Bya

Thank you all for your response. Big help and reassuring!

I wanted to avoid the crowd at Tracy's so I thought early lunch might hack it. Plus, husband is hungry every 2 hours so I'm afraid he might get grumpy and might not let me enjoy the time at Mendenhall (seems like a long time from breakfast). I do want to explore and do the hike to Nugget. We live in a tropical country and doesn't get any ice. 😅

BQ, our ship does leave at 4:30PM so I'm thinking I can spare sometime in going back and forth though I will save a few $ by taking the combo tour from Juneau Tours.

On a side note, I am a little amused by their subtle force for me to take on the whale watch glacier combo tour.

Their whale watch only tour is $110. The combo with mendenhall is $120. I read somewhere that it is ideal to get a one way ticket for the shuttles when coming from port because some experienced a long wait at the glacier waiting for either the blue or white bus. If you don't get the round trip ticket, you can hop on, on either bus, whichever comes first and you don't have to wait for your specific bus. So I was thinking to ask if they can drop us off at Mendenhall and we will make our own way back to downtown. I was offered to combo tour. I insisted on the DIY. The got back to me saying that I need to get the $15 one way trip. That will take me from the boat harbor to the glacier. And then, I need to pay again going back downtown - which will now be more expensive! LOL

To conclude. We might go with all your suggestions. Doing Tracy's last. Will pack a granola bar or something for the husband 😆

We have a short time in Juneau so just want to check if our plan is doable.

This is our plan:

1. Whale Watch

2. Tracy's King Crab Shack (husband says we can't miss eating Alaskan King Crab while in Alaska. Based on numerous reviews, I think this is the best place to be considering the circumstances - I'm still open to other suggestions.)

3. Mendenhall Glacier

The ship arrives at port at 6:30AM. Earliest whale watch schedule that I can find is 7:30AM (Harv and Marv). Considering the price, I am going with Juneau Tours which starts at 8:00AM. This is only a 3 hour tour, so we will be back at Downtown by 11AM.

Go to Tracy's and indulge in Alaskan King Crab. Then we take the shuttle to Mendenhall Glacier and go from there. Our schedule is pretty much open until we leave port.

Initially, my plan was to go straight to Mendenhall after the whale watch. Since the husband requested for king crab, I had to change the plan to accommodate :cool:

I am open to other suggestions.

There aren't any cabs in Skagway. All you need to do is take the SMART bus, right to the garden. :) $5 for all day, or $2 per ride.

 

Gardens are only about a mile away.

Thanks Budget Queen.

We will probably walk to the garden if the weather is nice. Great opportunity to sight see since it is only a mile out. We are not great walkers since we come from a country that does not have any sidewalks for pedestrians (not in major roads) but we can probably make it :D

Any other stops that we should do around the area?

Btw, Budget Queen, I am a huge fan! I follow your posts here in Cruise Critic! :p

It is a wee bit out of town, but I would think you should be able to get a cab of some kind to get you out there. You might try contacting them via the internet to see what they recommend as the best way to get to them.

 

Actually, according to their website - "Tours to Jewell Gardens from downtown Skagway depart by appointment. For transportation to Jewell Gardens use the Skagway city transit SMART shuttles. Find shuttle stops along Broadway, departing every 30 minutes to Jewell Gardens. You can also book a tour with an independent tour company. Several offer inexpensive ways to visit Jewell Gardens.

 

You can make a reservation anytime online, by calling 907-983-2111, or by emailing us at info@jewellgardens.com."

 

I know Viatour also offers a trip out there. I think they just want to make sure that they are running the ovens, etc., when you want to visit. Which they obviously will be doing while the ships are in port :)

Thank Tina for doing the research for me [emoji4]

We will probably take the shuttle. Cab might be too expensive for just 2 people. I am trying to keep my activities in Ketchikan as low as budget as possible since we are splurging in another port. [emoji28]

I am really interested in Jewell Gardens, specifically the glass blowing experience.

Can anyone help me with transportation from cruise dock to the garden? Planning to DIY this instead of booking through the cruise ship.

Funinthesun1964, you are right. I only booked early and not sure what the early saver fare is. I booked through a travel agent since we can't directy book at the cruise website.

How do you get OBC on price drops? Does it automatically go into your account? I booked early on May sailing. Hut has always been curious if I can get my money back if the sailing goes on sale.

Do you know if there are parking issues at Mendenhall Glacier? It looks like the day that we are there, there are 3 ships in port. It's about $60 for the day to rent the car so we are trying to decide whether or not to rent a car or just take the shuttle buses.

 

We are in port from 6:30am - 4pm.

 

Thanks

Angela

Angela, Are you going to be in Grand Princess. We are and have exactly the same time as your time in port.

I am also looking for info on how long to spend in Mendenhall and if I can still fit in a wwhale watching itinerary given that we arrive and leave Juneau early.