Questions about Princess ship excursions

[ABQrobin]

First time on Princess, booked recently for a European cruise.... and all the port excursions we wanted to do are already booked.  So... my question is, do they ever hold back some seats for after boarding the ship?  We have found independent excursions in all other ports that interested us but two... and we can't find any independent excursions available for those two ports.  We don't have to do an excursion at every port (there are 7 on this sailing), but.... just wondering if the ship opens up excursions once everyone is onboard.  Thanks!

[PMGS247]

I'm inclined to say no with like 90% confidence.  Having said that, spots can open up via cancellations, which probably get more and more frequent as you approach the cruise date, so it's worth continuing to refresh the excursion page.

[Rick&Jeannie]

Keep a close eye on these excursions pre-cruise...and if unsuccessful go to the excursion desk once on board. We have scored desired tours in this way on a couple of occasions.  People cancel at the last minute and the res system may not reflect it. And...of course add your name(s) to a waiting list if one is offered...but that is not always working. 

[skynight]

Posts 2 & 3 provide excellent information. I agree that you should look each day while you are at home. People can and do cancel. When you get on board there should be booking screens at the tour desk. Check there on boarding day. 

[ABQrobin]

Thanks everybody! Will do.

[stevenr597]

I remember in the good old days; you started the cruise and generally picked the excursion(s) at your convenience.  

Now one must book early to get a good room and quickly decide on excursions. 

 

[Guest ldtr]

I also will say unlikely, but keep checking.  On a recent British Isles cruise excursions at some ports was sold out 6 months in advance.

[Mike45LC]

I booked most of my excursions in Europe through a tour consolidator/broker, instead of through Princess.  Less expensive, and everything was available.  

[cavecreekguy]

I certainly could be wrong, but I don't think all excursion slots are available for advance booking.

 

When I look at excursions for my upcoming cruises, it sometimes shows how many tickets are available. I've never seen more than 20 available, even though I know the tour accommodates more than 20. I would expect by now to have seen at least one that had more than 20 slots available.

 

When I was going to the Caribbean last February one excursion I was interested in was full for weeks and even with checking regularly there was no availability. Once on board there was plenty of availability.

 

Same thing happened last month in Norway. The Princess excursion to North Cape was booked a few months in advance. I checked every day and nothing ever became available. Once on board not only was there availability, but at multiple departure times.

Edited July 29, 2023 by cavecreekguy

[Rick&Jeannie]

17 hours ago, cavecreekguy said:

When I look at excursions for my upcoming cruises, it sometimes shows how many tickets are available. I've never seen more than 20 available, even though I know the tour accommodates more than 20. I would expect by now to have seen at least one that had more than 20 slots available.

 

I believe I may be able to shed some light on this. (Big maybe)

 

It is my personal opinion that Princess has their res system set up with a common customer-facing interface...which just happens to show a *max* of 20 available seats.  Yes, of course most (many?) excursions can handle many more people.  I believe what is taking place behind the scenes is that their "behind-the-scenes" database is pre-loaded with the maximum number of seats.  This counter is decremented until it hits 19 left available...and then you start seeing "There are only xx seats available remaining".  I have personally seen this on at least 2 occasions.  I always make note of that count before I book.  I have booked with it showing "20 seats remaining" and even by the next day, it *still* showed "20 seats remaining".  Only at some point in the future would it start decrementing.

 

I retired from IT.  While I was not directly involved in web programming, I could always see the type of code that was being used...and any time a bit of code could be "re-used" for more than one thing that's what would be done.  Why re-invent the wheel?  So...you code for a generic situation and let the circumstance "drive" what the customer/user sees.

[capriccio]

On 7/29/2023 at 4:57 AM, cavecreekguy said:

I certainly could be wrong, but I don't think all excursion slots are available for advance booking.

I certainly wouldn't count on there being any availability on excursions listed as sold out in advance of embarkation.  Of course there might be if the companies Princess works with have been successful in finding additional guides, vehicles, etc. but we've been on too many cruises where the list of excursions provided in your cabin or on the TV has numerous ones marked "sold out."

[ABQrobin]

UPDATE......  I have been checking daily and sure enough, excursions opened up in a few ports.  One port we had hoped to do something suddenly had 20 open spots on 1 excursion when it was sold out before.  So I did go ahead and book it, yeah.  The other ports are fine for us, we booked with private companies for 4, and can just walk around port in the other two, no biggie.

Thanks everyone!!!

[Guest ldtr]

It all depends upon what their vendors tell them.  If the vendors can add extra buses the last minute capacity might open up.  These days, while tour operators are still getting staffing back, and with cruise ships back to or near full capacity there seems to be less excess capacity in the system and fewer last minute additions.  Some get freed up when some change their minds and decide to cancel a previously booked excursion.