Is it important to book your tours before getting on ship?

May 22, 2009

There are certain tours I want to do at our port-of-calls, panning for gold, salmon bake, whale watching. Is it very important to book these before we get on the ship? Do these type of tours go very quickly? We will be on the Carnival Spirit which has around 2,000 passengers on it. Any advice would be great. Thanks, Happy cruising!

I definately do recommend you have all your PLANS in place. Whale watching is best booked ahead, the salmon bake can wait until you are there. Gold panning, needs a tour??

If there are specific things you want to do, book ahead, as some do sell out. Also look at independent options outside the cruise lines, as they often offer the same trips with smaller groups.

If there are tours that you absolutely want to do, you should book ahead. I've seen many disappointed people because tours sold out.

I definately do recommend you have all your PLANS in place. Whale watching is best booked ahead, the salmon bake can wait until you are there. Gold panning, needs a tour??

Where is a good place for gold panning that is not a corny show. My husband would like to try this. At this point we are planning to go to Crow Creek in Girdwood after we get a car rental in Anchorage. Do you have a better suggestion? We will be on the Spirit Aug 19 - 26. Nancy

Where is a good place for gold panning that is not a corny show. My husband would like to try this. At this point we are planning to go to Crow Creek in Girdwood after we get a car rental in Anchorage. Do you have a better suggestion? We will be on the Spirit Aug 19 - 26. Nancy

This is a good option.

You might also want to consider taking a look at Last Chance Mine out of Juneau. With no mobility limitations, walkable. Don't think they have panning, however?? There also are mining exhibits at either the Alaska State Museum or the Juneau Douglas City Museum. I haven't been there in a few years, and don't want to give you the wrong information. :)

May 22, 2009

There are certain tours I want to do at our port-of-calls, panning for gold, salmon bake, whale watching. Is it very important to book these before we get on the ship? Do these type of tours go very quickly? We will be on the Carnival Spirit which has around 2,000 passengers on it. Any advice would be great. Thanks, Happy cruising!

I was VERY disappointed with the salmon bake. They had NO sockeye or king salmon. All they had was silver salmon (COHO), which has a very mild taste.

If you book a cruise line's whale watching excursion, be prepared for a boat with 100 - 130 passengers. With that many people, it can make it difficult to move quickly from one side of the boat to the other -- in order to snap that once-in-a-lifetime photo. The independents, however, typically use boats that hold approximately 6 passengers. This also allows for a much more personalized experience.

One thing that has been said in the past, and i am wanting to say it was Budget Queen's suggestion, but basically who wants to stand in line trying to figure out what you want to do when you could be enjoying the ship, and that first DOD!! All of our excursions are set, and paid for. 21 days to go!!

Some people are researchers and planners. I usually have all our excursions, both ship's and independent, lined up three to six months before departure.

Others are more the last minute types. There are lots of people standing around the shore excursion desk every cruise, discussing what they will do two days from now.

In general, if there is some BIG thing that you really MUST do, like a helicopter excursion, or an independent whale watch, then book early so it is locked in and assured. But other things like the ship's whale watch, walking or bus tours, and the Lumberjack Show, can easily be arranged when you get on board. There will be a nice video showing on the ship's TV with scenes from all the excursions that may help you decide, and you can also talk to the shore excursion staff and other passengers. Some folks prefer to do it that way.

In most ports, I would not recommend it. But in Alaska it is pretty safe and easy to walk off the ship and actually grab most tours right on the dock. If you are relaxed about what you want to do, you can just do that.

You have to figure out which style will make you the most comfortable. I hitch up my belt and then put on my suspenders, myself.

Have a GREAT cruise!

It really depends on what the excursion is ... some you MUST buy in advance, or you won't be able to do it (like the heli-tours, or the crab boat in Ketchikan). Others are things that are just there, like the tram ride up Mt. Roberts ... I've seen that offered as a "tour" but really, you just walk up when you're ready to go and buy your ticket, no need at all to pre-arrange. If you're looking at something specific, you can ask about it here and get advice on prebooking or not.

This is a good option.

 

You might also want to consider taking a look at Last Chance Mine out of Juneau. With no mobility limitations, walkable. Don't think they have panning, however?? There also are mining exhibits at either the Alaska State Museum or the Juneau Douglas City Museum. I haven't been there in a few years, and don't want to give you the wrong information. :)

Thanks we will check that out. I googled it and got more info. Nancy

I'm pretty sure that is the 'tour" we did in Juneau. It was an on the spot tour and we were pleased. My DH is a geologist who never panned for gold so he thought it was great. I thought it was cold on the hands and my back/legs got a good stretch workout. Not easy, but not hard if you just want to wander around.

