Thread: Serious Alaska Tour Help please

Well, I spent the extra cash to have the Alaskan Toursaver overnighted to me only to find that the Juneau Helicopter tour (Era) coupon is not good on Mondays and that is the day that we will be in Juneau. Bad me for not reading the fine print.

Toursaver coupon options:

1) Hubby has his heart set on 'walking on a glacier,' so I am torn as what to do. We could take a scenic flight on Wings of Alaska roundtrip from Juneau to Gustavius. It is a regular flight on a plane, not a tour, but the company says that it is quite scenic. value $192

2) Or, we could do a whalewatching tour, but the pickup for that is 3 pm and drops us back at the boat by 6:30 pm. This would not leave any time to do a helicopter tour, I think. value $159

3) I personally liked the ziplining idea, it looks like an adventure, but Hubby thinks it looks lame. Alaska Canopy Adventures - long ziplines, sky bridges & great guides - Juneau & Ketchikan is the company, value $199 --doing this might leave time over for doing the Mount Roberts Tram, coupon value $27

4) Sled dog summer camp by Temsco. value $124. This is not the really cool dogsled that goes in the snow that we were hoping for, but still get to experience dogsledding. I don't know how much fun dog sledding is in the dirt as opposed to the snow. Maybe someone can enlighten me?

5) Cape Fox Tours ATV Adeventure Karts Expedition. value $209. "ATV challenge over miles of Alaska Wilderness Roads, unsurpassed views in a Tomcar for 2 guests."

Nontoursaver option:

1) Just go ahead an book the helicopter/dogsled he wanted, not save any money, have a lot of fun as this is an amazing tour and be glad that I made Hubby happy. I still have a Ketchikan flightseeing coupon that I can use, so I'd get the value of the book back.

Can anyone help me with this dilemma? I am a bit disheartened atm, the toursaver guide is nothing compared to last year's.

Thanks, as always, for any insight

We did the helicopter flight and dogsled tour out of Juneau - it was magnificent! Expensive, but it's definitely a once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

I do not recommend the Mt. Roberts tram - does not go that far up, does not last very long, and is too expensive. Unless you plan to ride up and walk down, I wouldn't waste my money on it.

The dog sled camp is interesting, but as you alluded to, it's much better when you in the snow - just not quite the same thing. To me, this was overpriced.

I'll also say I'm not a big fan of shore excursions offered by the cruise lines - too expensive, too crowded, and too rushed. In fact, in 36 cruises, we've only done one excursion through the cruise line. Much prefer to do our own thing.

One company you can look at is Shore Trips. We have a contract with them and have been very happy with their excursions and service. In fact, we did the helicopter/dog sled tour through them and it was $100 cheaper per person than the cruise line!

I'm sure others will give you different information, but you definitely want to get out there and do what you want to do because you may never get the chance to do it again. And Alaska is definitely one of those places that you have to get out there and explore.

It's too bad your agent wasn't able to provide helpful information for you - would make your life alot easier.

Pete

Hi Cruise Planner, thank you so much for taking the time to reply to my cry for help! I had just learned that the toursaver coupons were not going to be able to be used for the days we were in port and it was ruining all my plans.

I ended up booking a glacier helicopter tour with Coastal, they were extremely friendly and willing to help, as well as very informative and descriptive of the tours that they offer. I really appreciated the customer service that they provided in both a friendly and professional manner. I spoke to Derek there, he really went above and beyond in my opinion and took the time to really explain and go over the tours with me.

We don't have an agent, just a PCC that was assigned to us by HAL. I was going to transfer the booking over to an agent, but then our cruise dropped in price online and so I just called them to get the lower price. I have been a little afraid to transfer the booking to an agent because I feel a lack of control over being able to call and get price reductions and such. Anyone with any insight on this, feel free to enlighten me about the process.

Anyway, thanks again Cruise Planner, happy and safe travels to you

Originally Posted by SailKeyWest

Hi Cruise Planner, thank you so much for taking the time to reply to my cry for help! I had just learned that the toursaver coupons were not going to be able to be used for the days we were in port and it was ruining all my plans.

I ended up booking a glacier helicopter tour with Coastal, they were extremely friendly and willing to help, as well as very informative and descriptive of the tours that they offer. I really appreciated the customer service that they provided in both a friendly and professional manner. I spoke to Derek there, he really went above and beyond in my opinion and took the time to really explain and go over the tours with me.

