How important is it to book alaska excursions in advance?

[eastcoastcruisers]

Is there still availability for booking escursions from the ship as soon as you board? I am familiar with cruising the caribbean but not sure how it works for alaska.

[Phxazzcruisers]

We took two Alaska cruises and never had an issue booking excursions once we were on the ship. Some of the popular ones do fill up fast, so I would aim for booking once on board

[Mysteryreader]

We checked the various excursions online prior to our cruise. There was only one that we felt we really had to do, the White Pass Rwy in Skagway, so we bk'd that one online. When we got on the ship, we learned that several excursions were already sold out, inc the WPR. (You can also get tickets on this in town but the schedule/cruise dock convenience made X excursion worth it.) If there's an excursion you really want, you might want to bk in advance. Otherwise, there'll be lots of options on board ship.

 

Also, AK is a very user-friendly destination. (Remember, this is not some third-world country with security issues.) There are lots of tour cos with kiosks on the pier, usually at a reduced rate over the ship's excursions. You might want to wait until after docking rather than bk'ing on board. The AK board on CC gives lots of pointers. We decided not to bk a ship's excursion in Juneau b/c we felt the prices were out of line. We had *lots* of options at the pier. We later wished we'd taken the regularly scheduled bus to the glacier b/c it didn't have a set return departure time.

[ellbon]

i booked tours for july- can always change them around. good ones are always gone- including al lthe fightseeing.

[eastcoastcruisers]

Thanks for the advice. A number of people are looking to me to give them direction about whether to book now or later.I think I will encourage anyone to book ahead,especially if it is something they do not want to miss-such as the white pass RR. I was considering taking the shuttle to Mendenhall Glacier as well, do you think there is taxi service available for Mendenhall also? Boy, when you review all the excursions available it is almost mind boggling trying to figure out what to do!

[Mysteryreader]

Thanks for the advice. A number of people are looking to me to give them direction about whether to book now or later.I think I will encourage anyone to book ahead,especially if it is something they do not want to miss-such as the white pass RR. I was considering taking the shuttle to Mendenhall Glacier as well, do you think there is taxi service available for Mendenhall also? Boy, when you review all the excursions available it is almost mind boggling trying to figure out what to do!

 

It's been several yrs since we did the AK cruise so any specifics I might had (taxi to Mendenhall) would be way out of date. You really want to post this kind of question on the AK boards. Their advice will be much more timely.

 

But I want to repeat: the bus to the Mendenhall Glacier was one of those "I could have done what?" and "Why did no one tell me this?" questions. The M/G is on the edge of town. Really. If you live in NYC, that's in another st. In comparable cities, that's just a hop, a skip, and a jump away. After having been there/done that, dh and I wished we'd taken the bus to M/G and walked back to the ship. It's that close.

 

M/R

[tupper10]

I agree with the last poster - go to the Alaska boards after you figure out what you want to see at each port and your comfortable activity level. Remember it may be raining or misting and the tour will still go. Think about whether you want to see wildlife or scenery. Book early so you get your first choice. The Alaska boards have great information about private tours which are cheaper so unless you are worried about the time factor I would use the private tour companies recommended on the boards. I also would recommend one flight seeing trip even though they are a small fortune - we did Glacier Bay which was well worth it since the ship wasn't going there we saw it by air. Whatever you choose Alaska is incredible so you will enjoy it and remember you can always go back to see more the next time.

[cruiseeveryday]

We went on the Celebrity Infinity last year and booked our tours early and we were glad we did. The good whale watching tours where you have no more then 10 people on a boat are the best. In Juneau we booked a whale watching tour through Orca Tours and we saw at least 20 different whales. One whale surfaced about 25' from us when we were just sitting still and waved to us. Go read the reviews and you will find out what you need to know.

[gloce]

We checked the various excursions online prior to our cruise. There was only one that we felt we really had to do, the White Pass Rwy in Skagway, so we bk'd that one online. When we got on the ship, we learned that several excursions were already sold out, inc the WPR. (You can also get tickets on this in town but the schedule/cruise dock convenience made X excursion worth it.) If there's an excursion you really want, you might want to bk in advance. Otherwise, there'll be lots of options on board ship.

 

Also, AK is a very user-friendly destination. (Remember, this is not some third-world country with security issues.) There are lots of tour cos with kiosks on the pier, usually at a reduced rate over the ship's excursions. You might want to wait until after docking rather than bk'ing on board. The AK board on CC gives lots of pointers. We decided not to bk a ship's excursion in Juneau b/c we felt the prices were out of line. We had *lots* of options at the pier. We later wished we'd taken the regularly scheduled bus to the glacier b/c it didn't have a set return departure time.

 

No it's not. It's a FIRST world country with security issues. I would say the biggest benefit to the average North American is that there are no language issues. Having had wonderful travel experiences in many third world countries I find your comment amusing. :D