Moving Beyond My "Sticker Shock" Over The Prices of Discovery Princess Excursions On My Upcoming Cruise to Alaska

[Speedy54]

Dear Seasoned Cruisers,

 

Our vacation in Scotland was scuttled due to multiple flight cancellations in late July. We got as far as Dublin Airport and bailed on a Road Scholar Tour we were destined to join days late. We wished to ensure that our insurance would cover us. We consulted with a trusted travel agent who scrambled to find a booking on a cruise ship headed for Alaska. We were very ignorant as to 1) The exorbitant costs of many excursions, and 2) How untimely were our efforts to book excursions one month before we were scheduled to depart from Seattle.  

 

We have paid for one excursion, The White Pass Scenic Railway in Skagway, Alaska. If you have experienced this excursion I'd love to hear whether or not you felt it was worth it. 

 

Our plan beyond this is to do some self-guided touring when our ship docks in Juneau, Glacier Bay National Park, and Ketchikan Alaska. I would love to hear from you if you did some self-guided touring at these stops as to what you would recommend to us in terms of how to spend our allotted time on shore.

 

Thanks.

Speedy54

[reedprincess]

The ship doesn't dock I. Glacier Bay Ntl Park. It's a scenic cruising day, all day, through the park.

 

Juneau - you can get the bus to Mendenhall Glacier and explore on your own or take the Mt Roberts Tram up to the top of the mountain and explore on your own..

 

Ketchikan, town is right there, Creek Street is cute and fun to wander down, tour operators available at the dock to do some easy hikes or such, etc..

 

Check the Alaska Ports of Call forums for more options, details, info, etc. 

 

[dreaminofcruisin]

Go do some reading in the Alaska forum. There should be many ideas for you there:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/33-alaska/

 

[DCThunder]

28 minutes ago, reedprincess said:

The ship doesn't dock I. Glacier Bay Ntl Park. It's a scenic cruising day, all day, through the park.

 

Juneau - you can get the bus to Mendenhall Glacier and explore on your own or take the Mt Roberts Tram up to the top of the mountain and explore on your own..

 

Ketchikan, town is right there, Creek Street is cute and fun to wander down, tour operators available at the dock to do some easy hikes or such, etc..

 

Check the Alaska Ports of Call forums for more options, details, info, etc. 

 

Consider doing the Bering Sea Crab Fisherman's Tour in Ketchikan.  It's a lot of fun, especially if you like the Deadliest Catch TV show.  They should take you to see bald eagles and you'll see other wildlife as well.  Highly recommended, even if a bit cheesy.  We all need some fromage in our lives...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Astro Flyer]

56 minutes ago, Speedy54 said:

The White Pass Scenic Railway in Skagway, Alaska.

I have enjoyed two different versions of this tour…once taking the bus into Canada & returning by train; once taking the train roundtrip to the Canadian border. Both were good but with the first version we saw parts of Canada past Summit Lake to Fraser & had a BBQ lunch included. Although as you have experienced, prices have greatly increased since we enjoyed both of these tours.

 

[NWA395]

1 hour ago, Speedy54 said:

Dear Seasoned Cruisers,

 

Our vacation in Scotland was scuttled due to multiple flight cancellations in late July. We got as far as Dublin Airport and bailed on a Road Scholar Tour we were destined to join days late. We wished to ensure that our insurance would cover us. We consulted with a trusted travel agent who scrambled to find a booking on a cruise ship headed for Alaska. We were very ignorant as to 1) The exorbitant costs of many excursions, and 2) How untimely were our efforts to book excursions one month before we were scheduled to depart from Seattle.  

 

We have paid for one excursion, The White Pass Scenic Railway in Skagway, Alaska. If you have experienced this excursion I'd love to hear whether or not you felt it was worth it. 

We did the WPRR the first week of May 2023 and enjoyed it.  At that time there was significant snow cover.  We are doing the excursion again in 2 weeks.  We definitely felt it was worth it.  It just scenery and trains.  Don't worry about which side of the train you are on as it loops at the top and essentially switches side.  The left side has ore scenery on the way up, but less on the way down and there is a viewing platform on the back of every car IIRC.

 

Our plan beyond this is to do some self-guided touring when our ship docks in Juneau, Glacier Bay National Park, and Ketchikan Alaska. I would love to hear from you if you did some self-guided touring at these stops as to what you would recommend to us in terms of how to spend our allotted time on shore.

