excursions

T

terriebari

Guest
hi again!!!
i have been given mixed info about excursions and wanted your feedback.

some have told me that the excursions that the ship offers (in my case, the Summit), can be much mor expensive and congested than booking the same trips outside of the cruise line. However, others have told me that it is a better idea to book with the cruise line, because the ship will not leave without you if there is a delay of any kind on the excursion.

do any of you have insight on this?
thanks
terrie
 
T

Ted_D

Guest
Terrie,

Both pieces of advice are correct. The price difference is usually about 15-20%, with the cruiseline-offered excursions naturally costing
more.

We usually (though not always) use the cruiseline's excursions for one reason, even though they are more expensive. That reason is safety. In addition to the safety of not getting left at the dock when an excursion is late returning, I am concerned about the honesty and competence of the guides themselves. I rely on the cruiseline to choose the vendors carefully and to dump them if there are too many complaints or other issues. I have no way to reliably check out excursion guides without a fair amount of effort, and I am lazy. So, I take the "safe" way out and use the cruiselines.

If you do choose to book your own excursions outside of the line, give posters here (and on the Alaska board) a chance to review who you are thinking about. Someone may have used them before and be in a position to give you sound input.

Ted
 
T

terriebari

Guest
thanks, Ted..I will do that!

I usually enjoy doing a lot of research on the web before traveling, so we will probably do a combo of the excursions offered with the cruiseline and the ones that aren't

terrie
 
B

BSeabob

Guest
If you are doing Alaska .. FYI on WhitePass RR. PRICE IS THE SAME OFF OR ON THE SHIP.
 
Q

qlder

Guest
If you are doing Alaska, we did a White Pass bus tour instead of the train, it was terrific and a LOT cheaper, we picked up the tour when we got off the boat at the docks and had a great time.
 
B

BSeabob

Guest
FYI
RR Tour I took was the "Up to the top and return" on HAL and RR website the cost was the same. (2006)
 
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