Any luck booking excursions at dock?

[TedC]

Interested in knowing what your experience was booking Alaska excursions at dock - not in advance.

 

Thank you

[Yukon]

Interested in knowing what your experience was booking Alaska excursions at dock - not in advance.

 

In Alaska, the vast majority of good excursions require pre-booking. You'll find local van tours and that sort of thing, but not much else except in Juneau where a few hawkers book other operators too. You can waste a LOT of valuable time hanging around waiting for them to get enough people to bother going, too - on my one attempt at doing that in Ketchikan I just gave up and went for a walk.

 

Murray

[dancingfish]

When we got to each port there seemed to be alot of tours you could sign up for... Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Icy Strait and Seward....

 

But if there is something you really want to do I would book in advance-- it would be horrible to miss out because you were too slow eating breakfast!

 

And like the above poster mentioned you will have to wait around while they fill the bus etc. with people!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Definitely check over the tours offered by your cruise line. If there is something there that you really want to do - book it. Many times the same tours are not offered on land - just different versions.

[plenox]

I always checked with cruiseline to book my tour before. But this time, I decided to plan everything myself here..

[travelbug11]

In Ketchikan you can go into the "tourist office" which is the green building that you seen when you get off the ship and book just about anything

[Budget Queen]

I still suggest you do your homework, and have a "plan" anyway. Head off your ship as soon as it clears and stright to the tour booking booths. Get your tour, booked first thing.

 

Be prepared for some "down time", this can be less, if you book ahead.

[TedC]

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions and advice. We'll probably to a mix of advance and pot luck at the port.

[gillianrose]

In Ketchikan you can go into the "tourist office" which is the green building that you seen when you get off the ship and book just about anything

 

I'll vouch for that. I don't know the color of the building, but it was near the bottom of the gangway for HAL the last time we were in Ketchikan.

 

Not only could we book a tour on the spot, but they wouldn't take money for it. They just wanted to know our cabin number and it was charged to that, even though the tourist office handles other cruiselines than HAL (or at least, I think so...)

 

Personally, since weather plays such a big part of enjoyment of certain tours, especially in usually rainy Ketchikan, we really loved that we could book at the last minute.

[Budget Queen]

I'll vouch for that. I don't know the color of the building, but it was near the bottom of the gangway for HAL the last time we were in Ketchikan.

 

Not only could we book a tour on the spot, but they wouldn't take money for it. They just wanted to know our cabin number and it was charged to that, even though the tourist office handles other cruiselines than HAL (or at least, I think so...)

 

Personally, since weather plays such a big part of enjoyment of certain tours, especially in usually rainy Ketchikan, we really loved that we could book at the last minute.

 

Are you sure, this wasn't a ship booked excursion??? They do sell excess space on the dock all the time. I highly doubt the SHIP would be giving out YOUR credit card information to a independent vender working out of the green Ketchikan visitior center???

[pier]

A few weeks ago in Ketchican, people got off the boat, went into the green "tours" building, and had no trouble booking tours. People booked Misty Fjords flights for considerably less than I paid for the same flight, and I booked in advance. That particular day, our boat was the only one in Ketchican. If you can find out how many ships will be in port that day, you can figure your odds. If there are only one or two ships, you'll get a better deal. Also, if it's raining or overcast, you won't be stuck paying for a flight on which there is poor visibility.

[TedC]

Thanks for the added information. We leave three weeks from today and spend a night in Seattle before boarding HAL's Amsterdam July 27.

[Dream Fish]

At ISP you can book when you get off of the ship at ISP, but if they are all booked up on the tours you want to do, sometimes they neglect to tell people that there are other tours available in the town of Hoonah, about 1.5 miles down the road. And sometimes there are vans just outside the gate at ISP that offer the tours that are available in town, and will even give you a ride :)

[TedC]

Dream,

 

Please excuse my ignorance, but what is ISP?

[Nananoonie]

Icy Strait Point

[california mike]

Good to have a plan- Basic site seeing bus trips are not so hard to get when you get off the boat except in Skagway. But wilder adventures often need to be booked farther ahead. I'm sure if there are few ships in port its a lot different then on busier days. Have fun and look at your options in advance.

[gillianrose]

Are you sure, this wasn't a ship booked excursion??? They do sell excess space on the dock all the time. I highly doubt the SHIP would be giving out YOUR credit card information to a independent vender working out of the green Ketchikan visitior center???

 

We gave out nothing more than our cabin number.

 

The building didn't say "HAL," but it was at the bottom of the gangplank.