Excursion cancellation policy

[grouchomarx]

I read the info on this in the NCL faq but honestly it's written in a somewhat convoluted way.  Am I correct in understand that if you cancel and excursion less than 48 hours in advance you cannot get a refund but they will give you the value in OBC?  I'm only concerned about this because I am contemplating booking a very expensive (to me, anyway) excursion on my Christmas cruise and I would be very sad to lose that much money if the weather was truly awful and didn't want to go. Do they ever make an exception for very inclement weather situations?

[Asawi]

2 hours ago, grouchomarx said:

.Do they ever make an exception for very inclement weather situations?

I have very Little experience of NCL excursions, but on my recent South Africa Cruise it was raining really bad when we were in Richards Bay. I was booked on a tour to a reptile Park but when we were about halfway there NCL decided that there was no point in going there when weather was this bad. We return to the ship and got our money back. I have absolutely no idea if this is common or not though.

[BirdTravels]

4 hours ago, grouchomarx said:

I read the info on this in the NCL faq but honestly it's written in a somewhat convoluted way.  Am I correct in understand that if you cancel and excursion less than 48 hours in advance you cannot get a refund but they will give you the value in OBC?  I'm only concerned about this because I am contemplating booking a very expensive (to me, anyway) excursion on my Christmas cruise and I would be very sad to lose that much money if the weather was truly awful and didn't want to go. Do they ever make an exception for very inclement weather situations?

 

You can cancel most shore excursions onboard up to 48 hours prior to arrival in a port. You will be given a refundable OBC which must be spent or cashed out on the last night of the cruise. There are a few exceptions for highly capacity controlled shore excursions like helicopter rides, float planes, etc. where you have to canceled 3 days prior to getting on the ship for the first time. 

 

NCL does not make any exceptions for weather. After 48 hours, they are committed to giving that money to their shore excursion vendors. HOWEVER, the vendor may cancel a tour if they are unable to operate (high winds, high seas for tours that require water transport). A few weeks ago, we had a beach day shore excursion cancel by the vendor due to extreme weather. For the most part, the tour providers want your money and don't cancel for a rainy day. 

[grouchomarx]

10 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

 

You can cancel most shore excursions onboard up to 48 hours prior to arrival in a port. You will be given a refundable OBC which must be spent or cashed out on the last night of the cruise. There are a few exceptions for highly capacity controlled shore excursions like helicopter rides, float planes, etc. where you have to canceled 3 days prior to getting on the ship for the first time. 

 

NCL does not make any exceptions for weather. After 48 hours, they are committed to giving that money to their shore excursion vendors. HOWEVER, the vendor may cancel a tour if they are unable to operate (high winds, high seas for tours that require water transport). A few weeks ago, we had a beach day shore excursion cancel by the vendor due to extreme weather. For the most part, the tour providers want your money and don't cancel for a rainy day. 

Thanks for your input.  I want to book an over the water bungalow in Roatan and it’s expensive.  I know Caribbean weather forecasts are famously unreliable so making decisions a few days out can be misguided.  But if I had this bungalow booked and saw it was going to rain a lot or all day just the day before or the day of, I would not want to go, money lost or not.  That would be very unpleasant and I have been through that once or twice with a rainy excursion that I still went on, it was very lousy.  So I am trying to figure out if it’s worth it to take the chance knowing I could lose it all or just play it safe and not do it.  I kind of want to “live a little”, had a lot of hardships in the last 3 years and want to enjoy life as much as I can in these little ways.  But losing $500 would suck!  I have time to decide but this option has very limited capacity so I don’t think I can’t wait until too close to sailing.  I appreciate your input as always.  

[ColdCruise]

On 6/14/2024 at 8:41 PM, grouchomarx said:

Thanks for your input.  I want to book an over the water bungalow in Roatan and it’s expensive.  I know Caribbean weather forecasts are famously unreliable so making decisions a few days out can be misguided.  But if I had this bungalow booked and saw it was going to rain a lot or all day just the day before or the day of, I would not want to go, money lost or not.  That would be very unpleasant and I have been through that once or twice with a rainy excursion that I still went on, it was very lousy.  So I am trying to figure out if it’s worth it to take the chance knowing I could lose it all or just play it safe and not do it.  I kind of want to “live a little”, had a lot of hardships in the last 3 years and want to enjoy life as much as I can in these little ways.  But losing $500 would suck!  I have time to decide but this option has very limited capacity so I don’t think I can’t wait until too close to sailing.  I appreciate your input as always.  

I would book it now since there’s availability. If you wait a week, it might not be an option. Then you have until 48 hours before port arrival to decide … just don’t forget!

(although i still would decide in advyof the 48 hours and not wait till the last minute to cancel )

[grouchomarx]

16 minutes ago, ColdCruise said:

I would book it now since there’s availability. If you wait a week, it might not be an option. Then you have until 48 hours before port arrival to decide … just don’t forget!

(although i still would decide in advyof the 48 hours and not wait till the last minute to cancel )

I BOOKED IT! Thank you.