Carnival.com shore excursions

[carnival lover]

Hi all. I don't know if anyone has the answer to this, but we are headed out on the Valor in 73 days ! (woo hoo) my question is this when you look at shore excursions at carnival.com there are tons, but when I am in my profile showing my bookings only a small amount of the excursions are showing. I don't want to pick anything until I have all of my choices. Is there a certain time limit before the cruise that all of the possible excursions are listed? It seems like slowly new ones are showing up. TIA

[sysgirl1112]

I'll be on the same cruise (Valor 1/6/08) and noticed the same thing about the excursions! I'm wondering if I choose now, how easy it is to make a change, if necessary?

Anyone?

[Solo1959]

Not all excursions are available for all cruises. Depends on the dates, the days of the weeks, the times that the ship will be in port. While Carnival might offer all the tours you see, you might not be in port during the hours and days all of those tours are offered.

 

Logged in under your name and booking number, Carnival will display the tours available on your cruise for the timeof day the day of the week, etc.

[big_duck]

At 73 days, some may already be "web" sold out.

[pe4all]

We are 57 days out from our Freedom Western Car. cruise - I have been checking for months for more excursions to "open up". From the start (we have had this booked for over 18 months) there have been, and still are only 11 excursions listed for Grand Cayman. I know there will be 5 other ships in port the day we will be there- I guess Carnival got "slim pickings" for that date!! I would love to try the Trolley Roger, but it has a 2:30 departure time - by that time, we like to be back on the ship relaxing. (ship sails at 4) Keep checking - maybe something will be added. I check every day or 2. Good luck!

[umpalumpa14588]

We are 57 days out from our Freedom Western Car. cruise - I have been checking for months for more excursions to "open up". From the start (we have had this booked for over 18 months) there have been, and still are only 11 excursions listed for Grand Cayman. I know there will be 5 other ships in port the day we will be there- I guess Carnival got "slim pickings" for that date!! I would love to try the Trolley Roger, but it has a 2:30 departure time - by that time, we like to be back on the ship relaxing. (ship sails at 4) Keep checking - maybe something will be added. I check every day or 2. Good luck!

 

There have been a few threads started about this. As per the tech rep I spoke with at carnival, there are two things going on. #1- They are updating the excursions pages, #2- They are waiting for the companies to renew contracts.

[R&K in NC]

We are 57 days out from our Freedom Western Car. cruise - I have been checking for months for more excursions to "open up". From the start (we have had this booked for over 18 months) there have been, and still are only 11 excursions listed for Grand Cayman. I know there will be 5 other ships in port the day we will be there- I guess Carnival got "slim pickings" for that date!! I would love to try the Trolley Roger, but it has a 2:30 departure time - by that time, we like to be back on the ship relaxing. (ship sails at 4) Keep checking - maybe something will be added. I check every day or 2. Good luck!

 

 

We have a group going in January and the Trolley Roger does not show up. They wanted to do this one because it is handicap accessable. How did you find out the time? Thanks

[NCTribeFan]

If it isn't showing up, it either isn't available on your particular cruise or they haven't extended their contract with the vendor.

 

I've posted this in several threads, too.

 

Last winter, we had a whole slew of additional excursions show up only a few weeks prior to sailing. I had booked "something" just to be sure I got one, then cancelled those and re-booked the excursions I really wanted once they became available.

 

I'm still waiting for the Horseback Ride & Swim to show up for Grand Turk. In the past, we've been there early in the morning. This cruise, we don't dock until 12:00. But it's only a 2 hour excursion. There's no reason why it won't show up, eventually, since time isn't really a factor. I imagine they just haven't contracted for that period with Chukka Adventures.

 

Unfortunately, Grand Turk being a new-ish stop, there are very few independent excursions to book other than dives, so I'm just going to have to wait and see what happens.

 

The only excursions I've ever seen sell out (and that wasn't until we were on board) were parasailing and the Dolphin excursions. Most of those activities can be booked with independent vendors anyway.

[vegasgirl6]

I've been looking every day for the "Boatswain Turtle Farm" excursion in Grand Cayman. I keep getting told..."they are still getting their contracts with the vendors". I hope that is the case, because we leave in 3 weeks and we've been telling my grandson he's going to the Turtle Farm. If nothing shows up before we leave, we will probably book the "Island Tour", but that doesn't let you walk around the area to see the other sights. I'm really surprised that it takes this long for them to have all the excursions listed.

My friend is on this cruise now, so I'm hoping she brings back the capers.

[NCTribeFan]

Did you look for this through a vendor other than Carnival?

 

Thanks to discovering Cruise Critic, I'm not booking anything through Carnival unless the horseback riding shows up. If it were available independently, I'd book that way.

 

Try searching for Grand Cayman excursions. Some independent excursions want prepayment, and you have to check on their cancellation policies.

 

None of our stops are tender ports on my next cruise. I might be a little more leary of using independent excursions if I had to tender.

 

Have you checked the Grand Cayman board? The Ports of Call boards have lots of great info.

[LABecca]

Only a few of the excursions show up online for some reason, but once you board most of the excursions become magically available.

 

So if you see an excursion you like, wait untill you board and it will probably be available.

[vegasgirl6]

I've searched Cayman excursions. I haven't found any that go just to the Turtle Farm. They either include "hell" or "Stingray City". We really don't want to do either. I'm hoping the "Turtle Farm" becomes available. I'm not sure about booking anything outside of carnival, especially when you don't know about the weather, it's a tender and we will have my 2 year old grandson along. So, I guess I'll wait and see!!!

[pe4all]

R & K-

The only way to find out the time of the excursion is to "pretend" to book it under your reservation. The next page will show your name (or the names under your booking) and the time or times that excursion is offered. On our sailing, there is only the 2:30 slot. If that excursion is not listed yet, you just have to wait till it is - the click on the "book now" tab. Don't worry - you can't really book it unless you put in your credit card info - so you can go right up to the point you need without paying. I have also tried to find, and book the Trolley Roger "privately". No luck - they seem to cater to the cruise lines only at this point in time.

[NCTribeFan]

I did the turtle farm on my first cruise. DD went off with my friend and her DS to Stingray City. I didn't go because I don't really swim and had never snorkeled. Big mistake. They had a wonderful time (I did Stingray City the next year and LOVED it).

 

Instead, I did the semi-submersible (which made me seasick), then the tour went to Hell (where I got a Coke and felt much better :D ), then the Turtle Farm. Really enjoyed the turtles (and the Rum Cake store next door!).

 

Keep checking. Even if you can't find anything through Carnival or online, I bet you could find a tour on shore. There are lots of vendors around. You could probably even get a taxi just to the Turtle Farm and spend as much time there as you want.

 

Again, if you haven't done so, check the Grand Caymon Port of Call board. There might be non-Carnival cruisers who have more info.

[Princessbride3]

We did the stingray city tour and had a great time.. i am not a strong swimmer and i had a blast~ we also went to hell and the turtle farm.. i am not sure but i think we booked thru somewhere else.. i might be mistaken.

[cmbcrusin]

We are on the same cruise and have been not so patiently waiting to book an excursion at one port. Our TA just sent us an email regarding final payment and said that Carnival's shore excursion desk told her that the 2008 shore excursions should be loaded into the computer by this time next week. HOPE SO!!:rolleyes:

[carnival lover]

Thanks for the info. That will be awesome if the 2008 excursions are in the system next week. We really need to make some decisions!