wolfie11

Very likely they will pick you up at the ship. There's not really a place in downtown Ketchikan to stage coaches.

The naturalist, if there is one, is usually doing narration from the bridge. In Glacier Bay, there's a park Ranger on the bridge. It will be broadcast to the outside decks and over the tv in the stateroom. Some ships will broadcast it into the crows nest or other public inside viewing areas.

Many of the tours are exclusive to the cruise lines. You can book the train separately and Chilkoot Charters offers tours. My favorite in August is to go over to Haines and do the wildlife trip at Chilkoot Lake. There are frequently bears around if the salmon are running in the river.

I'll definitely check out Annabelle's this summer. I really, really miss the all you can eat crab fest at Ester Gold Camp. Hard to believe that was like 20 years ago.

Were you on Hurtigruten in Wrangell?

The good portion of the trail ends several miles short of the glacier. If you want to go to the glacier I'd recommend a guide. There's a lot of scrambling and the dense alders in some areas make it easy to get lost (and to find a napping bear). To the glacier and back is around 8 miles and plan on around 6 hours.

Fresh Dungeness is far superior to king crab in my opinion. I will eat it every chance I get. Unfortunately, there aren't that many good locations in SE Alaska. St. George's Inlet was the best but now limits the amount of crab you can get. Tracey's is too expensive. The Office in Hoonah had good crab but it's been a few years since I was there You can buy it off the dock in a few places. The ship might cook it for you if they have the "cook what you catch" program onboard. If anyone finds a good place where you can get a good Dungeness crab meal, please post it!

Drive to Eagle Beach and Mendenhall. Find a nice local restaurant (I recommend the Sandbar) for halibut and chips. Explore Douglas Island. Visit the Shrine of St Theresa. If you like books, stop at the friends of the library used book store.

I love the deadliest catch tour, but I would never turn down an opportunity to do Taku Lodge. It's amazing. Especially if the local bear family decides to make an appearance.

I would check out the various 4th of July celebrations in Haines and Skagway. Nobody does the 4th like small towns.

Sealaska opened up a wonderful Native arts museum downtown a few years ago. The gift shop has crafts by local Native artists. If it's a nice day you can hop on the tram.

https://www.sitka.com/porky/porky.htm

You can also drive the 150 miles from Anchorage to Glenallen and then take a van tour into Wrangell-St. Elias.

Juneau - Shops should be open until around 9pm with ships in port. You could grab a drink at one of the "colorful" bars downtown and meet some of the locals. Skagway - I prefer train up, bus down and I always go to Lake Bennett. More chances to see wildlife in the morning and I can put in headphones and sleep on the way down. You will be fed on this excursion if you do the morning tour. I love the spruce tip beer at Skagway Brewing and they have great halibut and chips, but it is always packed. If you're at Ward Cove, it might be strategic to sign up for an early short tour. I believe people with ship excursions get the first busses to town. Bering Sea crab tour is my favorite if you have time. Ketchikan is very walkable and the is a free downtown shuttle that will take you to Totem Heritage Park and Creek Street. If you like fish, wildlife, or archaeology, visit the Soho Coho for some very unique tee shirts by Ray Troll. The Buchert Gardens tour is doable in Victoria, although many people just stay on the ship.

There's literally no other place for the big ships to go.

Lake Bennett is one of my top Alaska excursions. I have done it several times.

Foreign-flagged expedition ships do offer Zodiac excursions. Their zodiacs are considered separate to the main ship and are US registered and driven by US captains.

What are the logistics of bussing/tendering 4000-5000 passengers?

One ways are always better. More scenery and more glaciers.

This is a pretty good deal for $60. I would imagine that they may be limited in the number of people they can serve crab dinners to, so if they go over the limit, they will have a lottery.

No food. You can buy snacks in the gift shop. This is one of my favorite tours!

Maybe to Hubbard. There is definitely more ice earlier in the year, but wind, tides, recent weather, and the captain's aversion to getting close to ice all play a factor. Yes to GLBA. They have had a lot of snow this year, so the snow should still be well down the mountain sides.

Buses in Ketchikan usually run every hour and are not terribly reliable. I would take a taxi and make sure you have a clear understanding with the taxi driver of when and where to pick you up.

If you post the tour specifics we can comment more effectively. General advice is to have at least two nights at Denali National Park and upgrade to the tundra wilderness tour (it's a shorter tour now because of the Pretty Rocks landslide.) Fairbanks is light out all night. You can grab a drink at a local colorful bar or do some last minute shopping at Freddie's.

My favorite is the Bennett Lake excursion, but I don't know if it's being offered this year. I do the train whenever I get the chance. Spectacular scenery, great history, and cool old train cars.