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Juneau Excursion


JeffH

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Looking at doing a whale watching/Mendenhall Glacier excursion through a third-party company next August in Juneau. Ship's scheduled to dock at 1 p.m. Just concerned about potential timing problems and what ifs. Should I assume a 2:30 excursion will work? There is no refund if I'm late or prevented from showing up. Maybe I should look at Royal's higher priced excursion instead and just consider the cost difference as excursion insurance? 

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2:30 should be fine. Most operators will schedule their excursions based on docking times since a lot of their customers will be coming from them. If the ship is late docking generally they'll try to delay the excursion leaving, but not always. Also, when booking 3rd party, we always look for companies that offer a full refund if the ship has to skip the port for some reason.

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We did Alaska some years ago and all the operators worked within port times of the ships.  We booked everything independently. 

The whale watching tour was really telling.  We were on a really great boat that was maybe 30 or 35 ft with open back and a closed cabin area.  Just a group of 8 of us plus the captain and a mate. The excursion offering from the ship was near us most of the time and it was shoulder to shoulder on that boat with about 50 people crowding the railings trying to get a glimpse of the breaching whales. Plus, we had soft drinks, smoked salmon and crackers to nosh on that was included in the cost.  It was less expensive than the ship excursion offering.

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On 11/8/2022 at 12:37 PM, KJones said:

Also, when booking 3rd party, we always look for companies that offer a full refund if the ship has to skip the port for some reason.

This is a very important point I had to learn the hard way one time.  I wouldn't be worried about a late arrival (within reason) as I would a full skip of a port.

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4 hours ago, FSUFAN said:

We did Alaska some years ago and all the operators worked within port times of the ships.  We booked everything independently. 

The whale watching tour was really telling.  We were on a really great boat that was maybe 30 or 35 ft with open back and a closed cabin area.  Just a group of 8 of us plus the captain and a mate. The excursion offering from the ship was near us most of the time and it was shoulder to shoulder on that boat with about 50 people crowding the railings trying to get a glimpse of the breaching whales. Plus, we had soft drinks, smoked salmon and crackers to nosh on that was included in the cost.  It was less expensive than the ship excursion offering.

Where did you booked it from?  Is this the one?

https://www.juneautours.com/all-tours/#combo   Was thinking for the Juneau City & Mendenhall Glacier tour, but now that they have the Juneau Whale Watch & Mendenhall Glacier for $165.  I might do the whale watching combo.

or

https://www.shoreexcursionsgroup.com/excursions/?port=AKJN&date=2023-05-14

 

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On 11/9/2022 at 2:44 PM, KevinK said:

Where did you booked it from?  Is this the one?

https://www.juneautours.com/all-tours/#combo   Was thinking for the Juneau City & Mendenhall Glacier tour, but now that they have the Juneau Whale Watch & Mendenhall Glacier for $165.  I might do the whale watching combo.

or

https://www.shoreexcursionsgroup.com/excursions/?port=AKJN&date=2023-05-14

 

I went with combo whale watching and Mendenhall glacier excursion through Juneau Tours. I liked that they'll work with you if the ship arrives late and they'll refund your money if the ship has to skip Juneau for some reason. Couldn't get that assurance from Viator. 

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