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Hubbard Glacier Excursion


botbien
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I read on TripAdvisor that only the cruisline offers excursions in Hubbard Glacier. Is that right?  If so, how many people will be on a boat?

 

I try to avoid a large boat with too many people with everyone struggling to find a spot to get a good view. 
 

Thank you. 

Edited by botbien
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The tour is run by Allen Marine.  Last summer the boat was the St. Theododius which holds around 150 passengers.  The tour is around 2 hours, and the boat picks you up off the ship, takes you up to the Glacier, and returns you to the ship.  It cannot be booked independently.  
 

I kind of have a problem with this tour.  It’s expensive and the boat takes you within 1/4 mile of the Glacier.  It’s hard enough to find a captain who will bring the cruise ship close to the Glacier as it is.  This tour gives the captain even less motive to get closer, since people who spend extra on this tour would be unhappy if the ship got as close to the Glacier as the small boat did.  When I was on Royal Princess last summer, the captain stopped seven miles from Hubbard!  We loaded people onto the small boat and then sat there watching that boat go right up to the Glacier while we spent two hours watching them from a distance...

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2 hours ago, LAVCruiser said:

We will be on the Radiance of the Seas this summer and I have been debating about whether or not to book this excursion.  The current price is $406.99 per person.  Is it worth it?

Wow!  We will be on the Coral Princess and have booked the Hubbard excursion at a price of $259.95 per person.  Are you sure that your $406.99 price isn't for two people?

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3 hours ago, Italy52 said:

Wow!  We will be on the Coral Princess and have booked the Hubbard excursion at a price of $259.95 per person.  Are you sure that your $406.99 price isn't for two people?

I just went and double checked and that is the price per person.  So it would be over $800 for both of us.  I'm not even considering it at that price.  I will keep an eye on it and see if it gets lower as we get closer to cruise time.

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14 minutes ago, LAVCruiser said:

I just went and double checked and that is the price per person.  So it would be over $800 for both of us.  I'm not even considering it at that price.  I will keep an eye on it and see if it gets lower as we get closer to cruise time.

That's insane -- I wouldn't pay that either.  You might want to ask about this excursion price on the Royal Caribbean board and see if that is what others have paid --- I am wondering if the price might be a typo.  The other alternative would be to call the shore excursion department at Royal Caribbean and get clarification.

 

Edited by Italy52
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33 minutes ago, LAVCruiser said:

I just went and double checked and that is the price per person.  So it would be over $800 for both of us.  I'm not even considering it at that price.  I will keep an eye on it and see if it gets lower as we get closer to cruise time.

 

Is this the same excursion you were researching? Says it's $289 here. Maybe there are add ons that aren't mentioned?

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/shoreExcursions/product/detail/view.do?sourcePage=shorexByPort&ProductCode=HG03&DestinationCode=

Edited by Glaciers
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3 minutes ago, LAVCruiser said:

I took a screen shot of the excursion offer from my cruise planner page on the RCI site. It looks the same exclusion that you are all talking about. Am I missing something?

Makes no sense.  PreCruise Deal?  It will be interesting to see how this turns out. Time for a call to Royal. Please post on the outcome.

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45 minutes ago, Glaciers said:

Makes no sense.  PreCruise Deal?  It will be interesting to see how this turns out. Time for a call to Royal. Please post on the outcome.

Agree.  I have gone with Royal many times and have never seen a mark-up like this --- has to be a printing/typo error that someone didn't catch. 

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8 hours ago, katrina915 said:

When I was on Celebrity Eclipse this summer, small boat didn't get substantially closer than the ship did. 

I have a friend who was on another Celebrity ship last summer (and did this excursion) and she thought the cruise ship got closer.

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15 hours ago, LAVCruiser said:

We will be on the Radiance of the Seas this summer and I have been debating about whether or not to book this excursion.  The current price is $406.99 per person.  Is it worth it?

If you have Juneau as a port of call, there is a company called Alaska Adventure Bound that does a tour to Tracy Fjords and Sawyer Glacier, for around $160 full day tour.  Was a wonderful experience.

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On 1/23/2020 at 6:00 PM, Glaciers said:

Makes no sense.  PreCruise Deal?  It will be interesting to see how this turns out. Time for a call to Royal. Please post on the outcome.

