Can Alcatraz tours only be booked from their website?
I'm currently checking the web site www.alcatrazcruises.com to book an Alcatraz tour 2 weeks from now but they are fully booked. Is that web site the only way to book a tour of the island? Will it be possible to show up at the pier and getting on a ferry there to the island?
Best Answer
No.
This is what happens: one company is responsible for selling all the tickets to Alcatraz. The thing is they sell a lot of tickets to multiple tourism agencies. These agencies create some packages like Wines + Alcatraz and sell them to the general public. By buying one of these packages you can get second hand tickets to Alcatraz.
If there aren't tickets anymore for the date you want and you are not willing to buy those combos there is still one thing you can try: check the official website one or two days before your desired date. When the tourism agencies fail to sell some of their tickets, those tickets are returned and put back for selling in the site(you may want to refresh the page every 5 minutes to find the ticket before someone else does). I managed to get a ticket this way. The bad part is that usually only the tickets for the worst times are returned.
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What is the best website to buy Alcatraz tickets?
Getting tickets for Alcatraz only The best way to get the Alcatraz tickets is to purchase them directly from Alcatraz Cruises (alcatrazcruises.com), the "official" seller of the tickets and the company that runs the only ferries out to Alcatraz.Can you book Alcatraz tours on the day?
The Day Tours are usually booked up two months in advance, and the Night Tour and Behind the Scenes Tour are booked up even farther out. It's crucial to book the Alcatraz tours well in advance if you want to visit in summer.Can I go to Alcatraz without a tour?
Is Alcatraz open to the public? Alcatraz is open to public tours. However, the Alcatraz docks are exclusively available to one ferry line, Alcatraz Cruises. So, the only way the public can visit this famous jail in San Francisco is to buy a tour and take one of the official Alcatraz ferries.Are Alcatraz tours guided?
Guided ToursPark Rangers offer guided walking tours of Alcatraz that are run thru the day. Tours start at the dock or lighthouse. Check program posting when you arrive on dock. Tours last around 45 minutes.How to get Alcatraz tickets! Getting to the island, seeing the prison, and exploring The Rock!
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Answer 2
No! It is possible to line up very early in the morning to try to get last-minute tickets. This is a desperate last-ditch move where people show up as early as 4am to get in line for when the ticket office opens at 7:30am. Everyone buying a ticket must wait in line the entire time (no sending someone ahead to buy for the whole group), and you could well wait in line for hours during a wet and cold morning to wind up with nothing, especially during peak season.
Obviously, getting tickets through a more expensive package (you could even "throw away" the other part of the package if you want) or one of the returned tickets as hooray describes is a far better option, but if you want to try it, the details of the system are provided online. The short version is: get there extremely early, everyone buying a ticket must wait in the line the entire time (except restroom breaks), first come, first served, no guarantees.
It's probably worth talking to the Alcatraz Cruises workers at the ticket booth before trying this, to ensure the morning-of scheme is in operation.
The best approach, of course, is to buy your tickets from the website months in advance.
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