Excursion Prices - what am I missing???

[April2412]

I am usually able to find independent shore excursions for cheaper than cruise line prices. I have been searching but everything I find is the exact same price as the cruise lines price. Am I missing something? Does it just happen that the particular excursions I am picking aren't discounted? Or is Alaska just like this?

[Coral]

Sometimes you can find them. Sometimes the independent excursions are smaller groups - for example you can get whale watching trips for 6 people instead of through the ship which has 150 people. Many people like the smaller groups.

 

You may want to post what shore excursions you are interested in and people can give suggestions.

[HLGW60]

I noticed a few years ago that it was more difficult in Alaska to book private excursions ......apparently because of some kind of agreement between the cruise line and the tour operators. I do believe that I was able to independently book the White Pass & Yukon Railroad excursion privately but today I looked on their website and found this:

 

"Cruise Ship Passengers

 

For passengers arriving via cruise ship, this tour is available from your ship’s Shore Excursion Department. By booking through the cruise line, you will be able to take advantage of the dockside service and join the tour on the pier alongside your ship. Contact your cruise line’s Shore Excursion Department for more details."

 

 

 

 

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[zqvol]

I noticed a few years ago that it was more difficult in Alaska to book private excursions ......apparently because of some kind of agreement between the cruise line and the tour operators. I do believe that I was able to independently book the White Pass & Yukon Railroad excursion privately but today I looked on their website and found this:

 

"Cruise Ship Passengers

 

For passengers arriving via cruise ship, this tour is available from your ship’s Shore Excursion Department. By booking through the cruise line, you will be able to take advantage of the dockside service and join the tour on the pier alongside your ship. Contact your cruise line’s Shore Excursion Department for more details."

 

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While that is true it doesn't mean that you cannot book the train on your own. When booking through the cruise line the train picks you right outside the ship and drops you off there. When you book on your own you have to walk a few minutes to the station, but they will certainly take you.

[JT1962]

It's basically supply and demand. There are not as many tour operators in Alaska as in the Caribbean and it is a very short season. The independent operations usually offer a smaller group and possibly longer excursion than a similar offering by the cruise lines. In that way you are getting a better experience, but not necessarily a cheaper price.

 

 

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[new_cruiser]

While that is true it doesn't mean that you cannot book the train on your own. When booking through the cruise line the train picks you right outside the ship and drops you off there. When you book on your own you have to walk a few minutes to the station, but they will certainly take you.

 

It wasn't even true for our cruise. Crystal Serenity excursions only list doing round trip on the train to Fraser and we wanted to do bus up train down and we probably will take the train to Carcross, not just to Fraser

[lucy2mb]

For Skagway, look at Chilkoot tours. Our Yukon Rail and bus excursion was a smaller group and also less expensive than the cruise ship excursion.

[Northern Aurora]

April: Every couple of years we take an Alaskan cruise since we live such a different part of an immense state, and I find this interesting too. We will be doing a Seward to Vancouver and then back to Seward B2B this summer. On our cruise line of choice you can pre-purchase a Mt. Roberts ticket for the exact same price as if you purchased directly from the company (and given that the Mt. Roberts experience is somewhat weather dependent why would you want to pre-purchase). I don't have my notes in front of me, but the White Pass and Yukon train excursions purchased from the WP & Y are only about $7 cheaper than those offered by the cruise line. We have been on the WP & YRR several times, and if the weather is great when we are in Skagway then we will take our chances and just walk the short distance to the ticket office.

[April2412]

Thanks everyone. Glad to know that I wasn't going crazy! ;p

[Coral]

Thanks everyone. Glad to know that I wasn't going crazy! ;p

 

On some excursions, there are definitely savings by booking privately.

[judyf]

Short Season-High Prices

[TheCalicoCat]

Alaska just like this?

 

1. The season is limited (increases demand)

2. There are limited options (especially if you are considering flights)

3. Cruise Ship passengers are a captive audience.

4. The prices in AK are high in general.

 

All of this limits the necessity of local vendors to offer discounts. Instead people choose independent for a bit more control &/or smaller groups.

