Alaska, 1st time cruisers, side trips?

[eusrmb]

We are first time cruisers on a 7 day cruise from Seward to Vancouver, May 20. How do we know if the ship's tour's are the best to book with or should we find tours and book ourselves? How do I find information about reputable tour operators? Thank you

[Assateague Island Princes]

Best advice is to head over to the Ports of Call - Alaska boards on this website. Plenty of great information there - ask questions, use the search feature, review your ship's list of excursions to see what appeals to you in each port (whale watching? flightseeing? dogsledding? train? hiking? kayaking? - so much to choose from!) Then when you've narrowed down your interest for each port, research private vendors who offer the same types of excursions. Good luck! Planning for an AK cruise is a lot of work - but oh, so enjoyable for people like me! Been there four times, and am already planning my fifth trip - it is stunning and magnificent. And obviously, highly addictive;)!

[tmt218]

I also say head to the Ports of Call Alaska board toward the bottom of the page. I found them to be very helpful and full of information.

 

I booked the train in Skagway to the Yukon through Chilkoot Charters recommended by the board. Looking to book more excursions on our own for our June trip back to Alaska.

 

 

Have a great cruise!

[PattiG]

Although I know that some sophisticated cruisers would not agree with me, I would recommend that, as first-time cruisers, you stick with the ship's tours for now. While you may get less expensive tours by booking on your own, you have the safety of a cruise-sponsored tour and the assurance that the ship won't leave without you in the event of some delay. Later, when you are more familiar with cruising, you can look into booking private tours.

 

Just my opinion.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

I agree -- when we did our first cruises -- including Alaska -- we booked the ship's excursions -- didn't have to worry about anything.

Once you are familiar with a port -- that is a different ball game.

You will love Alaska.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Although I know that some sophisticated cruisers would not agree with me, I would recommend that, as first-time cruisers, you stick with the ship's tours for now. While you may get less expensive tours by booking on your own, you have the safety of a cruise-sponsored tour and the assurance that the ship won't leave without you in the event of some delay. Later, when you are more familiar with cruising, you can look into booking private tours.

 

Just my opinion.

 

I agree. I know that many people say they get better prices for booking independently, but that hasn't been my experience. In cases where I could find something comparable online, the price has usually been close to the cruiseline's prices. A few tour operators in Alaska will tell you to book through the cruiseline, and will not book you directly. I remember one tour website had links to the cruiselines' web pages.

 

The big advantages of booking on your own are the ability to customize and having a small group (or just yourselves).

 

The advantages of booking through the cruise line are that you let someone do your planning and handle the logistics. I think there's a real value to that, especially in a place you've never visited. HAL has a lot of experience in Alaska, and they know what people want and what's good. Trust them to offer you good experiences. Let them do the planning and you can relax and enjoy.

 

If you go to Skagway, take the train ride. Spectacular!

[howard6933]

We are first time cruisers on a 7 day cruise from Seward to Vancouver, May 20. How do we know if the ship's tour's are the best to book with or should we find tours and book ourselves? How do I find information about reputable tour operators? Thank you

 

If you can possibly swing it, if I were you, I'd take a pre-cruise tour offered by the cruise line. Our first cruise to Alaska several years ago, we took the shore excursions offered by the ship, and it was fine. But on our last cruise to Alaska about 3 years ago, we took the pre-cruise tour and it was great. We went on Diamond Princess and flew into Fairbanks, where we stayed for a couple of days. Then we went to several other places including Talkeetna, and Denali each time staying in a "Princess Cruises Hotel". Finally, we boarded a train with Princess railroad cars that took us to Seward to board the ship to Vancouver.

It was a terrific trip and I am looking forward to doing it again soon. Good luck and have a great cruise no matter what you do.

[nothriver]

My only previous cruise was to Alaska and we booked our all tours for our group of 9 independently. I was able to secure much lower prices than those charged by Celebrity. We did a lot in Alaska, as we were celebrating my parents 50th anniversary traveling with the entire extended family. It turned out to truly be a trip of a lifetime, as my father passed away unexpectedly shortly after the trip, so I'm really glad we packed so many memories into the trip.

