Ship Excursions Pre-Reserve

[CALMOM]

I was told that the Pre-Reserve does not open up until 120 days before sail date. I am booked to leave July 9th and I just checked on My Princess and noticed that I could already Pre-Reserve my Excursions. I did notice that there was some excursions that are not in the Princess Alaska Adventures Excursions brochure and then there was some in the brochure and not online for Pre-Reserve. I was interested in 2 excursions, Wilderness Bear Watch & Alaska Bear Adventure, both are a Float Plane that takes you to Neets Bay Bear Look Out Station. However, neither of these excursions were listed online for the Pre-Reserve. Does anyone know why? Could it be that they will list them later? Could it be that the Operators of those tours were not able to get enough permits?

 

Thank you in advance for your help.

[afiremedic323]

sometimes it takes a little longer to get all the vendors lined up. Princess has to do insurance checks, contracts etc, I would check back in a few weeks as they my be up later but it may not be a bad idea to book another shore ex that you are intrested in as they can fill up fast. And please post a review as were thinking of trying Alaska some time in the next year or 2

[CALMOM]

Stupid me:o, I just realized that the 2 excursions I was interested in do not even begin until July 17th, I will be there on July 15th:(. I am so disappointed that my chances of seeing Bears are almost null, since the other ports, we have plans and I was hoping Ketchikan, was going to be the port where I would have a chance.

 

The last time we cruised to Alaska was Sept. 2007 and it was almost too late for bears and all the tours were booked up. Oh well, there is always next time, I plan on making many more trips to Alaska, it is truly God's Country. Alaska is the amazing place I have ever seen, it's beauty is absolutely over whelming.

 

My advise is plan your dates carefully, schedule it around the activities you are interested in. May and September are pretty cold and windy not to mention tons of rain in September when we were there. Make sure you definitely get a balcony for this cruise. There is scenery from the moment your ship leaves the pier and you won't want to miss it.

 

I hope you get to go soon.

[East Texas Cruiser]

Have you checked out the outside vendors that are recommended on the Alaska board? We did a flightseeing bear trip in July of 2008 with one of the recommended pilots that took us to the National Park where you hike a ways to a shelter to watch the bears eat the salmon in a creek and it was just an outstanding trip - definitely the best one of our lives! The bears are so close you can see their eyes and smell them! One mama bear sent her two cubs up to the top of a tree right beside us so she could fish! We took about 500 photos of this adventure. I would highly recommend you checking them out, there are two or three highly recommended vendors out of Ketchikan that meet you at the ship and transport you to the plane, then fly you over there for around 4-5 hours, then fly you back and return you to the ship. Absolutely worth every penny it cost us, and the highlight of our 2 week cruisetour. Since we also went during the middle of July, I'm pretty sure you might be able to make arrangements with one of them.

[East Texas Cruiser]

I just went back to my Alaska file and found the name of the vendor, it is Island Wings Air Service, and they took us on July 16, 2008. Here is a link:

http://www.islandwings.com

You can email her from that site. The name of the national park is Anan Creek. It is expensive, but totally worth every penny!!!

[cherylandtk]

Just wanted to add that when ShoreEx open up this far in advance, don't be surprised if they disappear and then return. This happened to us ~ 6 months in advance and several on our Roll Call quickly booked the excursions we wanted. When they disappeared and then returned some of us found our reservations still there, others had to do it all over again. We all suspected it was a computer error and they were just loading the new seasons excursions, then later blocked access.

[CruisingGoddess]

Just wanted to add that when ShoreEx open up this far in advance, don't be surprised if they disappear and then return. This happened to us ~ 6 months in advance and several on our Roll Call quickly booked the excursions we wanted. When they disappeared and then returned some of us found our reservations still there, others had to do it all over again. We all suspected it was a computer error and they were just loading the new seasons excursions, then later blocked access.

 

Thanks for this tip! I'm cruising July 5th and booked an excursion yesterday. I will keep my eye on it in case it disappears.