LMHCruise Posted January 4, 2006 #1 Share Posted January 4, 2006 Usually when we cruise we book excursions directly with tour operators instead of the cruise lines and save quite a bit of money. We have booked our first Alaska cruise with HAL and are finding their prices for excursions to be about the same as the tour operators. Is this uniquie to Alaska or to HAL...or have I not found the right independent tour operators? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! LMHCruise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruisechick82 Posted January 5, 2006 #2 Share Posted January 5, 2006 Unfortunately, Alaska excursions seem to be much pricier than the Carribbean. There should still be a slight savings in booking independently, but it doesn't seem to be much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Coral Posted January 5, 2006 #3 Share Posted January 5, 2006 Sometimes, the cost isn't cheaper through the private excursion but the private excursion is better. Other times, the private excursion is cheaper but still pricey. For example - whale watching with Captain Larry/Awesome Orca costs about the same as through the cruise line but generally, there are less people on the boat whale watching with you compared to the cruise line. Plus - I think Captain Larry is a great guide and many of the cruise lines' naturalists go whale watching with him or are the naturalists on his boat also. Excursions in Alaska are pricey and you have to budget for them. I didn't on my first cruise and regretted it (but I had to go back to see what I missed the first time). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alaskandude Posted January 5, 2006 #4 Share Posted January 5, 2006 There are plenty of ways to save money on exscursions at least in Ketchikan. Fishing, flightseeing to name a few. What are you wanting to do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chat Noir Posted January 5, 2006 #5 Share Posted January 5, 2006 LMHCruise -If you're doing NB or SB, you might like to check out the Alaska TourSaver coupon book at toursaver.com There's not a lot offered for the RT cruiser, but lots of 2-4-1 coupons if you have a few extra days to spend sightseeing pre or post cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMHCruise Posted January 5, 2006 Author #6 Share Posted January 5, 2006 Wea re doing a rountrip Seattle and travelling with our two boys....so $200 or more times four for a 2 hours excursion is a bit hard to swallow. I'm open to any suggestions of great tours, probably that don't include aa flight due to the cost. Any suggestions are tremendously appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budget Queen Posted January 5, 2006 #7 Share Posted January 5, 2006 As mentioned, Alaska is unique, independents may not be cheaper but always offer more personal attention and better tours in my experience. No way around it, budget fully and try to splurge on one tour. They are the highlight of Alaska travel. Even for 4, I would still suggest a flight, just an excellent way to see Alaska, A glacier helicopter landing is raved about by most. On the other side there are plenty of free or low cost stuff. Pick up walking tour maps available in each port, Especially in Skagway, get to the Park Service visitor center, free walking tours, museum, ranger talks, movie http://www.nps.gov/klgo/schedule.htm With families, consider renting cars, but do your homework and don't be aimless, always have plans and reservations in place. Request each city's visitor guide. http://www.traveljuneau.com http://www.skagway.com http://www.sitka.org http://www.visit-ketchikan.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katybird Posted January 5, 2006 #8 Share Posted January 5, 2006 Wea re doing a rountrip Seattle and travelling with our two boys....so $200 or more times four for a 2 hours excursion is a bit hard to swallow. I'm open to any suggestions of great tours, probably that don't include aa flight due to the cost. Any suggestions are tremendously appreciated! You could go to Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau for a $5.00 shuttle bus ride each way per person. Get the shuttle at the dock area and you can stay as long as you like. There is a very nice visitor center. It was beautiful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMHCruise Posted January 5, 2006 Author #9 Share Posted January 5, 2006 Thanks for all suggestions. I'm definitely willing to spend some money on tours but was hoping to find some that are worthwhile for about $100 or less or some that have reasonable kids prices. How about any great tours that don't include planes? Any fishing recommendation? I have to admit, in addition to the cost, I'm a little afraid of the little planes (however un warranted it probably is) :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budget Queen Posted January 5, 2006 #10 Share Posted January 5, 2006 If you are going to Ketchikan, and if there at the right time, you can rent fishing poles in town. Otherwise go on a boat charter, consider my top recommended vender http://www.ketchikanfishing.