Some help please - Mariner/Alaska

[Curly-Q]

We're booked on Mariner's 8/4 to Alaska. TA advised that we would receive our package 2-3 weeks prior to sailing and excursion packages with costs would be included. He also said we would be able to book the excursions when we got on board. During my research (a continual process mostly on this board) I've discovered various excursions offered by private business/tours, most of which match up to those offered by RSSC.

So firstly, would I be better off making my excursion reservations with these private companies, some of which are very popular and suggest early reservations; or waiting for the RSSC package for excursion details???? I'm not afraid to book on my own, already took care of my own air and hotel reservations.

Secondly, would booking privately cause any problems with disemarking at the ports (assuming my times coincide with the ship's in-port times)?

And, finally, are there price or tour differences between RSSC and private excursion bookings? I don't know RSSC's excursion prices, unless there's a area on their website that I've missed, though the private companies list their prices.

Any help would be appreciated. I KNOW there's a lot of experience on this board. This is our first trip to Alaska. We want to see and experience as much as we can, especially since we're celebrating our silver anniversary. Thanks!

CurlyQ

[gdlamberth]

We did Alaska on Navigator a couple of years ago. We did mostly our own booking (the train at Skagway (if you're planning on doing that) is the only exception I'd make as RSSC gets special treatment o that one). In Juneau we even took the "local" bus out to Mendenhall Glacier and hiked the 4 mile glacier trail without anyone's help. Generally, you'll save a fair amount of money booking your own.

NYFEDS: Denise, do you have more and better information for our friend fromthe Emerald Coast??
Greg

USNA72

[foreveryoung]

I also did Alaska on the Navigator. I booked the Whale Watch and Wildlife Quest in Juneau thru Radisson even tho most people prefer the independent operators like Capt Larry. I found that the Whale Watch thru Radisson was comparable in price with the others and the time on board was a little longer. Also, Allen Marine, the tour operator had 1 tour boat assigned to each cruise ship in port that day so the Rad passengers (about 35) had a 100 capacity boat to themselves. From my research Radisson didn't seem to hike the excursion prices like other cruise lines do.

Vickie

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0000ff&cdt=2004;12;6;18;0;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
12/6/04 WOWzers Chocolate Lovers Cruise on Voyager


It's not that life is short, it that we wait too long to begin enjoying it.

[Curly-Q]

Thanks for the great info! I was afraid the rates would be raised by the cruise line; I don't mind paying, but I like to know I get my money's worth, and I especially don't like to be fleeced! Based on "word of internet" we were looking into the Capt Larry whale watching, mainly because of the almost 100% guarantee that a whale will be spotted, and like I said I don't mind booking privately. However, the info you provided make me think it might not be so bad to use RSSC's services. We'd like to participate in whale watching, float plane bear viewing to Neets Bay, and maybe a helo ride to a glacier. Think the price/service will be about the same???? Also, any difference as far as disembarkation at ports with private vs. RSSC?

As always, appreciate all your help and advice!

Deb

[jhp]

CurlyQ, I have e-mailed a friend who did this cruise and did a lot of research before she booked. I am confident that she will provide links for the agents she used.

[Ngaire]

We did two of the excursions you mentioned through RSSC. The whale watch in Juneau no matter what operator you will see whales. Our trip was truly fabulous and we saw whales "bubble feeding" and incredible sight. The Neets Bay bear watch was also fantastic. Of course it all depends on the time of year and if the bears are there but we were really close and they did not care about us at all they were feeding on salmon. There are some great local tour operators with the main advantage being smaller groups. It can take work to organize these but if you dont do it I think you will find the RSSC excursions fine. You can send in a fax form that comes in your tickets ahead of time if you wish you dont have to wait until you board. I would suggest that as some of the excursions do sell out.

[Dreps]

We are going on the August 11 cruise. I have booked most of our excursions independently. I used information from the Alaska Board and went from there. I did it because I wanted smaller groups; I don't think the savings will be significant, although there is a coupon book one can purchase (Alaska Tour Saver Coupon book) that for some of the expensive air-related excursions has 2-for-1 coupons using highly regarded operators. We're doing Denali Park and Talkeetna before the cruise, including a McKinley Summit Tour from Talkeetna Aero Service. We're booked train through Radisson from the Anchorage Airport to Seward. During the cruise, in Juneau, we're doing Captain Larry (whales) and Coastal (dog sledding and helicopter); they coordinated for us. In Skagway, I'll book the White Pass RR through Radisson. In Ketchikan, we're using SE avaiation for Misty Fjords. We'll spend several days in Vancouver at the end.

Dreps

[Trouper 75]

We did LAX to Seward in the inaugural season and many Mariner (and Voyager) cruises since. We find the excursion prices reasonable, groups always smaller than they could be and the Radisson crew members,along for our safety, very helpful. When I fell ill and could not participate in a ticketed outing Radisson refunded the full price. It is just Radisson: always better than expected.

