Alaska excursion advice for a first- timer

[Gypsyfeet]

Although we've cruised often...the Caribbean and Bermuda...July '07 will be our first Alaska cruise. The excursions the ship (NCL Pearl) offers seem extortionately expensive!! Does anyone have experience with private/independent companies that offer exciting adventures that won't cost an arm and a leg? :confused:

We're looking for true Alaska, not shopping. We'd like to see glaciers and wildlife without spending hundreds of $$$ at each port. Am I dreaming?

Thanks in advance!!

[Drybridge170]

Hi! I can't really tell you anything about booking private excursions as we did ours through the cruiseline, but I can say that every penny we spent on excursions was WELL worth the cost!! The first thing I would recommend is the tour with the black bears where you go to the salmon hatchery---if they charge you $300 pp it is worth it!!! Never seen anything like it in my life!! Next, we also like nature ALOT, and wanted to see wildlife as much as we could--we like fishing, hiking, etc. We went salmon fishing (catch & release) and it was terrific--everyone on the boat (there were only 10 people per boat) caught a fish except for me! We saw eagles and enjoyed it immensely! It is amazing just how large and powerful they really are! We did a helicopter tour also, and I was cringing at the cost--the pictures I have from that are phenomenal and it was soooooo worth the $$$!! Wish we had done one in every port they offered it.... The only one that we did that I felt wasn't worth it was horseback riding, and it wasn't bad, but we could have seen the same things on the trail ride at home. We also did the Idittarod tour, and that was good, not my favorite, but a once in a lifetime thing--and we bought stuff for the kids on that one. Honestly, I was surprised, (and shouldn't have been really, considering it's size) at just how FAR apart things were! I think if we had booked our shore excursions privately I would have been nervous about making it back on time, but I tend to be nervous about stuff like that.... I hope this helps you out a little. And ENJOY your trip, it truly is the most BEAUTIFUL place!!! Loralie

[silverfoxcruiser]

Gypsyfeet -- start saving and scrimping. The helicopter to Mendenhall Glacier was AWESOME!! You actually get to walk around, drop stones down fissures, feel like you're standing on top of the world. I don't know if this can be arranged other than through the ship, but we would do it again in a heartbeat. Maybe sign in on Ports of Call board, and check Alaska. There are a lot of inveterate travelers on this site who may be able to tell you how to arrange it more cheaply (but don't stint on safety), but do as many of the wonderful tours that you can. One of the free-est (is that a word? already paid for) pleasures is getting up as early as you can and walking around the ship. On our first morning out of Vancouver, I was one of 8 or 9 people strolling the deck VERY early, and a pod of Orca Whales was escorting us on the port side, diving in and out, practically dancing. It felt like they were welcoming us to their home. We were all so excited!! Picture it, 9 previously unacquainted strangers hugging and laughing with joy!! PRICELESS!!:cool: Enoy!! Silver

[ma_in_ak]

I live in Alaska and can tell you - everything here costs more, just like in Hawaii. Most everything has to be barged, flown or driven all the way up here and it all costs a lot. Expect to spend more on food and souvenirs than you would in Mexico or the Caribbean. If you find excursions that aren't offered by the ship, you;ll probably save a few bucks, but by the time you get your own transportation toa nad form the ship, how much will you really save. I would think of it more in terms of it being a once in a lifetime adventure so do the things you want to regardless of costs and make the most of your time here and make some spectacular memories. That's how we are looking at our Hawaii trip that is coming up next week. Have a great time.

[Gypsyfeet]

Okay....I guess it's a "suck up and deal" situation here re the cost of excursions and I thank you all for opening my eyes!

 

I'll take your advice, stick with the ship's well-planned excursions and soothe my sore pocket book when I get home !!!:p

It's just that there are 5 of us to book !!

But as you all say, it's a once in a lifetime adventure....just do it.

 

THANKS so much for the help!

[MIcruiser99]

I would advise you to go to the Port of call section and click on Alaska.

 

I got great ideas from others who had been on independant excursions. We chose to go on our own and love it!

