Alaska cruise tours

[oddly excitered]

I am looking to book soon for 2023 and I have not found the cruise tour on any of the usual websites for booking.

Is this something you have to book on RCI website? Even when I have booked with RCI in the past (through nexcruise onboard)  it always was assigned to my travel agent after booking. There seems to be a lack of info on the land portion of these trips (except all seeming to say not to go with royal but do princess or hal) this is going to be a big deal for us, and I want to do it right.

Any info would be helpful.

Thanks.

[MichiganFisherman]

What does " I have not found the cruise tour on any of the usual websites for booking" mean.? Which tour as you need to be more descriptive and explain what you're asking better . 

[reallyitsmema]

3 hours ago, oddly excitered said:

I am looking to book soon for 2023 and I have not found the cruise tour on any of the usual websites for booking.

Is this something you have to book on RCI website? Even when I have booked with RCI in the past (through nexcruise onboard)  it always was assigned to my travel agent after booking. There seems to be a lack of info on the land portion of these trips (except all seeming to say not to go with royal but do princess or hal) this is going to be a big deal for us, and I want to do it right.

Any info would be helpful.

Thanks.

 

The cruise tours are listed on the cruise lines website.  Just choose Alaska as a destination and as you scroll through the cruise, you see longer ones that are the cruise tours and cruises combined.  This link is also a good one for seeing cruise tour information.

 

https://www.royalcaribbeancruisetours.com/

[Dewaldcruiser]

Also can be researched and booked through the Royal Caribbean app

[RocCruisers]

You may have to call your 'usual websites' AKA on line travel agency to get their pricing.  On my OLTA, they have a heading Cruise & Land where the descriptions and pricing are found.  

[oddly excitered]

On 11/19/2022 at 7:53 AM, MichiganFisherman said:

What does " I have not found the cruise tour on any of the usual websites for booking" mean.? Which tour as you need to be more descriptive and explain what you're asking better . 

For example, find a cruise on cruise critic only shows the cruise portion of these adventures, not able to book anything involving the land portion offered by the cruise line, therefore I assume i will have to deal with RCCL directly.

[reallyitsmema]

11 minutes ago, oddly excitered said:

For example, find a cruise on cruise critic only shows the cruise portion of these adventures, not able to book anything involving the land portion offered by the cruise line, therefore I assume i will have to deal with RCCL directly.

 

When you book your cruise, you choose the land tour you want to take.  We booked a southbound Radiance sailing with a 4B cruisetour.  The tour comes with some included tours but there are also additional excursions that you can book for additional cost once you meet your tour guide the first day of the land tour.  Those excursions are listed under the resources tab of the link above.  You can see a list of the cruisetours that an excursion can be added to directly under the excursion description.

 

Meals are not included in the cruisetour unless it is specifically listed.  You are given enough time to get a meal while at a stop while touring by bus or you are given an opportunity to dine on the train rides.

 

The cruisetour has really long days.  Luggage pickup at the hotel when touring is usually at 6am or 6:30am.  You tour all day and get to your next stop near dinner time.  We then did additional excursions at night since it is still light out.  We did an ATV excursion one night in Denali and a river float the next night.  We didn't get back to the hotel until almost 10pm.  

 

One thing that worked well for us was we packed on large suitcase with everything for the cruise and that never came off the bus.  It had a different tag on it marked for the ship.  We had another suitcase that had everything we needed for our cruisetour.  We had a good backpack that was our daypack for while we were on the bus as all luggage was under the bus during the day.  We had waterproof jackets in a compression bag in our daypack at all times, bug spray, snacks, water, camera and binoculars.

[jean87510]

16 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

When you book your cruise, you choose the land tour you want to take.  We booked a southbound Radiance sailing with a 4B cruisetour.  The tour comes with some included tours but there are also additional excursions that you can book for additional cost once you meet your tour guide the first day of the land tour.  Those excursions are listed under the resources tab of the link above.  You can see a list of the cruisetours that an excursion can be added to directly under the excursion description.

 

Meals are not included in the cruisetour unless it is specifically listed.  You are given enough time to get a meal while at a stop while touring by bus or you are given an opportunity to dine on the train rides.

