Excursion recommendations

Hello all. My husband & I are booked on an NCL Cruise - Northbound Vancouver to Seward, Alaska.

We stop in the following ports:

• Ketchikan
  
• Juneau
  
• Skagway
  

I'm struggling w/ excursion choices. My husband & I are both very active, he's been fishing around the world, and we don't like large group excursions.

Can anyone help w/ recommendations?

Is it better to book via NCL or use independent operators? And if independent, where do I find them?

I know these are pretty basic but important questions. I appreciate your help!

There will be hundreds of excursions offered thru the cruiseline ..... have you not looked at them?

From there, determine what YOU want to see and do. Once you decide on that we can offer suggestions on private vendors, but only YOU can figure out what you want to see and do. We don't know your interests or budget. You can spend several hundred dollars at every port doing heli dog sledding, and floatplane trips for bear viewing, or you can rent a car and go hiking or fishing for $75..

I would also encourage you to read thru past trip reports. They are posted in STICKYs near the top of the page. Many are photo journals with detailed info on excursions, sights, activities, vendors.

Thanks Mapleleaves. Yes, I have looked at the many excursions offered by NCL- so many to choose from. I'll look at the trip reports. Appreciate your response.

My husband likes to fish and we wanted to fish out of Ketchikan but we did not want to share the boat. There are many operators should you choose to fish in Ketchikan. We opted to book independently with an operator and have booked the boat for ourselves. It's going to cost us about $700, give or take.

Thank you reefgirl! You helped me confirm we will be fishing in Ketchikan. I saw another post that recommended Baranof Fishing. Can you tell me who you booked with? Baranof starts at $1200 for a private charter.

And I think I've decided on these activities in these ports. If anyone has tour operator recommendations please post.

Ketchikan - fishing

Juneau - Sea Kayak to Mendenhall Glacier

Skagway - Sea Plane, Helicopter, or Biking/Hiking - I can't decide.

And I just noticed when I setup my userid I spelled "cruise" wrong! ;p Fat fingers. I'll never remember it now!

Thank you reefgirl! You helped me confirm we will be fishing in Ketchikan. I saw another post that recommended Baranof Fishing. Can you tell me who you booked with? Baranof starts at $1200 for a private charter.

 

And I think I've decided on these activities in these ports. If anyone has tour operator recommendations please post.

Ketchikan - fishing

Juneau - Sea Kayak to Mendenhall Glacier

Skagway - Sea Plane, Helicopter, or Biking/Hiking - I can't decide.

 

And I just noticed when I setup my userid I spelled "cruise" wrong! ;p Fat fingers. I'll never remember it now!

I haven't personally done this but I used to bike quite a bit in my younger days. I think the biking trip from the Yukon would drive me crazy due to speed of drivers/busses, etc..! It is not something I would do.

Have you looked at Glacier Point Wilderness Safari in Skagway? https://www.alaskaexcursions.com/glacier-safari-2/

Helicopter landings on glaciers are always ranked really high also (with or without dog mushing).

Here is a private company for helicopter landings in Juneau and Skagway: http://www.temscoair.com/skagway.php

Thank you reefgirl! You helped me confirm we will be fishing in Ketchikan. I saw another post that recommended Baranof Fishing. Can you tell me who you booked with? Baranof starts at $1200 for a private charter.

 

And I think I've decided on these activities in these ports. If anyone has tour operator recommendations please post.

Ketchikan - fishing

Juneau - Sea Kayak to Mendenhall Glacier

Skagway - Sea Plane, Helicopter, or Biking/Hiking - I can't decide.

 

And I just noticed when I setup my userid I spelled "cruise" wrong! ;p Fat fingers. I'll never remember it now!

We booked with Rainy Day Charters for a four hour trip. 4 x $175. So $700 plus tax for the trip. There are a lot of charters but I booked a little late in the season so my options were limited. The one I chose got good reviews so I expect I'll be happy. Most of them seem to be highly reviewed. I did the trip in 2011 with Northern Lights but that owner has sadly since died. We had a great time.

We did Harv

& Marv whale watching out of Juneau. Five people on boat and saw 15-20 orcas. Great trip!

If you like smaller groups I would suggest Dyea Dave Tours in Skagway. They have a variety of choices if you'll do a web search for their page. Nice, nice people.

We're doing a zip line excursion in Skagway with Grizzly Falls zip line. Should be a blast.

THANK YOU everyone for your suggestions! As you know there's so much to choose from, I definitely appreciate the recommendations. I'll let you all know what I decide and how it goes.

Hope everyone has great trips!!

THANK YOU everyone for your suggestions! As you know there's so much to choose from, I definitely appreciate the recommendations. I'll let you all know what I decide and how it goes.

Hope everyone has great trips!!

I can relate to your questions! I am having the same problem so many things so little time! And what makes it worse is they all sound fun ;)

Thank you reefgirl! You helped me confirm we will be fishing in Ketchikan. I saw another post that recommended Baranof Fishing. Can you tell me who you booked with? Baranof starts at $1200 for a private charter.

 

And I think I've decided on these activities in these ports. If anyone has tour operator recommendations please post.

Ketchikan - fishing

Juneau - Sea Kayak to Mendenhall Glacier

Skagway - Sea Plane, Helicopter, or Biking/Hiking - I can't decide.