 

We had a wonderful whale watching excursion with Harv and Marv in Juneau. I did a helicopter tour not through the ship and enjoyed that.

 

Each was expensive but well worth it.

 

We chose not to do it with the ship as we liked a more personal experience instead of being on a busload of people.

[bluedevil72]

I agree with the previous poster; go to the Alaska board. There is a wealth of info on that board. We went to Alaska in 2001 and did cruise line excursions. We went bact in July of last year and used info we got on the Alaska board to book some of the excursions independently. We booked Orca Enterprises in Juneau for a whale watching excursion; Island Wings for a floatplane excursion to Misty Fjords Nat'l Monument (our favorite ever); and we rented a car in Skagway and drove to Emerald Lake in the Yukon. On our trip in 2001 we booked the White Pass Railway through the cruiseline in Skagway and it was also a great excursion. It may be a little early to have very many recent threads but you could do a search and finds all kinds of useful info. The interest picks up on that board after the first of the year. (Any threads you can find that have info from BudgetQueen or Yukon are excellent.)

[cntrydncr1]

Independent operators are cheaper, smaller groups and very professional. Definitely use the "Alaska" board. There are many people there who have cruise many times to Alaska. We went this past summer and I used tons of info from that board. All the advice was excellent and the trip was even more spectacular than I would have imagined.

 

We did the floatplane to Misty Fjords with Michelle at Island Wings too and it was beyond beautiful. We went on the Whale watch with Captain Larry in Juneau and I don't think I could even describe how spectacular that was. We rented a car through Avis in Skagway for the drive to Emerald lake which we enjoyed very much.

 

If you want to give me your email address I will be happy to send you the link to my pics.

[Wormy53]

Agree with the 2 previous posters. In Alaska you can do your own, and while it may not be much cheaper, it is much more personal!

Juneau - Capt Larry's Whale Watching and Helicopter to Mendenhall Glacier

Ketchikan - Michelle with Island Wings Flightseeing

Skagway - Whitepass Railway (cruise supplied) or rent a car

These are all wonderful wildlife and scenery tours - there is nothing quite like Alaska! If you go in August, that is bear-watching time. I know you'll have a wonderful time!

[TicTac#2]

Alaska just cost more, but well worth ever cent. We book mostly thru NCL

but did the White Pass on our own and saved some money.

[bluedevil72]

Gypsyfeet,

 

Here is a link to my pictures from the Star and those excursions I mentioned. We went in July of 2005. Here is the link; http://community.webshots.com/user/bluedevil72.

[FinelyRetired]

Our ship.....Sapphire 2005........had it's own rail car, the last one......up the White Pass. Great viewing both between cars and out the back!!!

 

Agree w. others, plan the extra $$$ for Alaska excursions, once in a lifetime. Not a time to scrimp.

 

I loved the Misty Fjords Floatplanes best of all. Breathtaking. Did thru ship. Also loved watching them "come and go" at port as we were on a port balcony.

[LHP]

We decided to fly up a week ahead of time and do a interior tour on our own before our cruise left from Whittier. It was a wonderful week (with us seeing the big 5) and I fell in love with Alaska (but not their "State Bird" ~ mosquito)

 

We rented a car and did a big loop. The loop I would not do again because the east side of the state is so desolate (population wise). But we loved Fairbanks and Anchorage and Palmer and the west side of the state.

 

About 100 miles from Anchorage (outside of Palmer) there is a place where you can drive to a glacier and walk out to the picnic table without any equipment. It was $30.00 for 4 of us. You can also rent equipment and a guide and "climb" but we have a special needs child that can't do all that...so it was a thrill for him to get to do this much!! The sounds and sights were amazing.

 

Anchorage hotels runs from $155.00 (Holiday Inn Express) to $255.00 (Hilton).

Denali doesn't have many options ofr hotels. It is basically $255.00. And Fairbanks was the best staying at a "something Suites" (I can't remember the name now) for $155.00 with a full breakfast.

 

We had 4 people on our party (hubby, wife and 2 sons) and we basically spent on this week what we would have spent on excursions.

 

BudgetQueen on the Alaska boards is your key to getting the best deals.

 

Have a great cruise!