Alaska Uncovered Podcast
Welcome to the Alaska Uncovered Podcast with your host, Jennie Thwing Flaming. Jennie brings you accurate, helpful and entertaining information about Alaska Travel and Life in Alaska. Guests include Alaska travel experts and Alaska business owners, guides and interesting Alaskans. Jennie is a born and raised Seattleite, a former Alaskan and spends several weeks in Alaska each year. She’s an experienced guide and the Founder of the Alaska and Washington travel website, Top Left Adventures. Jennie is joined by occasional co-host, Jay Flaming, her husband for more than 20 years. Jennie and Jay met working in tourism in Skagway, Alaska and also lived in Juneau and Fairbanks together. Jay lived in Fairbanks for 8 years before meeting Jennie in Skagway and grew up in Yellowstone National Park.
Alaska Uncovered Podcast
Should I book my Alaska cruise shore excursions through the cruise line?
Jennie discusses different ways of booking shore excursions in Alaska cruise ports and the benefits and downsides of each.
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Welcome to the Alaska Uncovered Podcast with me, your host, Jennie Thwing Flaming, my occasional co-host and full-time husband, Jay, and I bring you accurate, helpful, and entertaining information about Alaska Travel and life in Alaska.
Happy New Year again, everyone, I feel like we can still say Happy New Year until the middle of January, right? And it's January 13th, so happy New Year. I hope 2026 is off to a good start for you. And if you're planning a trip to Alaska this year. I hope that it's coming along well, and you are getting excited.
I'm excited for my time in Alaska this year, which is starting in February, so that's pretty cool. And then of course, during the summer and a little in the fall as well. So last week we talked with Mandy and Kire about booking tours for land. Portions of your trip. So we really weren't talking about cruises in that episode specifically, and that's because I wanted to share this episode with you that is about booking cruise shore excursions.
I decided not to have a guest for this episode because honestly, this topic is a little bit. Politically fraught for tour operators in Alaska. And I'm not talking about anyone in particular. I'm just talking about, um, my observations from working in this industry in several different ways for getting close to 30 years now.
And of course many things have changed. You know, when I first started working in Alaska tourism there. Were No, uh, there was no internet really. I mean, there was, um, I used email during that time, but guests couldn't really use the internet. To research a trip very efficiently in the nineties, and you certainly couldn't book a cruise on your own, on the internet, um, without a travel agent.
That's something that's really changed today, about half of cruise visitors. Book, uh, through a travel agent and about half book on their own. So that's a really big change from when I first started working in the industry. And I think, uh, you probably know by now that I signed a contract to write a guidebook to Alaska Cruise Ports.
And of course, while I'm doing that research, I'll be bringing some, um. Some of those things to you. And that's part of what inspired , today's episode. It's partly working on that project and talking to tour operators all across Southeast Alaska and the inside passage. And it's also partly inspired by Mandy and Kierre and our conversation last week, um, which if you care about this topic, I really wanna encourage you to go back and, and listen to that today.
We're gonna talk very specifically about booking shore excursions when you're in port in Alaska. So I wanna make it really clear that I am not an expert on creasing in other parts of the world. I know a lot about the ships and about how things work, but. Uh, don't take what I'm saying today and assume it will apply to a cruise in a different part of the world.
We really are just talking about Alaska shore excursions in port on Alaska cruises today. What we're talking about today is going to not be specific to any cruise line, right? This is, um, information that is true for all cruises in Alaska that visit ports. Uh, there of course are some variations, um, between what different cruise lines offer and that sort of thing.
That's really not what we're talking about today. We have lots of other episodes where we've talked about different experiences in different Alaska cruise ports, and we'll be continuing to do that in the future. And of course, you can always book a planning session with me if you. Want to, um, talk more details about what you specifically want to do, I can help you with, um, choosing tours.
I've done that a lot with, um, lots of clients. And I can also help you figure out what to do in port if you don't wanna take a tour. Um, if you're like, what can I do on my own? Just exploring the city of Juno or the City of Ketchikan, or Secka or Skyway or Hayes. Um, and I'm happy to help you with that. So that link is always in the show notes, um, if you want help figuring this out.