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnQ Posted January 5, 2006 #11 Share Posted January 5, 2006 With basically a 4 month long season to make enough money for the year, the rates have to be higher. Plus so many of the excursions as you noted include flying or boats. As BQ states, save money on your cabin choice and spend it on excursions. There are several city tours and all day shuttle possibilities in some ports as well as city buses and walking tours. Sitka is easy to walk around. Ketchikan is relatively compact. Skagway can also be walked. Get the visitor guides for each port. You can save a few dollars by booking with independents, and considerably more with the toursaver book, if what you want to do is in the book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lbcrosby Posted January 5, 2006 #12 Share Posted January 5, 2006 We didn't want to spend as much on the excursions as we did on the entire cruise so we were careful as to how we spent our money. The only place we splurged was doing a whale watching excursion in Juneau with Captain Larry. Definitely worth the money. We saw the boats that were used by the cruise lines and they were big but had lots of people on them. We were on a small boat (not Larry's biggest) and I think there were only seven of us (three of which were my family). We also combined it with a trip to Mendenhall Glacier where we took a bus to Mendenhall and then they picked us up from there to go to the excursion. In Skagway and Ketchikan we did the inexpensive tours but they were a lot of fun. We did the Street Cars in Skagway and we did the horse drawn buggy in Ketchikan. Basically both gave a tour of the town as well as a little bit about the history. We had our six year old on board the ship with us and he only came off at the port in Juneau. He was more interested in staying in the Kid's program on the ship then doing the excursions. It depends on how old your kids are whether or not you want to pay the extra money and how good the kid's program is on the ship. The two tours were about $30 - $40 each per person. There were cheaper rates for the kids but we felt like we enjoyed it more without him instead of him complaining about how boring it is when he wanted to be in the kid's program. My son was a little bored at Mendenhall but loved the whale watching excursion. Let me know if you have any other questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randolph Posted January 5, 2006 #13 Share Posted January 5, 2006 Kayaking as a family would be fun, not that expensive, and could offer some exciting memories with a little exercise thrown in. Plus the possibility of bald eagles and other wildlife sightings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted January 5, 2006 #14 Share Posted January 5, 2006 Check out http://www.portpromotions.com We have used them in the past and didn't spend as much for some good tours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yukon Posted January 5, 2006 #15 Share Posted January 5, 2006 Port Promotions is a reservation service from Florida - it's really easy these days to book directly with the operators so you know exactly what you're getting and with who. Murray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcj Posted January 5, 2006 #16 Share Posted January 5, 2006 i am trying to book our excusions directly also to save cash. does anyone know the contact info on captain larry? thanks, tcj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lbcrosby Posted January 5, 2006 #17 Share Posted January 5, 2006 His company is known as Orca Enterprises. http://www.orcaenterprises.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnQ Posted January 5, 2006 #18 Share Posted January 5, 2006 We easily spent more on tours than our inside cabin. That was the plan. We did a one day bear viewing trip to Katmai NP, denali summit flt from Talkeetna, Cap Larry, Misty Fjords flt, ISP whalewatching, Skagway car rental to Emerald Lake and Carcross. We would probably do the same next time, only different tours and once in a lifetime experiences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wa.mama Posted January 6, 2006 #19 Share Posted January 6, 2006 We easily spent more on tours than our inside cabin. That was the plan. We did a one day bear viewing trip to Katmai NP, denali summit flt from Talkeetna, Cap Larry, Misty Fjords flt, ISP whalewatching, Skagway car rental to Emerald Lake and Carcross. We would probably do the same next time, only different tours and once in a lifetime experiences. Sounds adventuresome and right up our alley! How did you arrange the bear viewing trip and the car rental in Skagway? We're pretty independant and would rather do things on our own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucky3 Posted January 6, 2006 #20 Share Posted January 6, 2006 This is a great thread. Any recommendations for an independent tour operator to customize a tour for 10 to 16 people in Juneau?. Our hours are limited to port time of 2:30PM - 10:00 PM. on a Friday. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alaskandude Posted January 6, 2006 #21 Share Posted January 6, 2006 I looked at the port promotions web site. Those prices are really high. Like for fishing in Ketchikan it was $199 dollars for a 4 hour salmon tour. That is crazy I think. I know of a couple operators like True Alaskan Charters or Rouge charters are about $140 per person and I know True Alaskans fish for Halibut and salmon. They are the only ones I know of that will give you the option at that. If you research well and know who and where to ask you can do a lot for less. It is not that expensive up here. Well maybe a little bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budget Queen Posted January 6, 2006 #22 Share Posted January 6, 2006 I never recommend any booking agents for Alaska tours, it is simple and easy to book direct with the vender. You can get all your questions directly answered, accurately- no- "I'll call you back", immediate confirmation and that direct link so important with customer service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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