[nyfeds]

Hi Deb,

I had hoped to respond to your request sooner, but ran into some difficulties trying to locate this post, which I initially posted back in January, 2004.

We took our first cruise to Alaska on the Navigator.

I arranged several of our shore excursions on my own and we had the time of our lives.

In Ketchikan, we took a float plane through Misty Fjords, with Island Wings. It was one of the most awesome experiences of the whole trip.

In Juneau, I arranged an Icefield Excursion with Coastal Helicopters. Again, it was an incredible experience.

After the Icefield Excursion with Coastal, I arranged a whale watching trip with Orca (with the infamous Capt. Larry, who more than lives up to his quirky reputation). It was so much fun. Orca works in conjunction with Coastal and they will pick you up, enablling you to do back to back adventures.

We took Radisson's railroad excursion in Skagway.

We also enjoyed the Raptor Center in Sitka.

As for shopping, we found Eagle Spirit in Ketchikan to have lovely, very high quality items. Don't expect inexpensive pricing here. However, if you enjoy fine pieces of sculpture, Baleen baskets, carvings, etc., this is the place.

I did this through my own research and notified the companies, directly.

Island Wings
[url="http://www.islandwings.com"]www.islandwings.com[/url]

Coastal Helicopter
[url="http://www.alaskaone.com/coastal/"]http://www.alaskaone.com/coastal/[/url]

Orca Enterprises
[url="http://www.ptialaska.net/~whales/"]http://www.ptialaska.net/~whales/[/url]

For more info to share, I suggest logging on to the Alaska boards. I found some of the info the posters provided to be very worthwhile.

I wish you an enjoyable trip. You will love Alaska.

[Curly-Q]

Thanks NYFEDS, your info looks great. Been in Chicago this week and haven't been able to keep up with my research for Alaska. As soon as I get home I'm going to check into the various links you provided. I'm sure about Capt Larry, but I want to check into the others also. Thanks again for the info. I'm sure Alaska will be quite an experience of a lifetime!

Deb

[nyfeds]

Hi Deb

Glad to be of assistance.

Please let me know how things work out for you. Wishing you a great trip.

[gopackgo]

Deb,

We just got back from the Mariner in Alaska from Seward to Vancouver. Just a few notes for your or others' information. Overall, we had a wonderful time. The ship is wonderful as is the food and service. Alaska is gorgeous.

We booked with Captain Larry for a 3:30 pm whale watching. We docked in Juneau a little past 1. The Orca office was about 3 blocks away. We went over there to get our tickets and then we had to wait until 2 for the shuttle out to Mendenhall Glacier. The glacier and visitor center were really nice. If you can, go to see it. Well, the Orca bus was supposed to pick us up at the Glacier at 3:45. They didn't get there until after 4. so by the time we got to the boat, the trip was running about a half hour late. No big problem, except we were leaving Juneau 2 hours earlier than originally scheduled.

All in all, the trip was nice. We saw only about 3 whales, but we saw them do a lot of stuff and fairly close, so it was worth it! We saw sea lions also. The boat is small but there is plenty of room on the back deck for at least 10 or more people at a time. Very nice. His assistant was very strange. I don't think he is a naturalist. He is pretty young and starts off as if he is a nightclub comedy act, except he is not funny. Luckily he only talked at the very beginning of the trip. Captain Larry did the talking after that and he knows a lot about whales. It was a hot day so it felt great to stand on the back deck, especially when we went full speed ahead to seek out whales. HOLD ON!!!

Anyway, we were a tiny bit concerned about the timing, but he got us back to the dock and the shuttle got us back to our ship really fast. No problems.

In the future, I may not book independent tours. First, you have to find them. And if they are running late, you are in trouble. I noticed that on the 2 tours we booked through Radisson, the tour operators met you at the gangway. You didn't have to seek them out or walk to their office a few blocks away. I guess I am getting old and don't want to worry anymore. For instance, the train ride in Skagway. The 3 Radisson coaches are about 25 feet from the dock ready and waiting for you. If you book independent, you have to walk about 10 or 15 minutes to the office, stand in line for a ticket, etc.

The cruise was wonderful. Have a great time!! You will love the ship, food and service!!

Ginny

[Curly-Q]

Thanks for the info, Ginny. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed your trip, but I never had any doubts about that! I decided to use RSSC for all excursions for the reasons you mentioned. How did your packing work out, anything to add to the list of what not to pack, forget, etc? Sound like the weather cooperated with you!

