Shore Excursions

[sgmburt]

I don't mean to seem completely ignorant but this is our first cruise and I am wondering about shore excursions. We are sailing the Oosterdam to Alaska in May, 2010. Do you book your excursions and pay in advance or book and pay when you arrive at the particular ports? Thanks!

[CowPrincess]

Book in advance! especially for Alaska. Do check out the Alaska forum under "Ports of Call" here on CC. There are lots of very helpful, knowledgeable posters there. They can help you find good independent operators, if that's what you want, or give you input into many of the shorex offered by HAL -- what was good, what was a waste of time, etc.

If you book shorex thru HAL on their website, be aware your credit card will be charged immediately. We like that -- the shorex get paid for in advance, and we don't have to deal with a huge onboard bill at the end of the cruise.

[catl331]

we all were first timers once. Live and learn! If you book an excursion, and change your mind you do not lose your money. If there is something you really want to do, book it right away. Also some excursions have limited capacity. If you want a helicopter to the glacier, these fill quickly. They also are expensive. If the copter can't go up to the glacier due to weather etc., you get your money back. You will love Alaska.

[CruiserBruce]

As the others didn't tell you how to book, allow me...

Go to the Holland America Website. On the bronze bar, you will see "For Booked Guests". Under that tab, it will say "Book Shore Excursions". You will need your booking number ( 6 letters and numbers id issued by HAL, on your paperwork- not case sensitive- might be 9XWQ4T, for example). Enter that and your last name, and a port listing will appear. If no excursions are available, a little note will pop up saying none are available yet, and no port listing will appear. I heard a little bit ago 2010 Alaska excursions are coming up- I know 2010 Med are slowly popping up.

Some ports will have a little orange button to the right that says "Show Excursions". Click on that, and the excursions are listed. It is possible not all ports will have excursions listed. Keep watching in the future.

Book at will. We like this as it allows us to spread the cost of excursions over time, rather than a big bill at the end of the cruise- the old way.

Note a new feature at top right of your port listing- a "customized" excursion catalog for your cruise.

[NMLady]

Originally Posted by sgmburt

I don't mean to seem completely ignorant but this is our first cruise and I am wondering about shore excursions. We are sailing the Oosterdam to Alaska in May, 2010. Do you book your excursions and pay in advance or book and pay when you arrive at the particular ports? Thanks!

Be sure you check out the Alaska forum here on Cruise Critic. There's lots of information there, including non-ship tours if that interests you.

Also, go to your Roll Call forum and get acquainted with your fellow passengers.

I'm also cruising to Alaska in May 2010 but on Amsterdam's 14 day cruise.

Book in advance! Many of the tours fill up fast!

[Rowan813]

We cruised Alaska last year. Many of the excursions were completely booked by the day we sailed. You almost need to book ahead. If you go to Juneau I wouldn't miss a helicopter tour of the glaciers. We were able to get out and walk on a glacier. It was an eperience of a lifetime. The beaver plane tours in Ketchikan are wonderful also. Check out the independent tours as well as through the cruise line.There are lots of good options.

[pamssanity]

We did independent tours in Alaska- they came highly recommended and were much cheaper than ship basefloat plane tours-if interested in which ones I will post for you.

[sgmburt]

Please do! I didn't realize we could book an independent tour. I may never get all this figured out in time to cruise in May! HA!