 

And I just noticed when I setup my userid I spelled "cruise" wrong! ;p Fat fingers. I'll never remember it now!

Have you checked for the availability of the Sea Kayak to Mendenhall on the day you are going to be there? When I looked, that was available only 2 or 3 times a week. The sea kayak, you kayak to the glacier and back but don't land. There are canoe trips to the glacier and they include a hike on to the glacier and visiting an ice cave if it is safe.

Skagway, there is an excursion for taking the train up to White Pass Summit and biking back so you could do Train/Bike.

We just got home last week and one of our favorite things was renting a car in Skagway and driving to Emerald Lake. The drive and scenery is amazing! Like nothing we have ever seen before. Carcross is an interesting little stop and we went to Caribou Crossing dog sleds. We didn't do the ride but our teens had fun playing with the dogs and then they served a decent BBQ lunch. We arrived before any of the tour buses got there and had the whole place to ourselves. Saw a huge brown bear on the side of the road on our way back. When we got back to Skagway the kids went back to the ship and we went to Skagway Brewing for drinks and snacks and then walked through the town.

In Ketchikan my husband did the Salmon excursion through the ship (NCL sun) - only 6 per boat. He said it was awesome and the captain he had was phenomenal.

Our stop in Juneau was only 5 hours. We just walked downtown and included a stop at Red Dog Brewing where I had my first Duck Fart (for breakfast LOL) and then to Tracy's for an awesome bucket of King Crab.

Whatever you decide will be awesome - have a blast!

Have you checked for the availability of the Sea Kayak to Mendenhall on the day you are going to be there? When I looked, that was available only 2 or 3 times a week. The sea kayak, you kayak to the glacier and back but don't land. There are canoe trips to the glacier and they include a hike on to the glacier and visiting an ice cave if it is safe.

 

You don't "sea kayak" to Mendenhall . It is a lake, you can sea kayak several other places out of Juneau. I have done the channel Islands as example.

In Skagway, our first time we did the train. It's a part of history and the views are amazing. We loved it and even purchased a set of bookends cut from the original rails and engraved for authenticity. Very cool.

Last time, we went on the Glacier Point Wilderness Safari to Davidson Glacier. That was the highlight of our cruise. There's some good video reviews around if you want to check it out.

Happy Journey's!

we leave tomorrow for our cruise- group of 12

Sitka- boys fishing- others ocean rafting

Juneau- Whale watching with weather permitting, dog sledding with Temsco

Skagway-boys fishing again- college kids kayaking -others White pass train

Ketchikan- Misty Fjords floatplane for all

We just got back from a wonderful trip. We like to be more active. We booked a 2 mile hike up the Chilkoot trail that was followed by a float down the river with a guide. booked through the ship. It was fun, and a small group of only 10.

On our cruise (Princess) we had time after the excursion to go back to the ship, have a quick lunch, and then walk back into town.

You don't "sea kayak" to Mendenhall . It is a lake, you can sea kayak several other places out of Juneau. I have done the channel Islands as example.

Thanks Budget Queen! I've heard mixed reviews about the Mendenhall kayak trips and am looking at Channel Islands kayaking trip. How was it?

I'm talking to Alaska Shore Tours about it - any history on them?

thank you!

If your itinerary includes sailing into Tracy Arm or Endicott Arm to see the glaciers (many Juneau stops do this prior to arrival), I strongly recommend the small-boat excursion to see the glaciers. As you'll note on other threads, the cruise ships haven't been able to go far up due to ice conditions, so this other option is available. These are offered via the cruise ship's excursions.

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Thanks CollierCruiser, but unfortunately the Norwegian Sun doesn't offer that. We're doing a Glacier flightseeing & dogsledding out of Skagway, so I think I'm going w/ the Kayaking in the Channel Islands out of Juneau. We've been glacier hiking/climbing in Iceland, and I think the kayaking will give us a different adventure and some exercise :).

I really appreciate all the recommendations & feedback I've gotten from this site. What a great resource!

Thanks CollierCruiser, but unfortunately the Norwegian Sun doesn't offer that. We're doing a Glacier flightseeing & dogsledding out of Skagway, so I think I'm going w/ the Kayaking in the Channel Islands out of Juneau. We've been glacier hiking/climbing in Iceland, and I think the kayaking will give us a different adventure and some exercise :).

 

I really appreciate all the recommendations & feedback I've gotten from this site. What a great resource!

If you aren't "set" on that kayaking, last year we had a really unusual excursion from Juneau.

We had a private excursion (2 couples per, so not quite private for us, but NOT a problem at all) on a little Hovercraft!

First, just experiencing that little Hovercraft was pretty amazing.

But it took us way out of the way, over very shallow water and mudflats (that other vehicles just couldn't really travel) to the face of a glacier. We got out and could walk pretty much up to the face of the glacier, and *on* some of the forward sections.

There was a pair of little Hovercrafts (so 4 couples total) that traveled somewhat together, usually in sight of each other.

As our pilot at one point explained all the things that could "go wrong", and how it might get stuck (VERY interesting, but a bit TMI when one is already out and away :evilsmile:) we suddenly decided there was a *reason* there were TWO little Hovercraft! ;)

It was one of our favorite excursions ever, anywhere.

It was just gorgeous being so out away from sight of other civilization.