RCI Alaska Shore Excursions prices

[panda1215]

This will be our second Alaskan cruise but first Alaskan cruise on RCI. The last time it was through Princess and i booked almost all of our excursions independently and was able to save a lot of money compared to the excursion cost through Princess. However, i am not finding this to the same with RCI - so i was wondering if others have noticed this. In most cases the difference in less than $20 total (for 3 people). Was just wondering if this is normal for RCI to have more competive cost on excursions or if something has changed. With the prices being so close i am considering booking most of the excursions directly with RCI. Thoughts?

[easyboy]

I presume that bookings on shore excursions with RCI are also their responsibility. I would trust that it will not be inferior to the same tour description of the slightly lower-priced tour operator.

 

 

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[Nukesquad]

I'm booked on a B2B in June/July 2017. I've been finding that it depends on what kinds of excursions you're looking for. First off, I tend to prefer going outside of the cruise line solely since I feel that the cost is higher than I'd like (yes, granted, you're getting the peace of mind of details/guarantees/etc.)

 

Last time we were in Juneau, there were separate excursions to the Alaskan Brewery tour, Salmon hatchery, etc. In that case, I found it easier and cheaper to do these things on our own. We just negotiated a rate with an independent cab to take us to all the spots in Juneau we wanted to see and we were able to get it a lot cheaper and on our own time table.

 

On the other hand, I'm currently looking into some different excursions in Skagway to get up into the Yukon. I've looked into the cruise line's excursions, some private companies (so far impressed with Midnight Sun Excursions), and just us renting a car at the local Avis and doing things ourselves. So far, I've found that if our numbers were 6+ then private companies would be cost effective (we currently have 6 in our party interested in tagging along on this excursion). But if we have a couple of people bow out, then the cost is pretty even, regardless on which avenue we take.

 

I'm curious to what your research has yielded, and if anybody has any experiences, because I'm still on the lookout for the next deal!

 

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[emeraldcity]

I did a lot of research before my Alaska cruise and I found the same situation. The only independent tours I booked were the Skagway mini-bus/train combo (through Chilkoot) and the local bus RT to Mendenhall and back. As for the flightseeing option offered on the land-tour portion, the price was actually less than if I had booked directly with K2 Aviation ... and I didn't have to pre-pay weeks in advance -- I was able to book when we got on the bus in Seward.

[panda1215]

So two examples: Skagway: Grizzly Falls Zip line - with RCI 179 Adult/139 Child and directly with the place 169 Adult and 149 Child - so that one is actually the same cost for us regardless of how we book.

 

Juneau : Mendenhall Glacier Float: RCI: 149 Adult and 99 child / directly with the company 135 Adult and 101 Child - so booking with the company we would only save about $26 (we have 2 Adults and one child on our trip).

 

Am i looking in the wrong place to book locally? I have even looked at Viator and the prices are the same. Thoughts?

 

 

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[cruzgryphon]

It seems a little strange. Have you contacted the tour companies directly to see what they quote you - I did that a couple of times in Alaska and got a better rate by contacting them directly. Another thing to keep in mind is that with the Royal Caribbean's excursion you're likely looking at fairly large groups of people compared to the private tour operators.

[awestover89]

For Alaska cruises we usually just do our own things, we do a lot of hikes in Alaska so it's free. The only excursion we actually did was the snorkeling in Ketchikan, and it was quite a bit cheaper purchased directly than through Royal.

[panda1215]

I think one reason might be because of the type of excursion - it appears that there are only 2 companies that do the float trip to the Mendenhall Glacier so there is a little bit of a market on the excursion and thus not much price variation. I think we will book that one through the cruise line in case the weather is not idea and then we might have the option to make a switch.

 

thanks for the feedback.

 

 

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[emeraldcity]

We did the Zodiac boats in Ketchikan (which I highly recommend). Their website advised if you were on a cruise to book directly through the cruiseline (I suspect a contractual agreement).

 

In Juneau we wanted to have as much time as we wanted at Mendenhall, so we chose to book the bus. It was a good call because the one hour advertised by the cruiseline tour would not have been sufficient.

 

On the land portion, it was difficult to plan your own excursions because you didn't really know what the schedule would be. I researched all our desired options ahead of time so I knew what the local operators were charging for the things we wanted to do. When we got on the bus and got our list of optional excursions I found the prices to be comparable so I went with their options. In fact the price we were quoted for white water rafting was lowered four days later when we paid for it because our tour director chose a different company to save us a few bucks (and it was an incredible experience). The tour director also took the responsibility to arrange all the local transportation and met us in the lobby of the hotel each time (even that early morning rafting pick-up) to insure that our connections were successful.