excursions and space may become available at anytime.

Yes, they do hold back for onboard sales - there are people who do not have the abilities to use computer to go online to book excursions. 
 

 

[ronheg]

We were very satisfied and saved a lot of money by doing a small group tour (4 couples arranged thru our roll call) with icelandeverywhere.is. It was half the price of other tours.  It’s owned by a former schoolteacher who is very knowledgeable about iceland.  We used him in both ports.

[Let Me Travel!]

I’m experiencing some of the same issues…but my upcoming cruise is on NCL Spirit to Alaska…they are not listing the white pass train and no gold - panning or dog sledding (other than on that glacier)…Viator DOES list them…also, NCL is advertising a glacier cruise in Valdez for well over $450 pp and Viator has the same excursion for $164…I do think there is a planning problem!

[The Traveling Man]

8 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Prima 8/6 London (Southampton) to Reykjavik

We were on the Prima last September on a similar itinerary.  We had weather delays that caused us to miss one port and reduce our time in port at two others.  If you have similar weather issues, it could result in some tours being cancelled and others being modified.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, The Traveling Man said:

We were on the Prima last September on a similar itinerary.  We had weather delays that caused us to miss one port and reduce our time in port at two others.  If you have similar weather issues, it could result in some tours being cancelled and others being modified.

OK, but why has everything now disappeared? Both next 5 and previous 5 skip all 4 ports. That is TOTALLY SKIP including booking shows and dining as well as excursions!

[The Traveling Man]

4 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

OK, but why has everything now disappeared? Both next 5 and previous 5 skip all 4 ports. That is TOTALLY SKIP including booking shows and dining as well as excursions!

I don't have a good answer for you, but it isn't likely that every tour is sold out.  More likely it's a computer issue.  Keep checking back and they probably will reappear on the NCL website.

[julig22]

Here's a thought - call NCL excursions.  They might not be able to tell you if ports have been cancelled but they certainly can tell you if everything is sold out.  

[Bluewake]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

OK, but why has everything now disappeared? Both next 5 and previous 5 skip all 4 ports. That is TOTALLY SKIP including booking shows and dining as well as excursions!

I've written before on CC that we encountered the same thing on one of our NCL cruises.  Although the main NCL website continued to advertise the same itinerary right through the final payment deadline, the opportunity to book excursions for 3 of the ports disappeared from the "manage your cruise" page. Calls to NCL were met with "there are no changes of which we are aware".   About 3-4 weeks after final payment, an itinerary change was announced. One port (probably the main one most people wanted) was dropped entirely and the dates the ship would be stopping at the other two were adjusted. A day or so later, the opportunity to book excursions reappeared.