Jade31

Anyone do the snorkeling tour in Ketchikan to Mountain Pt through cruise or through Snorkel Alaska(I think is the only company)?

Is it worth it? From what I've researched you see a bunch of jellyfish, starfish, sea urchins, sea cucumbers. But since its a 3 hr long trip and Holland America is only in port from 7AM - 1PM and the tour leaves in the middle is it better than exploring the town of Ketchikan? (would have been better if it left at 7AM so then I'd have the rest of the day to explore the town ). What is a must see in Ketchikan? Creek Street?

Is Creek Street far from the port? Could I possibly visit it in less than 2 hrs if I go in the morning?

I was on a ship excursion and did it within the hour allotted time. Had to hustle but did it. That counts waiting in line for the bathroom.

You said you saw Mendenhall within the hour, did you hike to Nugget Falls as well as the Photo point trail?

Well we had credit on the cruise and decided to use the credit for an excursion instead of for specialty dining. So we plan on doing the Holland America glacier and whale watching excursion, but unfortunately it only gives us about an hour at the glacier.

For anyone that's been there, is that enough time? They claim it takes 1 hr RT to take the trail to Nugget Falls, but its only 2 miles and I think we can do that in less than 40 min if we walk fast or most likely jog(We walk/run daily) ( it looks like its just a trail through the forest). Is it worth the time? And the photo point doesn't look too far. That's all there is to see right, the trails and the glacier?

Day 4 - Tuesday May 29 - Juneau

We woke up around 7 and had the express breakfast at O'Sheehans. We were off the bus by 8 and took the shuttle downtown.

 

On my previous cruise, we booked a river rafting excursion through Celebrity - this took place on the Mendenhall River. We didn't even get a glimpse at the Mendenhall glacier, so I knew this would be a priority for us. I booked two tickets on the Glacier Express ("blue bus"). It was $90 total for the two of us.

It was a little chaotic to figure out if we were in the right place, the signage needs to be updated because there are sooo many buses (and several blue buses!) .

 

 

 

We did both walks and we are glad we did both - Nugget Falls took about 20 minutes each way. The weather was beautiful and we are so glad we did this without any time constraints.

 

 

This Glacier Express bus, it just takes you directly to the Visitor's Center at Mendenhall Glacier and you can spend however much time you want there? Is there an extra fee to enter the Glacier park area?

How long did it take to get there? And how much time did you spend? If you had to choose only 1 of the trails which would you choose? The website says it take an hour RT to visit the Nugget Falls.

I cannot officially recommend any tour operators or excursions since we have not yet sailed. We leave in just over 2 weeks and I can let you know our experience after that. We are 6 people. Me, husband, my mom (70-something years young), our twins that are 10 and our 6 year old.

 

I will say that we absolutely saved money, had more options and more personalization of our excursions when booking independently with smaller tour groups/companies. We have a daughter who uses a wheelchair for long distances (out in the community basically), and private companies are more willing and/or able to accommodate her needs so that was a huge factor for us as well.

Oh actually we will also be living in a little over a week on a cruise. Have you already booked your excursions ahead of time? What companies did you book with?

We will be traveling on Holland America CL to Alaska in a couple of weeks. We are a family of 5.

Our boat stops in Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan, and Victoria. B.C. Canada.

All the excursions we've looked up through Holland America and cruise web are all really expensive $100 + pp and for a family of 5 that can get really expensive.

Can anyone recommend how we can see the major sights without spending a fortune? Maybe renting a driver that doesn't charge per person. We've done that before. Any recommendations.

Thank you

I know there have been other posts about birthday celebrations on board. But I was hoping for more recent updates.

My family and I will be sailing on the Eurodam to Alaska as a birthday celebration for my mom in a couple of weeks.

I can't find anything on the cruise line website about buying a cake. Only thing I found was paying $30 for balloons and flowers in the stateroom. Some people have said that if you tell the wait staff they will bring you a cake, but we want to make sure this is guaranteed before we sail.

Also is it a full size cake or just a slice? And did you have to pay for it.

What is allowed for decorating the stateroom? Are the doors and ceilings magnetic? Can I use tape to hang stuff? Will the cabin stewards do anything if you tell them we're celebrating a birthday?