Frustrated with Lack on Info on Alaska Cruise Tour Land Portion

I have posted a couple of times about this on the Alaska forum, but I haven’t received any helpful responses. We are booked on a southbound Alaska cruise (with pre-cruise land tour) on Millennium in August. I have been trying, unsuccessfully, to get any detailed information on the optional excursions for the land portion of the cruise tour. Please don’t tell me that I made a mistake booking the land portion as part of the trip as opposed to DIY – that ship has sailed. From everything I can glean from these boards, we will be given our options for optional excursions when we arrive in Alaska. So, we have to make snap decisions that day about very expensive excursions? Has anyone had any luck getting any info on land-based excursions? I am a planner by nature and want to do research on any excursions. So do I have to live with my decision to book a pre-cruise tour with the Celebrity, or can someone help me with how to get more info?

celebritycruisetours.com has LOTS of great info, including a downloadable flyer for the land portion with example pricing. You cannot pre-book excursions for the land portion, your tour director will do that once you are there.

To find the tour brochure click "resources" in the top right from the main page, then scroll down and click on "excursions" mid page and on the left is the pdf flyer.

there is also a flyer that lists the various "included experiences" which varies from tour to tour.

If you follow the link at the top of the page for cruise tours you can select 2018 vs 2019 then your tour # and it has a detailed day by day. 2018 tours only list the northbound itin, but 2019 has the southbound itn on a separate page. The tour components are pretty much identical year over year

The site is designed primarily for agents, but is useful for consumers as well :)

Unlike their main consumer site this one is content rich and helpful!!!!!

I have done this cruise tour and cruising the southern route on the Millie. The only negative part for me was the long bus rides and waiting for other passengers who thought they were the only ones on the cruise tour. Everything else was fine and we had no trouble with booking any of the tours. I know how you feel, as I was also frustrated, but honestly I did know what I was getting in to when giving up my control. You should be fine once you read the site mentioned above by another poster:

We had the same problem and ended up canceling. We have done Princess in Alaska for a cruisetour. Their land portion is EXTREMELY well organized. We slightly prefer Celebrity for cruising, but Princess has the land portion nailed.

celebritycruisetours.com has LOTS of great info, including a downloadable flyer for the land portion with example pricing. You cannot pre-book excursions for the land portion, your tour director will do that once you are there.

 

To find the tour brochure click "resources" in the top right from the main page, then scroll down and click on "excursions" mid page and on the left is the pdf flyer.

there is also a flyer that lists the various "included experiences" which varies from tour to tour.

 

If you follow the link at the top of the page for cruise tours you can select 2018 vs 2019 then your tour # and it has a detailed day by day. 2018 tours only list the northbound itin, but 2019 has the southbound itn on a separate page. The tour components are pretty much identical year over year

 

The site is designed primarily for agents, but is useful for consumers as well :)

 

Unlike their main consumer site this one is content rich and helpful!!!!!

Thank you! This is exactly what I was looking for! I don't know why Celebrity makes it so hard to find. This is why I love Cruise Critic.

I would do it yourself. We know people who took it and said it was really frustrating because they decide where you go, when you go, when you stop, where you stop - and with so many people on a big bus you are 'forced' to wait for each bathroom stop, etc. And that some people seemed to think it was their own personal tour and held up the entire group multiple times, so that there were missed opportunities. Times when our friends wanted to stop were not on the 'schedule' so they were held captive by the pre-determined plan. There is one main road in Alaska and with a $5 copy of Milepost you can totally do this yourself. The Alaska forum/board here on CC is the best resource for all things Alaska and cruise tours both on your own and through a ship. It may be too late for you now, but maybe for next time consider on your own. I understand the trip into Denali is even better and more comprehensive when you do it on your own, and you can go farther. A google search will help with that.

Which land tour did you book. We did the Majestic Tundra tour this past June. If you booked this tour maybe I can answer some of your questions.

Thank you! This is exactly what I was looking for! I don't know why Celebrity makes it so hard to find. This is why I love Cruise Critic.

Probably because X does not want people complaining when they make adjustments to their itinerary/excursions.

Having people make decisions a few days before insures the guests and the vendors commitment.

Also there is no backing out, once you pay you play.

Enjoy X....

I have done this cruise tour and cruising the southern route on the Millie. The only negative part for me was the long bus rides and waiting for other passengers who thought they were the only ones on the cruise tour. Everything else was fine and we had no trouble with booking any of the tours. I know how you feel, as I was also frustrated, but honestly I did know what I was getting in to when giving up my control. You should be fine once you read the site mentioned above by another poster:

You're making me smile, going on a cruise/land is giving up control....what did you guys do before the internet...:D;p.

Which land tour did you book. We did the Majestic Tundra tour this past June. If you booked this tour maybe I can answer some of your questions.

We are doing this tour the end of July! Any tips would be great. I can’t wait!

Which land tour did you book. We did the Majestic Tundra tour this past June. If you booked this tour maybe I can answer some of your questions.

