Am I the only one already booking tours for NEXT year?

[barbeyg]

Anyone else out there booking tours for Alaska next year already? 

 

I’ve booked our whale-watching, and have an email out inquiring about a Yukon tour.

 

if I’m not the only crazy planner 😂, what have you reserved for 2020?

[nicoleinwi]

We are cruising end of May.  I have our flights book and pre-cruise hotel.  I'm waiting on excursions until our cruise (NCL Bliss) has them available as I usually take that as a starting point then decide if we do independent or with them as we have some OBC.  Hurry up NCL and get them out there!

Edited July 7, 2019 by nicoleinwi

[jr8934]

We are cruising July 2020. It will be our fourth visit.

[masterdrago]

When we booked our May 2019 cruise in June 2018, we were unable to book and confirm many of the excursions until October 2018. And some not fully booked until January 2019. WPYR was one of those that did not let us book until mid December 2018. Most of the providers are simply too busy right now to set up schedules for next year. We only booked one excursion through RCI directly. Then when we boarded, the tickets had the time set at 10:15 instead of the 3:30 that we had booked. Had to cancel it!

[disneyochem]

We are heading North again next May.  Northbound cruise to Seward on May 25, 2 DIY days, 10-day Connoisseur Princess tour and then  a southbound tour ending in Vancouver on June 20.

 

I have booked and paid for everything that I can:  Amtrak to Vancouver, hotels (or air bnb) in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Vancouver.   Waiting for tours to open up on our land tour, hoping for a Black Friday coupon for the Kenai Fjords tour, waiting to see if there will be a coupon book for Alaska rail (too early to book independent Alaskan rail trips).

 

Our Connoisseur land tour includes a number of tours already booked.  We are booked on the Tundra Wilderness in Denali.  I’m calling every week to see when they open up the upgraded tour.

 

i actually set reminders on my phone to remind me to call/check on our trip.  I’m a planner but also am scheduling three other booked cruises!  Things get a little crazy but it’s a good crazy!

[Amber86]

I’m a first time cruiser and I nearly went into a panic yesterday when I realised that the Hubbard Glacier wilderness exploration boat only had 20 spots left and the helicopter/airboat from Juneau only had 5 spots. I snagged them but it gave me a shock. I will work out the rest of my budget and priorities and then go back and do the rest.

 

I’m normally an early and detailed planner but it was unexpected for me. I didn’t realise that excursions would be up over a year in advance for our cruise in July 2020.  Particularly when the independent sites haven’t released the online booking systems yet. I’ve had the cruise booked since January - so 1.5 years in advance - and would have been disappointed to have missed out on those main excursions.

Edited July 8, 2019 by Amber86

[sandjforever]

I am sailing September 2020 and have already used part of my OBC for 2 excursions, balcony breakfast and balcony dining on glacier days.  I am doing a 5 day land tour before and 2 excursions there are included.  The only thing I have left to do is car rental in Skagway (they don't book this far out) and a hotel for the first night since all the flights get to Fairbanks from the East Coast after Midnight.

[Cali Viajera]

I'm a planner, just like you! I have already contacted some of the private companies to inquire. Most begin taking reservations in September.

[Italy52]

I am also a planner.  Returning to Alaska next May and already have the following:  cruise, flights, hotels, 3 whale watching tours and a hovercraft tour reserved.  Within the next couple of months I will probably have everything buttoned down. 

[kochleffel]

Nothing that I want to book for August 2020 is open for booking yet. And the cruise line seems to be changing the itinerary, so I'm not even sure where we're going.

 

[puppymama1]

We just booked our June 2020 cruise and I am just starting to look at what we might want to do in each port.  I do have our hotel booked near Denali and in Anchorage, and our rental car in Anchorage.  I tried booking the rental car for the day in Juneau, but Avis' website keeps telling me the location is closed for the day I am trying to book, so I have a feeling their schedule isn't open yet.. but I will call Avis to check on that.  

 

I haven't looked at it yet, but should we book the Tundra Wilderness tour through the NPS already?  Disnyeochem - what did you mean by the "upgraded tour"?  I thought the 8 hour Tundra Wilderness tour was the one that was recommended to take?  This is our first time to Alaska, so we are trying to figure everything out as we go and I am trying to get it done quickly before things get sold out!  Thanks!

[Anita Latte]

15 hours ago, Italy52 said:

I am also a planner.  Returning to Alaska next May and already have the following:  cruise, flights, hotels, 3 whale watching tours and a hovercraft tour reserved.  Within the next couple of months I will probably have everything buttoned down. 

 

Karen...Is that the Taku Glacier Hovercraft?!?! Please describe your hovercraft tour!

[Italy52]

Hi Anita,  here is the link to the information from TripAdvisor.  We saw the hovercrafts moving around a couple of years ago and couldn't find a tour.  This year, we saw the hovercrafts picking up people so we thought it must be operational.  Once we got back home I started doing my homework and found it.  Our Princess ship does not offer this tour so we are booked independently.  https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductReview-g31030-d14787942-Hovercraft_Eco_Adventure_Wildlife_Viewing-Ketchikan_Alaska.html

[Anita Latte]

Oh Karen that looks like such a great tour! Thanks for sharing the link. I want to see your photos! May will be here before you know it...

