Glacier Bay excursion like Tracey Arm?

[Bouds]

I'm trying to decide between two cruises to Alaska next year. We did one a few years ago that included Tracey Arm Fjord and there was an excursion where a smaller boat pulled up alongside the ship and took you deep into the Fjord to see the glaciers, then took you all the way to Juneau to meet up with the ship. It was fantastic! Is there anything like this offered for Glacier Bay?

[Working 2 Cruise]

No.

[Kingofcool1947]

I'm trying to decide between two cruises to Alaska next year. We did one a few years ago that included Tracey Arm Fjord and there was an excursion where a smaller boat pulled up alongside the ship and took you deep into the Fjord to see the glaciers, then took you all the way to Juneau to meet up with the ship. It was fantastic! Is there anything like this offered for Glacier Bay?

 

Nope.

[Colo Cruiser]

Not that I have seen.

[Bouds]

Thanks! I thought not, but thought I'd ask.

 

Now to decide, a repeat of a fabulous experience, but this time with my kids, or something new that will also be fabulous.

[iceleven]

I'm not even sure Princess offers that type of excursion up Tracey Arm. I did see it once on a NCL cruise but that was several years ago.

Edited August 12, 2015 by iceleven

[Colo Cruiser]

I'm not even sure Princess offers that type of excursion up Tracey Arm.

 

 

 

Yes.

Edited August 12, 2015 by Colo Cruiser

[DougH]

In Glacier Bay the ships get right to the end and stop in front of the glaciers. The fact they offer it in Tracy Arm should tell you that you're not getting close on the ship. otherwise why would they offer it. In about a dozen trips to Tracy Arm I've never gotten past the "Y" split at the island to the North and South Sawyer Glaciers (except once the Dawn Princess took us to the face of the North Sawyer but that was a very very rare occurrence)

 

That's why every chance I get I take they all day Adventure Bound trip from Juneau to Tracy Arm.

[iceleven]

In Glacier Bay the ships get right to the end and stop in front of the glaciers. The fact they offer it in Tracy Arm should tell you that you're not getting close on the ship. otherwise why would they offer it. In about a dozen trips to Tracy Arm I've never gotten past the "Y" split at the island to the North and South Sawyer Glaciers (except once the Dawn Princess took us to the face of the North Sawyer but that was a very very rare occurrence)

 

That's why every chance I get I take they all day Adventure Bound trip from Juneau to Tracy Arm.

 

I would love to take the "Adventure Bound" trip up Tracey Arm but my memory must deceive me...I just don't remember seeing it offered on the Princess Alaska cruises I have taken. Perhaps it is offered on specific cruises that are dependent on the amount of time being spent in Juneau? That sometimes is determined on which cruise port the ship leaves or is a north bound or southern bound? Please tell me more so that I can try to schedule another cruise that would definitely include this excursion. We are planning to book another Alaska cruise in 2016.

Anyone else, please pipe in, as well. Thanks

Edited August 12, 2015 by iceleven

[Working 2 Cruise]

I would love to take the "Adventure Bound" trip up Tracey Arm but my memory must deceive me...I just don't remember seeing it offered on the Princess Alaska cruises I have taken. Perhaps it is offered on specific cruises that are dependent on the amount of time being spent in Juneau? That sometimes is determined on which cruise port the ship leaves or is a north bound or southern bound? Please tell me more so that I can try to schedule another cruise that would definitely include this excursion. We are planning to book another Alaska cruise in 2016.

Anyone else, please pipe in, as well. Thanks

 

I've seen it offered many times on cruises out of Seattle... and San Francisco.

[DougH]

I would love to take the "Adventure Bound" trip up Tracey Arm but my memory must deceive me...I just don't remember seeing it offered on the Princess Alaska cruises I have taken.

 

The Adventure Bound excursion is not thru Princess but is an independent operator. You need to have a long port day in Juneau, minimum 8am- 8pm. They leave by 6:30am and return between 6-6:30pm. One of the few cruises that meets this schedule is usually the 7 day Northbound Princess cruise from Vancouver to Whittier. None of the Princess cruises I've been on have offered the "add on" Tracy Arm option.

 

Captain Steve and his wife Winowa are great, I've taken this trip numerous times and it is one of my favorites anywhere

 

http://www.adventureboundalaska.com/

[Thrak]

The Adventure Bound excursion is not thru Princess but is an independent operator. You need to have a long port day in Juneau, minimum 8am- 8pm. They leave by 6:30am and return between 6-6:30pm. One of the few cruises that meets this schedule is usually the 7 day Northbound Princess cruise from Vancouver to Whittier. None of the Princess cruises I've been on have offered the "add on" Tracy Arm option.

