shawnk1963

Thank you for this wonderful trip report and pictures - I loved it all!! :)

Have you thoroughly looked over a Juneau shore excursion list? Is there anything else you want to do there?? I find it a negative to book tours- because you read they are a "must see". ALL of Alaska is a "must see" to someone. But definitely doesn't mean it is for everyone.

 

If there are Juneau tours of more interest, then consider booking those. Your post is slanted toward you stating you are going on a lot of glacier tours, and not all positively, certainly not with any "excitement" like you see with other plans. It appears to me, that tour could be changed to something of more interest for you?

We're very excited, and maybe I'm over thinking this - which I'm prone to doing. Since we may not get to go back to Alaska, I'm trying to plan a variety of excursions/activities and I started wondering if I was planning too many glacier viewing tours and that maybe we should see/do something else in Juneau. The first tour I considered in Juneau was The Best of Juneau HAL tour - and that still sounds good, but I decided on Tracy Arm because it does look great to me based on what I've read and seen about it here, in books, etc. If we were able to do the Adventure Bound tour, I think I'd be less likely to be rethinking it, but since we can't do that one, I wonder if we should choose another one of the many good options in Juneau.

Thank you! Shawn

ETA - Our ship is docked in Juneau from 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM.

Which Family Air tour did you sign up for?

 

We did the deluxe misty fjord tour on May 22 this year. It was warm and sunny (unusual for Ketchikan) with lots of green scenery, but no glacier views. That is only on the $375 glacier fjord tour from them. We landed on a remote lake area in the fjord and got out of the plane onto a large floating dock. We stayed there for about 20 minutes; plenty of time to walk around and take pictures. The scenery from the air and the lake were great.

We're doing their Deluxe Misty Fjords Tour. We recently switched to that one from the HAL tour. Thank you for the information and great pictures!

During our HAL SB Seward to Vancouver cruise at the end of July, we’ll be:

- Going on the 6 hour Kenai Fjords National Park Tour out of Seward before we board the ship (description indicates we see Glacier(s));

- Cruising through Glacier Bay

- Going on the Glacier Point Wildlife Safari out of Haines (HAL tour) which includes a wide variety of fun activities and viewing the Davidson Glacier;

- Going on the Tracy Arm Fjord & Glacier Explorer - Juneau Roundtrip (HAL tour). I booked that because I read that Tracy Arm is amazing and a must see, but we can’t do Adventure Bound’s tour due to ship departure time;

- Misty Fjords by Floatplane with Family Air Tours in Ketchikan (I think we see Glaciers on this, too).

I’m now starting to wonder if I’ve got us overbooked for Glacier related tours and since we can’t do Adventure Bound, maybe we should cancel the Tracy Arm tour and do something else in Juneau. What do you guys think and if you think I should possibly replace the Tracy Arm Tour, what would you recommend replacing it with in Juneau? We're open to all suggestions and healthy / active.

Thanks, Shawn

(ETA: this is our first visit to Alaska)

I can tell you about Husky Homestead....I think that it is the best sled dog demonstration and talk in Alaska.....Jeff does a wonderful talk about raising and training dogs and racing. He has a great kennel....the ATV tours...there are a couple in that area. I have a friend who will be doing some guiding on one of the ATV tours...his wife will be running the zip line this summer...not sure where the tours will go really, but being out on an ATV is fun if you have never done it before...I think that going back into Denali would be a priority but I have to agree, it is a long bus ride, but it seems strange to go there and not see any of it...

Thanks laughing husky! I'd love to go to Husky Homestead, but the last tour is at 7:00 and if don't arrive until 1:00 - 1:30 and we do the shuttle bus riding for 6 hours, we won't be able to make it. I'm going to call Denali ATVs and ask them more about where we go and what we see on the Denali Wilderness Adventure tour. If we did that, we'd do 3:00 ATV and 7:00 Husky Homestead. Decisions Decisions......

The drive from Fairbanks to Denali is only 2 1/2 hrs!

 

I don't even need a second to consider that choice ... Denali hands down! The scenery and wildlife are awesome. If you arrive by noon you could take an afternoon shuttle to Toklat which is the beginning of prime bear country. Yes, it's 3 hrs each way but for the scenery and wildlife, I'd gladly spend 6 hrs on a bus .... and I have, almost a dozen times!

But it's your trip so if dogs and ATV's are your interest ... go for it.

 

As for Seward, will they allow you to take the early bus even if you don't commit to the kenai cruise? Otherwise take the train, arriving at 11am and very scenic. Your bags will go directly to the ship. If it's a decent day, hop on a Kenai or Major Marine boat and do the kenai cruise; otherwise wander around the harbor and town.

Thanks mapleleaves!

For Denali: I have in my notes that we're supposed to arrive in Denali between 1:00 and 1:30. If that's the case, do you think we'd be able to get started on the shuttle bus by 2:30? Do you know how late the shuttle buses run? I've read several threads and trip report sections about the shuttle bus vs. the Tundra Wilderness Tour so I pretty much say I have a 'basic high level understanding' on how they work.

I was thinking the Denali ATV's "Denali Wilderness Adventure" would go into Denali, but maybe not. I will call them to ask more about it.

The train upgrade is $60 for Anchorage to Seward and I show in my notes it leaves Anchorage around 12 noon and arrives in Seward around 5:00. I'll call and double check that.

For Seward: I don't think we can take the early bus unless we're signed up for the upgrade. I'm thinking I asked HAL shore excursions about that, but will double check. If we can't, I'll ask how late we can sign up for that upgrade and keep an eye on the weather forecast.

mapleleaves, Thank you for all the info and suggestions on the Kenai Fjords tour and Seward! Yes 3 days for land......Denali is short and no the Natural History Tour is not included so what we do there is up to us. We ride the motor coach to Denali from Fairbanks so I'm leaning toward the ATV / Husky Homestead combo because we don't want to do anymore bus riding that day. What do you think about that idea? We ride the train to Anchorage the next day.

Thank you too laughing husky!

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This is our first trip to Alaska and we'll be on the HAL D7L Cruise Tour / Southbound Cruise out of Seward this July and we have the option to upgrade our Anchorage to Seward leg to include the Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise when we arrive in Seward. This involves leaving Anchorage on a Motor Coach that would arrive in Seward around 10:30 and then we'd be on the 11:30 Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise. The cost is $176. I read great things about the Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise, but my dilemma is that I'd like to see Seward, too.

What do you think about this upgrade compared to just taking the Motor Coach that's included in the package and would arrive in Seward around 3:00, boarding the ship and then leaving the ship to just walk around Seward for an hour or so?

The Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise is 6 hours so it would be back by 5:30. Would we have any time to see Seward for a bit before we check in and / board the ship? The ship is scheduled to depart at 8:00.

I've been reading the great advice on so many topics on this Alaska board like crazy.....I'm wearing out the Search button. :)

Thank you!