"Mass Market" excursions on Alaska cruises?

[pasca]

Hello to all you Silversea experts--

We will be joining family members on a 7 day Alaska cruise on the Muse this August.  Our only previous Silversea cruise was a couple of years ago on the Wind in the eastern Med.  On that cruise, which mostly went to ports off the beaten track, all the ship excursions were for Silversea passengers only.  And in all but one port, the Wind was the only cruise ship. This Alaska itinerary will be to the major ports (excepting Sitka) and there will be many thousands of other cruise passengers in the ports, mostly from huge mass-market ships.  I'm a bit concerned about the excursions that are listed, and that the excursions we have chosen may be shared with mass-market ships.  

It's not the other passengers that concern me-- it is the nature of the excursions.  We don't want to be treated like part of a herd, in a huge group, with time-wasting stops for "special shopping opportunities" etc.  Right now, we are booked for river-rafting in Juneau (Mendenhall Glacier Float Trip) and Inside Passage Sea Kayaking in Haines (Skagway).    I've asked Silversea about the excursions, and they were vague about the details (numbers, etc).  The helicopter and float plane outings would be smaller groups, but we don't like small aircraft.

 

Do any of you have experience with the outings on the 7 day Alaska cruises?  Do you have any recommendations on excursions-- and how to enjoy the ports while sharing them with 1000s of others?

 

Thanks for any advice.  

 

[57 varieties]

The excursions will be exclusive to Silversea, in our experience.

[turnip eater]

Just back from 10 Alaskan cruise on Muse. Two of our 3 excursions were not just Silversea passengers, but they weren’t large excursions.

One was for 6 people on the Sea cycles. Four from the Muse and two ladies from a Carnival ship who had booked their tour independently with a travel agent that the Sea cycle company used.

The other was the float plane 10 seater. The float plane company picked up a group of us from the ship and sorted us according to total weight. We (2) were with a party of eight, not from a cruise ship, who had booked the flight independently. Very nice people.

For our third trip, the sightseeing boat collected us from the Muse, so that definitely was Muse only 😁

I asked at the tours desk on the Muse about ‘mixed’ tours and they were quite blasé about it. They didn’t seem bothered about sharing tours.

Never used to be that way. 🤔

Edited July 2, 2019 by turnip eater

[Silver Spectre]

57 minutes ago, turnip eater said:

Just back from 10 Alaskan cruise on Muse. Two of our 3 excursions were not just Silversea passengers, but they weren’t large excursions.

One was for 6 people on the Sea cycles. Four from the Muse and two ladies from a Carnival ship who had booked their tour independently with a travel agent that the Sea cycle company used.

The other was the float plane 10 seater. The float plane company picked up a group of us from the ship and sorted us according to total weight. We (2) were with a party of eight, not from a cruise ship, who had booked the flight independently. Very nice people.

For our third trip, the sightseeing boat collected us from the Muse, so that definitely was Muse only 😁

I asked at the tours desk on the Muse about ‘mixed’ tours and they were quite blasé about it. They didn’t seem bothered about sharing tours.

Never used to be that way. 🤔

Wow that a first, in 15 years of travelling on SS we have never even heard of a ‘mixed’ tour let alone come across one. I sincerely hope that is nor a foretaste of things to come!

[Catlover54]

When you read the excursion description they warn you if it is not exclusive to SS pax, most are.

Ketchikan has a Misty Fjiords National Monument boat excursion that is not exclusive but is well done, highly recommended, run by a family, is also available for independent booking.

[pasca]

Thanks, everyone.  Looking more carefully at the excursion descriptions, they do spell out when part of the excursion (ferry, for example) will not be exclusive to Silversea clients.  Hopefully this suggests that all OTHER parts of the excursion will be for Silversea passengers only.