 

We booked directly with the AKRR for their Gold service from Anchorage to Seward and LOVED the upgrade to the Gold cars.

 

In Seward, we did a Kenai Fjords cruise which was an absolute highlight of the trip for us.

 

In Juneau, we hiked around Mendenhall Glacier in the morning, then did a whale watch with Orca Enterprises. Mendenhall has a "no food" policy to keep the bears at bay, so we missed lunch, and with an empty stomach, my motion sickness kicked in BIG TIME on the whale watch. I think everyone else enjoyed it, though! One example of my tring to pack too much into a vacation!

 

In Skagway, we booked a day long tour with Chilkoot Charters, taking the train up then going into the Yukon and back down to Skagway on a guided tour. This was another highlight of our trip, I'd really love to go back to the Yukon Territory some day, in additoin to the historical significance, it was so beautiful up there, and we enjoyed the lunch stop and visiting sled dogs there.

 

In Icy Straight, some of our group went fishing with Glacier Wind. Some of us did book the Tribal Dance, only available through the ship. We did a little short hike here that we also especially enjoyed, the rainforest is amazingly beautiful.

 

In Ketichikan, some of our group did the Bearing Fish Tour through the ship, some of us did the zip line with Rainforst Canopy. I realize zip line isn't for everyone, but we LOVED this excursion!

 

The ports in Alaska are wonderful. There are so many excursions to choose from, but we all enjoyed walking around the ports, seeing some of the small museums, and shopping in the local stores. The local art is AMAZING and each and every port offers so much in the way of history and culture. Don't think you need to do paid excusions, because you can walk off the ship and expolore at no cost and have a very wonderful Alaska experience!

[cruisequeen10]

In Skagway take the train tour WP&YR. It is fabulous and worth every penny. The cost from HAL and independent are the same. So go with HAL.

[chipmaster]

The experts and lots of info here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55

 

If you like to do research ahead of time and get best value both in money, experience, and time than independent.

 

My experience is that at the highest level the cruiselines offer tours that sample the must see sites in every port. The devil is in the details of how much you see and how you get there, how you see it and value.

Cruise line tours are easy, show up on the first sea day read thru the newsletter and select those that sound good, but what is good? what is best what is a value?

 

Well research research research and with the internet very easy. You can price out private, decide what each port's speciality and unique attractions are if you don't already know. Sure you get some of that on the ship, but to try and decide on the first day on a cruise while still getting to enjoy the ship is a challenge.

 

Ship tours will for the most part be okay, big crowds, move at the pace of the lowest common denominator, usually the slowest person, the person who can't keep time. Go private usually a smaller crowd with more tight schedule.

 

Happy planning!

 

We are first time cruisers on a 7 day cruise from Seward to Vancouver, May 20. How do we know if the ship's tour's are the best to book with or should we find tours and book ourselves? How do I find information about reputable tour operators? Thank you

[Himself]

I hate to be the 290 Pound Gorilla but if you book an outside group and if you are delayed in getting back to the ship, the ship will leave without you. If a HAL group gets delayed

they will hold the ship for your group.

[3rdGenCunarder]

I hate to be the 290 Pound Gorilla but if you book an outside group and if you are delayed in getting back to the ship, the ship will leave without you. If a HAL group gets delayed

they will hold the ship for your group.

 

I wouldn't call you a gorilla, but I agree with the rest of your post. I do a lot of research, and if I see that a port has plenty to see in the town where the ship docks, we'll do the day on our own. But if something is at an hour's drive, we go with a ship's tour. We rarely do independent touring farther than a taxi ride from the ship.

[chipmaster]

A 290lb gorilla isn't silent and makes itself heard all the time.

 

1) On the few cruises I've been on I think I can recall only a handful times the ship left someone behind. Search the threads, lots of discussion but few real stories. Search youtube, some funny vidoes but doesn't really happen very often

 

2) Pick a reputable operator:

a) They have been there and in business a long time

b) Means likely the main livelhood for many. You think they are really motivated for having passengers miss, nope they will get you back barring some serious crazy thing.

 

3) So smart passenger picks good tour operator. Watches the clock, schedules smartly, makes real time adjustments. Plan to be back an hour before the ship departures. Barring a really ridiculous set of low probability things stacking up togather chances are slim. Some choose to avoid these all togather. I choose to spend wisely, reasearch and insure I get the best experience in port.

