Tracy Arm Fjord excursion from Juneau - book through shipping line or independently?

[Sam_Aus]

We are be traveling from Vancouver to Alaska this sumner by Sapphire Princess, which will be stopping at Juneau. We are considering to take the Tracy Arm Fjord explorer at Juneau. 

Princess is asking for around $375pp for this excursion.

We noticed that this shore excursion is offered by very limited independent company. The only we found till date is a company called True Alaskan Tours. The price there is approx $100pp less expensive than Princess.

Can someone advise if we should book through Princess or independent travel agent? Have you booked Tracy Arm Explorer through independent company in the past? If so, can you please share your experience?

 

 

 

 

 

[wolfie11]

I went on this as a ship’s tour last summer and it was amazing.  Up close to the glaciers and lots of wildlife.  I have also done it independently.  Check your timing on the independent tour as it often either leaves too early or arrives back too late for your docking times.

[Sarandthesea]

Does anyone know how to find these independant excursion companies? I am a first time cruiser and trying to figure this all out. I cannot afford to book these all with HAL ( my cruise line) 

ANy advice or tips would be much appreciated . I am a first time cruiser going in May. 

 

 

[wolfie11]

The easiest way is to google “tours in …” and add the name of the port.  You will get a lot of tour brokers like Viator and Alaska Shore Tours, but look through them for something you like and track down the actual operator.  You will not save a lot of money with private tours though (maybe 20-30%) and they fill up quickly.  For example, in Ketchikan, a 3 hour rainforest walk and trip to Totem Bight with Wild Wolf tours (he is great and I highly recommend him) is $109.  A similar tour with Princess is $135. 

[karatemom2]

We have done this excursion twice on port days in Juneau. We booked through a company called Adventure Bound - here is the link: https://www.adventureboundalaska.com/

 

The key is that your port hours need to align with their hours for the excursion - on the two occasions we booked with them we had early arrival and a long port day so it worked. It still ranks in my top 5 excursions we have ever done - well worth it!

[wolfie11]

3 hours ago, karatemom2 said:

We have done this excursion twice on port days in Juneau. We booked through a company called Adventure Bound - here is the link: https://www.adventureboundalaska.com/

 

The key is that your port hours need to align with their hours for the excursion - on the two occasions we booked with them we had early arrival and a long port day so it worked. It still ranks in my top 5 excursions we have ever done - well worth it!

Adventure Bound has been out of business for a couple of years.  The tour is run by True Alaskan Tours, which is Allen Marine. The tour runs daily and is seven hours.  Tour start times vary by day of the week from 9:00 to 11:00. I believe their dock is by the Hanger Restaurant so you will have to allow 15-30 minutes to walk there depending on where your ship is docked.  Price is $275.00 with tax for weekdays, and $225.00 on weekends.

[Sam_Aus]

7 hours ago, wolfie11 said:

Adventure Bound has been out of business for a couple of years.  The tour is run by True Alaskan Tours, which is Allen Marine. The tour runs daily and is seven hours.  Tour start times vary by day of the week from 9:00 to 11:00. I believe their dock is by the Hanger Restaurant so you will have to allow 15-30 minutes to walk there depending on where your ship is docked.  Price is $275.00 with tax for weekdays, and $225.00 on weekends.

 Thank you wolfie11, very informative response.

Our cruise ship is scheduled to be at Juneau at 8:00AM, and scheduled to depart at 9:15AM (based on the schedule available at Truealskan Tour and and Princess websites).

For information, Truealaskan asking $275, whereas Princess is asking $399 - a whopping $125 per person price difference!!

 

We have some questions.  Note that we are cruising for the first time, so some questions may look a bit silly.

 

a) Is 1 hour 15 minutes enough time to catch the Tracy Arm excursion ship? Will we be able to make it comfortabely?

b) Once the ship is docked at 8:00, approximately how long it may take to disemberk from the ship (Princess)?

c) Does these cruise ship normally dock at the ports at pre-scheduled time?

d) I understand from another discussion of this forum that the passengers board the Tracy Arm excursion ship directly from cruise ship (transfer at lower level)? Is that only for the passenger booked through cruise ship and not permitted for the other who bought tickets independently?

e) If at the above is true, does the Tracy Arm excursion ship pick up the passangers from it's dock?

f) Can someone inform if the Tracy Arm excursion still starts from the dock near Hanger Resturent or from the dock opposite to Mount Robert Tramway?

 

Once again, thank you for your help.

 

[Sam_Aus]

I got a response from Allen Marine that the Tracy Arm Cruise ship starts from 76 Egan Dr, which is around 0.6 mile (13 minutes walling distance) from Princess Cruse Docking Point. So, looks like we will have enough time to make it provided the Cruise ship arrives on time.

I can see the Tracy Arm terminus building from google map street view. 51 AK-7 - Google Maps

Any comment / caution will be much appreciated. 

[notalandlover]

We did a: small boat tour with this agency. It was amazing.  He got real close to the glacier, eat hot freash crab and drank delicious wine. We saw the Adventure Bound boat and it hold lots of people. If you want something intimate and more personal call these people. He also took us right up to the edge of some warter falls that dump into the Tracey Arm. I highly recommend them.

 

 

https://bookalaskaexcursions.com/alaska-tours/

Edited January 28 by notalandlover

[wolfie11]

6 hours ago, notalandlover said:

We did a: small boat tour with this agency. It was amazing.  He got real close to the glacier, eat hot freash crab and drank delicious wine. We saw the Adventure Bound boat and it hold lots of people. If you want something intimate and more personal call these people. He also took us right up to the edge of some warter falls that dump into the Tracey Arm. I highly recommend them.

