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#1
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shore excursions - how to set up before a Princess cruise?
My wife and I have 1 full day before we leave for our week long
Caribbean Princess cruise. At first I thought we probably shouldn't do any shore excursions, because with the airfare, fuel surcharge, and auto tips, I figured we had pretty much used up our savings for this trip. However, I went over things again, and realize we could spend another $350 or so without any trouble. I've heard that if you want to take a shore excursion, you should book it from home before the cruise. I got on the Princess website he http://www.princess.com/learn/shorex/shorexdisplay.jsp And started looking at the various shore excursions by island. We will be stopping at St. Thomas, Tortola, Antigua, St. Lucia, & Barbados. We will also be spending a day after the cruise in San Juan, where we will wander about on our own. When I'm looking at the various shore excursions, they have lots of details, but I don't see any prices. I also don't see any way to sign up for them. I tried signing in with my info and booking number, but it comes up and says something about it being less than 5 days before the cruise, and having to print things out and bring them in order to make sure the crew gets the information. I don't see any place to print out shore excursion requests. So I'm a bit confused about how we are supposed to sign up for shore excursions without knowing the cost up front, and I'd appreciate some suggestions from anyone who has gone on a Princess shore excursion at any of these islands previously. Thanks! |
#2
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shore excursions - how to set up before a Princess cruise?
So I'm a bit confused about how we are supposed to sign up for shore excursions without knowing the cost up front, and I'd appreciate some suggestions from anyone who has gone on a Princess shore excursion at any of these islands previously. Thanks! Have you set up your own account on the Princess website? I believe that, once you set it up and then login, prices will appear, as will the ability to purchase the excursion of your choice. You need all of the usual stuff to register...and then you will need your booking code for your cruise. You should have all of that by now if your cruise is a week away. Note: Princess will not charge for the excursion until you are onboard, you will, basically, make a reservation for an excursion. There should be a set of rules about charges, etc on the website. |
#3
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shore excursions - how to set up before a Princess cruise?
Have you set up your own account on the Princess website? I believe that,
once you set it up and then login, prices will appear, as will the ability I just went ahead and did that. After I logged in, and tried to do the cruise personalizer, I still get the message: "As your ship is scheduled to leave port within 5 days, the Cruise Personalizer is not available." On the screen before that, it said I could personalize the cruise during the 120 days before it leaves. Strange. |
#4
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shore excursions - how to set up before a Princess cruise?
On 1/7/2011 11:42 AM, Ohioguy wrote:
Have you set up your own account on the Princess website? I believe that, once you set it up and then login, prices will appear, as will the ability I just went ahead and did that. After I logged in, and tried to do the cruise personalizer, I still get the message: "As your ship is scheduled to leave port within 5 days, the Cruise Personalizer is not available." On the screen before that, it said I could personalize the cruise during the 120 days before it leaves. Strange. So you didn't do the pre-cruise check-in so you will be able to have an easy time getting checked in when you get to the pier??? Did you read the materials you got with the cruise documents? It should have told you to do that and also to login to book excursions. Of course, had you been using Cruise Critic as many people here told you to, you would have found excellent reviews of non-Princess shore excursions and been able to save some money. Of course, you would have had trouble booking either of these since you don't use a credit card. Good luck. |
#5
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shore excursions - how to set up before a Princess cruise?
On the screen before that, it said I could personalize the cruise during
the 120 days before it leaves. Strange. Select the excursions that you prefer and then go to the excursion desk asap after you board. There is usually a board or rack of flyers about each excursion along with pricing. If the desk is 'open' you can book the excursion and pay for it with your onboard account. The 'asap' suggestion is made because the more popular excursions sell out very quickly. I have seen many disappointed passengers who could not take their first choice as it was fully booked. Note: The excursion desk should be on the bottom floor of the atrium area...not hard to find, but this is your first cruise so everything will take a little more time to find and do. |
#6
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shore excursions - how to set up before a Princess cruise?
