In the Overwhelmed club

[cabrx]

Well , we decided on the Coral Princess in late May and have moved onto excursions. Truthfully, I find this more confusing than the European cruises I have been on since we just booked a private driver for the day. I guess what I'm stuck on is what to do with your day. The ports tend to be long stays so do people tend to book more that one excursion for the day? I also tend to book private tours? Is there an advantage in doing private tours in Alaska? Thanks

[mr green]

Go to Coral Rolls Calls, and ask there. I am on Coral, May 14th through 28th.

 

john

[KruisinKath]

I haven't been to Alaska yet, but have been reading these boards for quite some time. Most people do tours on their own rather than through the ship to save money and/or get a better experience (e.g., a ship's whale watch tour may be on a boat holding 22 or more people, whereas an independent tour may be on a boat holding 12 people or less, so it's less crowded). Depending on the length of tour you choose (and how much $ you have), you can certainly fit in more than one tour.

 

I can't find the thread in which people have been posting their Alaska itineraries, but these two may help you see which tend to be the most popular tours (which may or may not appeal to you), and what activities can also be done with little or no money.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1351539

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1016318

 

There are also books you can check out at the library to read more about Alaska to determine what interests you the most. My memory stinks, so I can't think of the names, but I'm sure the folks who have visited Alaska many times will be along to list those for you.

 

I'd just recommend reading, reading and more reading! I spent a long time reading these boards before I even posted my first comments/questions, and actually determined what I wanted based on that. Now I just post if I have a question on a specific excursion so I can fine-tune my itinerary.

 

Hope you find this information helpful. Have fun researching! Warning! This board is addictive!

[pmjnh]

Well, i haven't been there yet, but I had been as overwhelmed as you when I started planning. After a lot of research, we have decided to rent a car for the day in both Juneau and Skagway. In Juneau, we will go to Mendenhall Glacier and do some hikes, and who knows what else yet, but at lease I know that we will have the freedom to come and go as we please.

 

In Skagway, where the car rental was a bit more expensive than Juneau, we will drive up to the Yukon and hopefully to Emerald lake. Again, the car will give us the freedom and flexibility to stop where ever we want to photgraph and just be with nature ::)

 

When we get off the ship in Whittier, we will transfer to Anchorage with Princess and rent a car for 10 days . We have designed our own self guided land tour.

[Alaskanb]

Check out some of the Island Princess roll calls for that time also.

[vbmom87]

Well , we decided on the Coral Princess in late May and have moved onto excursions. Truthfully, I find this more confusing than the European cruises I have been on since we just booked a private driver for the day. I guess what I'm stuck on is what to do with your day. The ports tend to be long stays so do people tend to book more that one excursion for the day? I also tend to book private tours? Is there an advantage in doing private tours in Alaska? Thanks

 

You need to get a little reading on the ports and what is available. Frommer's and Fodor's are good books to start with. You can also look at the cruise ship's excursion list for each port. Eventually something should appeal to you as a definite priority.

 

Some people choose to do the ship's tours because they don't like to plan. They simply find it easier to have someone tell them when and where to show up.

 

In Alaska you don't always find a big price difference between going private and through the cruiseship. In fact, on my recent Alaska cruise I paid more for a few excusions that I did independently than what I would have paid through the ship.

 

Independents do have the advantage of usually being smaller groups and sometimes they offer a longer tour. Some people prefer ship's tour because they fear being left behind if there is a delay in the independent tour. The only time I would be concerned about this is if the return time of the tour was very close to final boarding call. However, if you tell the vendor what ship you are on, they will typically tell you if they will even book you on the tour. They don't want the reputation of causing someone to be left behind. With the internet, that news would spread like wildfire and hurt their business.

 

Sometimes people do book more than one tour in each port. If they have the budget to afford it, it is a great idea to maximize your port experience. Especially for those who do not plan on returning, it is wise to fit in all you can. (As long as you are physically able to handle it all)

[oilsand]

since lots of time usually in ports, many folks use independent companies for shore trips. some of these enable you to do multiple things in one day. one name is shoretrips which does many different excursions.

[vbmom87]

since lots of time usually in ports, many folks use independent companies for shore trips. some of these enable you to do multiple things in one day. one name is shoretrips which does many different excursions.

 

No need to go through a company to set up your excursions. Why would you want to pay a broker fee? Just deal direct with the vendor if you wish to book independently.

[Budget Queen]

I never recommend booking agents. :)

 

What needs to be done first, if find out what each port has for tours. This isn't the Caribbean where there is a lot of similarity. Each port is vastly different. Look over a ship shore excursion list, and narrow down your interests. Determine your budget.

 

Do NOT expect much if any savings with independent tours, but do expect, more personal tours, longer tours, better tours etc etc

 

Take a look at your whole schedule, before you get into reservations. Two tours can easily be done with a long port time.