 

Captain Steve and his wife Winowa are great, I've taken this trip numerous times and it is one of my favorites anywhere

 

http://www.adventureboundalaska.com/

 

I had hoped to do this on our southbound but we are only in Juneau from 6:30 - 4:00 so there's no chance. Hopefully another time. :)

[Working 2 Cruise]

I had hoped to do this on our southbound but we are only in Juneau from 6:30 - 4:00 so there's no chance. Hopefully another time. :)

 

But you can do this through the ship!!! Check the Tracey Arm port on your personalizer excursions.

[iceleven]

The Adventure Bound excursion is not thru Princess but is an independent operator. You need to have a long port day in Juneau, minimum 8am- 8pm. They leave by 6:30am and return between 6-6:30pm. One of the few cruises that meets this schedule is usually the 7 day Northbound Princess cruise from Vancouver to Whittier. None of the Princess cruises I've been on have offered the "add on" Tracy Arm option.

 

Captain Steve and his wife Winowa are great, I've taken this trip numerous times and it is one of my favorites anywhere

 

http://www.adventureboundalaska.com/

 

Thank you for clarifying that for me. I have never taken an Alaska cruise, with Princess, out of Vancouver so that is why I had never seen it offered.

The first time we went to Alaska (different cruise line) we attempted to book this excursion but it was filled. One unique thing I saw was that our ship set sail from the port on time BEFORE the Tracy Arm catamaran came back.

 

Apparently they worked out an agreement that the ship would meet them somewhere closer to Tracey Arm and would pick up the guests from there. I watched the people climb onto the cruise ship even though I thought it seemed a bit dangerous. They were happy and laughing and singing. I suspect there were a few libations offered on the excursion. I will do this excursion even if I have to go to another cruise line. Again, THANK YOU.

[msmoger]

We recently returned from a 7 day Alaska cruise RT from Seattle on the Crown. This excursion is also offered by Allen Marine and is scheduled to leave based on the cruise ship schedules that day.

 

Our port time in Juneau was 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM. The excursion was scheduled for 1:30 PM to 8:30 PM. The sailing time also accommodated the several other ships in port which docked after us.

 

As many of you may know, Allen Marine is frequently used by the cruise lines for their whale watching and other excursions (including this one which I didn't really consider at the time of booking).

 

At about 10:45 AM we strolled out to the Promenade Deck (btw it poured all day) to watch the docking. I turned on my cell phone since I knew I would be able to get a local Verizon signal. Lo and behold I had a voicemail. It was from Allen Marine from the previous day at 5:35 PM informing me that the cruise line that had booked the majority of the boat cancelled and they therefore were canceling the excursion since they didn't have enough passengers.

 

She suggested I call Adventure Bound which of course was ridiculous since they sail early in the morning. She also offered a whale watching tour or to go on the Tracy Arm excursion later in the week. We weren't interested in whale watching again (I think their boats are a bit too big as compared to the Harv and Marv type for whale watching - JMHO) and the later in the week option was also ridiculous since our reservation clearly stated we were visiting Juneau on a cruise ship.

 

It was very disappointing but we made lemonade out of lemons and took the bus to Mendenhall Glacier and had a great time (in spite of the weather ;) ).

 

I guess the moral of the story is either don't book this excursion with Allen Marine or be aware that this might happen. Next time we're in Juneau we'll pick an itinerary that gets us there early enough to go with Adventure Bound.

 

I realize these things happen, so don't interpret this post as venting. I'm just relaying our experience so others can keep it in mind. :)

 

BTW, I assume the cruise line that cancelled was HAL. They had 2 ships in port. The Celebrity ship left to early and Princess didn't offer the excursion.

 

Thanks for listening.

[caribill]

 

Lo and behold I had a voicemail. It was from Allen Marine from the previous day at 5:35 PM informing me that the cruise line that had booked the majority of the boat cancelled and they therefore were canceling the excursion since they didn't have enough passengers.

 

BTW, I assume the cruise line that cancelled was HAL. They had 2 ships in port.

 

I suspect HAL had reserved x spaces on the excursion but cancelled when few, if any, HAL passengers had signed up.

 

I would not expect HAL to cancel if they had sold all of the spots they had reserved.

[msmoger]

I suspect HAL had reserved x spaces on the excursion but cancelled when few, if any, HAL passengers had signed up.

 

I would not expect HAL to cancel if they had sold all of the spots they had reserved.

 

I'm sure that's the reason. Of course HAL has the clout to cancel with less than 24 hours notice, not a policy Allen Marine would have afforded me, which I understand.

 

I wonder how often this happens.

[iceleven]

Fortunately there are always plenty "Plan B" options in Juneau but it would be especially disappointing to miss the Tracey Arm tour if one were certain they would not be returning to Alaska. We have always been quite happy to do the Harv and Marv whale watching tours so we never even considered there would be something as exciting as the (non Princess) Tracey Arm tours. So basically all we need to do is book any cruise, regardless of which port sailed from, that has more than an 8 hour day in Juneau. That gives us many more options. Next cruise to Alaska (2016) will be our 5th and yet we continue to learn something new every day. Thanks to CC.