So you didn't do the pre-cruise check-in so you will be able to have
an easy time getting checked in when you get to the pier??? Did you read the materials you got with the cruise documents? I never received any cruise documents, other than the eboarding pass & itinerary I printed out 7 weeks ago, when I purchased the tickets. It just says check in 2-9 PM, and nothing about checking in ahead of time. I did print out the luggage tags. Strangely, while the Princess website doesn't seem to list prices, or allow me to book a shore excursion, this website seems to have prices and such listed: http://www.shoreexcursionsgroup.com/...s=7&Click=1149 Are these pretty typical? Since the cruise website doesn't allow me to book anything, I was leaning towards booking one of these through the website. |
#7
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shore excursions - how to set up before a Princess cruise?
At the bottom of the gangway you will find many tour operators who offer
the same tours as the cruise line does, and for less money. These operators will be happy to accept cash and I don't think they even accept credit cards. When I first started cruising I always booked tours with the cruise line, but then I learned the tours are less expensive if you book directly with the tour operator. |
#8
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shore excursions - how to set up before a Princess cruise?
"rieker4" wrote in message ...
On the screen before that, it said I could personalize the cruise during the 120 days before it leaves. Strange. Select the excursions that you prefer and then go to the excursion desk asap after you board. There is usually a board or rack of flyers about each excursion along with pricing. If the desk is 'open' you can book the excursion and pay for it with your onboard account. The 'asap' suggestion is made because the more popular excursions sell out very quickly. I have seen many disappointed passengers who could not take their first choice as it was fully booked. Note: The excursion desk should be on the bottom floor of the atrium area...not hard to find, but this is your first cruise so everything will take a little more time to find and do. The excursion desk is on Deck 6. When in Atrium look at Passenger Services desk (PSD.) Go to left end of desk and follow the wall around to the left immediately behind the PSD. There you will find the Excursion desk. Yes many of the excursions sell out or are already sold out. You can be put on a waiting list at the excursion desk for a sold out one. |
#9
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shore excursions - how to set up before a Princess cruise?
On 1/7/2011 5:51 PM, LVTravel wrote:
Yes many of the excursions sell out or are already sold out. You can be put on a waiting list at the excursion desk for a sold out one. Don't most cruise lines hold some excursion spots for people who don't have Internet access (or don't realize that they can book them online before they leave)? I find it amusing that he wasted so much time worrying about tips and dollar coins and what to do with his extra time before he wanted to get on the ship that he didn't bother thinking about excursions and figuring out how to book them on the Princess site. Bill |
#10
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shore excursions - how to set up before a Princess cruise?
On 1/7/2011 12:18 PM, Ohioguy wrote:
So you didn't do the pre-cruise check-in so you will be able to have an easy time getting checked in when you get to the pier??? Did you read the materials you got with the cruise documents? I never received any cruise documents, other than the eboarding pass & itinerary I printed out 7 weeks ago, when I purchased the tickets. It just says check in 2-9 PM, and nothing about checking in ahead of time. I did print out the luggage tags. Strangely, while the Princess website doesn't seem to list prices, or allow me to book a shore excursion, this website seems to have prices and such listed: http://www.shoreexcursionsgroup.com/...s=7&Click=1149 Are these pretty typical? Since the cruise website doesn't allow me to book anything, I was leaning towards booking one of these through the website. I would be very surprised if the Princess site would not have allowed you to book the excursions once you logged into their site with your booking info (after all, they want to make it easy for people to book these as early as possible). At that point it would have shown you the prices. Presumably where you are looking on their site now is where people who are not logged into their reservation go, and Princess doesn't want the public seeing how high the prices are before they book a cruise (or just on principle). I would not blindly book an excursion through a 3rd party. What I've done in the past is read reviews someplace like Cruise Critic (or my travel agent recommended someplace, although I did not book with them). With your luck you'll end up on a tour that doesn't get back in time and you'll miss your cruise ship. At least if you go with the cruise line's excursion they guarantee that they will hold the ship for you if you get back late. Bill |
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