Okay. So the question we're talking about today is should you book your. Shore excursions through the cruise line or through another company, or directly through the tour operator. So there's not really a straight answer for this. And again, one of the reasons that I'm not having a guest today. Is, I just wanna share my opinion and my experience as a person who is not a tour operator in one of these cruise ports, but works really closely with many of them across not only cruise ports, but other places in Alaska.
I just want to share with you, um, make it clear that it's my opinion and my observation from working in this industry. Alright, so first of all, let's talk about how this works. I think that's an important starting point. And also just spoiler alert, there is not necessarily one right answer to this question, but in this episode, I hope to help you figure out what's gonna be best for you.
Alright, so when you book a tour. In Southeast Alaska. I'm going to use Juno today as an example because Juno is the, the Alaska cruise port that the most cruises go to. Of course there are some that don't go to Juno, but most of them do. So if you're taking a cruise and you're interested in this topic, there's a very high chance you're going to Juno.
So I'm going to use that as an example. And in order to protect the innocent and our awesome tour operators, I'm going to use a made up tour in Juno. That doesn't exist as far as I know. If it does exist and I somehow don't know about it, then I apologize in advance, uh, for singling. Something that doesn't exist.
Okay, so this fake made up tour, again, this is not a real thing in Juneau, is going to be. A sailboat fishing experience. Let's say a sailboat, halibut fishing experience. Okay. Just to make it more specific. Alright. Now if it's something like whale watching, there are quite a few different tour operators that offer whale watching in Juno.
Um, if it's something more niche down, like the really awesome Juno food tour, then there's only one person operating that. So for this example, and it doesn't really matter though for what we're talking about today, so our made up fake sailboat, halibut fishing tour in Juno. The important thing about this or any other tour is that in a town like Juno or Kechika or Sitka or Skagway.
Almost all the visitors are coming on cruise ships, and when I say almost all, I mean more than 90%, probably more than 95%. So every tour operator is. I'm sure there's exceptions to this, but the vast majority of tour operators in Southeast Alaska are, except for in Glacier Bay, um, because that's kind of a different situation and I'm sure there's other places like that, but their guests are coming to them on cruises no matter how they book.
Right now, Juno, not only Juno, every other place I mentioned is an awesome place to go. On your own, not on a cruise as well, but that's not what this episode is about. So most tour operators in most southeast Alaska ports, including my fake sailboat halibut tour, the halibut sailboat, halibut fishing tour, keep my lies straight here, um, is going to have mostly cruise ship visitors.
As their clients, meaning the people going on the tour are mostly coming off cruise ships. Now, obviously if it's a multi-day tour or it is too long to be done during a uh, cruise ship call, then it won't be, but I'm talking about the majority here. Right? In addition to that. It's the same tour operators who are operating the tours no matter where you purchase it.
Now, not every tour operator works with every cruise line. Some tour operators don't work with any cruise lines directly. And what I mean by that is even though they pick up all of their guests from a cruise ship, they don't actually sell their tour. Through the cruise line, and there's a variety of business reasons why different small tour operators would sell their tours on board ships and why they wouldn't.
Right? So that is not a reflection of their quality, um, whether they do or don't sell with cruise ships. Um. Most tour operators are great, and you can read reviews if you have questions about that, or you can ask me and if I know, I'll tell you. But, um, tour operators in Alaska are usually amazing. Okay? So we've got people coming to, let's say, Juno on cruises and booking tours because they want to see cool things in Juno and, uh.
Sometimes they're booking through the cruise line and sometimes they're not. Even if they're arriving on a cruise ship and some tour operators sell their tours onboard the ship and some don't. Okay, so this is basic landscape of how it works. So let's go back to my fake tour operator here, my sailboat halibut fishing tour in Juneau and.
That company, really awesome, Juno, weird experiences. They are operating a certain number of tours and people are coming off cruise ships to go on those tours. It's going to be the same tour no matter where you book it. So if you booked it through real Caribbean, or you booked it through via tour, or you booked it through the Alaska Shore Excursions group, or you called.
