Questions about Alaska excursions

[cricri7]

Hi guys....I will probably be going on an Alaska cruise this spring. However, I find that the excursions sold by the ship are expensive. I am traveling by myself so I am already paying a big price for my cabin and would like to save money on the excursions.

 

When I did the Canada New England cruise, there were lots of tour operators waiting in the pier area and oftentimes those excursions were at least half off. I know that you have to be careful which tour you choose, but I wanted to know from people's experience about those tours.

 

Are there any that you would recommend? I am doing the 7 day inside passage from Vancouver, either on the Zuiderman on the Zandaam....do you have any commentaries about those 2 ships?

 

Thanks in advance for your answers!

[jtl513]

I would suggest (1) joining your Roll Call to see if others on your cruise have any private excursions arranged which still have openings. Find it here: http://cruisecritic.com/rollcalls?cruise_line_id=21

and (2) do a lot of reading on the Ports Of Call/AK forum for recommended tour operators. Find that here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55

Edited April 2, 2014 by jtl513

[Koali]

Alaska is generally more expensive because their tourist season is a lot shorter than other locations. You won't see as great price difference here. We have a planned cruise this fall to Alaska and started browsing private tours. Some were the same price and maybe around $20 pp cheaper, but you usually get the benefit of a smaller tour group. The Alaska forum will have more information on private tour guides.

 

We went on the Zaandam last year to Alaska. It was our first cruise ever so we didn't have an expectations. I really like sitting on the lower promenade deck and watch for whales, seals, dolphins. I'm not sure which ship is larger, but I enjoyed the small size of the ship. It never felt busy except for the first night at the Lido. It went to dry dock last fall so it may be a bit spruced up.

 

 

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[trophy_23]

Zuiderdam is the bigger ship, but that can be either a good or a bad thing depending on the person. Look over the deck plans, and check out the port times and see if one provides a better (or more convenient) length of time in a particular port.

 

Check the Alaska board for excursion information.

[midwest 852]

Hi guys....I will probably be going on an Alaska cruise this spring. However, I find that the excursions sold by the ship are expensive. I am traveling by myself so I am already paying a big price for my cabin and would like to save money on the excursions.

 

When I did the Canada New England cruise, there were lots of tour operators waiting in the pier area and oftentimes those excursions were at least half off. I know that you have to be careful which tour you choose, but I wanted to know from people's experience about those tours.

 

Are there any that you would recommend? I am doing the 7 day inside passage from Vancouver, either on the Zuiderman on the Zandaam....do you have any commentaries about those 2 ships?

 

Thanks in advance for your answers!

 

 

There is a lot of tour operators on the pier in Ketchikan, Juneau & a few in Skita

And in 2013 there were much cheaper.

[tangerinebunny]

If I'm not mistaken, Tripadvisor is CC's sister site. I used recommendations from there last summer in Alaska and is was great.

[utahtea]

We did a 7 day cruise on the Zuiderdam in 2010. Do your homework and check prices.

 

We found that sometimes a cruise excursion was cheaper through HAL or you couldn't get it anywhere else. My favorite excursions was the Tracy Arm Fjord & Glacier Explorer. We boarded the catamaran directly from the cruise ship while in Tracy Arm. It's kind of costly but you can ONLY book this excursion from HAL. I thought it was worth every cent.

 

Another thing to consider is that if you are on a HAL excursion and for some reason it doesn't make it back to the ship in time the ship will either wait for you or arrange for you to meet the ship. If you book on your own and you are delayed and can't make it back to port in time....then you are on your own to get back to the ship if it's left port. For us, an extra few dollars is worth the peace of mind.

 

Utahtea

Edited April 3, 2014 by utahtea

[cricri7]

Thank you for your answers!

 

I know that if you book a tour outside the ship and they don't make it back in time that they don't wait for you. However, I rarely book long tours. I prefer shorter tours. I usually take a tour early in the morning when we dock, come back to the ship for lunch and then do a little sightseeing on my own. I never take extended tours that last all day.

 

I asked the difference between the Zuiderdam and the Zaandam to get a feel of what people were seeing. The prices are not that different, a little bit less on the first one, but I never sailed on them. I was curious and the forum here gets good answers. I go on other types of forums and people are not as courteous and polite as here. People are very respectful of others here and I like it a lot because of that:)

[jtl513]

I asked the difference between the Zuiderdam and the Zaandam to get a feel of what people were seeing.

Having never been on the Zaandam, I can only compare the Zuiderdam to the Zaandam's sister ship Amsterdam. The main difference is the size/number of people, but the Zuiderdam has a couple of things that Zaandam does not, like a small movie room and a nightclub. We generally liked the Amsterdam better than the Zuiderdam, and for AK would prefer the smaller Zaandam.

 

For AK I would choose mainly on the itinerary - what places you would prefer to visit and how well the sailing dates match your schedule. Also, I would look at cruisetimetables.com to see how many other ships would be with you in each port. AK ports are generally small and can't absorb as many people as large ones, so I would lean toward the ship which has the least competition for resources.

.

Edited April 3, 2014 by jtl513

[RuthC]

... but the Zuiderdam has a couple of things that Zaandam does not, like a small movie room ....

On the Zaandam, movies are shown in the Wajang Theater, a room originally set up for movies. There are large, comfortable seats---offset from each other---and a sloping floor for good views. And the popcorn, of course. ;)

For AK I would choose mainly on the itinerary - what places you would prefer to visit and how well the sailing dates match your schedule.

Totally agree.

[fsdj1097]

We have sailed both of these ships to Alaska. Both are excellent choices and I wouldn't hesitate to book either...in fact we are returning to Alaska aboard Zuiderdam in July. The one difference that does impact us is that we enjoy the Thermal Suites on board HAL ships, and on Zuiderdam, the Hyrdo Pool is, in fact, a full size pool. On Zaandam, the 'pools' are actually hot tubs, not a full size pool. We wouldn't book the Thermal Suites package on Zaandam because of that difference.

 

With regards to the Shore Excursions, some of the Alaska sailings were offering the 'Above and Beyond' package which did include a 10% discount on Shore Excursions booked through HAL. Oftentimes, on the Alaska iteneraries, that's about the difference you might save when booking directly with the tour operators. Also, on some of the more popular excursions (particularly the Helicopter Glacier landings), some of them only accept bookings through the cruise ships.

 

Whichever you choose, you will love Alaska onboard a 'Dam ship!