New to board, new to cruising -- Alaska?? - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Wow, all of these excursions sound awesome! We're heavily leaning towards the Railroad and the dog sled tours, but we're trying to find a slightly cheaper price for the dog sledding. Are there any independent tours that also do dog sledding? Also, we luckily happen to live near heavily wooded areas and hiking trails, so are any of the wilderness expeditions significantly different or better than any others, or are they just typical hikes/etc? Is there a tour company that you guys wouldn't recommend?
Also, slightly off-topic, but is the Rainforest pass worth it? We don't see ourselves doing nothing for any length of time, so I'm not sure if we'll ever be wanting to hang out in a sauna room, but who knows!
Thanks so much, this thread has been a great help!
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Yes, there are independent companies that do the dog sledding. We didn't do that excursion, so I can't help you with a name. I got a wealth of information on excursions for Alaska on the boards at Cruise Critic, on their Alaska forum.
Nearly ever independent tour operator is doing business with the cruise lines, and there may be as many as five ships in port on the same day. On days when there are a lot of ships in port, they may have no additional space. Some will refuse to take a reservation if they know you're on a cruise ship. Others give space preference to the cruise lines, so the number of spaces available for independent booking can be limited. Call to reserve early. If you strike out, you can still take your chances of booking as a walk-up proposition when you arrive in port - they'll all be liquidating whatever extra space they have available. You may be able to cut a deal under those circumstances.
Are the hikes worthwhile? I'd say yes. Unless you live in the Pacific Northwest, the environment is likely to be very different than any you're used to, so there's novelty and often, incredible vistas - mountains, glaciers, sea coast, wildlife... all or some of the above, depending on where you are.
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If you can book in advance - do - but any and all excursions check their websites/call them before you book through the cruise. While they are partnered, the cruise could potentially up the price... most don't but I don't know what Disney does (they don't come into port where I've worked).
I would suggest touring a sled dog establishment/taking a ride... I've never been to the panhandle, but a lot of the stuff you do there you can do in South Central Alaska as well so it's similar to what we do.
Coming in June you're not going to get a lot of discounts waiting to last minute. If you were coming in May or late August/September you would be seeing deep discounts, but June-August is the prime season so they have no real reason for offering a lot of last minute deals. And they do book up quick...
If you have time in Anchorage at all - not sure what the itinerary's are for the disney cruises/where folks fly out. Check out the Wildride Sled Dog Rodeo - just go to the show to save a lot of money. Definitely worth it! (I go at least once a summer and I'm a local).
also re:dogsledding... chances are you're not going to get a lot of leeway with how much those costs for a lot of reasons. Mainly? It's freaking expensive to run a kennel. Not only are you paying (and feeding!) staff, but you have close to 100 dogs to feed and care for YEAR ROUND. Not all of these kennels are local mushers/dogs either. for example Sebastian Schnuelle - a Yukon Quest and Iditarod competitive musher - lives in the interior of Alaska closer to fairbanks, he runs a glacier tour on the panhandle in the summer. That's a lot of money he spends getting his dogs and himself there and back... so you're seeing high prices because they need to also make a profit for it to be worthwhile for everyone... (and mushers are great at markups lol)
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