Excursion prices??

[DisneyKeepsUsYoung]

We just booked for our first ever cruise, going to Alaska in 2019. Yeah! Anyway, I'm trying to budget excursions we may want to do. Do the prices listed on Disney Cruise website include taxes?

 

[Geomom]

We just booked for our first ever cruise, going to Alaska in 2019. Yeah! Anyway, I'm trying to budget excursions we may want to do. Do the prices listed on Disney Cruise website include taxes?

Yes, the Disney excursions include taxes, but not gratuities. If you're going by this year's prices, expect prices to slightly increase next year--add 10% to your budgeted amount, just in case. Also, Alaska is very easy to do on your own, so you can save money that way; especially if you have a kid in the 10-12 age range that pays adult prices for Disney excursions and kid prices on outside excursions!

In 2016, we did 2 excursions on our own--Skagway--Chilkoot Charters Yukon bus/rail with dogcart ride--highlight of our trip! Juneau, we bought tix for one of the Glacier Express buses in advance (could easily be done that day--Disney shuttles you from port to the area with all the port excursion companies at the start of town.) It was $30/person roundtrip--buses came every 1/2 hr to take you to/from Mendenhall Glacier visitor center. If you wanted to do Mt. Roberts Tramway--I'd decide that day as you'd want clearer weather to actually 'see' things from up there! The Tramway starts right near where Disney shuttles drop you off. Ketchikan was our 1 DCL excursion--Saxman Native Village and Lumberjack show. Lumberjack show is in walking distance of the ship--so again, very easy to do on your own! But, I did like the DCL one we did here. For the Saxman Native village, they let us into the Clan house (with a performance by the Cape Fox Dancers (tribal kids)) and the carving shed--a lot of the outside excursions can only take you to see the totems on the property.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[Rambler5678]

Book independent tours. There cheaper and often offer the same excursion that DCL is selling for a lot higher price. Just returned from the 9 night Alaska cruise and we took 1 DCL tour and 3 independent tours.

 

[DisneyKeepsUsYoung]

Yes, the Disney excursions include taxes, but not gratuities. If you're going by this year's prices, expect prices to slightly increase next year--add 10% to your budgeted amount, just in case. Also, Alaska is very easy to do on your own, so you can save money that way; especially if you have a kid in the 10-12 age range that pays adult prices for Disney excursions and kid prices on outside excursions!

In 2016, we did 2 excursions on our own--Skagway--Chilkoot Charters Yukon bus/rail with dogcart ride--highlight of our trip! Juneau, we bought tix for one of the Glacier Express buses in advance (could easily be done that day--Disney shuttles you from port to the area with all the port excursion companies at the start of town.) It was $30/person roundtrip--buses came every 1/2 hr to take you to/from Mendenhall Glacier visitor center. If you wanted to do Mt. Roberts Tramway--I'd decide that day as you'd want clearer weather to actually 'see' things from up there! The Tramway starts right near where Disney shuttles drop you off. Ketchikan was our 1 DCL excursion--Saxman Native Village and Lumberjack show. Lumberjack show is in walking distance of the ship--so again, very easy to do on your own! But, I did like the DCL one we did here. For the Saxman Native village, they let us into the Clan house (with a performance by the Cape Fox Dancers (tribal kids)) and the carving shed--a lot of the outside excursions can only take you to see the totems on the property.

Enjoy your cruise!

Thanks! Looking at outside options was what made me think of taxes. I wanted to make sure I was comparing apples to apples.
Thanks for the tip that they jack prices up that much year over year. I wasn't thinking about that.
Your excursions were some we were thinking about so I will definitely look at other companies! We are traveling with young children so I'm glad to hear we can catch a bus every 30 min vs being stuck on their time table for the glacier.

 

[gotomu212]

Alaska excursions are the most expensive ones out there. I second independent companies. We saved at least 40% booking outside and we got small fantastic service.

 

[arlopop]

Book independent tours, or just hop off and find something in Alaska. The White Pass Train in Skagway is a lot cheaper just getting tickets at the depot rather than Disney. And the Lumberjack Show in Ketchikan (recommended) is 25% more thru DCL. They justify that premium because it includes a “Disney exclusive” feature, but that feature is basically Goofy coming out in the beginning and making the kids do exercises (seriously.) Then it’s the regular show. Heck, when Goofy came out there were Disney banners up and as soon as he left and the actual show began those banners were taken down and replaced with the show’s banners.

Most of the independent excursions are the exact same ones as Disney (same operators, same times) but substantially cheaper. And quite easy to research and book online.

 

[k3chantal]

Alaska excursions are the most expensive ones out there. I second independent companies. We saved at least 40% booking outside and we got small fantastic service.

The European excursions are not inexpensive either. I paid $350 per person for the Best of Rome. It was worth every penny.

On the same trip, it started raining late in the afternoon in Nice, France. The last ferry back to the ship came and went. My husband and daughter did not appear. I began to panic. I called Guest Services and the first question the cast member asked was whether I had booked the excursion through DCL. We did. The ship waited and two hours after they were suppose to board, they did. The rain was accompanied by thunder and lightning; making it too dangerous to take the ferry out again. I'm all for saving money but I am also risk adversed. It reminded me the 'value' of booking through DCL.

 

[Geomom]

Thanks! Looking at outside options was what made me think of taxes. I wanted to make sure I was comparing apples to apples.
Thanks for the tip that they jack prices up that much year over year. I wasn't thinking about that.
Your excursions were some we were thinking about so I will definitely look at other companies! We are traveling with young children so I'm glad to hear we can catch a bus every 30 min vs being stuck on their time table for the glacier.

Sorry, it's probably more like 3-5% increase/yr. I just checked on the 1 DCL excursion we did. It was $105 2 yrs ago, $112 now.

We went through Juneautours for the glacier express. Yes, the glacier buses ran every 1/2 hr on the hour. They don't allow any food or flavored drinks at Mendenhall due to bears. We brought some snacks, and had to leave them on the bus...and if we wanted them back, had to catch the 'right' bus...which we did, but it made it more stressful on us.

 

[fredandkell]

As others have said, Alaska is very easy to do on your own. Since all the cities are right by the dock, v. easy to get places and meet operators and DIY. I just got back from the Med, and was glad we did 2 of 3 ports with DCL, logistically I think it would have been a nightmare on our own. (We did do Pisa on our own and it was not hard.)

 

[aggiedog]

TripAdvisor is your friend. Our first cruise (Baltic on DCL) we did 2 DCL excursions and 2 I arranged with companies I found on TA. My family preferred our DIY tours WELL above the DCL ones, and they were significantly cheaper and/or the same price for a lot more tour. We did the Med on MSC last summer and arranged 7 excursions on our own, again with the help of TA. No problems at all, and we had some great days in port. In the age of TripAdvisor, NO ONE wants a scathing review about you missing your ship, etc. My experience has been the tour providers are almost more conservative than even worry wort dh about getting back to the ship with plenty of time to spare.

I email any provider I'm interested in, then choose the one that seems to be the most responsive and on the ball. (After reading TA reviews to weed out providers that seem unreliable, etc.) I can't imagine Alaska would be any different.

Depending on how big your group is, you can get a private tour for the cost of regular group. The cut off is usually 6-8 people for most companies.

 

[kickash]

We just got off of the Wonder this week. We did a 5 night so we only had one stop in a town, Ketchikan. We did the glacier explorer through Disney (your only option for that) but in Ketchikan we booked independently. We went kayaking with Southeast Sea Kayaks and it was awesome!! Two kids ages 8 and 12 and 2 adults- we all loved it.