[Alatraveler1]

Trade-off between cruiseline and tour operators. We include your tour company in our guaranteed excursions list and on our website giving you greater exposure, you agree not to undercut our price for private bookings (or at least be very quiet about it, requiring a phone call and no on-line booking availability).

[NancyIL]

Occasionally, the cruise line's price is the same or only a little more than booking directly with the vendor. However, more often than not, the cruise line's price will be higher. For example, the round trip White Pass Summit train is $122 booked with the railroad, and $129 booked with RCI. However, the round trip Fraser Meadows Steam Train is $160 booked with the railroad and $219 booked with Royal Caribbean. For my May 26 Radiance of the Seas cruise, I booked the Taku Lodge Flight and Feast (Juneau) and the Glacier Point Wilderness Safari (Skagway) directly with the tour companies and saved money.

[jskinsd]

I am usually able to find independent shore excursions for cheaper than cruise line prices. I have been searching but everything I find is the exact same price as the cruise lines price. Am I missing something? Does it just happen that the particular excursions I am picking aren't discounted? Or is Alaska just like this?

What kind of savings did you think you were going to get? 50%, 25%. And then what guarantees that vendor will provide. On a boat, plane, helicopter or anything mechanical does that vendor follow the proper safety standards? Are these vendors professional or just a group just trying to make a buck. When you are independent you can circumvent the rules by size of party. In most cases isn't "peace of mind" the best reason for paying regular price.

[NancyIL]

What kind of savings did you think you were going to get? 50%, 25%. And then what guarantees that vendor will provide. On a boat, plane, helicopter or anything mechanical does that vendor follow the proper safety standards? Are these vendors professional or just a group just trying to make a buck. When you are independent you can circumvent the rules by size of party. In most cases isn't "peace of mind" the best reason for paying regular price.

 

I had no less peace of mind by booking my excursions directly with the tour operator than the cruise ship passengers on my tours who booked through the ship.

 

An independent tour operator who "circumvent[ed] the rules" or didn't follow the proper safety standards would soon lose a lot of business!

[the_weber]

What kind of savings did you think you were going to get? 50%, 25%. And then what guarantees that vendor will provide. On a boat, plane, helicopter or anything mechanical does that vendor follow the proper safety standards? Are these vendors professional or just a group just trying to make a buck. When you are independent you can circumvent the rules by size of party. In most cases isn't "peace of mind" the best reason for paying regular price.

 

This isn't really relevant if you take the time to look at their website, Facebook, and trip advisor reviews. Most of the tour operators have been doing it a long time and would certainly not risk their business by "circumventing the rules" just do your research and no worries about going direct.

[JanetAlice]

Don't drink the ship's Koolaid. I have been booking independently for years including four cruises to Alaska. I have never had a problem and prefer it to being herded onto buses with large crowds. This board is filled with suggested independent vendors in each port. As you have discovered, Alaska is expensive but as several people have correctly stated, it's a short season.

[bUU]

I had no less peace of mind by booking my excursions directly with the tour operator than the cruise ship passengers on my tours who booked through the ship.

I don't think it is possible to measure one's own peace of mind against someone else's. Furthermore, what matters in such situations is not how much peace of mind you had but rather how much peace of mine they would have had booking through tour operators instead of the ship.

[jskinsd]

In reality pretty much all tour vendors are independent. Some just operate more vehicles and others maybe just one. And another though is how many of these vendors operate year round opposed to be seasonal. What agency certifies the tours for safety with less than 6 passengers? And how often? And what about the vendors right at the pier that always have a tour available. At least with the cruise line booked tour you will have some type of guarantee if a problem comes up. To me this is "Peace of Mind". If you have used the same vendor on past cruises then your own experience is your best advise. Or will you be one of the few tourist who use a vendor for the first time (based on research) and leaves a negative review on facebook, trip advisor, Cruise Critic because a problem happened and there was no compensation. After all there is always one complainer because things just were not perfect.

