reservation for port activities/excursions ahead of time

[wsp2205]

We are planning the June 2024 cruise with 3 port stops: Kietchenkan, Juneau, and Skagway. We are planning to include white pass train ride, Mendenhall Glacier, possibly one glacier helicopter tour or Tracy Arm Fjord & Glacier,  and the well known Lumberjack Show. But we have limited budget and would want to save some $$ by not booking from the cruise line. The best will be walking up the port booths and find what we want. One big advantage would be it would be weather flexible. However, I am not sure if some (or all) of the popular ones will sell out that I will have to pre book. If so, by how far ahead please? thank you!

[Cbtours]

1 hour ago, wsp2205 said:

We are planning the June 2024 cruise with 3 port stops: Kietchenkan, Juneau, and Skagway. We are planning to include white pass train ride, Mendenhall Glacier, possibly one glacier helicopter tour or Tracy Arm Fjord & Glacier,  and the well known Lumberjack Show. But we have limited budget and would want to save some $$ by not booking from the cruise line. The best will be walking up the port booths and find what we want. One big advantage would be it would be weather flexible. However, I am not sure if some (or all) of the popular ones will sell out that I will have to pre book. If so, by how far ahead please? thank you!

We did white pass from ship cos was unsure if the train would be full from cruise so we might not have got on.

lumberjack show was just walk over from the ship. Ship price was same as do on your own $39.95 I think

 

we did mendenhall vis the ship excursion and it was a bit more expensive but not exorbitant.

 

we loved them all!

[Omega1]

For our June trip, the price of the White Pass train ticket was only $8pp less booking direct than doing a ship excursion (Princess) - we have used our obc and got the departure time we want.

[CruiserBruce]

Yes, some things sell out, particularly limited capacity excursions, like the helicopter flights. It has also been reported here that the prices at the dock sales booths are the same, or very close to the ship excursion prices.

[Paula_MacFan]

With limited time in port and limited excursion options I would never leave booking until the day of port arrival, but that's just me.  We've had our excursions booked for months for our May/June cruisetour and the prices have only gone up and choice excursions sold out. 

 

Also you might check the port schedules to see how many ships will be in port with you.  For the ports on your itinerary there can be as many as 6 ships in port at once.  Think about jockeying for an excursion with thousands of other people.  Your choices will probably be limited.  

 

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

[AKStafford]

You can book directly with the White Pass & Yukon Route railroad now from their website. It does sell out, so I wouldn't wait until the dock: https://wpyr.com/excursions/

 

[lisabdh1]

Agreed about White Pass & Yukon, definitely book asap. We are going in July 2024 and Tour Option A 7:30 train departure was sold out already as of last week.

[SightCRR]

One advantage with the cruise line rail in Skagway is that the train will likely pull up right next to the ship. Further walk on the return. Many times will sell out. Forget about helo and any flying as they likely have been sold out for months. Same with Tracy Arm. In Ketch if at Ward Cove read up about how to get to town & look into Crab Boat tour but it is pricy. Juneau whale watch. Try for Jayleen but likely gone by now also. For any tour you are interested in check personal youtubes as they will have every one you can think of. Newest the better. Except for flying with low clouds the weather in AK is never bad but the warm coats, raincoats, gloves and hats are not up to the task and tours will go on. 

Edited February 5 by SightCRR

[SoloAlaska]

I wouldn’t wait on any of those. You can look at booking through independent tour operators but I wouldnt risk a walk up. June is going to be one of the busiest times for Alaska tourism and you don’t state how many ships are in port when you are so that would also impact availability.

[aussielozzie18]

We are cruising May 2024.  Very little difference in price between our ship tours and the private tours.

[SightCRR]

On 2/6/2024 at 3:59 AM, aussielozzie18 said:

We are cruising May 2024.  Very little difference in price between our ship tours and the private tours.

Some tours are the same but make sure you are comparing tours vs tours. 100+ people on whale watch vs 6 person boat. Start this video at 23:00 and watch the whales and the boats in Juneau last year. 2023 ALASKA CRUISE REPORT - JAYLEEN'S ALASKA WHALE WATCHING WITH TONS OF BUBBLE NET FEEDING FOOTAGE! (youtube.com)

 

Edited February 7 by SightCRR

[aussielozzie18]

Yes, I am aware of the differences.  jayleen is extremely popular and books out months in advance.

[wsp2205]

I am comparing the price difference between those from cruise line vs those from operators: for the whitepass train/bus combo round trip, chilkoot's 7.5 hour tour asks for $230 and princess's Yukon expedition and white pass railway 8.25 tour asks for $310. Still a sharp difference of $80/person. Am I missing something on they being pretty close? I guess I might be looking at different tours, but they look similar. 

[wolfie11]

Alaska will be hosting 68 cruise ships this year, up from 50 ships last year.  It was busy last year.  This year the ports will be mobbed.  Many days there will be 10,000 plus people in the main ports.  That creates a lot of competition for the best tours and they will sell out.  The prices for tours will also go up.  I would book as much as possible in advance.