The, um, the company directly and you're like, Hey, I'm going to be in town on this ship and I would love to do your tour. Okay? It's the same experience no matter how you do it. Similar to what we talked about last week. If you book it through the cruise line or you book it through Via tour or any other online place where you can look at a lot of different tours and read reviews, which by the way, those are great ways to figure out what's available.
We talked about that last week too. Um, so. They're going to take a percentage of the cost of that tour. Of course, that's how this works, right? You, you purchase something, someone gets you to that person and you get a commission, right? So. For example, um, I get commissions when you use my coupon codes that I've talked about on the podcast for discounts, and then I'll get a commission, right?
So I would get that commission instead of say via tour. Right. Also, sometimes it's less expensive. Now this is where things start to get kind of thorny, right? So again, remember that I am not reviewing contracts between cruise lines and tour operators, but what I will tell you is that if you book directly with a local tour company.
They will get more of the money that you pay than if you don't. And that's just a fact, right? That's just the way it is now. There can still be some benefits for you and for them of booking through a cruise liner, via tour or shore excursions group. Um. For you, some of the benefits are, um, that you can easily compare all the different options.
So in addition to my fake sailboat, halibut fishing tour, you could compare that against say, an actual fishing charter that really exists with somebody Awesome. Who will take you out fishing or a food tour or a tour to mental hall, glacier or whale watching or. Any of the many other options. So those are places you can really compare what's out there and you can read reviews, which is really helpful.
Um, so that's a benefit for you. A benefit for the tour operator is that, you know, they can expect, they kind of know what to expect as far as how many people are likely to book off of the Discovery Princess on a particular day. Now, that's a risk, 'cause that doesn't always hold true, and that means they're holding space for folks on that saline.
And if. Not as many people. Book the Sailboat Halibut Fishing Tour off the Discovery Princess on July 3rd. Then. You know, they'll be left without that tour being full and making less money. But on the other hand, the ship, in theory at least, is doing some of the marketing for them. So there's reasons why people do it.
But the bottom line is, um, it's a little bit of a challenging market because there's so many people coming and wanting to do things and people who are, and almost all the tours in southeast Alaska. Cruise ports, and really most tours across Alaska are operated by very small, locally owned companies.
There's exceptions to that, but not many. So if you book through something more corporate, like the cruise line or via tour shorts, excursions group, um. You're still supporting a local business, but they just aren't getting as much of the money. So I know all of us are really watching where money goes more carefully than maybe we have in the past.
I know. Um, I know that I'm doing that and I also know that that is a trend in the travel industry. People have more questions about where exactly is this money going? Um. Who, who's getting a cut? How can I get a better deal? Right? So. Uh, you won't necessarily pay less booking directly through a tour operator, but you might.
Um, it really depends on the tour operator and many different factors. So I think with this episode mostly, I just want you to know how it works and decide what makes sense for you. Of course, booking through the cruise line is easy. Um, and if you have something like a shore excursion credit or something like that, then obviously it makes sense to do it that way.
But I just wanna make you aware that you can book the exact same tour by contacting that tour operator directly and, um. Then they get more of the money that you're spending. And you might not always, but you might pay a little bit less. And, um, there are some tours in Alaska cruise ports that offer a discount, uh, code for you.
Um, my listeners, which is awesome, I'll put them in the show notes and we've talked about it in other episodes as well. So. Keep that in mind. Now, one thing I will say that's kind of challenging about this, about booking direct for cruise, for cruise ports in Alaska specifically is that it might be hard to tell if you're, let's say you're on Holland, America's website.
And you're, you're looking at the different whale watching options in Juno. It's not always easy to tell who's operating it. Um, because there are several options. If we take our fake option, which is our sailboat, hebut fishing tour. You know, there's only gonna be one person doing that. Just like Juno Food Tours is a wonderful tour.
It's the food tour in Juno. So if you're booking it through, say Disney or Holland America or Celebrity, that's the tour that it's gonna be. So ones that are. Not as big or easier to figure out. Um, and you can always ask me, you know, you can email me, you can, if this is something you really care about, like I said, you can book a planning session and I can help you figure out local tour operators you can book directly with.