[CruisinCadie]

As i understand it, this works if you visit Tracy Arm before Juneau. However, we stop at Juneau first. Am I correct in assuming it would not work that way?

 

Kathy

[ChiefBoats]

I'm not even sure Princess offers that type of excursion up Tracey Arm. I did see it once on a NCL cruise but that was several years ago.

Yes they do. We have taken the Tracy Arm excursion two times. The last one was this May and we had a wonderful time at both the North and South Sawyer Glaciers. The next time we go to Tracy Arm we will do it again.

__________________________________________

Island Princess 2008 Alaska, Island Princess 2009 (B2B) Alaska, Royal Princess (Old) 2010 Alaska, Golden Princess 2011 Alaska, Coral Princess 2012 Panama Canal, Star Princess 2012 Alaska, Island Princess 2013 Alaska, Crown Princess 2013 Western Caribbean, Caribbean Princess 2013 Western Caribbean, Royal Princess 2014 Eastern Caribbean, Royal Princess 2014 New England, Emerald Princess 2014 Western Caribbean, Emerald Princess 2015 Western Caribbean, Ruby Princess 2015 Alaska

[iceleven]

Yes they do. We have taken the Tracy Arm excursion two times. The last one was this May and we had a wonderful time at both the North and South Sawyer Glaciers. The next time we go to Tracy Arm we will do it again.

__________________________________________

Island Princess 2008 Alaska, Island Princess 2009 (B2B) Alaska, Royal Princess (Old) 2010 Alaska, Golden Princess 2011 Alaska, Coral Princess 2012 Panama Canal, Star Princess 2012 Alaska, Island Princess 2013 Alaska, Crown Princess 2013 Western Caribbean, Caribbean Princess 2013 Western Caribbean, Royal Princess 2014 Eastern Caribbean, Royal Princess 2014 New England, Emerald Princess 2014 Western Caribbean, Emerald Princess 2015 Western Caribbean, Ruby Princess 2015 Alaska

 

OK, just to make everything very clear for me and others who might be interested, are you saying Princess offers these 6+ hour excursions with a private company such as Allen Marine? Please detail all that was involved, price (if you can remember) and how long it lasted. I really do want to do this, perhaps many others as well. I need to know which cruise and departure port was used so that I can book this excursion with a minimum of hiccups.

[Working 2 Cruise]

OK, just to make everything very clear for me and others who might be interested, are you saying Princess offers these 6+ hour excursions with a private company such as Allen Marine? Please detail all that was involved, price (if you can remember) and how long it lasted. I really do want to do this, perhaps many others as well. I need to know which cruise and departure port was used so that I can book this excursion with a minimum of hiccups.

 

Check all the cruises to Tracy Arm... check the excursion tab for Tracy Arm. The cost is $299 per person.

Edited August 15, 2015 by Working 2 Cruise

[Colo Cruiser]

OK, just to make everything very clear for me and others who might be interested, are you saying Princess offers these 6+ hour excursions with a private company such as Allen Marine? Please detail all that was involved, price (if you can remember) and how long it lasted. I really do want to do this, perhaps many others as well. I need to know which cruise and departure port was used so that I can book this excursion with a minimum of hiccups.

 

 

Did you check the Princess website. I just did and the Tracy Arm excursion is listed on the first cruise I pulled up r/t Seattle Ruby/Crown.

Actually 2, 1 for 6 hours at $199 and 1 for 2.75 hours at $209.95.

The shorter one gets back on the Crown princess and does not go back to Juneau.

[ar1950]

OK, just to make everything very clear for me and others who might be interested, are you saying Princess offers these 6+ hour excursions with a private company such as Allen Marine? Please detail all that was involved, price (if you can remember) and how long it lasted. I really do want to do this, perhaps many others as well. I need to know which cruise and departure port was used so that I can book this excursion with a minimum of hiccups.

 

We are scheduled to do this on our Ruby cruise and the excursion is listed under Tracey Arm as the port. Look under excursions on the personalizer page.

 

Cost was $199.00 per person when we signed up for it a couple of weeks ago.

 

We found out about it on a recent review thread for the Ruby:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2235693&page=3 Take a look at post #47.

Edited August 15, 2015 by ar1950

[iceleven]

We are scheduled to do this on our Ruby cruise and the excursion is listed under Tracey Arm as the port. Look under excursions on the personalizer page.

 

Cost was $199.00 per person when we signed up for it a couple of weeks ago.

 

We found out about it on a recent review thread for the Ruby:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2235693&page=3 Take a look at post #47.

 

Thank you. This is why I was never able to find the excursion everyone was insisting was available AND OFFERED on "some" Princess cruises. Most mentioned the tour was from Juneau and it was Juneau's excursions that I was poring over trying to find. I would have never looked for an excursion from Tracey Arm as it is not a port. OK, the mystery is over. I thank you and all the others who tried to set me right. :)

Edited August 16, 2015 by iceleven