Deb

[John G]

RSSC posts the excursions to be offered and the prices on their website about 60 days before each voyage. Go to the itinerary for your trip, click on any of the destinations, and you'll see the list of excursions offered. If you click on individual excursions you'll see the price RSSC is charging.

[ChatKatCa]

I've always preferred the shore excursions from the cruise line. If you have any problems, they are there to help and I have seen the ship held on more than once when there was a delay from the tour operator when you've used the shore excursions from the ship. I know that there have been stranded passengers (I've never heard of RSSC doing this, however,) when the independant tour ran way overtime to sail away

[Daw6id]

We were on the 6/16 Mariner cruise - found the Raddison prices quite reasonable compared to the competition. We took the Tracy Arm excursion, where the little boat meets the Mariner and takes you to within 1/4 mile of the Sawyer Glacier - truly spectacular. We saw whales and bears and sea lions on it, didn't need Captain Larry. We took the kayaking and Skagway train combo - which was well worth it. You couldn't do that independently. I duplicated the Sitka tour on my own, walking, and saw more than the people on the $49 tour [went into St. Michaels, walked through the woods to the Raptor Center] with a total outlay of $15, skipping the Russian dancers.

Penny and the Radisson tour people are very helpful, and renegotiated the Juneau salmon fishing trip to coordinate with our changed schedule, so we were assured the boat would still be there when we got back. Unfortunately, the salmon weren't there when we got there.

[gopackgo]

Hi Daw6id,

Jim and I were on your ship to Alaska. We loved the cruise. Too bad we had to skip Misty fjords and Ketchikan. I am so mad that we weren't on the ball about the Tracy Arm excursion boat. For some reason, I didn't know anything about it until about 2 weeks before we left.

We enjoyed our whale watching with Captain Larry but would have bypassed that to take the Tracy Arm excursion boat, especially since the Mariner didn't got out to the Sawyer Glacier.

We did take the Sitka tour. It was very enjoyable but kind of long. The tour guide was a Tlingit native and very fun. The Russian dancers were good - they are all women and all volunteers which makes them even more interesting, in my opinion. We also enjoyed the raptor center and the park. The church was nice also.

We thought Sitka was beautiful and a nice city to visit with high class shops.

We also really loved the ship entertainment and the food was outstanding.

We are looking at another cruise for 2005 with Radisson.

Were you with one of the groups onboard?

Ginny

[FridaysCruiseWinner]

Hi Curly-Q. We recently took the Mariner from Vancouver to Seward and had the time of our lives. We had booked our excursions prior to sailing and it was nice having everything taken care of ahead of time. Changes could be made, if necessary, up to 24 hours before the excursion. In talking to some of the staff, I found that RSSC is very picky of the excursions it offers its passengers. They make sure that the bathroom facililities are clean and sufficient, they have rules regarding the number of people that take a tour. For example, if a bus holds 66 people, RSSC limits the amount of people that a tour operator can allow so that there is no crowding or discomfort. They taste the food served etc before allowing an excursion on their roster. A RSSC staff person is on every excursion to make sure that all goes well and to deal with any issues that might arise. We were on the Sea Otter Wildlife Quest and one of the naturalists onboard told me that before the RSSC passengers boarded, the staff was told to give us extra special treatment. What is my point you ask??? :o) If the cost savings of booking an excursion yourself or going through RSSC is minimal - I am saying that it might be best to go through RSSC to get the special treatment and size limitations etc that come with the RSSC tour. That was my two cents!

You will have a great time no matter what you chose to do. The trip is fabulous - the food is divine, the staff are amazing and the scenery is breathtaking. What more could you ask for?? :o) ENJOY!!

[spleen93]

FridaysCruiseWinner - glad to hear that you had a good time on the Mariner! :)

Spleen

[Curly-Q]

Thanks, Fridayscruisewinner for the info. Glad to hear you had such a wonderful time!

We rec'd our docs and faxed our reservations to RSSC for their excursions. For the reasons you mentioned, plus the ship knowing where we are and paying for the excursions all at one time was plenty enough reason for us to book thru RSSC. As I understand it, if a RSSC tour is delayed, the ship knows where we are and will wait. That won't happen with an independent tour.

For others considering this route: The excursion doc only allows one excursion for each port, but RSSC made it clear that we can sign up for more than one once on board. This ensures there are no time/overlap conflicts, which makes sense. In their docs, RSSC doesn't list the time for the individual excursions, just whether they are am or pm tours and their length. Some tours have both am and pm departures. We chose the tours that we absolutely wanted to do, and may fill in more after we board. Unfortunately, the weather will play a major role, so we're keeping our fingers crossed that nothing gets cancelled. Since we had already made our choices, we were able to complete the doc and fax it to RSSC upon arrival. Now we just sit back and wait to go!

[FridaysCruiseWinner]

I love this board. Everyone is so nice!

Happy cruising to all!