I would like to add my 2 cents to this topic.

One needs to evaluate a few factors in deciding on when to book tours.

The first is that SE Alaska is a rain forest! Don't ever forget that! Because of work, I have been to many of the cities that are ports of call. A beautiful day in SE Alaska is beyond words. Most of the days I visit there is rain and low clouds. A senic flight with clouds below may not be all that scenic. A kayak trip in an absolute cloud burst of rain, that soaks you to the bone may not be all that much fun toward the end of the tour.

The short version is you may want to consider how much you would still want to do the tour assuming limited visibility or absolute wind and rain. The tour may or may not be canceled and the pre-booked money may or may not be refunded.

If you really want to do something do you want to book through the ship? If so and you are late because the ship has mechanical problems, your tour won't leave without you. Similarly, if you are on a cruiseline bus that breaks down the ship may wait for you or arrange for you to catch up. An independent booking while less expensive may result in heart break and turn out to be quite expensive.

Similarly, throught the internet you can book so many of the same kind or identical tours a far less cost than through the cruise line. You just need to be careful and consider what could go wrong (weather, ship docking late or leaving early, mechanical problems with the tour vehicles, etc.)

Somethings you can pre-book are never going to be closed (tram up to views in Juneau on a "clear day with a view."). Others could easily be totally booked before your cruise ship docks. Remember that most Alaska Ports get multiple ships each day and there are thousands on board each ship.

How much of a "group" experience do you want and are you in to a little bit of independent travel. Taxis, local buses, and walking can really get you off the beaten path and to some of the same cruise ship places only with a lot more local color and interest. Websites and town tourist information sites are great sources of how to do things independently, as is this website.

You might also want to find out how many other cruise ships are in each port the same day you are. There may be as many as 4 other ships in port. This will impact your ability to book certain tours when you arrive.

When we are Skagway on 8/28, our ship will be the only one there. When we are in Skagway on 9/7, there will be four other ships in port. (At least, last I checked :D)

Best of luck and enjoy.

We just returned from our Alaska cruise yesterday, it is beautiful that is for sure. We had great weather. The last two weeks in Alaska have been really warm and not much rain, we were lucky. All last week on our cruise it only rained a day and a half and we were on ship sea days so it did not mess anything up.

We booked our excursions before we boarded the ship and we were glad that we did, as some were sold out we heard form others that had waited to book on board.

We always use the ships excursions as we HAVE been on a tour bus that broke down and that way the ship will wait on you to return. It is just not worth the chance to me for a few dollars for something to happen. We did the whale watching and yes there were quite a few people on board but we had no problem viewing , I was just watching the awsome pictures I got on my photo frame as I type this. We will book this tour again with the ship.

The operators knew alot about the whales and other wildlife and did a wonderful job of spotting them.

At least through Princess, you don't have to pay for the ship's excursions until sometime during the cruise (can't remember exactly - may be a day or so before the excursion). So if there is something you are interested in, why not reserve it? You can always cancel later, no harm, no foul. We booked our "must-do" excursion months ago, and a good thing too, as they are only taking names for the waitlist now and our cruise is still 2 months away.

Here is the site to see how many ships are in what ports thru out the summer cruise season.

http://www.claalaska.com/schedules.html

This has helped me and my husband so much! We are looking at the whale watching tour and will book that early. In Skagway, I want to pan for gold, the two hour tour, so I will just go ahead and book that, as we really wanted to do that and I don't have any other tour that I had wanted to do. Think we will just be on our own in Sitka and Ketchikan. We do agree with booking with the ship. My husband has always been a stickler on doing it through the ship. He agrees that the few dollars that you save booking on our own isn't worth the heartache in missing the ship or something happening with a tour. We have not ever had a bad tour booking through the cruise ships all of these years. Happy cruising to all!

We just returned from our Alaska cruise yesterday, it is beautiful that is for sure. We had great weather. The last two weeks in Alaska have been really warm and not much rain, we were lucky. All last week on our cruise it only rained a day and a half and we were on ship sea days so it did not mess anything up.

We booked our excursions before we boarded the ship and we were glad that we did, as some were sold out we heard form others that had waited to book on board.

