Alaska-Mariner cruise-May 20

[Marpal]

Just checking in to see if there is anyone going on this cruise. We can not drink anything alcoholic. Do they substitute with other drinks of choice in your room? Is it best to book excursions through RSSC if you are a newbie? If booked through RSSC, is the money refunded if not able to dock at that location. If booked through an independant, what is the procedure if not able to dock?

[cruiseyguy]

RSSC will provide non-alcoholic beverages-just let them know what you want. How to book excursions is a personal thing. Some folks think it is less expensive to book independently. My experience is that this sometimes true, sometimes not. If you book a ship excursion and weather forces a cancellation, you will not be charged. Most, but not all, private excursions have the same policy. With a ship excursion, you can always turn to the cruiseline if the excursion does not turn out right; with a private excursion, it's just you and the private company. Finally, the ship will wait if its own excursions are late. If a private excursion is late, adios.

[pappy3393]

I believe that if you invest the time and energy into arranging excursions on your own, you will get a more personalized and ultimately better experience in Alaska. It's all very expensive and you will save a few $$ if you make your own arrangements but there is the "peace of mind" factor if you do your excursions through the ship. To me, it's not about the few $$ I would save, it's about the personalization and the smaller group of people I will be with for the excursion. For example, if you arrange whale watching through the cruise line, you will be on a larger boat with a couple of hundred people. If you use someone like Capt Larry in Juneau, you will be on a smaller boat with about 20 people. True, everyone probably sees the same whales but to me, I would rather be around 20 people then around 200 people for this experience and have a renowned whale watcher talking to me.

[gopackgo]

Hi Marpal,

 

We went on the same cruise last June. It was our first cruise also. We did a combination of independent and ship excursions. We took Captain Larry's Whale Watch trip which was really fun. He only takes 20 people at a time in his fast boat which has a nice viewing deck on the back and on top. They were running about a half hour late that day. Before the whale watching, we took a bus out to the Mendenhall Glacier around 1 after getting off our ship. Larry's shuttle was to pick us up there on the way out to the whale watching for 3. They picked us up about a half hour late. It just meant that we had to make sure he got us back to the ship in time, after the whale watching. There were a handful of us on his boat and we were somewhat worried, but they got us back in time. Just trying to point out that one risk with an private tour is timing. I doubt it is much a problem though, or these people would be out of business.

 

Also, our ship developed a propeller problem halfway through the cruise, so we had to bypass Ketchikan. Big disappointment!! We had scheduled with Island Wings to fly into Misty Fjord and land. We contacted them when we got home and they refunded our money in full, even though they probably didn't have to. We thought that was classy of them. We have heard they do a great job also. Usually the private companies say they will only refund because of bad weather, like cruiseguy said.

 

If you don't want to have any worry about getting back to the ship in time or getting a refund for any reason, stay with the ship's excursions. If you are not a big worrier, then go ahead with some highly recommended private tours.

 

Another note. We didn't take Radisson's Tracey Arm excursion on the small boat that goes close to shoreline and the glaciers. I heard very good remarks about it from some people who did and I regret not taking it. Think about that - it's a Radisson excursion where you get into a smaller enclosed viewing boat for the afternoon.

 

Have fun!!

 

Ginny

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I've not been on Mariner, or to Alaska, but I doubt whether any excursion of Radisson's would have 200 people. A busload at most, and a small bus at that, I'm betting. I've only been on the PG and Diamond, but the biggest excursion on Diamond last summer was about 25 people. Smaller ship than Mariner, but not by orders of magnitude.

[Marpal]

Thank you all for your remarks. They will be very helpful when making decisions as to what excursions to take. I just wish the waiting would go a little faster. :)

[ChatKat in Ca.]

Some friends of mine will be on the 5/20 Alaska Mariner. There will be a whole bunch of people from Ventura County California because of the annual stop in Port Hueneme. Anyway, there will be some friends of Bill W on the cruise. Check out the meeting if you are so inclined.

[Marpal]

I am thinking that maybe Bill W is someone I should know. This is our first cruise so I am sure that I have lots to learn but could you give me a hint? :) We grew up in Southern CA so I would guess there might be many from that area.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

Bill W is the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. Hence, if you see something on the daily passages about Friends of Bill W it is reference to the AA meeting.

[Marpal]

Thank you Kathy. I just read about Bill W and it was very interesting. We learn something new every day.