We don't have an agent, just a PCC that was assigned to us by HAL. I was going to transfer the booking over to an agent, but then our cruise dropped in price online and so I just called them to get the lower price. I have been a little afraid to transfer the booking to an agent because I feel a lack of control over being able to call and get price reductions and such. Anyone with any insight on this, feel free to enlighten me about the process.

Anyway, thanks again Cruise Planner, happy and safe travels to you

Your agent will normally be able to get any price decreases, provided there are no unusual caviats, like 'for new bookings only' or for a special group, like military rates or past guest rates that you may not qualify for.

But your agent can do everything the cruise lines can do and sometimes even more. The prices will be the same, but sometimes your agent may have a group going or be able to offer other perks they cruise line is not offering.

Obviously, I'm prejudice on the matter, but if I weren't an agent, I would never book a cruise without going through an agent. The cruise lines are interested in themselves, whereas an agent is going to look after you and if you ever have any problems, you've got someone on your side.

Almost always, when you call the cruise line, you're talking to people in a Call Center and these people line have never been on a cruise, never seen a cruise ship except in pictures, and have never been to any of the ports you'll be visiting. So their job is to sell you a cruise, not assist you with any questions you may have.

Let us know if you need any help. There's lots of people here who have been to Alaska and can offer some wonderful information for you.

Pete

Thanks again, Cruise Planner for the valuable advice. I have read about certain agents having 'groups' and such for certain sailings, I just don't know how to find them. I was thinking of using this one online agency called 'American discount cruises and travel,' as they had an A+ rating on the BBB and they were offering like $350 in OBC, but then HAL had this 3 day sale and I got a price reduction.

Take care and Safe Travels!

P.S. I went to your site to have a look and put in my cruise criteria, and it said that there were not any cruises in May on the Zuiderdam to Alaska? Just wondering, does your site only sell certain cruises?

Originally Posted by SailKeyWest

Thanks again, Cruise Planner for the valuable advice. I have read about certain agents having 'groups' and such for certain sailings, I just don't know how to find them. I was thinking of using this one online agency called 'American discount cruises and travel,' as they had an A+ rating on the BBB and they were offering like $350 in OBC, but then HAL had this 3 day sale and I got a price reduction.

Take care and Safe Travels!

P.S. I went to your site to have a look and put in my cruise criteria, and it said that there were not any cruises in May on the Zuiderdam to Alaska? Just wondering, does your site only sell certain cruises?

Be careful with booking online - sometimes it sounds good, but they may be discounting, which can lead to trouble. And an A+ rating on BBB only means they paid money for the rating - big story about that in the national new last week. Wolfgang Puck refused to pay their fee and was rated an 'F', while a non-existent Korean restaurant got an A+ just because they paid the fee even though they used an empty office as their address. So don't pay alot of attention to those ratings.

Best thing to do is look at the cruise line's website, then compare that against the major sites (Travelocity, Expedia, Vacations to Go, etc) and you'll find the prices are all the same. If someone is offering a price lower than that, just be careful.

And I found all the Alaskan cruises on the Zuiderdam on our website, so I don't know what criteria you were using. I did find an 8-day sailing on the Zuiderdam, which doesn't exist, so there is that mistake in there. The information is populated by a company we have a contract with and often they are a little overwhelmed with all the changes. But we sell all the cruise lines, river cruises, resorts, and tours worldwide, so if you need help, just ask.

Pete

Originally Posted by SailKeyWest

I was thinking of using this one online agency called 'American discount cruises and travel,' as they had an A+ rating on the BBB and they were offering like $350 in OBC, but then HAL had this 3 day sale and I got a price reduction.

Be careful of big OBC claims - they often vanish as you go through the booking process, or turn into a "bait-and-switch". One of the largest of the online agencies is famous (infamous?) for that. Googling the company name and "reviews" will often get you better information than a BBB check.

Murray

Originally Posted by explorenorth

Be careful of big OBC claims - they often vanish as you go through the booking process, or turn into a "bait-and-switch". One of the largest of the online agencies is famous (infamous?) for that. Googling the company name and "reviews" will often get you better information than a BBB check.

Murray

Thank you for all the valuable advice! Much appreciated

We took the 20 day trip in 09 and never regretted it. It had its trying times like customs and security and air travel, but once on the ship it was great. My initial reaction to bus tour travel was not good, however I realize now that driving was not missed. AAA+

Take a look here for our many pictures of the tour...
Our First Trip to Alaska

It's about time to go do it all over again!

Thank you for posting your photos, oldengine! They are absolutely beautiful