Alaska Excursions 2021

[Markj]

NCL has steadily been adding excursions to its Explore and Plan section for Alaskan cruises next year - there are now 96 showing for our booked cruise in July.

 

What are people's views about booking these at the moment? Has anyone else already booked or is it prudent to wait a while and see how the  Alaskan cruise season looks for 2021. I always think NCL are a bit cheeky taking payment for these when you book  because of course in these troubled times they have your money - and we all know how hard its been to get refunds.

 

Thoughts?

[billyu]

Personally I wouldn’t give a dime to any cruise lines right now. No guarantee that any of them will even be in business 11 months from now.

[luv2kroooz]

NCL will gladly accept any payments a customer is willing and able to make. I wouldn't book a cruise on any line at this time and would cancel any existing reservations, but to each his own.

[SouthLyonCruiser]

We also have an Alaskan cruise booked next year with a fcc; but, we will not be adding anything to the cruise booking beyond the cruise itself. We are taking a 'wait and sea' (pun intended) attitude for anything beyond that. When it gets about four months out we will probably start getting the rest lined up that requires advanced payments.

[drvmywifecrzy]

It stinks they changed this policy in February.  You used to be able to pay on board even if you reserved in advance

[roger001]

When it was changed to pay in advance, right now, no way until you get much closer and see if any of this will really happen.  Just more money you will have to fight to get back later if all cancels.  Way too much uncertainty.  My opinion.  

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, Markj said:

NCL has steadily been adding excursions to its Explore and Plan section for Alaskan cruises next year - there are now 96 showing for our booked cruise in July. What are people's views about booking these at the moment? Has anyone else already booked or is it prudent to wait a while and see how the  Alaskan cruise season looks for 2021. I always think NCL are a bit cheeky taking payment for these when you book  because of course in these troubled times they have your money - and we all know how hard its been to get refunds. Thoughts?

Considerations:

 

NCL is still signing contracts with their tour providers. As you have seen, more and more excursions are being added as contracts are signed. 

 

If you book a shore excursion, it will block that time on your schedule, so you won't see if anything else has been added that you would like better.

 

Conversely, popular shore excursions will sell out, especially if they are limited capacity tours. So, if you have a dream Alaskan cruise planned, you may want to commit to that dream excursion. We have done this on Alaskan cruises to lock into the excursions we want... especially expensive flight tours. 

 

Despite all of the bankruptcy conspiracists, demand for cruises remains high, financing to the cruise lines is available, and more people than not are taking the FCC and rebooking. (We had an October cruise cancel last Thursday and rebooked using the FCC on Friday). 

 

[luv2kroooz]

Non emotional plan....forego your dream Alaska cruise until a vaccine is released. Understand you will be exposed to elevated risk by taking a cruise, not worth the risk. Demand for cruising from the general public is zero as people are afraid to cruise. I predict more and more cash refund requests from passengers as cases continue to escalate. Get your money back and redirect it to a safer option.

[zqvol]

10 hours ago, Markj said:

NCL has steadily been adding excursions to its Explore and Plan section for Alaskan cruises next year - there are now 96 showing for our booked cruise in July.

 

What are people's views about booking these at the moment? Has anyone else already booked or is it prudent to wait a while and see how the  Alaskan cruise season looks for 2021. I always think NCL are a bit cheeky taking payment for these when you book  because of course in these troubled times they have your money - and we all know how hard its been to get refunds.

 

Thoughts?

You can get much better tours that cost less by booking independently.

[Travelling2Some]

We have a small deposit on Alaska for June 2021 but I won't throw any more money at it until several factors become more certain (such as if the Canadian ports will remain closed to cruise ships).  There is also no way I will make final payment if it remains at 120 days next year.  In fact, If things deteriorate any further I will cancel and get my deposit back. 

 

Excursions in Alaska tend to be expensive and we have no real assurance that NCL will even be able to deliver the excursions they are now advertising.  The tour companies they use are having their own financial problems I imagine.  I also sometimes wonder if they will be able to deliver some of the alluring itineraries they are taking deposits on in 2022 and 2023.  NCL doesn't seem averse to false advertising as long as it brings in the cash. 

[Tom O]

I’m book for end of May Alaska this years was canceled would never thought it would have turned out like this sad! Hope for the best

[Tom O]

That’s my next step try to get my money back haven’t read anything good about that happening I don’t think May of 21 is going to happen

[bonvoyagie]

I too have a small deposit down on a late June AK cruise - Vancouver to Seward -and we plan on taking another week to explore Denali and the rest of AK. I have also noticed that the number of excursions are growing - and expensive - perhaps the tour folks are going to try to make up for this year. We had not really planned on taking many tours - done AK cruises 3x and have seen alot - so we will probably spend more time walking the towns. We booked this cruise back when it was part of the Past Cruisers Discount, and just before the last 30% off sale (and well before COVID-19), we also had some FCC to use before the end of 2020 and needed to be taken in 2021. I suspect that if we cancel we will completely lose the FCC - but if Canada does not open up by Feb I will cancel.