 

 

https://bookalaskaexcursions.com/alaska-tours/

How long ago did you take this tour?  The website you listed is a third-party booking agency that does not offer the tour itself, but like the cruise lines, books an excursion for you and charges the operator a commission.  The boat in the picture is the Adventure Bound, which went out of business two years ago.  The Allen Marine tour is currently the only way to get up to the Sawyer glaciers in Tracy Arm unless someone has started a new tour operation in Juneau this year.

[rnr4thatsme]

I was also looking at this tour but it's not showing listed as a possible excursion on Grand Princess' stop in Juneau in July 2025.  Does that mean Allen Marine is not doing it on that day, or is it possible that it hasn't been added yet?   I see it listed on Discovery Princess the same month.  I was really hoping to do this excursion.  

 

I haven't actually booked the cruise yet, just looking at the itinerary.

Edited February 1 by rnr4thatsme
clarified

[Coral]

11 minutes ago, rnr4thatsme said:

I was also looking at this tour but it's not showing listed as a possible excursion on Grand Princess' stop in Juneau in July 2025.  Does that mean Allen Marine is not doing it on that day, or is it possible that it hasn't been added yet?   I see it listed on Discovery Princess the same month.  I was really hoping to do this excursion.  

 

I haven't actually booked the cruise yet, just looking at the itinerary.

Discovery is RT Seattle with less time in Juneau so I am guessing they are getting off the ship before they get to Juneau (or after). Grand Princess is one way I believe with an all day visit in Juneau. Contact Allen Marine directly and see if they are offering a RT Juneau trip to Tracy Arm to book independently. 

[Paula_MacFan]

We had this excursion booked through Princess for our June Sapphire cruise, but it was cancelled a couple months ago by Princess due to 'operational reasons'. I assume it's time constraints. We're very disappointed as it was a highlight we had been looking forward to.

[notalandlover]

On 1/28/2024 at 2:08 AM, wolfie11 said:

How long ago did you take this tour?  The website you listed is a third-party booking agency that does not offer the tour itself, but like the cruise lines, books an excursion for you and charges the operator a commission.  The boat in the picture is the Adventure Bound, which went out of business two years ago.  The Allen Marine tour is currently the only way to get up to the Sawyer glaciers in Tracy Arm unless someone has started a new tour operation in Juneau this year.

Last year.  Call them. 

[wolfie11]

7 hours ago, notalandlover said:

Last year.  Call them. 

Adventure Bound went out of business after the boat failed a Coast Guard inspection.  It is no longer operating. If you want to go this summer you have to use Allen Marine.  This tour is round trip from Juneau.  You don't board the boat from your ship.

[wsp2205]

I am checking the price from Truealaskan for this summer and they are asking for $314.24 instead of $275. where did you guys see $275 price tag pls? 

On 1/24/2024 at 12:41 AM, Sam_Aus said:

 Thank you wolfie11, very informative response.

Our cruise ship is scheduled to be at Juneau at 8:00AM, and scheduled to depart at 9:15AM (based on the schedule available at Truealskan Tour and and Princess websites).

For information, Truealaskan asking $275, whereas Princess is asking $399 - a whopping $125 per person price difference!!

 

We have some questions.  Note that we are cruising for the first time, so some questions may look a bit silly.

 

a) Is 1 hour 15 minutes enough time to catch the Tracy Arm excursion ship? Will we be able to make it comfortabely?

b) Once the ship is docked at 8:00, approximately how long it may take to disemberk from the ship (Princess)?

c) Does these cruise ship normally dock at the ports at pre-scheduled time?

d) I understand from another discussion of this forum that the passengers board the Tracy Arm excursion ship directly from cruise ship (transfer at lower level)? Is that only for the passenger booked through cruise ship and not permitted for the other who bought tickets independently?

e) If at the above is true, does the Tracy Arm excursion ship pick up the passangers from it's dock?

f) Can someone inform if the Tracy Arm excursion still starts from the dock near Hanger Resturent or from the dock opposite to Mount Robert Tramway?

 

Once again, thank you for your help.

 

 

[Sam_Aus]

2 hours ago, wsp2205 said:

I am checking the price from Truealaskan for this summer and they are asking for $314.24 instead of $275. where did you guys see $275 price tag pls? 

 

It looks like they just increased the price within last 2-3 days. As I can see from their website, it is now 314.24+Taxes 34.56=348.80.

Exactly 1 week back when we booked the ticket on 27th Jan, we paid 247.57+27.24=274.84

I noticed recently (about 2 weeks back), Princess increased this excursion price from around 350 to 400. Now I understood why they did it. We booked 2 tickets for 549.61.

Quite unfortunate for them yet to book!!

[wsp2205]

that's just crazy. at this price point, is it still worth it? I do get that people splurge on these expensive Alaska tours, but spending ~$700 on a 2-person tour is something I am trying to make sense of. 

 

Also, is this tour , or other glacier related tours (such as glacier viewing or landing tours) weather dependent? If one has to splurge on one of these and get unlucky with nasty weather, which is not uncommon in Alaska destinations, that would be very unfortunate. 

 

This also makes me think: would it be too late to book this tour after we get to the port -- it would help mitigate risks such as cruise delays and/or bad weather. but not sure if these things sell out?