Alaska Travel Adventures vs. Allen Marine (through Princess) for Misty Fjords

[lawahoo2001]

We're planning on taking the Misty Fjords boat tour. Found this deal through Alaska Travel Adventures - only $99/pp!

 

http://www.bestofalaskatravel.com/alaska_day_tours/pages/specials.htm

 

The other option is to go through the ship (Princess) and book it at $179/pp, which I believe is through Allen Marine tours.

 

http://www.allenmarinetours.com/sightseeing/ketchikan/tours/fjord-wilderness/index.html

 

I assume the tours and boats used are pretty similar, but I thought I would check with this board first. Are these tours pretty much the same?

 

I would normally just jump at the cheaper tour, but I'm wondering whether I should pay the extra money and go with the Princess tour to gain the piece of mind that the boat won't leave without us in case anything happens and we are late. Boat leaves at 6pm. The cheap tour is supposed to get back at 5pm. An hour to spare should be plenty of time, but who knows.

[Budget Queen]

This is a booking agent, NOT the tour operator. And you have a half hour, to be back on board your ship. They are also probably booking with Allen Marine, but they run different boats, so, my first suggestion to you would be to find out who the operator is??

[TonyFred]

I booked the 99 dollar tour. The operator let me know that this is exactly the same company that Princess uses. I was hesitant due to the "no refund within 14 days", but felt okay after learning that other Princess passengers will be on the same tour.

[lawahoo2001]

I'm not so sure about it being the same boat, though, as the $99 tour leaves at 11:30 am and comes back at 5pm, while the Princess tour leaves at 10:30 and comes back at 2:45.

[Budget Queen]

but felt okay after learning that other Princess passengers will be on the same tour.

 

 

This is NOT likely??? Allen Marine runs several boats/day and they usually have one totally ship contracted. In no way do they want chit chat of passengers claiming some paid significantly less booking independently.

 

 

I know a lot of Alaska vendors, and have gotten on some vacant slots of ship contracted tours- usually flights, and always promise the vendor I'm keeping my mouth shut. :) Which I always do. Many do not book independents otherwise, and usually are under contract specifications preventing them from doing so.

[lawahoo2001]

I just called Alaska Travel Adventures. They confirmed that they indeed own and operate the boat for this tour and that this is NOT the same tour offered by Princess (through Allen Marine). This explains the difference in times of each tour. The woman on the phone even said that if I had concerns about the late arrival of the tour, then they recommend that I book my tour through Princess, as they cannot guarantee that I can get back on the boat if they are late.

[TonyFred]

Well, I am in Ketchikan early. Our tour leaves at 6:30 am. When I talked to the operator, she pulled up some information on her computer and said, yes, they were the same operator that Princess would use that morning and yes, that people on our ship would be on the same tour.

People are so quick on these boards to want to know everything and want to point out how wrong other people are.

All I can do is pass along what I was told and I wont be doing that anymore.

[lawahoo2001]

I'm not trying to rain on your parade, don't get me wrong! I'm just trying to share the info, as I'm doing the exact same thing you are. I'm not saying you're wrong. It's possible that the agent I talked to is wacko and has no idea what she's talking about. The purpose of these boards is to gather info, and, of course, take that info with a grain of salt. I really hope that your Misty Fjords adventure is FABULOUS! :)

[lar63]

Here is my understanding of the difference between the Alaska Adventures tour and the Allen Marine tour. AK Adventures runs the "cruise & fly" tour - a group of guests take the boat out and another group takes the plane first then about 2.5 hours into the tour the boat and plane meet and swap guests. So if you choose to take the all boat tour you will get the same tour on the way back (in reverse order!) that you took on the way out. If you are looking to spend as much time on the water, don't mind the "double tour" and don't mind missing the time in town this would probably be the tour for you. This boat can hold up to 100 people.

 

My experience with the Allen Marine Misty Fjords tour is that it is a 4.25 hour all boat tour. This tour does not guarantee wildlife but they do often see harbor seals & eagles in a nest - plus on special occasions sea lions or whales. The boats are large catamarans that are very comfortable and stable (I get sea sick and was fine on the boat, though I did take my ginger capsules) with a heated cabin and open deck space. They have a narrator and binoculars on board. And the boat includes a couple of bathrooms and complimentary snacks & drinks. The great thing about booking the tour through the ship is you will be sure the ship will wait if you are late and you are backed by the quality & safety guarnatees of the cruiseline. The boat does hold upwards to 100 people - even though it is big enough that even close to full it does not feel crowded. Also, the "national monument" area is about 45 minutes outside Ketchikan so there is travel time getting to and from town. But the crew does a great job of filling the time with information, stories and on our boat we had a local native artist doing bead work who showed us her work and talked about her people. This tour is definatley run as a "round trip" experience so it does not repeat itself.

Hope this helps.

[NWWanderer]

TonyFred, I'm curious, did your trip go? I was on the Golden Princess just before you were, and my prepaid $99 trip with Alaska Travel Adventures was cancelled but they didn't tell me! And it was definitely a different ship/company than the one Princess used (Allen Marine), which had already left by the time I found out my trip was cancelled. So I missed out completely on Misty Fjords which was a big disappointment.

 

As I posted on another thread, I understand that trips do get cancelled if they don't fill up, but to not inform me at least by the night before so I could make other plans wasn't acceptable. And from the other thread, it sounds like this has happened to at least one other person. So I would hesitate to recommend this company, especially as their representative was not at all sorry or sympathetic or helpful.

[TonyFred]

Our Misty Fjords trip scheduled for May 14 was canceled. We got on the boat but before Ketchikan got out of sight, the water pump went out.

4 people of the tour had booked through Best of Alaska Travel. Everyone else had booked through Princess so YES, this is the same tour/boat that Princess books.

I have yet to see a refund but I have been heavily moderated and scolded by Cruise Critic for even mentioning that there were issues with the tour.

I have contacted BOA many times and they assure me I will get a refund, but I have my doubts.

By the way, the boat crew had never heard of Best of Alaska Travel and told us we were on our own as far as getting a refund.

So the discounted rate comes with a price. Nonexistent customer service.

[NWWanderer]

I did finally get my refund for the cancelled trip, but it took a phone call to the tour company's 800 number and over a week...so don't give up! I believe the company is actually called Alaska Travel Adventures however (even though their website is called bestofalaskatravel.com).

 

Interesting that on your cruise, the tour was the same as the one offered by Princess...it definitely was not the same one when I was there a few days earlier than you were (the Princess excursion boat left an hour or so before the one I was scheduled to be on). I wonder if rather than cancelling since there were only a few of you, they put you on the Princess excursion instead, hmmm...

 

And yes, this was a valuable lesson in, you get what you pay for. I like to support small businesses since I run one myself but you have to have the customer service side down!