Our last time in Juneau we did an independent whale watching trip with Harv and Marv and felt the the trip was worth the cost.  This year we have rented a car through Turo and will explore on our own, (Mendenhall, Shrine of St. Therese etc.).  We enjoyed walking Ketchikan and also did the Lumberjack show.  A bit kitzy but still enjoyable.  Good Luck on your trip

 

1 hour ago, Speedy54 said:

 

Thanks.

Speedy54

 

[paddingtonbear]

Sounds like we did the same tour as Astro Flyer. We did a private excursion and it was great. They might be less expensive than the princess excursions the price of which goes up closer to the date of the cruise. 

 

We went with chilkoot tours but even their prices are stupidly expensive now. It was good though. they have different length tours. 
 

https://chilkootcharters.com/bennett-scenic-journey/

 

Edited August 3 by paddingtonbear

[trin880]

1 hour ago, Speedy54 said:

We have paid for one excursion, The White Pass Scenic Railway in Skagway, Alaska. If you have experienced this excursion I'd love to hear whether or not you felt it was worth it. 

I have also taken this round trip by train and we loved it, although it was a long train ride. It has been only a year ago and I don't remember how much it was, but it likely was lower than today. 

One of most memorable excursions was a rafting tour in the river near Mendenhall glacier. So much fun.

[BlerkOne]

For us, Juneau has the best whale watching. We've been with several of the operators - no bad experiences. Our current favorite is Jayleen. We went with her last year and are going with her again in a few weeks.

https://jayleensalaska.com/

 

Not planning on anything in Ketchikan other than walking around. The salmon should be running this time of year and straight through town. There's lots of artsy shopping, etc.

 

Lots of self-guided or guided walking tours available, and some are free.

An example:

https://www.alaska.org/guide/downtown-ketchikan-walking-tour

 

 

[trin880]

20 minutes ago, paddingtonbear said:

Sounds like we did the same tour as Astro Flyer. We did a private excursion and it was great. They might be less expensive than the princess excursions the price of which goes up closer to the date of the cruise. 

 

We went with chilkoot tours but even their prices are stupidly expensive now. It was good though. they have different length tours. 
 

https://chilkootcharters.com/bennett-scenic-journey/

 

I have decided to check how much we paid exactly a year ago for a White Pass with Chilkoot for the train round trip for 2. It was $500.

[Cruise Raider]

https://www.chilkatvalleynews.com/2024/07/23/skagway-cruise-passengers-stranded-in-canada-by-a-rockslide-rejoin-their-ships-in-haines/

 

Not sure if this would apply to you …

not sure this has been cleared yet.  I tried to see if there were any updates and I couldn’t find anything.  Perhaps, no news is good news.  
 

And yes, prices on excursions have gone crazy, but what hasn’t?  
 

[EDVM96]

4 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

not sure this has been cleared yet.

All clear. Business as usual.

 

[Cruise Raider]

29 minutes ago, EDVM96 said:

All clear. Business as usual.

 

Great to hear that. 

[BlerkOne]

Just now, Cruise Raider said:

https://www.chilkatvalleynews.com/2024/07/23/skagway-cruise-passengers-stranded-in-canada-by-a-rockslide-rejoin-their-ships-in-haines/

 

Not sure if this would apply to you …

not sure this has been cleared yet.  I tried to see if there were any updates and I couldn’t find anything.  Perhaps, no news is good news.  
 

And yes, prices on excursions have gone crazy, but what hasn’t?  
 

Cleared.

 

[Rick&Jeannie]

2 hours ago, DCThunder said:

Consider doing the Bering Sea Crab Fisherman's Tour in Ketchikan.  It's a lot of fun, especially if you like the Deadliest Catch TV show.  They should take you to see bald eagles and you'll see other wildlife as well.  Highly recommended, even if a bit cheesy.  We all need some fromage in our lives...

We have done this one as well, along with another couple who watched the show. They enjoyed it just as much as we did. It's not cheap...but as you've discovered,  nothing about Alaska is!

[Rick&Jeannie]

We very much enjoyed the White Pass Railroad *both* times we've done it. Amazing scenery. 