 

We did private cars in Naples, Rome, and Florence all places were things were 90' or more away and very dicey single lane roads or one highway back. The drivers were totally informed made adjustments and we were on board sipping drinks watching the last bus come in 10-20' before departure. BTW we saw more and paid a lot less too :D It ain't for everyone some like the big crowds and comfort of the bus with others and the turnkey mass tours, but don't make missing the boat the reason you don't pick a private small tour experience, totally not right!

 

My worst experience where I almost missed the boat was on a cruiseline tour where a bunch of bozos decided to keep their own time and make everyone on the bus wait like 30-45' extra on an already tight tour. We were literally the last on board.. If I had done a private taxi I'd have been the ship an hour earlier. If there was a traffic accident on the way, I'd have been infront of the last bus. Now if I got drunk that is something alltogather different and my own fault.

 

Pictures of my son trailing and really the last one up with some unhappy crew members behind on our last stop on our last cruise.

 

I hate to be the 290 Pound Gorilla but if you book an outside group and if you are delayed in getting back to the ship, the ship will leave without you. If a HAL group gets delayed

they will hold the ship for your group.

[vbmom87]

I hate to be the 290 Pound Gorilla but if you book an outside group and if you are delayed in getting back to the ship, the ship will leave without you. If a HAL group gets delayed

they will hold the ship for your group.

 

The difference is not that the ship will wait for you if you book a cruiseline tour, because sometimes the ship must leave due to tides or other matters and will end up not waiting even for its own tours. The difference is that the cruiseline will be responsible to get you to the next port if you booked your tour with them. This could be significant in terms of costs.

 

In spite of knowing I could be responsible for getting to the next port, we have booked many independent tours. I do my homework and choose what I believe are reliable companies. I even questioned several about what would happen if their mode of transportation broke down. It seems like the better known independent vendors have backup plans with other vendors if there should be a problem. As often mentioned, these independents know they would likely be out of business if their tour was delayed and people missed the ship because of it. With the internet this story would be all over the travel forums. Therefore they will do everything in their power to get you back in time.

 

That said, if an independent tour is running too close to departure time, I will book with the cruiseship. I tend to do a mix of both. It works for us. I don't want a high stress level on vacation, but I do like the smaller, more personal experiences with the independent vendors. As far as price, I have actually paid more for some tours by going independently. If you are trying to save money, don't always assume the cruiseship will be higher in cost. Some will be more, some the same, and a few will actually be less. Do your homework.

[edmusic]

Himself wrote:

I hate to be the 290 Pound Gorilla but if you book an outside group and if you are delayed in getting back to the ship, the ship will leave without you. If a HAL group gets delayed they will hold the ship for your group.

The notion that the ship will wait for you with a ship-sponsored excursion = hogwash. The cruise line will arrange your transportation to the next port at their expense, not yours. I almost found this out the hard way on our Alaskan bicycle tour in Skagway. The ship sponsored tour company was late getting us back to the dock and the ship was starting to take the gang plank away when we went running towards it yelling to hang on. I told the dock worker we had a Princess shore excursion and the boat had to wait for us. He shook his head and laughed. There were 14 of us on the excursion and the ship knew we were still out there yet were pulling the gang plank anyway.

 

Don't be brainwashed by the cruise line.

[Amuse Bouche]

I'm actually from Juneau, and worked many tourist seasons there. Now I'm a crazy cruiser playing tourist every year. ;)

 

Stick with the ships excursions. Each tour operator knows more about your cruise and your ships schedule better than you do. They have geared the best experience to be had in a small window of time, and have considered you will need shopping time too.

 

I book ship excursions, except for Juneau, where I rent a car to see family.

 

Stuff happens with weather in Alaska. You want to be covered.

 

I only had a problem once. After driving around Juneau, we sat around downtown and decided to go look at something at the gift shop at the top of the Tram. This is actually on the dock the ship was docked at.

