Oh no... are we out of luck, will our cruise suck

[Charles Pierson]

We had some family issues going on and we missed our days to book excursions and on board activities. Now anything that we were interested in doing is booked. What can we do? Are there a lot of cancelations of these prebooked activities once on board? Can we get on a waiting list for them once we board?
I'm thinking of booking an excursion through outside of the cruise line for our days in ports but it makes me nervous in case we don't make it back in time.

 

[tlovesdis]

Keep checking as people cancel! I couldn't get anything at 75 days and now have Palo brunch and two tastings that we wanted just by checking every day!

 

[Dailymeel]

When I went on my first Disney cruise, it was really a mega treat for me (2013). I was barely able to afford it but got 35% off for Canadian residents and a guaranteed with restrictions. I booked 2 weeks before sail date from Vancouver where I lived. I took public bus to the terminal. I couldn’t afford any extras on the cruise. I didn’t buy any souvenirs or special drinks. There was still so much to do, I had a lot of fun, It was one of my favourite holidays to this date! I was on the Wonder

 

[darnheather]

There is still so much to do. You can book an excursion with an outside company if you are set on doing something. I did that our first cruise in Grand Cayman. Generally, I book only one excursion per trip and that is plenty.

 

[Mommb]

You can still have a great cruise!

There will be many activities each day that do not require advanced reservations, including theater shows, musical performances, crafts, trivia games, character meets, and much more.

If you book an excursion on your own, make sure the provider can commit to returning you to the ship a few hours before all-aboard time. That should allow for traffic delays and other issues. Depending on the ports you are visiting, you may even be able to walk to interesting places without paying for an excursion at all.

Certainly, if you want adult dining, beverage tastings, spa treatments, Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boutique, shore excursions, and other bookable activities that are not showing as available, you should continue checking online and check once you're unboard, because people do cancel and some slots may be held back for onboard booking.

Happy cruising!

 

[jimmymc]

For the excursions, find some third party ones. You'll most likely find better activities for less money.

Almost everything on-board has spots held back for in-person reservations. Find out where they are meeting on embarkation day and head there ASAP.

 

[lilsonicfan]

Third party excursions are all we do, and we have cruised quite a bit! Well worth it to look into other companies. For one thing, it can often be cheaper. Research the companies and look into whether they have any guarantees about getting you back to port in time. Excursion companies know that their reputation depends on people getting back to the ship on time, so they will do everything they can.

Onboard activities - definitely keep looking as you approach the cruise, but also, as soon as you can connect to ship wi-fi when you get on board, check what's available. There were lots of alcohol tastings, for example, on day 1 and even throughout our last cruise as ppl cancel, etc.

 

[2Lunds]

Check in at the excursion desk when you board. I just watched a vlog where the excursion they wanted had been fully booked prior to embarkation, but they opened up more slots upon departure.

That, plus cancellations - you have a pretty good chance of actually snagging something.

 

[brentm77]

We had some family issues going on and we missed our days to book excursions and on board activities. Now anything that we were interested in doing is booked. What can we do? Are there a lot of cancelations of these prebooked activities once on board? Can we get on a waiting list for them once we board?
I'm thinking of booking an excursion through outside of the cruise line for our days in ports but it makes me nervous in case we don't make it back in time.

I've cruised with Disney four times and only booked a non-excursion activity once (Palo brunch on first cruise), yet always have more than enough to do and have a blast. There are a ton of activities that you can just show up to every day.

For excursions, do your research to find a reputable company and book them privately. They are better anyways and often the same price or less. Many ports are great without excursions too - you can often catch a taxi to whatever you want to do. Just leave a couple hour cushion coming back to the ship in case of an unexpected delay.

 

[Erica1016]

We have been on 6 DCL cruises and have sailed all five ships. We have done exactly one excursion and no pre-booked onboard activities and have still LOVED every cruise. You'll have a great time!

 

[kiford]

If your cruise is four days or less, good luck trying to do even half of what you want to in the time you have. After we got back from our four-day Wish cruise in February, I realized all of the things we forgot to do/missed/didn't see and this was our 12th cruise with Disney (though first on the Wish). And we didn't get off the ship except to go to Starbucks for 30 minutes so our friends could see if they had one of the mugs she collects. And that's without booking anything except the ship tour which we did on board. I started making a list of the things I need to do on the Wish when we go again. That's at least another two cruises.

