NCL Alaska Cruise and Cruisetour 2021

[nolansmama]

Hello, Looking at an Alaska cruise in 2021. Probably northbound on the Jewel, with a land portion at the end. Some of our party  would prefer to DIY the land portion, while the other stateroom prefers a cruiseline-provided cruisetour to Denali. 

1. It appears cruisetours are not published for 2021 yet, does anyone know approx when they might come out?

2. Should I wait until those come out to book all of it? or book both of the staterooms as cruise only right now, then swap the one room for the cruise tour when they are released? I had one NCL Agent tell me that the cruisetour is booked as a unit, and another tell me I can book the cruise then later add on the tour, one of them has to be mistaken haha! Not quite sure how to proceed here.

3. With this added complexity, do you think a TA is a better idea or will NCL cruise experts be capable to get this correct for me?

 

Thanks in advance for any insight!

[SouthLyonCruiser]

From my personal experience the tour portion of the cruise is way overpriced and not worth the extra. It didn't include any meals and the ones available were nothing to call home about.

If you can convince those who want to do the cruisetour do a little more research (my experience may not match others). 

We did the cruise tour in order to get a view of Mt. Denali. It turns out that less than one third of the visitors actually get to see it as it is shrouded in clouds most of the time. We got lucky and it was visible for about an hour at 7AM.

 

[nolansmama]

I don't disagree with you on the cruisetour, however my mom is pretty set on her choice. I'll try posting on the AK forum too since there is not much talk on this board about the cruisetours (probably for the reasons you stated!).

[julig22]

I did a cruisetour and enjoyed every minute - but I travel solo, so it was more convenient.  We saw Denali and we saw the Northern Lights and we had an orca escort as we cruised through Prince William Sound, so I was a very happy camper!

 

I have no idea what the cost to do the same land tour would be if you booked it on your own - but I didn't find the cost to be significantly more than a 2-week cruise (balcony) BUT I booked late and took a late-season cruise - so what I paid was several thousand dollars less than "today's prices"

 

What you do get is a tour guide and your own bus during the land portion - our bus was less than half-full, so plenty of room to be comfortable.  They pick you up at the airport (included in the tour cost if you give them your flight information ahead of time).  At the hotels they pickup your luggage from your room in the morning and get it loaded on the bus for you.  True you have to pay for most of your meals, but I'm not a foodie, so that was fine with me. 

 

My guess is that booking just the cruise now and adding the cruisetour later would be difficult for NCL so a TA who has a better chance of negotiating might be a better option.  Or be prepared to cancel the rooms you have selected and rebook before final payment.  If you were told by an NCL agent that you could swap, you can always use that - I've been successful in the past getting past those grey areas and it's not unusual to get different answers from different agents.

 

You could also find that the cruisetour you want isn't going to be offered in 2021 - I'm not sure how profitable they are for the cruiseline.

[don't-use-real-name]

A lot would depend on the length of the land tour and if departing Alaska from Anchorage or Fairbanks and

a whole bunch of variables here:

 

Tours provide all hotel lodging accommodation *** and a few minimal meals.

*** Alyeska Resort Alyeska - Sheraton Hotel or other Anchorage - McKinley Village (Denali NP) - Fairbanks ?

Transportation by Alaska RR (a definite plus +++++) and motor coach aka the BUS - tours into Mt. Denali NP

are by heavy duty school buses ONLY.

Features - Wild Life Conservation Park - Sled Dog kennels - white water rafting - self guided tours of

Anchorage or Fairbanks - museums where ever you find them - fishing expeditions - glacier touring ***

*** hurry they are melting fast (no joke) - at every bend in the road river track an outstanding view - - -

Prepare for rain & rainbows - snow - mist - fog - doom of night - northern lights - and sunshine - temps

in the freezing to the 80's (records set this year) and the 30% potential that the Mountain will be "OUT" !

 

Yes a TA would be a great source - best if they have actually been to Alaska to see it and report about it.

 

There is so much to see in Alaska one or a hundred and one trips of any kind will never be enough.

Go to that Alaska boards and read on LINK:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/33-alaska/

 

[nolansmama]

Thanks all for the input. I am contemplating booking the cruise portion now for both staterooms, and even if I have to drop the one room and change to a cruisetour, I think that my odds for getting connecting cabins will be better the earlier I book (as opposed to waiting until when/if the cruisetour comes out).

[bonvoyagie]

Well I saw the same thing and went ahead and booked the cruise on the dates I wanted. There is plenty of time to make changes when the cruise tours are announced which I am thinking will be spring of 2020. 

 

I am also exploring many other options through the AKRR, Grey Line, Alaska Tour and Travel, and even Travel Alaska as well as a combo  rail and drive.

 

good idea watching the AK board.

[neverbeen1]

The 2021 NCL cruise tours are now posted on NCL.

[bonvoyagie]

7 hours ago, neverbeen1 said:

The 2021 NCL cruise tours are now posted on NCL.

 Where??  ll I can find are for 2020

[neverbeen1]

bonvoyagie - On the left side of the page where you choose the filters, click on Dates, then a calendar for 2019 and 2020 will come up. Next to the 2020 calendar you will see a blue arrow on the right hand side. Click that and it will bring you to the 2021 calendar.

 

[4774Papa]

I booked the Sun for a north bound Alaska cruise that ended in Seward (2016).  No cruise tours were available then.

 

Later, when cruise tours were posted, I tried to add a cruise tour to Denali.  NCL would not let me add the cruise tour.  I had to cancel my original reservation and rebook the package (cruise and tour).  Problem was that prices had gone up.

 

What I did was good a great tour with an Alaskan company.  It worked out better and was cheaper.  Sometimes NCL can be frustrating.