Cost of activities

[jrmpickstock]

Hi everyone, I'm new here and my wife and I are just getting set to head out on our first cruise to alaska with Carnival on May 12. I'm just wondering what the average costof the land excursions are? whats the price range for like helicopter or kayak trips? thanks in advance

[roohound]

not 100% sure about Carnival but you can go to [url="http://www.princess.com"]www.princess.com[/url] and check out their shore excursions..I believe they show the prices.

Many cruise lines offer very similar excursions so this can at least give you a rough idea [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

[mscloyd]

Hi,

We are taking our first trip to Alaska in August and were caught off-guard by how much everything costs. We are taking a seaplane in Ketchikan with SE Aviation using a 2-for-1 coupon (total cost $199), whale-watching in Juneau with Orca (total $220), glaicer helicopter in Juneau (total $360), train in Skagway (total cost $180), car rental in Skagway (cost $80). Our total excursion cost is a little over $1000. This doesn't count the pre or post-cruise excursions (we have one day in Vancouver and four days post-cruise).

[gregbarbra]

We are taking our fourth Alaska cruise (third in two years) in two weeks..we are the type who like to just take it easy and explore each port on our own, after sleeping in and having a leisurly breakfast or lunch, and not feeling we have to rush around to do everything. Skagway the White Pass railroad was worth the money, Juneau was Captain Larry whale watch and Kechikan was kayaking. This trip we have no excursions planned, just leisurely walks in each port, especially Ketchikan. It will be a cheap vacation for us, with $499 a person for the cabin and frequent flyer miles for airfare and zero for excursions this time.

[Budget Queen]

My opinion only, but the excursions are a big part of Alaska touring for me and I always have a big budget for it every trip. (I sail and fly cheap though). Flights are top notch and just show the real expansiveness of Alaska- they are my top choice. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img] If interested - take one- you may get hooked!!

[miraclemet]

I just looked into kayaking in Ketchikan.
We are on the Celebrity Infinity in August
They offered 2 kayaking trips directly (between $80-120 depending on the trip)

We ended up booking with South EastSeas Kayaking. They have a 1/2 day Orca's Cove Kayaking trip that sounded great.

From what I read the costs all looked pretty comprable. The longer the excursion the more the cost. Our 4 hour event will cost aroun $139 A shorter trip to Whiskey Cove, which seemed less adventurous was 2.5 hrs for $80, and the Tatoosh Island Sea Kayaking was $129 for 4.5 hrs. We heard that much of the Tatoosh Island trip was just getting to where we needed togo (by bus) and was much larger groups so we decided to go with SouthEast, which is smaller goups.

As you book your excursions think of them as "once in a lifetime" events. Its how I look at it all. We are doing Orca Enterprise w/ Capt Larry, a Coastal Helicoptor Glacier Excursion and the Kayaking so we are looking at $900 in excursions, but when else will we get the chance to do such things?

Maybe on our 2nd trip to alaska we will just "bum around" but for the first time we want to experience it all (or at least all we can fit in)

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=008000&cdt=2004;8;22;16;00;00&timezone=GMT-0800[/img]
Days till we sail the Infinity to Alaska

[mpk]

Maybe it's just me, but it is kinda strange that the excursions can easily cost more than the cruise did [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

[Budget Queen]

They are ALWAYS more than the cruise for me. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

[robbinsca]

Per the Queen's suggestion we are booking many of the excursions ourselves. I am finding this to be a fun way to learn about what Alaska has to offer, and even more fun to save the money. The Cruise ship will mark everything up $20 or more per person. Try the [url="http://www.toursaver.com"]www.toursaver.com[/url] website for the 2 for 1 coupons referenced earlier.........

Enjoy! and welcome to Cruise Critics.....

Unitl we leave on Celebrity Summit- Feels like the first time......
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=228b22&cdt=2004;07;02;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0800[/img]

[JohnQ]

As others have state in earlier threads, the tourist season is so much shorter in Alaska than other ports for the cruise season. In addition, flights and good boats are expensive to run. Vendors have to charge more to make a living than those where tourism is year round or costs are lower. I have always followed BQ's plan of low price cruises and maximize your excursions without running yourself ragged. As others have said, the ports are just where you park the ship so you can get to the real Alaska. Not quite, but you get the idea; see what is around each area rather than just walking around. Our problem is how to get to see all parts of Alaska in such a short time.