We will be on our first cruise to Hawaii/Alaskan cruise on the Carnival Spirit in May 2nd, 2008.

How long before the cruise can/should you book for the excursions like the dogsleding, float plane and other tours etc.

what is the average cost of some of the tours.

As we are travelling from Australia we want to have all the best information.

IMHO the sooner the better. We have already booked our excursions for our Oct 2008 cruise.
As you can see you can wait and book on the pier, this was taken in Juneau. http://Joslin-Family-Photos.smugmug....92066973-M.jpg

You can book on line or with private vender's.

We have been on the Spirit 2 and love the ship.
Hawaii and Alaska, now that is a cruise!

Gary

I agree with Gary to book your excursions as soon as you can, particularly those you have a strong desire to experience. Keep checking the Carnival Web site for tour availability, but they should be up by now. The Carnival site will also give you a rough idea of pricing.

The true dogsledding tour is very expensive ($300 a person or more) and anything involving an aircraft will be $400 a person.

The whale watching tours are in the $80-$100 range and the railway tour is cheaper. Its hard to put an average on the excursions because they very so much in price depending on the excursion. As far as booking them in advance, I would book any tour that you MUST do now. You don't have to book through the cruise line to do so early either. Go to the internet and search on the port you are interested and the tour and you will find local operators that will reserve you a spot now.

There are always local tour companies that offer the same excursions without the cost of the middle man (the cruiseline) BUt if you have to do something, book online or through the cruise line now. Or you might not find a tour with space.

Agreed... anything you really want to do, book now. (I'm taking an average of 7 to 10 reservations per week now.) With such a short window of opportunity for businesses here, things fill up quickly.

Also note that the booking kiosks on the pier (as seen in the photo of Juneau above) are often a big waste of time and money. You'll pay the same or more than booking on the cruise line, you won't get the security of a ship's tour, and you'll probably end up waiting around for hours while they "put the tour together"... with shorter and shorter port times, I'd hate to be standing around waiting anywhere...

-Case

Actually my did a tour thru one of these companies because we had some extra time. The price was cheaper than the same tour on board and they were fast. I went up the Mt Robers Tram while she di the fish Hatchery and something.
Not saying they are the way to go, just saying the way it was.

We are cruising Galcier Bay on the Spirit in Sep and have booked 2 excursions already.

The White Pass Youkon Route train trip at Skagway and a Misty Fjord Floatplane trip at Ketchikan.

Booking now so we know we wont miss out and also Aussie dollar is nice and high against the greenback.

Have a great cruise Shaza, will be our first cruise to & we cant wait.

Cheers
Col & Sue