Alaskan shore excursions

#1 (**permalink**) April 22nd, 2005, 08:00 PM

I'm looking for some recomendations for shore excursions for Ketchikan, Skagway, and Juneau. Also has anyone had any experience using the www.shoretours.com web page for booking excursions. It appears to be a clearing house where you book directly with local tour operators.

Sea Trekker · #2 (**permalink**) April 23rd, 2005, 06:17 AM

I tried to look at shore tirps web site. It is very slow and only give a brief description of the trours. Go thru your ship for the best ones. We booked some independent ones, but if you are new to Alaska it is best to go with the ships recommendations. There are to many people who get burned. What I mean is over priced and sometimes miss the ship when it sails.

Karen16 · #3 (**permalink**) April 23rd, 2005, 06:59 AM

I do not recommend "middle men" with booking Alaska tours. It is extremely simple to just book direct. Superior as well with the direct contact. I disagree on the ship tours being the best option. But you are best to consider the tour list and narrow down your interests. There are plenty of excellent tours to recommend- way more than you can do on a single trip. So post YOUR interests then you will will get direct info pertaining to those tours.

#4 (**permalink**) April 25th, 2005, 12:29 AM

We have been on 5 cruises. The first cruise we made the mistake of booking through the ship. Generally when you book through the ship you pay more and get shoved with a crowd....on each excursion....it is much nicer to book once you get to port...do your research...you can book ahead of time...so many of these excursion companies cater to cruise ship passengers...just google alaska excursions. I would also check out portreviews.com and cruisecritic.com, cruiseopinion.com. You can get some good advice from past passengers.

Karen16 · #5 (**permalink**) April 25th, 2005, 10:12 AM

Far better than a google search is to go direct to the city visitor sites and request their guides. www.traveljuneau.com www.skagway.com www.visit-ketchikan.com

CruisinDenise · #6 (**permalink**) April 25th, 2005, 02:29 PM

"it is much nicer to book once you get to port"

I wouldn't recommend that at all. The good tours can and do sell out, especially helicopters, float planes and fishing. It's good to book as far in advance as possible.