Alaska shore excursions prices increased for 2024

[rocklinmom]

We are booked on an Alaskan cruise in May and I've been watching several Princess shore excursions. I don't usually book them until after final payment. Well I probably should have because the prices just went up twice in a week. The helicopter and fishing excursions went up $55 to $60pp last week and now today they have gone up another $60 to $70pp. Obviously the tour companies prices increased for 2024 and Princess is raising the prices accordingly, but twice in a week? Kicking myself for not booking them earlier. Guess I'll be comparing with the private excursions but they probably went up too. So heads up if you have been looking at shore excursions. I don't know if it's just the Alaska ones or all shore excursions in general. 

[nini]

We have learned to book shore excursions as soon as we know what we would like to do at each port. Typically, they are not booked through the ship. Either way, they can be cancelled. True, the excursions through the ship will need to be paid for upfront, but can also be cancelled.

And often, independent excursions will need payment up front, but not always.

 

A poster on another forum is upset because their cruise is 4 months away and "everything" is already booked through the ship.

[Paula_MacFan]

We have a cruisetour booked for late May/early June. Several of our excursions have been sold out for months and the ones that are still available have gone up in price from $10 to $50 per person.

 

I've been advising people to book early to avoid disappointment and price increases.

[LynnSD]

I don’t think you can blame Princess for this.   I booked our excursions with the vendors, all of them published new pricing in January.   I got last year’s prices on all but one….

[nini]

10 minutes ago, LynnSD said:

I don’t think you can blame Princess for this.   I booked our excursions with the vendors, all of them published new pricing in January.   I got last year’s prices on all but one….

 

This is true. Princess excursion increases are because they use the same tour guide and companies that we book privately.

[rocklinmom]

To be clear I'm not blaming Princess, just advising people to check their shore excursion prices if they are thinking about booking soon. 

[Italy52]

Shore excursion pricing has definitely gone up.  I just checked my Princess Hubbard Glacier and Wilderness Explorer excursion that off loads from the ship and noticed the higher price.  The excursion went from $299.95 to $409.95 p/p.  So glad I booked the excursion many months ago.  On the other side of the coin, my independent shore excursion vendors have also gone up. 

[Paula_MacFan]

13 minutes ago, Italy52 said:

Shore excursion pricing has definitely gone up.  I just checked my Princess Hubbard Glacier and Wilderness Explorer excursion that off loads from the ship and noticed the higher price.  The excursion went from $299.95 to $409.95 p/p.  So glad I booked the excursion many months ago.  On the other side of the coin, my independent shore excursion vendors have also gone up. 

 

Holy cow! We also booked the Hubbard Glacier excursion months ago for $299. I just looked and it's gone up to $409.95 in the Personalizer. It's waitlist only since it's been sold out for months now. So glad we booked early! Last time I looked it was $339 and I had no idea it had jumped up that much!

[Italy52]

@Paula_MacFan.  The big jump in pricing was a surprise.  In the past, Princess had the cheaper pricing on this excursion compared to some of the other lines.  We will be taking this excursion in May and in August of this year.  All I can say is I am glad I booked early.

[nini]

FYI- Hubbard Glacier was our very first glacier viewing. It was from onboard, not like the excursion of which you write. It was so fabulous! It was a clear sunny day and we watched it calve numerous times. It is really loud!