NothingBeatsBaseball

We just got back in June and did the six-hour tour with Major Marine. The water was pretty rough. They told us it would be when we checked in. Multiple folks were sick. The ship staff was awesome trying to help them, etc. The staff was great on the ship for everything BTW. Our family never got sick. The trip was no doubt the roughest boat tour I've ever taken. How people don't get hurt falling on every tour, I don't know. We were worried about our kids getting sick so we gave them kids Dramamine, but it really knocked them out. They both slept through half of it or so due to the pills. I had read so many great things about the tour so I made sure we did it when I planned the trip. It was foggy when we went so we missed some of the scenery. We did the tour a day after getting off a cruise so my mother (70s) felt a little bit like she couldn't really appreciate it after just seeing glaciers multiple times on the cruise and scenery, etc. I think you doing it before the cruise will prevent any of that. We didn't see as much wildlife as I thought we might see. Or at least based on previous reviews. But it is a very good tour and we really liked the staff and ship. If you have the means, do it. We saved a decent chunk of money booking during the Cyber Monday deal.

We just got off Sapphire Princess in June. We were in E731, furthest back minisuite on the starboard side. The balcony was covered, which was really nice because of some drizzly days we got on the Alaskan cruise. We felt like being all the way in the back blocked some of the wind too. What was really great was the balcony was about twice the size of a normal one. Drawbacks: We could pick up the smoking below us sometimes, sometimes you could pick up the smell of the soot when the ship was really moving and we could feel more movement being in the back of the ship. That was mainly the first day at sea. So yes, some drawbacks to consider but we'd recommend it because of the big covered balcony. We had a room down the hall too as part of our party but we could easily put the five people with us on the balcony comfortably. The Glacier Bay day was great for the balcony.

When I booked the car (a few months ahead of time) I messaged the host and asked if she could meet us at the port, and she said she would. So that's what she did. She parked in a lot right across the street and waited for me. She walked me through the car a bit, handed me the keys, said to message her when we were done and boom. Done.

Just got back. We rented a Turo in Juneau, it was a great experience. The only challenge was there isn't legal parking right by the dock. So if we wanted to come back to the ship for a bit we were going to have to park illegally at the lot across the street or at the garage downtown and walk. We were at the Franklin berth. Our day: Spent hour 45 minutes or so Mendenhall (lucked into a spot right in front but it seems most are there via bus anyway), ate at Donna's Restaurant, stopped at the IGA for drinks/snacks, St. Therese (saw a bear on the side of the road on the way), Lena Beach, Sandy Beach on Douglas Island, Whale Statue, then dropped off kiddos and mother at the ship, got coffee, went back to Douglas Island to hike Outer Point Loop Trail but it was too wet and muddy to finish (saw a beaver), stopped at a great viewpoint just off the road on Douglas Island heading back to the bridge and proceeded to drop our black/silver car key fob on black/gray rocks, found it after 15 minutes or so of very stressed searching, refueled car, messaged the Turo owner to hand it back over with about 45 minutes before all aboard, handed keys off, walked around the boardwalk a bit since it was nice and empty, got back on the ship. It was $220 ish for an SUV with Turo. Which was worth it in our opinion with five total people. Very much recommend it. We had a great day weather-wise.

I did the Misty Fjords tour with Island Wings 10 years ago. We are going back this year and taking my mother and small kids. It is the only activity we're going to repeat. It's great. When we went it was very smooth.

We're going to have a three year old with us this summer. In Juneau we're going to rent a car from Turo and drive to some different spots to do some trails/parks, etc. Guess I can't recommend it yet as we haven't done it yet... but we think it will give us some options.

@motravelerken, what did you pick? I am in nearly a same spot. Trying to figure out if I want to do the Jewel as the itinerary (other than the Ward Cove stop) is a good fit for us and I will have a 70 year old an 8 year old and a 3 year old. So NCL seems like a good fit for the kids... but longer walks seem like a bad fit for the 70 year old. I'm in the middle tying to find the best balance. The wife and I did a round trip Alaskan cruise for our honeymoon 10 years ago with HAL. It is the only cruise we've ever done, now we're looking to revisit it.