That's really strange.   I just checked our CEL cruise for August and it's $289 US.   Hope they figure it out for you.

 

Mike 

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On 1/24/2020 at 2:30 AM, subaru94 said:

If you have Juneau as a port of call, there is a company called Alaska Adventure Bound that does a tour to Tracy Fjords and Sawyer Glacier, for around $160 full day tour.  Was a wonderful experience.

 I would highly recommend this also.  Only been once since it's hard to find a cruise in port for the duration of this tour.

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I booked this excursion in July 2019 for an upcoming 2020 cruise with Royal Caribbean - and in 2019, we paid $269 pp. I have been watching the price over the last few months (as I do on EVERY excursion I book - to see if it will go cheaper!), and I have been watching in shock as the price for this particular excursion crept higher and higher. LAVCruiser is correct in that it is currently sitting at $407 pp, almost $138 pp higher than I paid a few short months ago. 

 

It didn’t just jump to this price overnight - so I don’t think it is a typo. I think it’s a game of supply & demand that RCI is playing, and they’re seeing just what the market will bear; I.e., what people will pay. It had been in the $360-range for a few months starting in Oct/Nov.

 

I am happy that I paid $269 pp, as there is no way in heck I would pay over $800 for two people for this! I’m patting myself on the back for booking my excursions very early, because most of them have only gone UP in price; very few have decreased.

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3 hours ago, KansCocoa said:

I booked this excursion in July 2019 for an upcoming 2020 cruise with Royal Caribbean - and in 2019, we paid $269 pp. I have been watching the price over the last few months (as I do on EVERY excursion I book - to see if it will go cheaper!), and I have been watching in shock as the price for this particular excursion crept higher and higher. LAVCruiser is correct in that it is currently sitting at $407 pp, almost $138 pp higher than I paid a few short months ago. 

 

It didn’t just jump to this price overnight - so I don’t think it is a typo. I think it’s a game of supply & demand that RCI is playing, and they’re seeing just what the market will bear; I.e., what people will pay. It had been in the $360-range for a few months starting in Oct/Nov.

 

I am happy that I paid $269 pp, as there is no way in heck I would pay over $800 for two people for this! I’m patting myself on the back for booking my excursions very early, because most of them have only gone UP in price; very few have decreased.

Has anyone even challenged RCI and called them?  I have sailed with the cruise line many times and have NEVER seen this type of price gouging.  To my knowledge, they are the only ones that have a high price tag on this excursion if it is indeed true.  I am still hoping that it is a typo and people do get to experience the excursion if they so choose.  If it isn't a typo, then RCI just went down a notch in my book for trying to take advantage of their clients.

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Here is the current pricing available on our June 2021 Princess cruise -- $260.  I hesitated at that price😮
YA1_660_1.jpg

Hubbard Glacier & Wilderness Exploration

2 hours | Hubbard Glacier (Scenic Cruising) | YA1-660
  • Hubbard Glacier
  •  
  • Wildlife Search

Board an Alaskan-built vessel for in-depth exploration for a stunning, unmatched perspective of the Hubbard Glacier, one of Alaska's most famous landmarks. Cruise in comfort amidst shimmering icebergs and savor close-up views of the dramatic wilderness while learning from a knowledgeable naturalist and crew.

Read Moreabout Hubbard Glacier & Wilderness Exploration description

Easy Activity, Shopping Opportunities

From

$259.95

 
 
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I am looking to find more information on this excursion.  We have it booked for August but I really don't know what to expect and if it is really worth it.  Would really like to read some comments for those who have done it.  is it worth it? why this over just staying on ship.  Anyone have photos and/or video taken?  For some reason I am just having a hard time finding this type of information.  THANKS.

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I did a Celebrity cruise and Princess cruise 2 months from each other several years ago - same destination. Everything was more expensive on Celebrity (tours, drinks, transfers, etc...). Literally Apples to Apples.

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Interesting thread. We are on Celebrity eclipse in August 2021 and current price for this tour is AUD$410.88 each. 
Surely it’s not close to capacity this early on. I think I’ll just wait and see what the price does. 
Regardless, I can’t wait for this cruise. Only about 580 days to go 😂

Flying from Brisbane Australia, 5 or so days in Seattle and a week or so in Vancouver including overnight stays on Victoria Island and Whistler. Feel free to throw ideas my way

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