My top cruise tip: don’t worry about missing out
Eager passengers rush to book the best tours and dining tables the minute they’re released. Don’t stress – there’s another way.
Your cruise is booked, your cabin is chosen, so now it’s time to sit back and wait for the adventures ahead. Not necessarily. Most cruise lines open bookings for dining and shore excursions several months, or even a year, in advance.
The way bookings are handled has evolved over the years, largely shifting online. Before a trip, passengers create an account on the cruise line’s website to browse, book and check availability in real time. Navigating this booking process can sometimes feel like a stressful race to snap up limited spots. While it’s preferred by experienced cruisers and people who love planning, it’s not so good for first-timers or spontaneous travellers.
On river and expedition cruises, nothing needs to be booked ahead, but ocean cruises are more complicated. Each cruise line does things differently, and some passengers get their travel agent to handle the admin. However, there’s no need to worry about missing out. When reservations are released, eager cruisers rush to book the best tours and tables, but this early-bird flurry is short-lived. The next crucial period is the last-minute frenzy, as the sailing date approaches, when more people have since booked the cruise and everyone finally responds to the reminder emails.
According to Oceania Cruises, guests are planning further ahead than ever before for speciality dining and shore excursions. Oceania’s booking window varies between 45 and 150 days prior to sailing, depending on the length of the voyage and the guest’s accommodation category.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises allows guests to book online 75 days before departure for dining and 300 days ahead for shore excursions (365 days for guests eligible for Regent’s Concierge Amenities). Seabourn also opens tour bookings a year ahead.
Some high-end and small-group excursions sell out quickly on luxury lines, but guests can join a waitlist to seize any openings that arise. Spaces often become available because bookings can be easily cancelled. Explora Journeys has the most flexible policy, allowing guests to cancel non-private experiences up to 24 hours before the scheduled activity. Most other lines ask that cancellations be finalised two days ahead.
Once on board, bookings can be managed by speaking to the relevant staff – either guest services, the shore excursions team, dining department, maitre d’ at your desired restaurant, the ship’s concierge, or your butler. Using this traditional method means you may have to stand in a queue or wait for a phone call. From October, Explora Journeys guests will have the option of making bookings directly through its app (downloaded to your mobile phone). Like them or not, apps are the future of cruising, and lines such as Virgin and Viking have already adopted the technology. Fortunately, crew members are on hand to help.
Waiting until you’re aboard the ship will mean fewer options but excursions can sometimes be booked as late as the morning of the port call. Ask at the tours desk if there are any last-minute opportunities or head to the on-board meeting point to take advantage of “no-shows”. It’s risky yet not impossible.
Delaying does have other benefits: you can ask which tours are less crowded and gauge your energy levels before assessing the most suitable activity. And if you feel like a day off touring, you may opt to wander aimlessly around a port or head to the beach.
Viking, Silversea and Regent guarantee one free shore excursion per port, which must be booked in advance, and Oceania’s “Simply More” upgraded fares also include excursions. Regent’s complimentary selection is particularly generous, with about a dozen options in every port. When the waitlist is long, the destination team works with local partners to add more tours if logistics allow.
Non-inclusive lines such as Cunard and Seabourn charge extra for excursions. Cunard’s best-sellers in Australia include the Kuranda Scenic Railway from Cairns, helicopter scenic flights over the Great Barrier Reef, a Litchfield National Park tour from Darwin, and the Puffing Billy steam train from Melbourne. Guests can look out for “limited availability flags” on tours on the Cunard website.
When it comes to dining, cruise lines take reservations for dinner but breakfast and lunch don’t need to be booked. Ships have ample restaurants, ranging from intimate spaces to double-decker venues, so there’s always something available. Among the trusty back-up plans are the main dining room, self-serve buffet and room service. Once aboard, guests can also make and alter dining plans, or just turn up at dinnertime to see if a table is available.
Most companies require guests to pay in full for their cruise before making advance dining reservations, which usually open from 45 to 75 days before departure. Regent guests need only pay a deposit to manage their bookings online.
I tend to fly by the seat of my stretchy pants on cruises. I book in advance only when I have my heart set on an exclusive excursion. If I miss out, I can book direct with a local company offering a similar tour for half the price. Strolling around a destination, discovering as I go, is one of my favourite hobbies. Beach days only require directions to the nearest sandy shores. As for dinner, it depends on my mood that evening, whether it’s a craving for a particular cuisine, a romantic meal for two, or hiding in my suite with room service. After all, the whole idea is to relax and have fun your own way.
If you love to travel, sign up to our free weekly Travel + Luxury newsletter here.
