Alaska shore excursions and OBC

[AnnaNicole]

We are cruising on the Solstice in May, Alaska RT Seattle.   

 

Our travel agent is providing us with a fair amount of OBC.   Ideally, we would like to use this credit for shore excursions as everything else we would desire to charge on board is included with our perks.   

 

Will most of the shore excursions still be available to book once onboard?   Or do the best ones sell out quickly?   

Is there a discount if you book and pay in advance on the cruiseplanner?

 

We usually book our own excursions outside of the cruiseline.   How are the Alaska ports for booking excursions once you get off of the ship?

 

So far, we are interested in whale watching, mendenhall glacier, dog sledding, Bering crab cruise, and salmon bakes.  

 

Thanks for any help!  🙂

 

 

[hvbaskey]

No advice on booking ship shore excursions.  However, for ideas of what to do in port - I found this forum very informative:
https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/33-alaska/

[realnice46]

6 hours ago, AnnaNicole said:

We are cruising on the Solstice in May, Alaska RT Seattle.   

 

Our travel agent is providing us with a fair amount of OBC.   Ideally, we would like to use this credit for shore excursions as everything else we would desire to charge on board is included with our perks.   

 

Will most of the shore excursions still be available to book once onboard?   Or do the best ones sell out quickly?   

Is there a discount if you book and pay in advance on the cruiseplanner?

 

We usually book our own excursions outside of the cruiseline.   How are the Alaska ports for booking excursions once you get off of the ship?

 

So far, we are interested in whale watching, mendenhall glacier, dog sledding, Bering crab cruise, and salmon bakes.  

 

Thanks for any help!  🙂

 

 

There will be shore excursions once on board ship but I've noticed that some are gone that were there. If there is a particular one your interested in I would sign up for it now. I know you can cancel but I'm not sure how soon before you would have to do that. I would call Celebrity to be sure.

[msmardell]

We were able to pay for shore excursions with on board credit ahead of before cruise.

It showed on our booking and they let us pay with that.  It might depend on if the credit is from TA or part of perks from Celebrity.

Hope this helps.

[AnnaNicole]

12 minutes ago, msmardell said:

We were able to pay for shore excursions with on board credit ahead of before cruise.

It showed on our booking and they let us pay with that.  It might depend on if the credit is from TA or part of perks from Celebrity.

Hope this helps.

Thanks.  Unfortunately, you can only use OBC that is provided by Celebrity.   Our OBC is provided by the TA.

[Northern Aurora]

AnnaNicole:  The shore excursions which involve flightseeing or glacier landings on either fixed wing or helicopters tend to sell out quickly -- whether you book through the cruise line or directly with the vendor.  I haven't checked the Solstice itinerary so don't know which ports you will be visiting, but in Ketchikan and Juneau there will be kiosks along the docks with vendors selling excursions.   

[keesar]

As mentioned, if you are interested in booking an excursion that involves flying, do so before you board.  Some will sell out quickly.  As for the Mendalhalll Glacier viewing site, no need to book early on that one as there are frequent buses that will take you there.  

 

Periodically check for sales.  You could score a 10-20 percent discount on select excursions.   You  may also receive an email alert for the sales.

[DebInAntigua]

Several Alaska excursions have very limited spots. The VIP Luxury Car for WhitePass Railway is only available for 14 people. We booked a Wildlife “science” cruise that only takes 6. Definitely check the ones you are interested in to see if they are small group tours. If so, book them now or miss out. 

[AnnaNicole]

Thanks, everyone.   🙂

 

FYI, Celebrity is having a sale today.

 

I booked the Mendenhell glacier, whale watch, and wildlife excursion today for Juneau.  

 

I will look into the WhitePass Railway.  My husband may be interested in that tour.  

 

We are also going to Ketchikan, Skagway, and Victoria.   

 

Anybody have an opinion the dogsled tours?  Are they worthwhile?

[misguy]

I am going to interview Michelle Phillips live this evening and she is a veteran of the Iditarod and she has a sled dog camp and does tours.  To get there, you would need to rent a vehicle in Skagway and drive into the Yukon Territory, but I have done that once and doing it again in 10 days. You will be able to ask questions of Michelle.  Here is a link to the video, it starts at 9:00 PM EDT. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t2JQ2mQ7zk

 

[DebInAntigua]

Several of our excursions for June 2020 are on sale in the Cruise Planner today. Canceled and rebooked, saved almost $400!!!

[moneeman]

On 4/25/2019 at 11:11 AM, AnnaNicole said:

 

 

Anybody have an opinion the dogsled tours?  Are they worthwhile?

 

When we did Alaska many years ago, the dogsledding excursion was our favorite BY FAR.  I'm sure it helped to have an incredibly beautiful day, but the 20 minutes or so we were actually on the dogsled was fantastic.  (Petting the dogs and puppies was fun as well).  They stopped the dogs in the middle of the run, and I can only describe it as absolute peace.  Gorgeous white snow in all directions with hardly a sound in the air.  Because of our love for that excursion, we are opting for the "ultimate" dogsled excursion this time, where the ride takes you between four and five miles.  

 

Glacier dogsledding is very expensive, but if you can swing the price I highly recommend it.

[misguy]

We did a sled dog adventure in the Yukon Territory with Michelle Phillips, not as good as on a glacire but less than $50 each.  They pulled a UTV and it was amazing, we actually had Michelle as a guide.  They had two litters of puppies that you could play with and my granddaughter and I did a little gold panning.  She went home with 14 little flakes of gold and was estatic.