They had crazy hot 85* weather that week. They had 6 ships in and were making non stop runs. The cables overheated, which overheated the engines, and 1/2 hour before my ship left, I'm stuck on top with 500 other people. The operators sorted everyone out according to ship, with those leaving first in front. They had repair people scrambling to get there, and had called for helicopters to airlift us down. I'm looking out the window at my ship literally 1000 ft below me. The operators got it running, and everyone made it to their ship. Someone had run over to the ship and told them to hang on, it's moving and the Westerdam's passengers were on first.

[Amuse Bouche]

Oh, I didn't post that story to make you nervous about anything. I posted because it's so unbelieveable that I would get stuck because it was too hot. And to let you know that the people who have contracts with the cruise lines will do a better job of looking out for you than Wild Bob the Charter Captain to get you back on time.

 

Have fun! It's amazing! And yeah, the train in Skagway is insanely beautiful scenery. Even on a cloudy day.

[chipmaster]

Let me guess, you get a lot of business guranteed thru the cruiseline :D

 

I am anxiously wait to here stories from CC members of excursions gone crazy where they were left in port. Truth of the matter they are really far an few. Does murphy rear his head, you bet, one of the reasons to do research and go with people who do this year over year and its their livelhood.

 

I know give a choice between an experienced operator 100% independent and the one that does a large amount of cruise business I'll always pick the former. I will always pick a small private operator than the experience of a big bus/ship, its a generalization but I think smaller is better here! I personally think it not to hard to know when your ship departs as well as watch time and make judgement to not cut things to close.

 

Personally if Wild Bob is any good and been doing it for a few years, he'll have a plan to make sure when I go with him I ain't posting a story that ruins his livelyhood versus make for a killer next year of business.

 

I'm actually from Juneau, and worked many tourist seasons there. Now I'm a crazy cruiser playing tourist every year. ;)

 

Stick with the ships excursions. Each tour operator knows more about your cruise and your ships schedule better than you do. They have geared the best experience to be had in a small window of time, and have considered you will need shopping time too.

 

I book ship excursions, except for Juneau, where I rent a car to see family.

 

Stuff happens with weather in Alaska. You want to be covered.

 

I only had a problem once. After driving around Juneau, we sat around downtown and decided to go look at something at the gift shop at the top of the Tram. This is actually on the dock the ship was docked at.

They had crazy hot 85* weather that week. They had 6 ships in and were making non stop runs. The cables overheated, which overheated the engines, and 1/2 hour before my ship left, I'm stuck on top with 500 other people. The operators sorted everyone out according to ship, with those leaving first in front. They had repair people scrambling to get there, and had called for helicopters to airlift us down. I'm looking out the window at my ship literally 1000 ft below me. The operators got it running, and everyone made it to their ship. Someone had run over to the ship and told them to hang on, it's moving and the Westerdam's passengers were on first.

[Amuse Bouche]

Let me guess, you get a lot of business guranteed thru the cruiseline :D

 

I am anxiously wait to here stories from CC members of excursions gone crazy where they were left in port. Truth of the matter they are really far an few. Does murphy rear his head, you bet, one of the reasons to do research and go with people who do this year over year and its their livelhood.

 

I know give a choice between an experienced operator 100% independent and the one that does a large amount of cruise business I'll always pick the former. I will always pick a small private operator than the experience of a big bus/ship, its a generalization but I think smaller is better here! I personally think it not to hard to know when your ship departs as well as watch time and make judgement to not cut things to close.

 

Personally if Wild Bob is any good and been doing it for a few years, he'll have a plan to make sure when I go with him I ain't posting a story that ruins his livelyhood versus make for a killer next year of business.

 

 

 

Hahahahahaha! No. I was a waitress downtown many years ago.

And actually, I agree with you. Most excursions are run by larger companies and little to none stays in the local economy. But, when it comes to me getting back to the ship on time, I want to be safe. They aren't going to blow their contract by not providing good service, according to ship schedule. It's just logical.

Now, if you really want to address an Alaskan citizens livelyhood, DONT shop in the fancy souvenier stores. STAY AWAY from the stores they give you coupons for! Each port has lots of locally owned gift shops.

 

There are few tours offered by locals. Wild Bob is doing OK with non cruise tourists. He gets bigger tips having a day charter where he's more likely to provide catch.

Chastise averted??