 

The cruisetour has really long days.  Luggage pickup at the hotel when touring is usually at 6am or 6:30am.  You tour all day and get to your next stop near dinner time.  We then did additional excursions at night since it is still light out.  We did an ATV excursion one night in Denali and a river float the next night.  We didn't get back to the hotel until almost 10pm.  

 

One thing that worked well for us was we packed on large suitcase with everything for the cruise and that never came off the bus.  It had a different tag on it marked for the ship.  We had another suitcase that had everything we needed for our cruisetour.  We had a good backpack that was our daypack for while we were on the bus as all luggage was under the bus during the day.  We had waterproof jackets in a compression bag in our daypack at all times, bug spray, snacks, water, camera and binoculars.

thanks.  We have Radiance booked for a 6b in September 2024 and it's our 2nd time in AK and 1st time with land tour.  Nothing is showing yet of course on the cruise planner but Im reading up on any experiences especially with Royal.  

[reallyitsmema]

9 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

thanks.  We have Radiance booked for a 6b in September 2024 and it's our 2nd time in AK and 1st time with land tour.  Nothing is showing yet of course on the cruise planner but Im reading up on any experiences especially with Royal.  

 

The additional excursions you can book are on a space available basis, so I was happy we were able to read up on them before and could just check the boxes and hand in our paper first to the tour guide.  Our river float was supposed to be a very calm float down the river but we went in May and the river was running high because of snow melt.  We ended up in class 2 and 3 rapids!  The people who went on the white water rafting excursion ended up in class 3 and 4 rapids.  It was a blast but I am glad we chose the float.  The ATV excursion we did was on a side by side.  I am too old to ride a regular ATV.  My DH let me drive the whole time, that was really fun too.

 

https://www.royalcaribbeancruisetours.com/content/uploads/2016/06/22003043_Alaska_CruiseTours_Land_Excursions_Brochure_HR_compressed.pdf

[cruisequeen4ever]

I am going to be one of those to tell you to do Princess because they do Alaska better than any other first line. They own their own lodges, which enhances the land portion of the experience. If you are set on Royal Caribbean, though, they contract out their land tours to Alaska Premier tours. They are a good Alaskan tour company, but they don’t own their own lodges. 

[jean87510]

2 hours ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

The additional excursions you can book are on a space available basis, so I was happy we were able to read up on them before and could just check the boxes and hand in our paper first to the tour guide.  Our river float was supposed to be a very calm float down the river but we went in May and the river was running high because of snow melt.  We ended up in class 2 and 3 rapids!  The people who went on the white water rafting excursion ended up in class 3 and 4 rapids.  It was a blast but I am glad we chose the float.  The ATV excursion we did was on a side by side.  I am too old to ride a regular ATV.  My DH let me drive the whole time, that was really fun too.

 

https://www.royalcaribbeancruisetours.com/content/uploads/2016/06/22003043_Alaska_CruiseTours_Land_Excursions_Brochure_HR_compressed.pdf

Thank you!!  I would love the white water rafting.  It may fall on my 60th b day so what a great way to celebrate!! 🙂

[Royally Ready to cruise]

Any thoughts of about using local tour companies versus booking through Royal?  I’m talking easy light tours, Mendenhall  glacier, lumberjack show, Skagway Train. .It seems I can save money going with local transportation versus a RCCL tour.   And with our large group I need to save where I can. Ty

[surgie]

When we went to Alaska about 5 years ago we booked all of our own tours locally in advance. Not only did it save money but the groups were small. There was never an issue getting back to the ship in time. We read reviews carefully and booked accordingly. Not everyone is comfortable doing this but in 6+ cruises I have only booked a cruise ship's tour one time because of the particular excursion and the tightness of schedule in getting back to the ship in time. We are treating the family to Alaska in 2024 and I've already begun to research potential tours. 