[Travelling2Some]

Like you, I'm not so much concerned with the ship's excursions (would book those independently anyway) but the land arrangements surrounding the cruise.  We were planning to take a week in Vancouver/Victoria beforehand and then one week by train and one week by car following the cruise.  Some of the land arrangements need to be booked well in advance and are non-refundable (Denali, ferries).  We just had a similarly complicated trip to Europe ruined by the virus and I'm not anxious to repeat the process of getting refunds from 20 different vendors.  I'm leaning towards cancelling at this point and doing Alaska in 22 or 23.

[bonvoyagie]

16 hours ago, Travelling2Some said:

Like you, I'm not so much concerned with the ship's excursions (would book those independently anyway) but the land arrangements surrounding the cruise.  We were planning to take a week in Vancouver/Victoria beforehand and then one week by train and one week by car following the cruise.  Some of the land arrangements need to be booked well in advance and are non-refundable (Denali, ferries).  We just had a similarly complicated trip to Europe ruined by the virus and I'm not anxious to repeat the process of getting refunds from 20 different vendors.  I'm leaning towards cancelling at this point and doing Alaska in 22 or 23.

I suspect that land arrangements for Denali etc are not going to be all that hard to come by next year as the overall tourist traffic will probably still be down compared to previous years. AK is only allowing people who have had a negative COVID-19 test 72Hrs prior to entering the state. Since we techincally go through US customs in the boarding process I would presume that the test would have to be done 72hrs prior to that time and not before the first AK port. With any luck, they will drop that part of the entry process by 2021.

[Travelling2Some]

The need for a negative COVID test 72 hours before boarding the ship is yet another complication since we will have entered Canada at least a week beforehand and moving around (Vancouver/Victoria, possibly Banff).  While I agree that at least some of the land reservations might be easier to come by than usual, I'm not the type to plan a month long trip around "maybe".  I like my ducks in a row.  There will be plenty of other years for Alaska without all the aggravation.

[Budget Queen]

1 hour ago, Travelling2Some said:

The need for a negative COVID test 72 hours before boarding the ship is yet another complication since we will have entered Canada at least a week beforehand and moving around (Vancouver/Victoria, possibly Banff).  While I agree that at least some of the land reservations might be easier to come by than usual, I'm not the type to plan a month long trip around "maybe".  I like my ducks in a row.  There will be plenty of other years for Alaska without all the aggravation.

I have no problem  putting together extended trips last minute.    For me a month long trip is nothing.  🙂        You do-  so your answer is simple-  with the unknown,  planning this partially is NOT for you.    With your extended future thinking-  of years ahead,  that is going to be a better option for you.    In your case-   Forget about next year.     

[Travelling2Some]

I'm noticing from a lot of the comments that having FCC that must be used is a factor in this type of decision.  I opted for the cash refund on our previous cancelled cruise(s) so it is easier for me to just dump a reservation that only has a small deposit holding it.  At this point NCL only has $100 of my money (and they're sure not getting any more of it, lol!)  My heart wasn't set on Alaska.  We have a couple of other land trips we want to take so we will do those until the cruising industry settles down.

[bonvoyagie]

Travelling2Stone - I also have 100.00 invested and agree they will not get a penny more for quite some time. My FCC was tied to a drastic price reduction from my Jan 20 Panama Canal cruise - which we thankfully were able to complete. We picked up almost 2k in FCC that had to be booked before 2020 and used by 2021. I am not sure exactly what would happen with that FCC if NCL has to cancel our 2021 cruise. I really don't think we will have a good vaccine by then so I guess we will have to do with the precautions they will have in place at that time. I also think that if we have to wear masks and other stuff - I will cancel in Feb.

[Cruiser933]

My cruise isn’t until August 2021, so final payment due in April. I used Cruise Next certificates for the deposit. I don’t plan on giving anyone any more money until I feel confident we can travel safely. So I won’t be booking any excursions, flights, or hotels that want payment or deposit upfront. I have a feeling I will be canceling in April and rebooking for 2022.

[mikaula]

Alaska is amazing!  There are lots of excursions that have limited spots available like helicopter and float planes so I usually book as far in advance as possible because they sell out long before you board. That said, in the current situation with Covid I’d wait till closer to your cruise.  That way you don’t have to worry about being reimbursed if cruises are cancelled. 

[Markj]

Thank you to everyone who replied  - even those of you who steered us a bit off topic! We've been to Alaska twice already so pretty comfortable booking via NCL or directly. I think I will wait until the New Year and see how things look because I cannot believe people are rushing to give cruise lines money at this time!!

 

Also agree that paying so far in advance is a bit naughty and having the excursions added to your on-board account or at least payment 8 weeks out (or similar) would be fairer. I bet the suppliers dont see a penny until after the excursion has happened!