Excursion - booking & changing question

[buttercup10]

So we're nearing the time for when we can start booking excursions, etc. (end of October). It's been forever since I've done a cruise, and so I'm wondering if anyone can tell me -

- if I book an excursion, am I charged immediately for it, or is it only a reservation at that point that I'm charged for on the boat/at check in?
- do things like island bus tours really fill up in advance, or am I okay waiting til much closer to the cruise to decide?
- What's the policy on cancelling/changing shore excursions once you're on the ship? My husband really wants to do a beach break in either st. maarten or st. thomas, but I'm worried about the weather in late January/early February)
(Please don't worry about posting about how it is cheaper and easier to grab your own taxi to the local beaches - I am travelling with family members who are incredibly out of their comfort zone in doing something not organized by Disney on these trips, that it's not worth my effort in convincing them otherwise.......although maybe "forgetting" book an excursion through Disney would be a good test for them in getting to the beach in an "unorthodox" way!)

Thanks for any tips on do's/don't's for excursion booking!

 

[BealsRwe]

So we're nearing the time for when we can start booking excursions, etc. (end of October). It's been forever since I've done a cruise, and so I'm wondering if anyone can tell me -

- if I book an excursion, am I charged immediately for it, or is it only a reservation at that point that I'm charged for on the boat/at check in? You are not charged until yoou are on the ship-the excursions are charged to your staterooom account. You have until 2 days before sailing to cancel or change without penalty.
- do things like island bus tours really fill up in advance, or am I okay waiting til much closer to the cruise to decide? The island tours we have taken, we have mostly waited to boook onboard. We have never had a problem getting the tour we wanted. The excursions that tend to fill up are the dolphin excursions from what I have seen.
- What's the policy on cancelling/changing shore excursions once you're on the ship? My husband really wants to do a beach break in either st. maarten or st. thomas, but I'm worried about the weather in late January/early February) The weather in the eastern Caribbean is magnificient in Jan/Feb. You can't cancel once onboard. If you are worried-wait and boook the beach excursion on board.(Please don't worry about posting about how it is cheaper and easier to grab your own taxi to the local beaches - I am travelling with family members who are incredibly out of their comfort zone in doing something not organized by Disney on these trips, that it's not worth my effort in convincing them otherwise.......although maybe "forgetting" book an excursion through Disney would be a good test for them in getting to the beach in an "unorthodox" way!) We have never booked a separate excursion-always booked with Disney. I have never been sorry. We do tend to book our excursions once onboard, since we have cruised to the ports a few times. When we cruised to Tortola for the first time this past year-we booked the beach escape and island tour ahead, not knowing if it woould fill up. The oother advantage to booking onboard is if there is a new tour, such as the Tiki Bar snorkel we did in St. Maarten a few years back, we wouldn't have done it. We asked the crew their opinions once onboard and they said it was a new tour, and a secret gem. We loved it.
Thanks for any tips on do's/don't's for excursion booking!

I hope the info (my opinion) helps!

 

[clten]

If you book in advance, you have until a few days (I think 3) before the cruise to cancel without penalty. You are not charged until you get onboard for the excursions (they are charged to your onboard account on the first day). Usually island tours and beach breaks do not fill up quickly. I'm sure there are occasions where this is not true, but we have always been able to book these on board. We usually wait because we don't want to be doing something if the weather isn't good for us. We also rarely know 3-4 months ahead of time what we might feel like doing on vacation.