[Thrak]

We did this on our very first cruise. Great scenery and an interesting trip. Of course it was probably a lot cheaper than it is today. It seems that Princess excursions have all pretty much gone through the roof when it comes to pricing.

[azbirdmom]

We got back from our cruise on the Discovery, our 9th Alaska cruise, and agree the excursions are crazy expensive.  Since we've done several excursions over the years we chose to wander on our own this time.

 

In Ketchikan we had planned to do the walking tour that's in this map, the same one that they hand out at the visitor center https://www.experienceketchikan.com/support-files/ketchikan_maps_downtown_2016.pdf .  But with the pouring rain we only made it as far as the Salmon Ladder, then down to Creek Street and the other shops before heading back to the ship.

 

In Juneau we were going to walk down to the whale statue and possibly to the Hanger for a brew and halibut fish and chips.  Again the weather was bad so we chose to stop first at the Twisted Fish for lunch (excellent by the way) and then hit some of the shops.  In past years we've done Mendenhall, dog sledding, and whale watching.

 

Skagway the weather was better.  For a fleeting second we thought we'd book the train at the last minute as it had been years since we had done that.  But we thought nah, shopping and a stop at Skagway Brewing for a Spruce Tip sounded good (I think the only time I drink beer is in Alaska oddly).  We have enjoyed going in the Yukon in past years plus there's fun things in Haines like the Kroschel Wildlife park and rafting on the Chilkat.

 

And in Victoria we walked to Fisherman's Wharf (pretty much closed at 9:30 PM) and then downtown for a few pictures before scooting back to the ship.

 

We walked a lot and really didn't do much this trip.  But there is so much to see in every port if you are so inclined, you didn't say what sort of outing you prefer.

[that]

@Speedy54

“We have paid for one excursion, The White Pass Scenic Railway in Skagway, Alaska“

 

have done this three times over the years.  Love it!

Must sit on left side of train.  Bon Voyage

Edited August 4 by that

[azbirdmom]

Forgot to mention that if you choose to do the tram in Juneau wait to book until after you arrive and can see what the weather is like.  If it's rainy and foggy you won't be able to see much from up there nor would you want to be walking the trails.  There's a few exhibits, a movie restaurant and gift shops up there but on a nice day it's lovely to look down at the ships and across the channel.

[Thrak]

32 minutes ago, that said:

@Speedy54

“We have paid for one excursion, The White Pass Scenic Railway in Skagway, Alaska“

 

have done this three times over the years.  Love it!

Must sit on left side of train.  Bon Voyage

 

This is good advice. On the way up the majority of what you will be checking out is on that side of the train. We did the "up and back" version of this. At the turn around point they reversed the seats to face the other way and that then becomes the "right" side of the train which, again, is where the majority of viewing is.

[dweeb]

This was at the pier in Ketchikan earlier this year.  I never spoke to the people there concerning their prices, nor did we do any princess excursions there either.  I know most will say, "but with Princess, you are guaranteed to be back to the ship on time, and they will not leave without you."  SO you would have to decide for yourself if its worth it.

 

 

[SSAtlantic]

I would also say the White Pass excursion is good. 
Ketchikan is easy to walk on your own and enjoy Creek Street and the shopping. In Juneau, I most definitely agree to check out Jayleen Alaska for a whale watching trip. We toured with her as our captain several years ago and again with a different captain in 2023.  Both times it was a great trip.
Hope you enjoy Alaska, it is one of our favorite places to visit.  

[Rick&Jeannie]

1 hour ago, azbirdmom said:

In Juneau we were going to walk down to the whale statue and possibly to the Hanger for a brew and halibut fish and chips.  Again the weather was bad so we chose to stop first at the Twisted Fish for lunch (excellent by the way) and then hit some of the shops.  In past years we've done Mendenhall, dog sledding, and whale watching.

The day we did this I would have sworn that the rain was coming down sideways!  We were determined to get out and do *something* since our helicopter trip to the glacier was canceled.  On a nicer day it would be a very nice level walk, maybe a half mile or so from the pier.

 

[azbirdmom]

9 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

The day we did this I would have sworn that the rain was coming down sideways!  We were determined to get out and do *something* since our helicopter trip to the glacier was canceled.  On a nicer day it would be a very nice level walk, maybe a half mile or so from the pier.

 

 

Yes, we were there in 2019 and it was a tad more pleasant.