Booking shore excursions online -- when do they charge??

[grak]

When booking on line for shore excursions, does Princess charge your credit card now or charge on the room card later??

[Toto2Kansas]

Your shipboard account will be billed for any excursions, even when booking prior to your cruise online. ;)

[Guest sizzzlin sailor]

When booking on line for shore excursions, does Princess charge your credit card now or charge on the room card later??

 

Grak... The reply from toto2kansas is correct but maybe you'd benefit from just a tiny bit of clarification.

 

As toto2kansas says, shore tours ARE added to your shipboard account immediately whether they're booked on the cruise or booked some to several weeks or months in advance. But... your shipboard account, in turn, isn't turned in to VISA or MASTERCARD or whatever card you're using until the END of your cruise.

 

And a thought on that subject: keep at least "loose" track of what you might be running up in the way of shore tour expenses so you don't have to stop in the infirmirary after you get your bill at the end of the cruise! Noboby would accuse Princess of putting bargain basement prices on their shore tours. If you purchase several, they have a way of adding up and easily becoming a quite expensive element in your final bill -- right up there with your bar bill! Hahaha!

[Chesterpeake]

Sizzzlin is correct about when the excursion charges are made.

 

Don't laugh about the bar bill however. I have been reading on some of the ship specific forums that its seems as though Princess is not giving a receipt on board for drinks, wine, specialty coffees. That way you don't know how much you are spending. One post from a Princess employee noted that they don't want you to know; that they know a person's rate of spending will drop 20 to 30 percent after they view their statement during the cruise. It is one of the reasons why Princess doesn't allow tv access to view your account as some other lines do.

 

Other posters reporting that they still receive receipts. Perhaps it is a trial on certain ships.

[grak]

Bar bill :eek: my first cruise in the late '80's -- a 4 day to Baja. Long story short my friend and I only paid taxes or port charges because they needed a block of rooms and wanted to move us. They finally agreed to pay for our cruise if we'd move -- couldn' pass that up since we really had a free cruise and we didn't spend much time in the cabin anyway (we were in the smallest, narrowest cabin possible. I think even steerage would have had it better LOL --). BUT -- our bar bill was so high we could have booked 2 more cruises at the regular price for what the bar tab ran!!! Live and learn!!

 

Actually my question was -- am I going to see the excursions on this month's VISA or on the sheet left in the room before I "jump" ship. ??

[Toto2Kansas]

Bar bill :eek: my first cruise in the late '80's -- a 4 day to Baja. Long story short my friend and I only paid taxes or port charges because they needed a block of rooms and wanted to move us. They finally agreed to pay for our cruise if we'd move -- couldn' pass that up since we really had a free cruise and we didn't spend much time in the cabin anyway (we were in the smallest, narrowest cabin possible. I think even steerage would have had it better LOL --). BUT -- our bar bill was so high we could have booked 2 more cruises at the regular price for what the bar tab ran!!! Live and learn!!

 

Actually my question was -- am I going to see the excursions on this month's VISA or on the sheet left in the room before I "jump" ship. ??

 

The answer is 'NO', you will not see your shore excursions charged to your visa. Not until you actually cruise, then they will be added to your final bill (shipboard account).

But, if you would rather pay for them now, when you book them online and have it charged to your visa account before you leave, there is a way around this. You can call princess and give yourself a gift of shipboard credit (enough to pay for those excursions you are booking now). The amount will show up as a credit on your shipboard account, and as they charge your shore Ex to your account, it will come off this credit. So, you can do it either way, pay now, or pay later. Enjoy!

[WahooCruiser]

Grak... The reply from toto2kansas is correct but maybe you'd benefit from just a tiny bit of clarification.

 

As toto2kansas says, shore tours ARE added to your shipboard account immediately whether they're booked on the cruise or booked some to several weeks or months in advance. But... your shipboard account, in turn, isn't turned in to VISA or MASTERCARD or whatever card you're using until the END of your cruise.

 

And a thought on that subject: keep at least "loose" track of what you might be running up in the way of shore tour expenses so you don't have to stop in the infirmirary after you get your bill at the end of the cruise! Noboby would accuse Princess of putting bargain basement prices on their shore tours. If you purchase several, they have a way of adding up and easily becoming a quite expensive element in your final bill -- right up there with your bar bill! Hahaha!

Does this mean you can cancel or change a shore excursion once the ship sails? Thank you for your help!

[shining gem]

Shore excursions may be canceled once on board and up until a couple of days before the tour date. They post a cut off date for cancellations at the tour desk usually.

My husband was too ill to go on one excursion on our last trip and we were given a letter form the doctor so we could have a refund because we canceled on the day of the tour. Meg

[Pia1913]

Does this mean you can cancel or change a shore excursion once the ship sails? Thank you for your help!

 

Absolutely, as long as you keep within the time frame posted for cancellations.

[Pam in CA]

Does this mean you can cancel or change a shore excursion once the ship sails? Thank you for your help!

Yes. :) When you book an excursion before sailing, you're really just reserving it. When you board, your booked tours will be charged to your onboard account and the tickets delivered to your cabin either before you board or shortly afterwards. There'll be a notice in the Princess Patter about which port excursions close, the day and time. There's a box in front of the Shore Excursion Desk and to cancel, just drop off your tickets in that box before the deadline. You don't have to wait for the Shore Excursion Desk to be open; Princess makes it very easy. You can also book an excursion while onboard by filling out the form and dropping it in the box.