We always use the ships excursions as we HAVE been on a tour bus that broke down and that way the ship will wait on you to return. It is just not worth the chance to me for a few dollars for something to happen. We did the whale watching and yes there were quite a few people on board but we had no problem viewing , I was just watching the awsome pictures I got on my photo frame as I type this. We will book this tour again with the ship.

The operators knew alot about the whales and other wildlife and did a wonderful job of spotting them.

When and where did you do the whale watching. We are going on Carnival June 3rd and was wanting to do whale watching. You can e-mail us at Ironsline3414@Brightok.net Thanks in advance

I was VERY disappointed with the salmon bake. They had NO sockeye or king salmon. All they had was silver salmon (COHO), which has a very mild taste.

Which port did you go to the salmon bake? In Juneau alone, there's about three options. If it had a 'very mild taste,' it could have even been Atlantic salmon.

And at $15-$20 a pound these days, right here in AK, I doubt anyone's going to be flopping king salmon down on some massive grill for hordes of tourists, some of which are going say anyway, "You got chicken? I don't like any fish but canned tuna."

Which port did you go to the salmon bake? In Juneau alone, there's about three options. If it had a 'very mild taste,' it could have even been Atlantic salmon.

 

And at $15-$20 a pound these days, right here in AK, I doubt anyone's going to be flopping king salmon down on some massive grill for hordes of tourists, some of which are going say anyway, "You got chicken? I don't like any fish but canned tuna."

Actually, all COHO (Silver) Salmon has a very mild taste. It's the Sockeye and King Salmon that have strong flavors. Also, from the lower 48, Copper River Salmon has a strong flavor.

Most, if not all of the salmon bake excursions (through the cruise lines) use Wild Alaska Silver Salmon exclusively. We did our excursion in Juneau.

Actually, Atlantic salmon is pretty good (if it's wild). Never get the farm-raised stuff. They are now discovering that, "Farm-raised salmon contain significantly more dioxins and other potentially cancer-causing pollutants than salmon caught in the wild" (according to a recent study that tested contaminants in 700 salmon bought around the world and found those farmed in Northern Europe contained the most pollutants, followed by North America and then Chile).

Not booking thru the ship is not always about saving money. The tours with independants are generally more personable, less crowded, more enjoyable. I have read the ship tours can be like "cattle calls" getting everybody to their appointed places. I did a whole whole whole lot of research before I would even consider an independant. I did read that "the tour folks live and breathe by the cruise schedules. They would not be in business nor would they have a decent reputation if they even missed one ship, ever"....and Chilkoot in Skagway says they have never missed a connection and they promise if they ever do, they will get you to your next port at their expense. Thats a pretty compelling promise. That being said, we have 3 tours with Carnival and only one independant. The times were right, and it was what we wanted to do, but I would not have hestitated to book with, for example, island Wings for a floatplane tour. She is highly rated. Enjoy your trip. Having your plans made will free you to enjoy the experience!!

Here is the site to see how many ships are in what ports thru out the summer cruise season.

http://www.claalaska.com/schedules.html

Great link, Krogerlady!! Thanks for posting.

Not booking thru the ship is not always about saving money. The tours with independants are generally more personable, less crowded, more enjoyable. I have read the ship tours can be like "cattle calls" getting everybody to their appointed places. I did a whole whole whole lot of research before I would even consider an independant. I did read that "the tour folks live and breathe by the cruise schedules. They would not be in business nor would they have a decent reputation if they even missed one ship, ever"....and Chilkoot in Skagway says they have never missed a connection and they promise if they ever do, they will get you to your next port at their expense. Thats a pretty compelling promise. That being said, we have 3 tours with Carnival and only one independant. The times were right, and it was what we wanted to do, but I would not have hestitated to book with, for example, island Wings for a floatplane tour. She is highly rated. Enjoy your trip. Having your plans made will free you to enjoy the experience!!

Exactly.

Does anyone know even one person who ever missed a ship in Alaska because of an independent excursion not getting them back on time? I've never heard of even one, only the thought that it "could" happen.

May 27th, Wednesday

4 days to go until we catch our flight on Frontier airlines on June 1st. We booked our tour, at the wonderful advice of our cruiser helpers, an independent tour with Orca Eco Tours with Captain Larry's Adventures with Whales. I am still trying to get my gold panning plans wrapped up. Thanks for all your advice and recommendations. Everyone helped us so much!