Private Excursions

[Cheburashka]

What company did you go with for Misty Fjords?

I'm not the PP but in case it helps, I'll share that we flew through Misty Fjords with Island Wings and they were great. Very safe (the very experienced owner is always the pilot) and a great experience.

 

[KashasMom]

I'm not the PP but in case it helps, I'll share that we flew through Misty Fjords with Island Wings and they were great. Very safe (the very experienced owner is always the pilot) and a great experience.

We've gone three times with Michelle/Island Wings (Misty Fjords, Anan Creek, and Traitor's Cove). She's awesome! I was just wondering what company the poster was not happy with.

 

[Hegemon]

What ports are you stopping in? Who knows, maybe we can help?

Thank you! I don't know what we're doing yet and I'm waiting for the summer 2022 cruise announcements. I'll DEFINITELY ask y'all for recommendations once we get something booked. Thanks again for the offer...it's very kind.

 

[AquaDame]

Same re: Island Wings... they cancelled on us the first year due to fog, and the second time Michelle ate her sandwich while flying which was kind of funny... they really have to make the most out of every hour of tourist season! She made sure to ask us all if we'd flown with her before so she'd be certain to take us to a different landing spot.

 

[Intr3pid]

My advice would be to do your research into the safety records of the Alaskan flight tours. They all feel very safe until there is a crash. You can vet the pilots and the planes up and down, but you can't always predict the treacherous flying conditions that southeast Alaska is known for.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

My advice would be to do your research into the safety records of the Alaskan flight tours. They all feel very safe until there is a crash. You can vet the pilots and the planes up and down, but you can't always predict the treacherous flying conditions that southeast Alaska is known for.

But, to be honest, you will still be better outside DCL for that. DCL is not transparent who they use, and take a "if they are licensed they are fine!" approach.

 

[AquaDame]

Too true... even after ours was cancelled there were others calling out to us to book with them for the same tour. If it was unsafe or a poor visibility day, why on earth were they going?

 

[KashasMom]

My advice would be to do your research into the safety records of the Alaskan flight tours. They all feel very safe until there is a crash. You can vet the pilots and the planes up and down, but you can't always predict the treacherous flying conditions that southeast Alaska is known for.

But if you go with Disney, do you even know which company you are flying with prior to arriving at the dock? And a reputable company will cancel if there is bad weather - like mentioned about Island Wings.

And BTW, my husband almost drowned on a Disney excursion in Nassau. We chose it because it went to places that we really wanted to go, included swimming with turtles, etc. The sea/ocean was so rough that there was no way that excursion should have gone out! It was so bad that we had to skip all the places we specifically booked the excursion for - and nope, never even saw a turtle! So just because it's Disney doesn't mean it's safe! The $ was more important than safety that day.

 

[TeamRiley]

10 Years ago it was WAYYY cheaper to book independently. lately Cruise lines have adjusted, and the savings have not been worth the hassle for us.
Modifications are much easier on the fly and in other cases it has even saved us money.
We booked through Disney and weren't charged or got refunds (mostly weather related) that would have been a hug pain to get back if we had booked by ourselves.

 

[KashasMom]

10 Years ago it was WAYYY cheaper to book independently. lately Cruise lines have adjusted, and the savings have not been worth the hassle for us.
Modifications are much easier on the fly and in other cases it has even saved us money.
We booked through Disney and weren't charged or got refunds (mostly weather related) that would have been a hug pain to get back if we had booked by ourselves.

It's never been about the price for us. We KNOW we are getting a better - private or flexible - experience booking independently. It probably happens to be cheaper almost all of the time. And it's never been a hassle. I do understand some people like to book through the cruise line (most are afraid of missing the ship) and that's fine. Plenty of options to keep us all happy. Now, if we could just get back to cruising!!

