Backup Plan if Helicopter/Dogsledding Tour is Cancelled in Juneau?

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

Hey y'all,

 

We have a helicopter ride + dogsledding excursion booked in Juneau for our Alaska cruise in July, but I understand the helicopter excursions are frequently cancelled due to weather (somebody said as often as 2/3 are cancelled).

 

What's an exciting excursion we can potentially book on the day of if we find out our helicopter excursion is cancelled? 

 

Thanks in advance!

[karatemom2]

There may be whale watching excursions you could book at the dock that aren't full at the last minute - not sure the quality of the vendors, but there are usually some with kiosks selling tours.

 

Other options would be to do some hiking at Mendenhall Glacier, or take the Mount Roberts Tramway to the top and do some of the hikes up there.

 

Most excursions are booked in advance so same day options are pretty limited - you might check Viator and see what they list since a lot of their tours don't require prepayment and have a pretty generous cancellation policy of up to the day before which would give you time to assess the weather for the day you are going to be there.

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

22 minutes ago, karatemom2 said:

There may be whale watching excursions you could book at the dock that aren't full at the last minute - not sure the quality of the vendors, but there are usually some with kiosks selling tours.

 

Other options would be to do some hiking at Mendenhall Glacier, or take the Mount Roberts Tramway to the top and do some of the hikes up there.

 

Most excursions are booked in advance so same day options are pretty limited - you might check Viator and see what they list since a lot of their tours don't require prepayment and have a pretty generous cancellation policy of up to the day before which would give you time to assess the weather for the day you are going to be there.

This is super helpful, thank you!

[SightCRR]

Since the dog camp is at a specific spot sometimes they can't fly there but can fly to other spots on the glacier or nearby glacier. Be ready to answer the question "Do you still want to fly to glacier without the dogs". That should also come with slight refund. Not sure how it works with ship line sponsored excursion. May want to check with shore excursions.  

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

6 minutes ago, SightCRR said:

Since the dog camp is at a specific spot sometimes they can't fly there but can fly to other spots on the glacier or nearby glacier. Be ready to answer the question "Do you still want to fly to glacier without the dogs". That should also come with slight refund. Not sure how it works with ship line sponsored excursion. May want to check with shore excursions.  

We booked our excursion directly with Coastal Helicopters... It's helpful to know that may be an option. 

 

Thank you!

[SightCRR]

That is who we went with. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

6 hours ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

We booked our excursion directly with Coastal Helicopters... It's helpful to know that may be an option. 

 

Thank you!

Do you mind sharing the cost of this excursion?  We booked this through the cruise line (Celebrity) and it was $860 pp.  Yowza!  I will be disappointed if it's cancelled but then again, I won't be too disappointed if it's cancelled.  We are scheduled for Juneau on June 3rd. and so far weather is looking pretty good.  What circumstances cause cancellation?  Obviously, fog...what else?

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

3 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Do you mind sharing the cost of this excursion?  We booked this through the cruise line (Celebrity) and it was $860 pp.  Yowza!  I will be disappointed if it's cancelled but then again, I won't be too disappointed if it's cancelled.  We are scheduled for Juneau on June 3rd. and so far weather is looking pretty good.  What circumstances cause cancellation?  Obviously, fog...what else?

Our price is pretty much exactly the same and we booked directly with the tour company versus through the cruise line... Over $3k for a family of four! I hope my kids will remember it, lol. 

 

There are all sorts of things that could impact whether the tour happens or not, but I believe fog is the main consideration.

 

I hope you guys get to do the tour, and if you remember, please come back and let me know what you thought as we don't go until July! 

 

Happy sails!

[Kat915]

I did not do the helicopter with the dog sled, but walking on the glacier for a short time is one of the best excursions that I ever did. Definitely something to consider if your excursion is canceled. 

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

1 minute ago, Kat915 said:

I did not do the helicopter with the dog sled, but walking on the glacier for a short time is one of the best excursions that I ever did. Definitely something to consider if your excursion is canceled. 

Are there buses that take you to the glaciers if the helicopters aren't running? Or how would we get there? 

 

Thank you in advance!

[Kat915]

43 minutes ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

Are there buses that take you to the glaciers if the helicopters aren't running? Or how would we get there? 

 

Thank you in advance!

I went with Coatal helicopter.  I am responding to the post above about being offered a walk on the glacier if your excursion is canceled.  The helicopter goes to a different place and still may be running. I am recommending to take that as a second option if your excursion is canceled. 

 

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

43 minutes ago, Kat915 said:

I went with Coatal helicopter.  I am responding to the post above about being offered a walk on the glacier if your excursion is canceled.  The helicopter goes to a different place and still may be running. I am recommending to take that as a second option if your excursion is canceled. 

 

I know - that's what I was asking about 😝

 

How did you get to the glacier (since it wasn't helicopter)?

 

I'm just wondering what I should be looking up so we can figure out how to have this as a backup option!

[Kat915]

2 hours ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

I know - that's what I was asking about 😝

 

How did you get to the glacier (since it wasn't helicopter)?

 

I'm just wondering what I should be looking up so we can figure out how to have this as a backup option!

It was helicopter.  Your back up option is with your current vendor.

[LAX]

On 5/22/2024 at 1:58 PM, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

Our price is pretty much exactly the same and we booked directly with the tour company versus through the cruise line... Over $3k for a family of four! I hope my kids will remember it, lol. 

 

There are all sorts of things that could impact whether the tour happens or not, but I believe fog is the main consideration.

 

I hope you guys get to do the tour, and if you remember, please come back and let me know what you thought as we don't go until July! 

 

Happy sails!

If the cost is the same for booking direct vs. through the cruise line, what are the advantages of booking direct? Based on what I have read, if I return late on a ship-sponsored excursion, the cruise line will be responsible for getting me back on the ship. But if I book direct, then I will be on my own.

 

LAX

 

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

3 hours ago, LAX said:

If the cost is the same for booking direct vs. through the cruise line, what are the advantages of booking direct? Based on what I have read, if I return late on a ship-sponsored excursion, the cruise line will be responsible for getting me back on the ship. But if I book direct, then I will be on my own.

 

LAX

 

I don't think we're talking about the exact same excursion.

 

Ours is with the highest rated helicopter tour company in Juneau and has an extra stop at the glacier than what I saw is available via the cruise lines.

[LAX]

10 hours ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

I don't think we're talking about the exact same excursion.

 

Ours is with the highest rated helicopter tour company in Juneau and has an extra stop at the glacier than what I saw is available via the cruise lines.

Thanks for clarifying. I thought your previous post said the cost was the same and assumed you were talking about the same excursion. Perhaps I misunderstood.

 

LAX

 

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

48 minutes ago, LAX said:

Thanks for clarifying. I thought your previous post said the cost was the same and assumed you were talking about the same excursion. Perhaps I misunderstood.

 

LAX

 

I fired off a quick response and didn't specify.

 

Though I will say - even if prices were the same, I would still do an independent excursion...the independent ones are run so much better in my experience.

 

As an example - we did a private tour at Falmouth, Jamaica last month on a different sailing and our first stop was at Dunn's River Falls.

 

After we finished the stop and were headed to the 2nd stop, the cruise excursion bus was just finally getting there (and they were in a very long line).

 

Fortunately though - they're cheaper as well so it's always an easy decision to do our own thing!

[wolfie11]

Coastal, along with Temsco and NorthStar also do cruise line excursions.  They do some private excursions because they make more money (no commissions) but your private excursion will be run the same as the ship’s excursion.  This may be different in other countries.