Saw this post. We are booked on Majestic Tundra this June, we arrive in Fairbanks and end in Seward where we pick up the cruise. Which if any optional excursions did you do & did you enjoy/were they worth it? If you don't do the dinners, are their places nearby to get meals? How were the hotels in Fairbanks & Denali? Thanks for any info you can provide [emoji3]

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You might be interested in download the following PDF. It lists the 2018 Cruise tour Land Excursions.

To see the itinerary of your Land Tour start here and select your tour

http://www.celebritycruisetours.com/

Also there is a pdf wit Optional Cruise Excursions.

www.celebritycruisetours.com/content/uploads/2016/06/17059556_Alaska_Optional_Cruisetours_20174.pdf

Also if you select Destinations & Accommodations it will also give you details of you lodging.

You might be interested in download the following PDF. It lists the 2018 Cruise tour Land Excursions.

 

To see the itinerary of your Land Tour start here and select your tour

http://www.celebritycruisetours.com/

 

Also there is a pdf wit Optional Cruise Excursions.

www.celebritycruisetours.com/content/uploads/2016/06/17059556_Alaska_Optional_Cruisetours_20174.pdf

 

Also if you select Destinations & Accommodations it will also give you details of you lodging.

Thanks, Jim. This is the same link AtlantaCruiser72 gave me above. This site is a wealth of information.

Saw this post. We are booked on Majestic Tundra this June, we arrive in Fairbanks and end in Seward where we pick up the cruise. Which if any optional excursions did you do & did you enjoy/were they worth it? If you don't do the dinners, are their places nearby to get meals? How were the hotels in Fairbanks & Denali? Thanks for any info you can provide [emoji3]

 

 

We arrived in Fairbanks the day before the tour started. Celebrity used Pike's Waterfront Lodge for out tour group. Very nice hotel with a restaurant next door. Food was very good. The hotel also has a shuttle to take you around extremely reasonable. We used our free time the first day to explore downtown Fairbanks and the University of Alaska. The first tour was panning for gold in the morning which was about 3 hours long. It was a fund our. Celebrity does not do a good job of explaining their tours and we were all pleasantly surprised how much fun this was. The afternoon was a riverboat cruise down the Chena River also was a very interesting and lots of fun. The next day I believe we went to downtown Fairbanks and I can't remember what else we did but our days were filled. After two days we took the train to Denali which was a beautiful ride. In Denali we stayed at Denali Park Village where we did our only optional tour which was Happy Homestead to see how they train sled dogs. We enjoyed this. I should say when you receive your itinerary there will be a pamphlet on all optional tours available while on your land tour. Our days on Celebrity tours were filled. Some started at 7 am and lasted till maybe 5 pm. The day we left Denali for the ship was a long one. We left at 7 am, made a pit stop in Anchorage for roughly an hour and a half and then back on the bus to Seward. We arrived at the ship around 5 pm. We thoroughly enjoyed their land tour. We a great guide and driver. Enjoy!!!

I was able to download the optional tours brochure & I also found a tour guide that does similar tours in Denali for less. I assume like on a cruise I can book my own optional tours without an issue?

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I was able to download the optional tours brochure & I also found a tour guide that does similar tours in Denali for less. I assume like on a cruise I can book my own optional tours without an issue?

 

 

 

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The only problem I see is that we don't know the specific time frames associated with the included portions. The risk would be that you couldn't make it to your private excursions.

The only problem I see is that we don't know the specific time frames associated with the included portions. The risk would be that you couldn't make it to your private excursions.

If you are referring to booking excursions during your land tour it would be later in the day. Our tour to Husky Homestead left at 7:30 pm I believe. We didn't arrive in Denali till around 4 or 5 pm. The second day in Denali we went with the tour for an 8 hour bus ride in the National Park.

If you are referring to booking excursions during your land tour it would be later in the day. Our tour to Husky Homestead left at 7:30 pm I believe. We didn't arrive in Denali till around 4 or 5 pm. The second day in Denali we went with the tour for an 8 hour bus ride in the National Park.

So it looks like you can do an optional tour in Denali in the afternoon of both days. I am assuming the 8 hour bus tour started really early & got back mid-afternoon? Looking at several tour operator sites, they operate the same tours that celebrity offers at what appears to be the same price. Several are offered at 5pm or later so presumably you can do one like you did on the day of arrival and a different one the next day after the National Park bus ride. Did you spend all the time on the bus or did you get out & hike?

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I would book a tour for a later in the day. As for the park each bus (you go on a park bus, not the coach you've been traveling in) goes into the park at different times and you won't know the time till the night before. Our bus left at around 7:15 but we didn't get back till around 4. You do get off the bus at certain pit stops (bathroom and picture opps) but not for long. Busses are on a timed schedule. There is no hiking allowed on the Celebrity tour, We did see a few hikers on their own but you must register with the park. No cars are allowed in the park. It was a really long day.