Alaska Shore Excursions, all sold out?

[Debbie819]

Hi, We are a family of 8 on the Bliss in August. I have tried searching, no luck...

All of the excursions we are interested in are listed as sold out, this incudes outside vendors, Viator, etc..

My question is, can we still book when we get on the ship? I know they hold back dining reservations, is it the sane with excursions? 

If not, I noticed when you get off the ship in various ports the are tour operators. Has anyone done these type of tours? 

Thank you for your advice 🙂

[ChiefMateJRK]

52 minutes ago, Debbie819 said:

All of the excursions we are interested in are listed as sold out,

Where are you seeing excursions listed as "sold out?"

[complawyer]

1st thing i would do when i get  onboard, is go to the shore excursion desk and ask.  its unlikely that ALL the shore excursions are sold out in every port.

 

we were on the bliss last july. unfortunately, in  the ports of call, they were in the industrial parts of the city, and no outside tour vendors or cabs were  anywhere to be found. i hope on your cruise the ship docks at better locations.  there wasnt even anywhere to walk around and sightsee. we took one whale watching tour, but ive seen more whales in my bathtub then on this tour. (LOL)

[drumming cruisers]

3 hours ago, Debbie819 said:

Hi, We are a family of 8 on the Bliss in August. I have tried searching, no luck...

All of the excursions we are interested in are listed as sold out, this incudes outside vendors, Viator, etc..

My question is, can we still book when we get on the ship? I know they hold back dining reservations, is it the sane with excursions? 

If not, I noticed when you get off the ship in various ports the are tour operators. Has anyone done these type of tours? 

Thank you for your advice 🙂

I just looked at "My NCL" account and there are a lot of excursions available for that sailing. Maybe a glitch in system when you looked at your My NCL account. Need to recheck. 

[Debbie819]

Thank you all for your responses. I should’ve posted the specific tours that we were looking at, in each port, are sold out. I know there are others available, we specifically wanted the best of Sitka tour, again that is sold out both through NCL and Viator

Sorry for the confusion.

[BirdTravels]

4 hours ago, Debbie819 said:

Hi, We are a family of 8 on the Bliss in August. I have tried searching, no luck...

All of the excursions we are interested in are listed as sold out, this incudes outside vendors, Viator, etc..

My question is, can we still book when we get on the ship? I know they hold back dining reservations, is it the sane with excursions? 

If not, I noticed when you get off the ship in various ports the are tour operators. Has anyone done these type of tours? 

Thank you for your advice 🙂

If specific tours are sold out, they are sold out. You waited too long to book. 

 

There is no reason for the cruise line to hold tours for onboard booking. If you were a couple, then there is a tiny potential of getting on a wait list once you embark,,, but with a family of 8, you need to look for another tour. 

[RB9643]

12 minutes ago, Debbie819 said:

 we specifically wanted the best of Sitka tour

 

No reason to book an excursion in Sitka.

 

We will also be there in August (unfortunately on another cruise line).  There is a shuttle that takes you from the port to downtown. From there, Sitka is small, easily walkable, and a bunch of sites in a small area.

 

Look at Google Maps and do a bit of research. It's worth the effort.

 

 

[Debbie819]

12 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

If specific tours are sold out, they are sold out. You waited too long to book. 

 

There is no reason for the cruise line to hold tours for onboard booking. If you were a couple, then there is a tiny potential of getting on a wait list once you embark,,, but with a family of 8, you need to look for another tour. 

We tried to book the 1st evening we were able to.... There may have been a few spots, but not 8

[quack2]

Spirit on June 21.  I have noticed that there were fewer excursions to choose from a couple of months ago and now many of those are sold out or no longer listed.  I have rarely seen this in past, pre-covid years.

[eileeshb]

For a family of 8 it would probably be cheaper to arrange tours privately. Check trip advisor or the local port tourism websites for listings. You can always post here or on the trip advisor forums to ask for others experiences with specific tour operators. 

[SightCRR]

Here is a long shot at a great tour. Read up on his web site and see if it would work for you and if he has openings. Lucky chance guide serviceSitka, alaska907-738-8233irmadiman@yahoo.com - Home