8 hours ago, Royally Ready to cruise said:

Any thoughts of about using local tour companies versus booking through Royal?  I’m talking easy light tours, Mendenhall  glacier, lumberjack show, Skagway Train. .It seems I can save money going with local transportation versus a RCCL tour.   And with our large group I need to save where I can. Ty

 

[Royally Ready to cruise]

Thank you!  My brother and I are treating our kids, gr kids, nieces nephews etc, so we definitely need to save money where we can,  I’m open to any suggestions especially with the age difference we have in kids.  I think a hike to Mendenhall, White Pass railroad and lumberjack show are good group activities. 

[reallyitsmema]

On 11/26/2022 at 7:33 AM, Royally Ready to cruise said:

Thank you!  My brother and I are treating our kids, gr kids, nieces nephews etc, so we definitely need to save money where we can,  I’m open to any suggestions especially with the age difference we have in kids.  I think a hike to Mendenhall, White Pass railroad and lumberjack show are good group activities. 

 

Mendenhall Glacier is easy to do on your own.  Depending on how many total you are, I would either rent a van or try to get a private tour just for your group.  We have rented a car both times we have gone to Juneau.  It really gave us lots of flexibility to go where we wanted to go and stay as long or as little as we wanted.  We are usually at Mendenhall around 3 hours as we like to go out to Nugget Falls and do a few of the other trails.  Most excursions give you about an hour and a half there.  Unfortunately, a few of the rental agencies did not survive covid, so the Budget office we used the first time we were there is gone.  We rented from a local company this past May and they decided last minute not to open their office near the ships and were only operating from somewhere near the airport.  They ran a shuttle but not at the times they told us they would.  They were nice people but did not deliver as promised and we would not use them again.  The Blue Buses operate roundtrips to Mendenhall but I think they are about $45 roundtrip.  That would add up if you are a big group.  I would check out Evergreen Taxi.  They do private tours and are a good choice with a group.

[Royally Ready to cruise]

Thank you that was really much needed advice!  There are 26 of us and I’m sure we won’t be attached together all the time, but I just loved Mendenhall, and want to share it with my family.  You are right when you say a tour limits your time.  Our first  trip to Alaska we only had time to do nugget falls then on to salmon bake. What are some of the other trails like at Mendenhall?

[Royally Ready to cruise]

Does anyone know what dock Royal uses in Juneau?

[reallyitsmema]

We do Steep Creek trail which is off the parking lot.  It is closed a lot due to activity since a lot of it is raised boardwalk over some water and the bear like to go after the salmon.  We have seen a couple of park rangers down that trail who were showing people porcupine up a tree.  They had some needles to show you and talked about their habits.

 

We go out on the photo point trail to get some good pictures.

 

We do Nugget Falls Trail but there is a point that it breaks off the paved part and you can go along the water.  Depending on the snow melt, there are two points that you have to cross water on well placed rocks.  We have seen some really cool, big bear prints and scratchings from where bear have been digging.  There can be a ranger down along there too, pointing out the arctic tern nests along the beach and anything else interesting in the area.  It can be a little muddy and wet in areas but we have waterproof low hiking boots, so we like going off into the less crowded paths along the way.

 

The Trail of Time is supposed to be nice but we didn't get to that this year.  It goes higher up along the hill.

[reallyitsmema]

3 minutes ago, Royally Ready to cruise said:

Does anyone know what dock Royal uses in Juneau?

 

It depends on the ship.  Here is the schedule of Alaska ports and berths.

 

https://claalaska.com/?page_id=1250

 

Edit:  looks like berths aren't assigned yet.  They will update that link as it gets closer to the season.

Edited November 30, 2022 by reallyitsmema

[Royally Ready to cruise]

I see by our ship schedule we don’t dock til 1 pm in Juneau.  😗

[reallyitsmema]

5 minutes ago, Royally Ready to cruise said:

I see by our ship schedule we don’t dock til 1 pm in Juneau.  😗

 

We did Quantum in May and we docked at 1pm and then had issues with our rental, so we were behind schedule.  We were only in port until 9pm, which was a good amount of time but didn't want to get stuck with our rental car company closing early.  We did Radiance in 2018 and we were in port 8 to 6 or something like that.  Those hours just worked out better for us.  Both times we docked at AS which is the Alaska Steam Dock right in downtown Juneau.  I know last season one of the ships was at the AJ dock at times that is the farthest away.