DebInTN

Still trying to decide about excursions while on our Alaska cruise. I think that I want to do the White Pass railroad trip. So far, that's it. I fully intend to get off the ship & walk around the towns we are in but I'm thinking that I might rather spend my money on a massage or something like that. We are hikers & will be spending 4 days before leaving on the cruise hiking in Washington so it's not that I like to sit on my rear, but I really want to rest & relax on the cruise - BUT I don't want to waste this opportunity. I know it's all a matter of preferences but I'm interested if any of you out there have made similar choices.

abram

For me, cruising is all about the itinerary, and the opportunity to see new places. Although I don't care for ship's excursions, I do like to research the ports and see as much as I can, either on my own or with a privately hired guide.

We liked the White Pass & Yukon RR very much, and the national Park exhibits, film, and walking tour in Skagway were also quite good.

bobbysue

That's really a tough question, and I think you will get as many different responses as you get responders. My husband and I like to see everything there is to see in port. That's why we cruise. We rarely take ship excursions. We usually get a guidebook and do it on our own or hire a private guide.

On the other hand, we have friends who rarely leave the ship, preferring instead to spend a lot of time on their balcony getting pampered with room service, spas, etc. There are countless others who fall somewhere in between. The beauty of cruising is that you have all these options. The disadvantage is that you have to make the decision as to which options are important to you.

I realize this doesn't answer your question, but maybe it will provide food for thought. If the shore excursions don't sound particularly exciting to you, then by all means use the wonderful opportunity to relax.

kfusto

It depends on the itinerary. For Alaska, it is all about getting out into the wild and not about the hokey shop laden ports that exist mostly just for the season and close down the rest of the time. The true beauty of Alaska cannot be found there, IMO. To put a massage, so easily available anywhere, above spending that money for truly amazing experiences makes no sense to me.

For the Caribbean, I am happy away from the tourist hordes on the beach and in the water. That is a relaxing vacation.

DebInTN

Thank you all for taking the time to reply. I guess my main reluctance to many of the excursions that sound interesting to me is because I don't want to be herded onto a bus and driven by places that are beautiful. That is the reason we didn't book the "cruisetour" option for our trip. We realize that there is no way to get more than a glimpse at Alaska on this trip & are already planning to go back for a driving vacation. I just don't think we will be in any port long enough (except for Skagway) to do much exploring. Maybe I'm wrong. (cruise info: Diamond Princess, 7-day, 5.24.08, Juneau-Whittier)

Robin72

This is what we did and every excusion was outstanding.
Juneau - Whale watch private excursion with Captain Larry of Orca Enterprises. We also had time to catch the $5.00 [each way] town shuttle to Mendenhall Glacier. It might be a little more now.
Ketchikan - Misty Fjords float plane private excursion with Island Wings.
Skagway - Also did a private excursion with Chilkoot Charters where we took the WhitePAss train up and then continued on by bus to the Yukon and then back to Skagway. HAd several stops alon the way as well as lunch.
You can get an idea of what to do by looking at the Princess excursion list.
Cruisecritic.com offers lots of information. A great source of information!

bobbysue

I think the others have hit the nail on the head. Having to drive by places that interest me also drives me nuts. That is why we either do places on our own or hire a private guide. The whole purpose of the private guide is so you get to do what you want to do and stop where you want to stop. There is no comparison, in my opinion, between a private guide and the ship excursion. Sometimes it doesn't even cost much more. We haven't cruised Alaska, but on the Baltic, Caribbean,Mediterranean, and the upcoming Greek Isles cruise, we have done almost no ship excursions.

kfusto

I totally concur with private guides, private excursions and rental cars. I have never done a ship sponsored tour in any area of the world and Alaska is particularly easy to find high quality independent providers.

In 5 Alaska cruises, I have done a variety of touring. In Juneau I like to rent a car and explore. This past May we booked a private boat tour which was wonderful. This next trip we will zipline.

Ketchikan is the place for floatplane rides.

Sitka we loved the eco tour.

The ports of call board for Alaska on cruisecritic has lots of info on private guides.

DebInTN

Private guides! That sounds exactly like something we would enjoy.

Robin72

YUP! You got the right idea.Go private! Alaska excursions are expensive and you may not save very much but the tours will be personalized and fewer people.

BudgetQueen

In my opinion, you get only half trip in Alaska without some tours. Just roaming about the ports, can be of interest- IF You do some homework and get a walking tour map. Otherwise you are essentially going to be shopping.

For Alaska, it is important to get OUT of the immediate port area. Look over a shore excursion and narrow down your interests. Once doing so, you can then research independent option.

The "private guide", comment needs more than just "finding one" As mentioned, you will do far better if you can reference an interest first and go from there, rather than looking for a "private guide" first.

In Alaska, there are many specialities and some fantastic tours. Get a match of these.

marilee12

Just returned from the diamond princess whittier to vancouver.....wonderful experience. I would say that the excursions we did really made our trip. Although having said that, one of our dining companions had taken 55 cruises and they were hikers and decided to hike each day, but they had been at all the ports before, so had seen most of the sights. We chose to book our excursions by ourselves....for a couple of reasons. One, lining up to get on a bus with others is not appealing and I tend to like to do tours with smaller groups. In Juneau, we did Harv and Marv's whale watching tour and their boat only takes 6 people. We had an amazing time and I highly recommend them. Their father picks you up in a van and gives you a little tour of the town as he drives you to the boat dock. It was such a fun tour. All the big tours had cancelled wiht the cruise ships as it was very foggy. But, Harv and Marv gave us all the decision to go or not go. We all went...2 boats of 6 and saw at least 5 whales. We turned off our engine and listened for them and then tried to find them in the fog. We had a great time. We then had them drive us to Temsco helicopters where we did the Pilot's choice. It was a perfect day and we were lucky enough to be flown to the ice fields above Juneau. LEt's just say it was one of the most amazing thing we have ever experienced. We sat our helicopters down on ice fields that sat on top of the mountains. In Ketchiken, we did classic tours....she has a 50 something chevy and has lived in town for 30 years. She will do whatever tour you want...but we just wanted to be driven around town. We saw an eagle and it's nest, happened to talk to someone in their yard who invited us into their backyard which overlook the bay, saw a whale they had been watching for over a week, learned about the city, went through their smallest tunnel, etc. My husband also flew on a float plane into the misty fjords. He said the helicopter experience was so much better than the float plane. In Skagway, we did the train and it was pretty, but we enjoyed these expeditions more.
Hope that helps. email me with any questions. [email protected]