[Italy52]

23 minutes ago, Anita Latte said:

Oh Karen that looks like such a great tour! Thanks for sharing the link. I want to see your photos! May will be here before you know it...

We wanted to do something different, so we decided to go for it.  Will definitely be posting photos when we return from our May trip.

[Italy52]

14 hours ago, kochleffel said:

Nothing that I want to book for August 2020 is open for booking yet. And the cruise line seems to be changing the itinerary, so I'm not even sure where we're going.

 

What cruise line are you sailing and what are they doing to your itinerary?

[worldtraveller99]

We have booked (for July 2020) whale watching in Juneau and Sitka, bear floatplane in Ketchikan plus hotels in Vancouver and Anchorage, and our stay on Kodiak Island (more bears). Seattle hotel at end of trip wouldn't take my booking in 2018, I am going to get back to them this September after I book all our flights in August. For day tours in Seattle and Vancouver I think I will aim to book around this November?

[Cruise_More_Often]

9 hours ago, Italy52 said:

Hi Anita,  here is the link to the information from TripAdvisor.  We saw the hovercrafts moving around a couple of years ago and couldn't find a tour.  This year, we saw the hovercrafts picking up people so we thought it must be operational.  Once we got back home I started doing my homework and found it.  Our Princess ship does not offer this tour so we are booked independently.  https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductReview-g31030-d14787942-Hovercraft_Eco_Adventure_Wildlife_Viewing-Ketchikan_Alaska.html

 

Oh, I got so excited about this excursion, but when I clicked on the link, it told me that "We're sorry, the tour or tour option you are trying to book is sold out and no longer available." I thought it was maybe just unavailable for the day we're going to be in Ketchikan, but I tried several other dates, including a few for later this summer. Awwww.

[kochleffel]

8 hours ago, Italy52 said:

What cruise line are you sailing and what are they doing to your itinerary?

 

Royal Caribbean, one-way northbound. They appear to be adding Glacier Bay and dropping Skagway. It doesn't show yet in my booking but it does for new bookings.

 

[Italy52]

1 hour ago, Cruise_More_Often said:

 

Oh, I got so excited about this excursion, but when I clicked on the link, it told me that "We're sorry, the tour or tour option you are trying to book is sold out and no longer available." I thought it was maybe just unavailable for the day we're going to be in Ketchikan, but I tried several other dates, including a few for later this summer. Awwww.

Sorry to hear that this excursion is unavailable.  Glad I booked in advance. 

 

 

[Italy52]

1 minute ago, kochleffel said:

 

Royal Caribbean, one-way northbound. They appear to be adding Glacier Bay and dropping Skagway. It doesn't show yet in my booking but it does for new bookings.

 

Thanks for the information.  I had heard that Royal Caribbean was going to have access to Glacier Bay again but just didn't know when this was going to happen --- looks like it may be soon.

[puppymama1]

9 hours ago, Italy52 said:

Thanks for the information.  I had heard that Royal Caribbean was going to have access to Glacier Bay again but just didn't know when this was going to happen --- looks like it may be soon.

What is strange to me is that their itineraries are showing glacier bay in May 2020 but not in June... we wanted to use RC since we had used them in the past, but none of the itineraries showed glacier bay.  So we booked with Princess instead... we want to go to Denali so we couldn’t sail in May....

 

[kochleffel]

2 hours ago, puppymama1 said:

What is strange to me is that their itineraries are showing glacier bay in May 2020 but not in June... we wanted to use RC since we had used them in the past, but none of the itineraries showed glacier bay.  So we booked with Princess instead... we want to go to Denali so we couldn’t sail in May....

 

 

Not every itinerary will have Glacier Bay added, because they weren't awarded enough permits for that. And because the NPS limits the number of ships per day entering Glacier Bay, there will be some itineraries that they can't send there even if they want to use one of their permits for them. This is an issue for every cruise line that received Glacier Bay permits. It is confusing right now because the new permits were awarded after itineraries had been published and booked.

[barbeyg]

35 minutes ago, kochleffel said:

 

Not every itinerary will have Glacier Bay added, because they weren't awarded enough permits for that. And because the NPS limits the number of ships per day entering Glacier Bay, there will be some itineraries that they can't send there even if they want to use one of their permits for them. This is an issue for every cruise line that received Glacier Bay permits.

 

Yes, this.  ☺️

 

We are sailing on one of three Ovation cruises to Glacier Bay.  So far, only 5/22, 8/28 and 9/4 sailings include it.

 

I only now see two Radiance cruises that are changing to add GB, even though for a while, their new bookings showed half of the northbound cruises going to GB.

 

I'm over the moon about our sailing.  And I need to go back and reschedule our Victoria tour.  I had just booked it when the email came.  Love to have this kind of problem!  

[Italy52]

I am thrilled to hear the news about Glacier Bay and will probably be looking at Royal Caribbean in 2021.  I love the itinerary that includes some of our favorite ports:  Icy Strait, Juneau, Hubbard and Glacier Bay -- I can pass on Skagway.  I wish Celebrity's Millennium had a Glacier Bay offering.