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

[disneyochem]

On 7/17/2019 at 5:56 AM, puppymama1 said:

 

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!

There are three different tours offered by the NPS:  https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/visiting-denali.htm

 

We are currently booked on the Tundra Wilderness but are trying to upgrade to the Kantishna Tour.  It is a longer tour but goes deeper into the park.  After reading numerous reviews (and watching YouTube videos), we want to do the longer tour.  It is sold out on our visit  but hoping seats will open up.

[kochleffel]

5 hours ago, barbeyg said:

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.

 

Glacier Bay has now disappeared from the listing for mine, but with RC it's impossible to tell what is reality and what is just bad IT.

[thegoaliegirl]

To anyone that is considering booking a Major Marine tour in Seward in 2020- wait until Black Friday/Cyber Monday to book. They had a really great sale this past year. All tours were 40% off. I was able to book open dated reservations, meaning I called and paid the sale price for the tour I wanted for the amount of people I wanted and then when I had my date figured out (we are doing 5 days pre-cruise on our own), it was a quick phone call to apply that to the date we wanted. (We are cruising in a few weeks.)

[Anita Latte]

Nice thegoaliegirl! I recall that there was a Black Friday sale the year before as well...good to see it happened again.

[Iamom75]

We are going in July, 2020, connoisseur land and cruise. We have reservations for whale watching in Juneau, the Hubbard glacier expedition reserved and paid, on a list for Chilkoot to notify us in October when they open bookings for next year.  We are working with travel agent, already on Tundra tour but waiting for Kantishna tours to open for next year, she has it on a watch list.  We are too early to book flights (for another month) but are ready to book some tours in Anchorage for pre-trip once we get our flights

 

Does anyone know when expeditions for land tours (for the connoisseur tour)will open for 2020?

[lightink2]

On 7/8/2019 at 3:22 AM, Amber86 said:

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 also a 1st time cruiser.  I thought I read that the ship will often add more excursions, as they fill.  The private excursion companies often don't post a year in advance.  Know I'm wondering if I got that right!  Our cruise is in 8/20.

 

[Amber86]

9 hours ago, lightink2 said:

 

 

Unfortunately I’m new to this so am learning but someone else told me to book the Hubbard Glacier small boat now as it sold out early for them. At the time I thought it was strange as it was over a year out but went online to check and they were right as I think Allan Marine will have only 1 small boat. I wasn’t sure with the helicopter / airboat if they would open up another time slot. Princess southbound has all the excursions for Juneau starting at 7am only at this stage (we expect all aboard is 4:30pm at the latest for our itinerary). So after debating about contacting the vendor I just pulled the trigger as it was the only 2 excursions we had as must do at the same price and it would just give us more time at port. I’ve booked the Skagway excursions since but not ketchikan.

 

All our land land section is yet to be booked and some vendors are taking bookings and others are holding until the fall. I also can’t book the flights or hotels yet but know I have to book the car ASAP to get a cheap price. Fingers crossed we enjoy our first cruises and get the bookings we want!

[barbeyg]

Alaska is amazing, and I think that people book early so they won't miss out.  However, it makes for a stressful time for those planning their first Alaskan cruise.  ☺️

 

This time, planning is a bit easier for us, since we know what to expect and what we want to do.  

[puppymama1]

I know it's been stressful for me!  Especially because we just decided 2 weeks ago to do this and then I found out we need to book everything this far out!  We have our cruise booked, hotels reserved, car reserved and our Dyea Dave tour in Skagway reserved.. Can't make our Denali Tundra Wilderness tour reservation or our rental car in Juneau reservation yet because they aren't doing 2020 reservations yet..  Still have to make our 26 glacier cruise reservation in Whittier for the day of our sailing, but I am struggling with the price.. LOL... I know I will end up making the reservation though.... Any thoughts on the best (hopefully cheapest) time to book the flights?  Today is the first day we can do it... should we bite the bullet and assume the price isn't going to go down from where it is today?  Thanks!

[worldtraveller99]

I usually do book flights on the first day they come out. Then I never check again in case they had gone down - too late!  But am I wrong to do this?

[Italy52]

1 hour ago, puppymama1 said:

I know it's been stressful for me!  Especially because we just decided 2 weeks ago to do this and then I found out we need to book everything this far out!  We have our cruise booked, hotels reserved, car reserved and our Dyea Dave tour in Skagway reserved.. Can't make our Denali Tundra Wilderness tour reservation or our rental car in Juneau reservation yet because they aren't doing 2020 reservations yet..  Still have to make our 26 glacier cruise reservation in Whittier for the day of our sailing, but I am struggling with the price.. LOL... I know I will end up making the reservation though.... Any thoughts on the best (hopefully cheapest) time to book the flights?  Today is the first day we can do it... should we bite the bullet and assume the price isn't going to go down from where it is today?  Thanks!

Don't know if you are aware of this but 26 Glaciers offers a AAA discount if you are a member (we use it all the time).  You just have to book directly with them and not on line.  

[puppymama1]

1 hour ago, Italy52 said:

Don't know if you are aware of this but 26 Glaciers offers a AAA discount if you are a member (we use it all the time).  You just have to book directly with them and not on line.  

Yes, I do know that and I know I have to call them... Do you know how much the discount is?   Thanks!

[barbeyg]

3 hours ago, puppymama1 said:

Any thoughts on the best (hopefully cheapest) time to book the flights?  Today is the first day we can do it... should we bite the bullet and assume the price isn't going to go down from where it is today?  Thanks!

 

Flights are still populating for next May.  I've been watching them.  Keep in mind that the earlier you book, that's the more the flight you book can change.  I plan to book between October and December.  I'm watching the flights on the Hopper app, which can give you estimates on price changes, and projections into next year.  We watch on Hopper, then book with the airlines.

[Italy52]

45 minutes ago, puppymama1 said:

Yes, I do know that and I know I have to call them... Do you know how much the discount is?   Thanks!

I think it is 10% but not exactly sure.  I can tell you that we paid $326.10 total for 2 adults.  Hopefully, this information will help.