Booking Excursions through Cruise Co. or Others....

[davanncruise1]

We just returned from our very first cruise, RCI Radiance southbound on the inside passage from Seward to Vancouver. We were traveling with a group of 5 couples and to make coordination easier we booked all of our excursions through the cruise lines. I know from reading all of the great information from these boards that you can indeed save money and time by scheduling independantly. Well, our decision to stick with the cruise lines was confirmed when we were in Ketchikan last week. We stopped into the Visitors Information Center to ask a question about an excursion. The man behind the counter tried to sell us a Zip Line Tour and a Whale Watching excursion and when we told him we had booked through the cruise line he said, and I quote..."Since I am not going to make a dime off of you, I will not answer any of your questions. I am going to send you right back to the ship that brought you here and let the people who made some money off of you help you." We were shocked! I can honestly say this guy was the only rude person I met the whole trip. We were the only people in the place, so I know that we were not costing him another "sale" and I know that he has to earn a living, but this is exactly the attitude that makes me nervous about booking through independant operators.

 

There are great tour operators out there that will let you book without going through the cruise lines - just please be careful in Ketchikan