If it's a seven-day cruise, you're more likely to see/do many of the things you want, except that if you get off the ship to do excursions, then you won't get to do or see everything on board the ship. If it's excursions in particular you want, keep checking online. People constantly cancel and change and sometimes they add additional excursions. If you can't get those and haven't booked something independently (I'm not comfortable myself so I understand that), check when on board because they may add more or someone might want to cancel but can only get a refund if someone else books it so the Port Adventures desk may know if that's a possibility.

On the Baltic and both Med cruises, excursions got added at multiple times between booking and the cruise and some were changed on board (Baltic in particular) - some cancelled due to low booking and some added due to high wait lists.

Unless it's an excursion you absolutely positively must do and you're not able to book it and don't want to book independently, consider just staying on board or doing something very quick and short in port so as not to stress you out. Every time someone asks me what I did on my cruises (other than Med or Baltic which were very port-intensive and we did line a lot of stuff up) I always say that I don't know but whatever it was, it took all day. Then I make a list of things I wanted to do but didn't for the next time which I won't complete. Rinse. Repeat.

TL;DR: You don't need to book a lot of things to have a great cruise. And there's usually so much more to do and see than you think.

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

For our first cruise I was a total newbie and didn't know anything. We didn't sign up for excursions/tastings or anything. Still was fabulous and hooked us on cruising. Don't sweat it. Even 'plain', the ships are full of fun. Enjoy your cruise!

 

[princesscinderella]

We had some family issues going on and we missed our days to book excursions and on board activities. Now anything that we were interested in doing is booked. What can we do? Are there a lot of cancelations of these prebooked activities once on board? Can we get on a waiting list for them once we board?
I'm thinking of booking an excursion through outside of the cruise line for our days in ports but it makes me nervous in case we don't make it back in time.

What itinerary are you doing? I’m sure we can give you some pointers for outside excursions. We did the sea trek helmets in Cozumel and we totally could have booked it on our own for less money. We walked to it with one of the trek employees and walked back to the ship. Some of the islands are small and you really don’t need to worry about not getting back to the ship in time, unless you are hopping to one of the other small islands nearby for an excursion. Viator is a good place to look for excursions too.

 

[crauen]

If they are in port excursions look at Viator for tours that leave in the morning giving you plenty of time to get back to the ship. You will have essentially the same experience as the DCL activities and might even be on the same tour! For on ship or Castaway Key activities there will be cancelations. Ask at the activity desk on board and as others have noted there is a ton to do that is not an extra cost excursion to you will have a great time!

 

[ZehnJahren]

We haven't booked any excursions or anything else, but I'm still very much looking forward to it. I only wanted one thing, and we didn't get it since we couldn't book until after everyone else (this is our very first cruise). I am not worried in the least!! You'll have a ton of fun - there seems to be a lot to do!

 

[OpieDoodle]

Your cruise will not suck unless you get too in your head about missing things. Disney cruises are amazing even if you don't do anything. Booking outside excursions is an option but it really depends on port IMO. There are SO MANY options for excursions and they're all great. Keep an eye out as people do drop excursions

 

[auntlynne]

 

[rainbowredpanda]

We had some family issues going on and we missed our days to book excursions and on board activities. Now anything that we were interested in doing is booked. What can we do? Are there a lot of cancelations of these prebooked activities once on board? Can we get on a waiting list for them once we board?
I'm thinking of booking an excursion through outside of the cruise line for our days in ports but it makes me nervous in case we don't make it back in time.

The cruise is what you make it. We have done cruises where we haven't booked any excursions and on board activities and had a blast. There can be cancellations while on board so it's best to try and get an early PAT so you can check earlier on board. You can also keep checking the website as people so cancel all the time.

 

[KashasMom]

We've done 100+ independent excursions and have had a blast! Definitely book independently, not through Disney. More flexibility, private tours, and obviously, much less expensive.

 

[llachance]

If you think it will suck then it will - it is the mindset you have going into it.