Alternative sites for Alaska port excursions

[rmorita]

I'll be traveling on Celebrity northbound in July 2018. Is the listing of excursions on the Celebrity fairly priced? I don't mind slight markups due to the convenience of one-stop shopping, but don't want to overpay either. I'd be interested to know if there are other service providers in port that offer credible and equivalent tours? The number of excursions appear to be robust and I'm not complaining that there aren't enough choices, but whether the tours are fairly priced? Thanks.

[Coral]

Alaska is more $$$ than cruises in the Caribbean. Some tours can be found cheaper elsewhere, in some other situations, the price is the same but the private tour is superior (smaller groups, more personalized, landings, longer, etc...).

 

The best thing to do is narrow down the tours that you are interested in and post them here and we can find local tours that are similar where you book direct and you can compare.

 

One example would be whale watching. If you go with the cruise line, there may be a hundred people on your boat. If you book privately, you may have a boat with 6 people. Prices will be similar.

[Keith1010]

A really good site is Cruise Critic's sister site at: http://www.tripadvisor.com

 

Keith

[JT1962]

I agree with Coral. We found very little savings with independent tours in Alaska vs the typical savings found in the Caribbean. The advantage to the independent tours were smaller groups, longer touring times and a better experience.

 

The one exception to the savings was the Tracy Arm excursion out of Juneau with Adventure Bound. They were substantially cheaper than the excursion offered through the ship and a much smaller boat and personal attention. If you will be in Juneau from at least 8:00 am to 6:00 pm, I highly recommend this tour with them.

 

 

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[Coral]

The one exception to the savings was the Tracy Arm excursion out of Juneau with Adventure Bound. They were substantially cheaper than the excursion offered through the ship and a much smaller boat and personal attention. If you will be in Juneau from at least 8:00 am to 6:00 pm, I highly recommend this tour with them.

 

 

I agree - that is a deal!!! Capt. Steve could easily charge double (or more) for his all day excursion. He seems to be one of the good ones who doesn't price gauge his customers. He just wants them to have an amazing experience.

[kawagama]

When we went we booked all our tours through Alaska Shore Excursions. They didn't seem to be cheaper than through the ship, but we had small groups (once just the two of us), and the tour guides were local individuals who went over and above trying to make our experience a good one. The site is easy to use and offers one stop shopping for all the major ports. Check it out!

[Budget Queen]

When we went we booked all our tours through Alaska Shore Excursions. They didn't seem to be cheaper than through the ship, but we had small groups (once just the two of us), and the tour guides were local individuals who went over and above trying to make our experience a good one. The site is easy to use and offers one stop shopping for all the major ports. Check it out!

 

I am extremely picky about my vendors, and find using booking agents in Alaska a poor choice. It is simple to deal direct and know, what vendor and get way more information than booking via this method- which is merely commission based. Agents are simply "sellers" and know little beyond- written descriptions and likely haven't even been on the tours. All your information is via email/phone tag.

 

I never recommend this type of booking and instead suggest with a tour selection, take a look at vendor lists and reviews.

[ErLee]

 

The one exception to the savings was the Tracy Arm excursion out of Juneau with Adventure Bound. They were substantially cheaper than the excursion offered through the ship and a much smaller boat and personal attention. If you will be in Juneau from at least 8:00 am to 6:00 pm, I highly recommend this tour with them.

 

 

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I would love to do this tour when it comes time to book our excursions, but our initial schedule says our ship is to arrive in Juneau at 8am and the Adventure Bound website says boat boards at 8:15am and no waiting or refunds for late passengers. That seems like it's cutting it awfully close! For those that have taken this trip, what time did your ship arrive in Juneau?

[Budget Queen]

I would love to do this tour when it comes time to book our excursions, but our initial schedule says our ship is to arrive in Juneau at 8am and the Adventure Bound website says boat boards at 8:15am and no waiting or refunds for late passengers. That seems like it's cutting it awfully close! For those that have taken this trip, what time did your ship arrive in Juneau?

 

 

You need to contact Adventure Bound and determine, IF they can accommodate this ship schedule. If so, then it's up to you, to be up and ready to go- before the ship is clears.

[donaldsc]

I am extremely picky about my vendors, and find using booking agents in Alaska a poor choice. It is simple to deal direct and know, what vendor and get way more information than booking via this method- which is merely commission based. Agents are simply "sellers" and know little beyond- written descriptions and likely haven't even been on the tours. All your information is via email/phone tag.

 

I never recommend this type of booking and instead suggest with a tour selection, take a look at vendor lists and reviews.

 

What I do with booking agents is use them to find out what tours are available. Then you can usually go onto Google to figure out who the company is who actually does the tour and then you book directly with them instead of with the agent. The price may be nearly the same but at least the tour company does not have to share the fee with the booking agent.

 

DON

[ErLee]

You need to contact Adventure Bound and determine, IF they can accommodate this ship schedule. If so, then it's up to you, to be up and ready to go- before the ship is clears.

 

Thanks, I understand that! I was actually trying to find out what others' experience was because I have no idea the distance from where the cruise ships dock to where the tour originates, etc. So it was more of an question of what others' experience has been for infomational purposes only; of course we will not rely on that for our own confirmation.

[Coral]

I would love to do this tour when it comes time to book our excursions, but our initial schedule says our ship is to arrive in Juneau at 8am and the Adventure Bound website says boat boards at 8:15am and no waiting or refunds for late passengers. That seems like it's cutting it awfully close! For those that have taken this trip, what time did your ship arrive in Juneau?

 

I would contact them but in the past they have accommodated this schedule. Plus, I spoke with Winona recently and she indicated that they will be leaving a little later this year. In the past, they have picked Princess people up at the pier. I believe their new dock is close to where Princess ships usually dock.

 

Definitely contact them but am guessing that they will accommodate you. I would also have your phone on that morning so that they can contact you as they will leave when they know they have all of their passengers.

 

I see now that you are sailing on the Coral Princess. I spoke to her recently about that ship's schedule (and have used them previously with this schedule). My concern when calling was what the earliest sailing was for the season but we spoke about other things. They have been very accommodating for Princess cruisers - they just need to know what ship you will be on so they can keep track of you.

 

That being said, I am lined up at 7:30 or 7:40 to be one of the first off the ship that day.

[JT1962]

I would love to do this tour when it comes time to book our excursions, but our initial schedule says our ship is to arrive in Juneau at 8am and the Adventure Bound website says boat boards at 8:15am and no waiting or refunds for late passengers. That seems like it's cutting it awfully close! For those that have taken this trip, what time did your ship arrive in Juneau?

 

 

 

Our ship arrived at 7:00 and we were at the dock closest to Adventure Bound. Other docks are a long walk or may require a cab.

 

You can check your ships scheduled docking location at the following link:

 

http://claalaska.com/?page_id=1551

 

As others have said, they are usually good about working with you, within reason, to make sure you get to do the trip. If you are able to book it, just make sure you are ready to go and try to be one of the first ones off the ship.

 

Also consider posting on your sailings Roll Call and possibly get enough to charter a full boat (they have 2). They will definitely make an effort to work with your times in that case. One group did this on our ship in May, but we were already booked on the "regular" trip.

 

 

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[Budget Queen]

Being that policies can and do change, contact the vendor directly and get the current information.

 

I have just walked to their office on the marina, since the ships I've gone on had the 7a arrival time.