Uh, before I wrap this up, I wanna address a couple of real concerns, um, that people have that are totally legitimate. About, um, booking, not booking short excursions directly through the cruise line. So if I am going to be in Juneau on the Norwegian jade in August and um, I am considering booking the sailboat hell, but fishing tour and.
A couple reasons why you might be nervous about booking through the tour. Operator is one. Um, the ships, if you book through them, they offer a return to ship like guarantee, right? So they basically say if you don't get back to the ship in time, um. You because of the tour. Now I'm not talking about when you're just exploring on your own.
Don't be late. They will leave you behind. They'll either wait for you or they'll make some kind of a plan. Um, of course you don't have that. Um, if you don't book through the cruise line. Personally, I wouldn't worry about that too much. I am not aware of any situation in Alaska where a tour has not returned to a ship in time.
I, I can't actually. I'm sure that must have happened from time to time for unavoidable reasons, but most tour operators have a policy that if that happens, which is very rare. That hasn't ever happened for most people, that they'll get you to where you need to go and take care of you. The other thing I wanna just mention here is that this is one of the reasons why it's really important to have travel insurance, whether or not you're doing, um.
You're doing any tours, you always need to have travel insurance. So that's another thing. Um, and then the other concern people sometimes have is like, well, what if, what if something goes wrong and I want to request a refund? Um, getting a refund from an OTA, like via tour, uh, or from a cruise line is very difficult.
Um. It's not easier than if you booked direct. Now if, um. Let's say a sailboat, awesome sailboat, halibut, fishing charters in Juneau has to cancel their tour that day, um, because of weather. Let's say. All of a sudden it's super windy. It's like late September, and it's too windy to make it a safe and fun day.
Um. Tours. General Rain isn't gonna stop a tour anywhere in Southeast Alaska. Um, but other things might, other types of weather conditions. So let's say that they canceled the tour. If you book directly through them and they canceled the tour, um, they'll give you your money back. Um, I have not seen that really be a challenge.
It is really a challenge. So if booking through, um. Through a cruise line or like via tour. Now, again, keep in mind that I have not worked for those companies. This is based on my own experience. What happens a lot for people who are on. My tours, so remember that when I'm working as a tour director, most of the guests that I have are either getting ready to start a cruise or have finished one.
And my observation is that when tours are canceled for weather, some companies are a lot easier to get your refund. From than others. And cruise lines in particular like to give you a credit instead, which I totally understand, but I just wanna prepare you for the fact that that can be a little bit challenging.
It. I don't think that either of these things are. Reasons to necessarily go one way or the other. I just wanna make you aware of their things that people experience and have a lot of questions about. And it's sort of impossible to get into the details of every, every single cruise line. All of them have different policies, all of them have different cultures.
And so my experience has been, um. That it really varies a lot, so just keep that in mind as well. So I hope this helped you with navigating the confusing world of short excursions in Alaska. Um, I think just to review the most important points is that unless it's a motor coach tour, and sometimes even then.
It is going to be a small, locally owned business operating the tour no matter where you booked it, with a couple exceptions, but not many. And number two, most people going on tours and cruise ports are on cruise ships regardless of where they booked. And then number three, just knowing that, um, OTAs, uh, via tour, short excursions group.
Also cruise lines, which are not OTAs. They're operating more like a travel agent, a regular travel agent in this case, take a cut of the money that you are spending. And that's not necessarily a problem, but I think it is important for you to be aware of that. I think everyone should be aware of just kind of how the process works.
So, um. Yeah, I'd love to hear what your experiences have been, what thoughts you have. Uh, you can hit that text message button and send me a text. Um, and again, if you want to schedule a time with me to. Um, talk about your, what you're gonna do in different ports, please do that. That's one of my favorite things to talk with clients about, along with national parks, which is not what we're talking about today. 📍
I hope you have a great week and see you next time.
if you are enjoying the podcast, please leave us a rating and or a review. It really helps other people find us. And if you want to join the Alaska Planning Club, it's super fun. It's a private podcast feed where I answer all your questions. You can find that over on patreon.com/alaska uncovered.