[pam vessels]

We have found that not all ships tours are crowed big bus affairs. We have had some wonderful groups of 10 or even less in Mexico/Alaska/S.Am. In Alaska we went horse back riding, canoed across a lake and went hiking in the rain forest. Sometimes we even pick the tours no one else thinks are that great and guess what we end up in small groups and have a blast. Bigger does not always mean better. Enjoy your cruise.....

[3rdGenCunarder]

Hahahahahaha! No. I was a waitress downtown many years ago.

And actually, I agree with you. Most excursions are run by larger companies and little to none stays in the local economy. But, when it comes to me getting back to the ship on time, I want to be safe. They aren't going to blow their contract by not providing good service, according to ship schedule. It's just logical.

Now, if you really want to address an Alaskan citizens livelyhood, DONT shop in the fancy souvenier stores. STAY AWAY from the stores they give you coupons for! Each port has lots of locally owned gift shops.

 

There are few tours offered by locals. Wild Bob is doing OK with non cruise tourists. He gets bigger tips having a day charter where he's more likely to provide catch.

Chastise averted??

 

We try to find local shops when we travel. In the Caribbean, I like to find markets, where there's a chance to find locally made items. (Yes, there's stuff imported from China there, too, but you learn to identify that if you pay attention.)

 

I did go into a large shop in Skagway, and was amused to see some of the same merchandise I had seen in a store in Seattle. Same stuff, only the name on it had changed. Sadly, the chain stores have the financial clout to set up shop in the most visible places so that they're the first shop you see getting off the ship. Many tourists don't bother to look beyond them.

[Amuse Bouche]

We try to find local shops when we travel. In the Caribbean, I like to find markets, where there's a chance to find locally made items. (Yes, there's stuff imported from China there, too, but you learn to identify that if you pay attention.)

 

I did go into a large shop in Skagway, and was amused to see some of the same merchandise I had seen in a store in Seattle. Same stuff, only the name on it had changed. Sadly, the chain stores have the financial clout to set up shop in the most visible places so that they're the first shop you see getting off the ship. Many tourists don't bother to look beyond them.

 

There's a lot of that. Interestingly, Skagway isn't really a community. It's a tourist stop because of the gold rush. Everything there is about tourism. There are only about 800 permanent residents. A city of comparable size is Sitka, which has nearly 9000 permanent residents.

With about 1 million cruisers visiting, locally made souveniers would be hard to keep up with. And buying a real carving is extraordinarly expensive. Of course, the affordable alternative is buying something with an artist's name attached to it. Many local artists have replica's made to be able to grab a share of the souvenier market.

The major difference in the market, which has saddened my heart, are the shops that have nothing to do with Alaska. Like the jewelry store chains that have a shop in the Bahamas and Caribbean. Tourists flock to those shops. None of that money benefits the community at all.

Most of the silver Native design jewelry is made in Alaska.

[feathersandnananose]

Re shopping: My memory's not so good, but I'm sure there's a logo/tag that indicates something like "made in Alaska" that might help..... and I'm STILL loving my Ulu knife/cutting board...oh, so useful for chopping small things!

 

Re shore excursions: We took a couple of ship tours in Alaska (it was our first cruise) and they sold me on ship excursions: 1. a flight through Misty Fiords - just one group on a van and plane - all of 6 or 7 people.

 

And the helicopter/walking on a Glacier was incredible. It was up in the air (cancel or not?) because we were the only two people for it, but then it went! I got to sit in the front (co-pilot's) seat in the helicopter (WOW!!!) , then our hour on the glacier was just the two of us with a guide. It was wonderful! But given the capacity of the copter, it would never have been a very big group!

 

They were expensive, yeah. I admit it. But - for us - worth every penny.

 

Barb in so cal

[mr green]

We are first time cruisers on a 7 day cruise from Seward to Vancouver, May 20. How do we know if the ship's tour's are the best to book with or should we find tours and book ourselves? How do I find information about reputable tour operators? Thank you

 

Look up 'Dyea Dave' on the 'net for Skagway. Very reliable. If by some remote chance he has a breakdown, he can always summon another vehicle at a moments notice. Also he does not ask for payment until after the tour!

 

john