 

[mjackson]

We only book independently and almost always a private tour as it gives us the most control over what we want to do. Booking with the cruise line, besides being more expensive, waste so much time in logistics due to the large number of people on the tour. You can see probable twice as much in half the time booking yourself. Also if you do not like something and want to leave or want to spend more time at a spot then you can when you book private tour. We do our research in advance googling tour companies and reading Trip Advisor reports and reports on this website. For the Caribbean we never book anything in advance. We just walk off the boat and decide what we want to do because vendors are everywhere and you can also negotiate the price. Some of our best experiences were done this way. Also leaving the boat early will get you ahead of the cruise tours so you can see the sites before they arrive. And we always leave plenty of time to arrive back before the boats departs so no stress.

 

[Intr3pid]

But if you go with Disney, do you even know which company you are flying with prior to arriving at the dock? And a reputable company will cancel if there is bad weather - like mentioned about Island Wings.

And BTW, my husband almost drowned on a Disney excursion in Nassau. We chose it because it went to places that we really wanted to go, included swimming with turtles, etc. The sea/ocean was so rough that there was no way that excursion should have gone out! It was so bad that we had to skip all the places we specifically booked the excursion for - and nope, never even saw a turtle! So just because it's Disney doesn't mean it's safe! The $ was more important than safety that day.

My advice is not about who to do it with. The advice is simply to stay away from the southeast Alaskan flight tours. You can watch a Youtube video of what it looks like from up there, but you couldn't pay me enough to ride a small plane through those clouds and around those mountains - and in weather that can change in an instant.

If you ever get a chance to drive to northwest BC/southeast Alaska, head over to the twin towns of Stewart/Hyder and take a boat down the Portland Canal. Some of the surrounding mountains are very easy to hike, which can get you a very similar bird's eye view of the fjords.

 

[KashasMom]

My advice is not about who to do it with. The advice is simply to stay away from the southeast Alaskan flight tours. You can watch a Youtube video of what it looks like from up there, but you couldn't pay me enough to ride a small plane through those clouds and around those mountains - and in weather that can change in an instant.

If you ever get a chance to drive to northwest BC/southeast Alaska, head over to the twin towns of Stewart/Hyder and take a boat down the Portland Canal. Some of the surrounding mountains are very easy to hike, which can get you a very similar bird's eye view of the fjords.

Okay. To each his own.

 

[DisneyConvert]

We've done one or two Disney Excursions and we've been underwhelmed with the coverage and value (although the planning is excellent). The exceptions were the "teen" excursions our son went on with Edge/Vibe in Copenhagen and Alaska, which gave him some great shared experiences that his parents could NOT provide.

Viator is fine, but they collect a commission too (just like DCL). We've done very, very well with TripAdvisor or just googling and then doing some research. I give my wife the credit but here's a partial list of our top, top port days:
* 1-day planned tour of the "Golden Circle" in Iceland - Thingvellier, Gullfloss, Secret Lagoon (bathing stop), Geysers, farm with ice cream.
My wife arranged with a tour company and we did twice as much for 75% of the cost of a Disney Tour.
* 2-day private tour of St. Petersburg designed and adjusted to our specifications doing dozens of different things . . spending as much time as we wanted at each location, and through the coordination of the guide and driver, were able to do incredibly efficiently.
* Walking around Juneau on my own seeing the fish hatchery, various museums, eating salmon cakes, visiting with friends of Bill. Taking buses and Uber . . . easy!
* Levado tour (7 mile walk along the water entrapments in the mountains) in Madeira. So many great views.
* Frontier Excursion from Skagway bus trip to Carcros, Yukon (where they train dogs) with plenty of history and stops to appreciate the incredible scenery along the way.
* Private fishing trip from Ketchikan . . (probably 1/3rd the price of what Disney would charge to oversee and "manage")


* Taxi tour from InverGordon, Scotland to see Dunrobin Castle, and then walk around and shop in Dornoch for as long as we wanted.
* Private tennis lesson at the Fairmount Southampton Princess hotel's tennis facility . . . right along SouthShore bus route and a 100 yard walk from the Horseshoe Bay bus drop-off.

I miss Disney Cruises!