Alaska cruise

First time trip to Alaska, cruising with Princess. Am I better off booking excursions through the cruise line or finding a local excursion on my own? Also any ideas for great places to visit the first week of June are welcome.

You can post on the Alaska Port of Call Forum for more response

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?55https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?55

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

First time trip to Alaska, cruising with Princess. Am I better off booking excursions through the cruise line or finding a local excursion on my own? Also any ideas for great places to visit the first week of June are welcome.

Join your Roll Call. Someone might be organizing a tour.

I agree that you need to ask your question on the Alaska forum. Lots of good information there.

The White Pass railway trip in Skagway is our favourite.

Your choice if you prefer to book with the cruise line or not

It kind of depends on you, do you at OK doing things yourself or better having someone else book for you. You pay more to have the cruise line book-you save if you do it yourself.

The White Pass railway trip in Skagway is our favourite.

Your choice if you prefer to book with the cruise line or not

We enjoyed that one too, breathtaking scenery.

There are many excursions offered by the cruise line that one could also do on their own. It really comes down to your comfort level.

With the cruise line you pay more but you know they will take care of everything for you.

Keith

In Skagway we have also enjoyed the White Pass railroad excursion.

Juneau -- Orca Enterprises for whale watching. You can also take the Blue Bus to Mendenhale Glacier on your own. Helicopter to the glaciers, Float plane ride over the glaciers.

Ketchikan -- Totem Bight, Saxman Village, Lumberjack show, Walk to Creek Street.

Sitka -- Raptor Center, St Michael's Church, National Historical Park/Totem Park, Fortress of the Bear.

We did small our excursions privately on Coral last year and had no issues.

Ketchikan - hike in the Tongess, walk around town on own

Skagway - white pass railroad (train up, bus back), impromptu plane ride over Glacier Bay (totally worth the money! Amazing)

Juneau - whale watching and short hike to Mendenhall glacier, town/lunch on our own

Whittier/Anchorage - animal sanctuary, then lunch and dinner on our own (Anchorage Brewing Company for dinner)

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We booked stuff on our own, but in the end, because the ports are small and rely on tourist dollars, we didn't find that it saved us much money. Our choices were comparable in price to the ones on our ship. However, we did do some cool stuff. Hiked the Chilkoot Trail and then floated down a river on a rubber boat. There were only 4 of us on this trip, so it was very personal. This was in Skagway. Did the bus to Mendenthal Glacier in Juneau. Nice trip. In Ketchikan we went kayaking. Again, there were only 2 of us and a bunch of guides, so it was quite personal. Saw some humpbacks up close too. Unfortunately, it started to rain quite heavily, so our trip was a little shorter than originally planned. Do your research. There's lots there and these ports are not big, so it's easy to find your driver, etc.

Princess may cost more, but there is an IMPORTANT difference. If for WHATEVER REASON the excursion is delayed in returning, the ship will wait.

Our favorite sport when visiting Mazatlan, is watching pax arrive to the dock AFTER the ship's push back.

Princess may cost more, but there is an IMPORTANT difference. If for WHATEVER REASON the excursion is delayed in returning, the ship will wait.

Our favorite sport when visiting Mazatlan, is watching pax arrive to the dock AFTER the ship's push back.

Ship's never guarantee "waiting" (too many variables. Their excursions will, however, pay the reasonable cost for you to catch up at a future port should excursion issues cause you to miss the sailing.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Ship's never guarantee "waiting" (too many variables. Their excursions will, however, pay the reasonable cost for you to catch up at a future port should excursion issues cause you to miss the sailing.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

From Princess.com:

Maximize your exploration time and minimize the hassle by booking your shore excursions through Princess Cruises. Guaranteed Return to Ship is our promise that the ship will wait if your tour runs late.

From Princess.com:

 

 

Maximize your exploration time and minimize the hassle by booking your shore excursions through Princess Cruises. Guaranteed Return to Ship is our promise that the ship will wait if your tour runs late.

 

The key phrase above is "runs late," which does suggest there is a finite limit on the duration of "late."

There's fine print somewhere in that ticket contract that says they'll do their best and that they only really"guarantee" to get you "back to the ship" eventually (though that may be in the next port).

There's many situations where a ship cannot wait for more than a few hours at best: tide, weather, scheduled ship arrivals, the list goes on....

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I do remember reading about an Alaskan cruise ship having to leave port before their own tours returned. Tides, or wind, or something like that. They had to transfer the tour passengers to the next stop. Not such a big thing in Alaska as other places, I suppose.