[Coral]

In reality pretty much all tour vendors are independent. Some just operate more vehicles and others maybe just one. And another though is how many of these vendors operate year round opposed to be seasonal. What agency certifies the tours for safety with less than 6 passengers? And how often? And what about the vendors right at the pier that always have a tour available. At least with the cruise line booked tour you will have some type of guarantee if a problem comes up. To me this is "Peace of Mind". If you have used the same vendor on past cruises then your own experience is your best advise. Or will you be one of the few tourist who use a vendor for the first time (based on research) and leaves a negative review on facebook, trip advisor, Cruise Critic because a problem happened and there was no compensation. After all there is always one complainer because things just were not perfect.

 

Ironically - my private tours have been higher quality tours then direct. I have more confidence in these tours than ship tours (felt more confident in safety precautions, upkeep of vehicles, etc..). And I have had issues on ship tours and haven't been pleased with how they have been dealt with. I would rather deal directly with the tour vendor when there are problems and not a middle man like the cruise line.

[NancyIL]

I don't think it is possible to measure one's own peace of mind against someone else's. Furthermore, what matters in such situations is not how much peace of mind you had but rather how much peace of mine they would have had booking through tour operators instead of the ship.

Two of the tours that I booked directly with the vendor had mostly people who booked the tour through the ship. Those people may not have known they could've booked directly with the vendor and saved money. Had they known, they still might've booked through the ship for peace of mind. Regardless, both tours were great - but I'm glad I paid less!

 

I booked two ship tours on my recent b2b Alaska cruises. The one in Seward was a visit to the SeaLife Center, followed by the 5-hour Kenai Fjords Wildlife Cruise (in Resurrection Bay) @ $129.75. It was actually priced less than if I had booked directly with Major Marine @ $117.99 for the cruise and lunch, and $24.95 for the SeaLife Center. It was a pretty good cruise, but it was crowded due to all of the people on the ship tour!

 

The second ship excursion was a last-minute booking onboard for an evening tour in Haines. I should've done more research before booking that one!

 

One more addition about the "peace of mind" factor: Radiance of the Seas overnighted in Lahaina, Maui - which is a tender port. I booked ship tours both days, but I booked the morning tour to the Haleakala Crater on day 2 simply for the "peace of mind" of getting on the tender as a group. When we got our tour tickets and saw that the meeting place was in town, and we were on our own to get a tender - it was too late to rebook with another company (Roberts Hawaii).

Edited June 9, 2017 by NancyIL

[NancyIL]

Sorry...another duplicate!

[NancyIL]

Duplicate

[bUU]

Two of the tours that I booked directly with the vendor had mostly people who booked the tour through the ship.

We took a guided tour of Egypt almost 20 years ago. We flew over on frequent flyer miles that I had accumulated in my job as an accredited third-party. That job had me traveling so much that I was able to afford to fly business class on my frequent flyer miles and still had lots left over. After our visit to Abu simbel we're flying back to Cairo and we are informed that the airline meaning of the song the tour are using to get back to the United States was going on strike. We were flown to Milan on one of the last flights before the strike began, put up in a wonderful Hotel downtown, given our meals for the next day, and all in all we had incredibly great time with this delayed trip home due to the strike. We visited the Duomo and several other interesting destinations there in Milan.

 

The folks who flew in economy class didn't have such a good time getting home.

 

It's not exactly the same situation but nothing is ever the same situation. I surely didn't plan and choose to use my points for business class in order to assure that I would have this mini vacation in Milan. It was a nice bonus to know that paying a little more for something might actually have benefits Beyond those that are obvious.

 

But the most interesting thing to me is how desperate some folks come across defending their decision to book an independent tour and to lengths they go to rationalize their choice and especially to condemn the alternative. It almost seems like a very nervous reliance on what one thinks is never going to go wrong. I'm a balcony cabin cruise passenger but I would never think to question those who say "oh I get as much as I would want from the balcony by going up to the Lido deck myself". I would say, "okay to each his own."

 

We bounce back and forth between booking independent versus booking through the cruise line. We think carefully about what the value of the assurance offered by the choices. And remarkably, my spouse and I often disagree about that value. Most of the time when we book through the cruise line we do so because the difference in price is less than the value of marital peace.

 

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