Heading North to Alaska next year and I'm starting my folder with info....I've read that Oceania shore excursions can be quite costly. How does one go about finding your own shore excursions in the various cities where you dock. Can anyone recommend some reputable companies that I could book on line?

thanks for any help

Shore excursions in Alaska are costly no matter how you book them - the season is short, and they almost always involve transportation on boat, plane, train from port cities which, for the most part, have nothing but t-shirt and jewelry shops within walking distance of ship.

Cruisecritic has some advice on specific Alaska port cities. When we researched a few years ago, in the end we decided to book thru cruiseline (Princess) since the amount of money saved was not huge and convenience and assurance that cruise would not leave without us if we went on a distant excursion won out.On our helicopter landing on Mendenhall glacier out of Juneau, for example, there were people in same group who had booked privately. They paid about 10% less but had to get to central pickup site from ship.

I agree with Gail. Shore excrusions for Alaska are not like the Caribbean. Many private companies charge about the same as the cruise line and since they take less people, they book quicker.

When we did our cruise last September with Princess, I booked 2 excursion with the cruise line because it held our spot, but we didn't have to pay for them until the cruise was completed. Gave us plenty of time to save. We did book one private excursion only because Princess wasn't offering it.

Go to cruisecritic.com to the port of call section and go through your ports. Plenty of recommendations for private companies.

Book as quickly as you can. They sell out fast and I noticed that Princess raised the prices of thier excursions the closer it got to our sail date.

The main reason why Alaska excursion is more expensive compare to the Caribbean is this ... american operatior, American certified equipemtn, American staff.

Ship's excursions are about 15-20% more expensive comapre to private comapnies. Most Alaskan stops, you can do self guided tours if you just want to go the most popular hot spots.

If you want to see Misty Fjord, whale watching, heli Glacier walk, then you will have to pay $$$ for it. If you want to have a great time and not spent too much money on shore excursion, it can be done.

As an example: on Juneau, you can take public transportation to Mendenhall glacier, spend a few hours tehre adn get back in town. Take the tram to Mount Roberts, spend a couple hours there. Walk through downtown, stop inRed Dog Saloon and then head back to the ship before it's time. If you want to sepnd money, you can do the Heli-Glacier walk, whale watching etc, spedning from $200 - $400 pp.

For Ketchikan, walk to Creek street, aee all the stores and old trown charm, then head up to Cape Fox Lodge on the cable car, walk around the lodge and the surrounding trails. Of course, you can also take the sea plane and visit Misty Fjord for about $600 pp. It all depends on your budget.

It all depends on what you want to see, what is your budget and then maybe we can be a bit more "focus" on our tour operator recommendation.

I noticed last September that the private tour operators were only about $20 - $50 less than Princess.

We did the Whale Watching and Mendanhall Glacier tour with Princess for around $350 for two people. Still had enough time to go to the Red Dog Saloon for lunch and do some tourist shopping. We did the Sea Plane to Mist Fjords with Princess for around $500 for two people and then walked to Creek Street. We did the train/bus in Skagway with an independant operator and it around $500 for the two of us. Then went to the Red Onion Saloon for dinner. 3 excursions in 3 different ports for around $1,300.

Look on your cruise ship's web-site and price out their tours vs. independant.

We booked all our excursions through the cruise line- yes more expensive but soooooo convenient.
We did Misty Fjords- great trip but I think I might have liked a glacier flight seeing more.
We whale watched in Juneau- which included a salmon bake- and whale watching was off the charts fabulous- we saw whales " bubble net feeding." Check Utube for videos of this amazing event.
Skagway we did the train trip- another worthwhile side trip.
The only thing we did on our own was a trip to Mendenhall Glacier which we booked at a kiosk just outside the cruise ship landing.

The worst part of the trip was all the high end jewelry stores at every port with hawkers who tried everything to get you inside to shop. You could not even stop to look in the windows without them coming out to offer you a deal!

It was a great trip- enjoy!

Best shopping stop would be Ketchiken. Bar none. Most souvenirs are cheaper than other ports. Mind you, they are all non local products anyway, with some minor exceptions. If you want to buy true local souvenir, make sure you check where the items were made.

I don't undestand people going to cruises spending time (and money) shopping for jewelry on the port stops anyway. Is it because it is duty free? Is it becasue of the better price? There are lots of horro stories out tehre and if you deicde to buy jewerly, make sure it is a reptutable company. (And how do you know that they are reputable?)

I guess my next questions is how do you find the land excursions PRIOR to boarding the ship? Do I just google land excursion in ________ whatever City I will be in?

It all depends on where you want to go pre-cruise, and of course, a lot to do with where youbaord the ship. Typically, if you board in Vancouver or Seattle, you really don't need any excursions. You can always opt for a Gray Line tour.

If you board the ship in Alaska, then it;s a different story.

Shar, spend some time reading the cruise critic alaska forum here http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55

There is a ton of discussion there about what excursions and what companies to use. I used that site extensively planning my trip last year.

Alternatively, take a look at what the cruise ship offers, and come back here with some ideas about what you want to do (like whale watching in Juneau, or a helicopter glacier landing, or the train in Skagway, or bear watching or whatever) and ask a somewhat more specific question, then I'm sure folks will be able to help you better.

There are non-cruise ship options, and I actually booked all of my excursions with private companies. However, I mostly did it that way because I liked the smaller groups, not because it was lower cost.

"I guess my next questions is how do you find the land excursions PRIOR to boarding the ship?"

1.) Go to your cruise line's website and look up their shore excursions. It will tell you want they offer and the price.

2.) Go to the Alaska port of call section on Cruisecritic.com and read. Several recomendations for private tour operators and their web-site links.

Also read some of last year's Alaska cruise reviews on that site to see what other people did, enjoyed and did not enjoy.

In my experience private tours are a little less than ships tours for Alaska vs. private tours for most other ports. I suggest booking way in advance because ships gobble up tours by private operators and sell them for higher rates. We could not book a helicopter tour from Juneau privately but got the same company from the ship at a higher price.

However the advantage of booking with the ship is that if for any reason you can,t port then you do not lose anything.

The best part of any Alaska cruise is the excursions though they are usually costly.