Alaska Excursions Sale (or is it)

[ninka26]

Princess' website currently is offering a limited time up to 20% off sale for excursions. Not all excursions reach that 20% off mark though so be aware.

I had already booked one excursion for $109 and the "sale price" was $104 which is more like 5% off.  

Don't get me wrong, there are some bargains there but the % off is going to vary and not every excursion is discounted.

[karatemom2]

I’ve noticed Princess has really hiked the prices on shore excursions. It’s always in general been more expensive to book excursions through the ship than independently, but lately the excursion prices seem downright exorbitant. I guess any opportunity for a discount of any level is nice to see, especially if there is an excursion someone really wants or needs to do through Princess. 
 

The prices on excursions for our Norway trip this summer are ridiculously high, and just went up across the board recently. I’m grateful we have a great roll call with lots of choices for independent tours. But for those wanting Princess excursions, I guess the message is to take advantage of special offers like this and book early before they raise the prices. 

[rocklinmom]

They ran this "Sale" last month for our Alaska cruise (after jacking up the prices first, then lowering them for the sale) and I booked ours. Now they are doing this second Alaska Shore Excursion Sale again and the prices are even less for the ones I booked. I tried to cancel and rebook for the lower prices to save some money but their shore excursion payment system conveniently wasn't working. It appears to be fixed now but I don't know if I want to mess with them again honestly, it was stressful. I have been sailing with Princess for years and this is a new thing. While I appreciate a "sale" it really isn't if they raise the prices first, then lower them during the sale, and then raise them again. Yes I know, the beauty of marketing LOL. 

[ninka26]

16 minutes ago, rocklinmom said:

They ran this "Sale" last month for our Alaska cruise (after jacking up the prices first, then lowering them for the sale) and I booked ours. Now they are doing this second Alaska Shore Excursion Sale again and the prices are even less for the ones I booked. I tried to cancel and rebook for the lower prices to save some money but their shore excursion payment system conveniently wasn't working. It appears to be fixed now but I don't know if I want to mess with them again honestly, it was stressful. I have been sailing with Princess for years and this is a new thing. While I appreciate a "sale" it really isn't if they raise the prices first, then lower them during the sale, and then raise them again. Yes I know, the beauty of marketing LOL. 

Would you be able to purchase at the lower rate and then cancel the original?

[Arizona Wildcat]

3 hours ago, karatemom2 said:

I’ve noticed Princess has really hiked the prices on shore excursions. It’s always in general been more expensive to book excursions through the ship than independently, but lately the excursion prices seem downright exorbitant. I guess any opportunity for a discount of any level is nice to see, especially if there is an excursion someone really wants or needs to do through Princess. 
 

The prices on excursions for our Norway trip this summer are ridiculously high, and just went up across the board recently. I’m grateful we have a great roll call with lots of choices for independent tours. But for those wanting Princess excursions, I guess the message is to take advantage of special offers like this and book early before they raise the prices. 

Shore excursions have moved up some 40% in cost from an independent operator in Norway I used in 2020 and again in 2023.  Costs are crazy from everything for insurance to food.

Look carefully and try to put together a group.  Independent operators are more likely to discount if you fill a van.

 

[karatemom2]

6 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Shore excursions have moved up some 40% in cost from an independent operator in Norway I used in 2020 and again in 2023.  Costs are crazy from everything for insurance to food.

Look carefully and try to put together a group.  Independent operators are more likely to discount if you fill a van.

 

Yes we are definitely finding the prices steep in general. We are fortunate that several people on our roll call have set up private van tours and people have been keen to join. I organized a van transfer for a group of us for our day in Bruges. Thank goodness for Cruise Critic. I feel sorry for cruisers navigating on their own or thinking ship tours are the only option. 

[rocklinmom]

1 hour ago, ninka26 said:

Would you be able to purchase at the lower rate and then cancel the original?

That's what I was trying to do this week. It worked when I did it last month (cancelled our excursions at the higher price, then rebooked at the lower price, and it refunded my credit card the difference in price). This time their payment system was all messed up and it wouldn't work. 

[Rick&Jeannie]

6 hours ago, ninka26 said:

 

The key point in that banner is the wording "Up To....".  They may have one or two excursions that are not really that popular that you can actually get 20% off.

Edited February 17 by Rick&Jeannie

[jean-lynd]

On 2/17/2024 at 10:43 AM, ninka26 said:

Would you be able to purchase at the lower rate and then cancel the original?

No - you have to cancel first and then rebook. i was afraid to do that for fear of loosing what we had. It would only save us $60 so I decided not to risk it.