NEWLKAT

right now Alaska is having a heat wave it has been in the 80-90 F in some places,  it would not hurt to be prepared with some shorts and short sleeve just in case. Carry clothes you can layer.

thank you for posting, I have her booked for August cannot wait.

Another vote for Hoonah Whale Tours with Captain Jordan,  we got lucky they were not able to fill the boat so it was only my, daughter sister and I.  It was an awesome day. We actually had a whale that came towards us and dove under the boat, we saw several breaches.

13 hours ago, geoherb said:

We're not heavy breakfast eaters. I brought some dried fruit, nuts, and breakfast bars for our breakfasts. The only time DH complained was when we took the train from Fairbanks to Denali. I figured we saved over $100 by bringing food for our own breakfasts. Here's a link to a sample menu at one of the Princess lodges: https://www.princesslodges.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/KS-Breakfast-2018-FINAL-GFed.pdf
 

I had the French Toast it was tasty.

There is Avis, and we are renting with DIY Jeep it is a little more expensive as they are all jeeps, but my husband loves jeeps. There may be another one but I am not sure.

13 hours ago, tetleytea said:

The only issue I have with this tour is that Deadliest Catch is starting to go out of style.  It was a big deal when I did it, because I was watching all the seasons of Deadliest Catch.  And there's the Aleutian Ballad, right there.  But now I've got people in my party who don't fish and have never watched it. 

I had never seen the show, but enjoyed the tour we are going again this coming summer.

Icy Strait Point has one of the highest populations of bears in the world.  Last summer we did a Bear Search with Hoonah Travel Adventures and saw 2 sows with 1/2 grown cubs.  A few years before that we did another bear search with another company and saw bears.  I don't think it is super expensive, and is done via a van no flying needed to do it.  now for my disclaimer bears are wild animals and while I have seen bears both times I went no sighting is ever guaranteed.  Here are a couple of photos from last summer.

Another vote for Running Reindeer Ranch if you can book it, we had a blast  (even when the baby got a case of the zoomies and ran into my husband almost knocking him down LOL babies will be babies).

It is a fun excursion, very informative.  Like others have said there are great photo ops for eagles when they stop to feed some. The chance to hold or touch crabs.  We are doing this tour for a 2nd time this summer. Oh and if raining there is covering with little heaters for those that may get chilly. Here are a few pics we took last time.

We went out last June with Hoonah Travel Adventures and saw bears. We saw 2 sets of mom's with  1/2 grown cubs. Here are a some pictures from our trip.

the path is partially paved however once there are a lot of pebble river rocks so pushing a stroller might be difficult.

Tljcruiser- we went out with Hoonah Whale Tours last June you will not be disappointed, they work closely with Glacier Wind and we had an awesome time. I cannot recommend them enough.  We had a whale turn towards our boat, then dove right under us, came up on the other side and a few minutes later started breaching. 

We also did a bear search before our whale tour with Hoonah Travel Adventures and saw 2 sets of mom's with cubs.  May not be peak season but we did see both bears and whales on that trip. Here are just a few pics from our day.

We usually just take the shuttle to Talkeetna and walk around, also the Lodge has a Tree House you can hike to, it is kind of steep in places but not a very long hike. It was featured on Tree House Masters.

I like whale watching and doing a bear search, they have one of the highest populations of bears in the world and you do not have to fly to go try to find them. This pic taken right out the van front window of 1 of the bear/cubs we saw this last trip.

We did Whale Watching in Icy Strait Point with Hoonah Whale Tours, they were fabulous. That freed up Juneau for other things like Mendenhall Glacier and the Tram.

yes the time will change with the time zones, they note it in their daily Compass and I believe announce it as well.

On ‎3‎/‎20‎/‎2019 at 6:08 AM, GPStoryteller said:

What about traveling South, from Seaward to Vancouver?  Do we Have a rocky last night on board?  Shall I take meds the day before we get off the ship?  Thanks much!

GPStoryteller I have done that routing 4x, and one other out of Whittier, it is the first night/sea day that could pose a problem as you are in the Gulf of Alaska,  a couple of the times we have done that routing the seas got kind of rocky the first sea day.  It got better going into Hubbard Glacier then picked back up coming out of there. If prone to motion sickness I would take medication before boarding the ship. Once you get into the inside passage it usually much calmer.

Hoonah Whale Tours are great, but I am not sure they operate until the end of May.  They are friends with the folks at Glacier Winds, I believe the boat in the photo posted by bearvet above is their boat the Thor Too, we had an awesome experience with them they kept in communication with the folks at Glacier Wind if we spotted a whale we told Glacier Winds and when they saw a whale they radioed us. We actually had a whale dive right under our boat.  Then came up on the other side, we also saw whales doing multiple breaches. We did a bear search with Hoonah Travel Adventures and saw several bears 2 moms with cubs also highly recommend.

I second Island Wings in Ketchikan it was awesome.  We even saw a whale breach while flying over, so Michelle did a few circles so we could see the whale down below.

We used Hoonah Whale Tours, it was an awesome trip, they are actually friends with the folks at Glacier Wind (who also get great reviews) and all keep in touch when whales are spotted.  I would not hesitate to go with them again.  WE actually had a whale dive right under our boat. and had seen multiple breaches...It was incredible.  

The most scenic train ride is Seward to Anchorage. I would take the train to Anchorage, then rent your vehicles in Anchorage and drive to Denali  (the roads do have some construction but are paved and easy to drive on we drove it this last summer easy peasy.) you need 2 nights Denali so you can spend all day in the park. to go into the park you will have to take either a Tour bus or the transit shuttle both can be booked on reservedenali.com,   I would book either Tundra Tour (narrated, drop down screens to zoom on wildlife, and a snack box lunch it is more expensive) or you can do one of the more economical Transit Shuttle which goes further into the park but no food (so bring you will need to bring a lunch and drinks) nor does it have drop down screens.  I have done both and would not hesitate to do either again.  I am taking the Eielson Shuttle bus again this coming summer.

If you want to go to Fairbanks, drive from Denali to Fairbanks it is only 2 or 3 hours away from Denali.  Or you can go back and return the car in Anchorage and leave from there.  It is usually cheaper to return the car to the location you picked it up. hope this helps some 🙂

I have done tours with both Misty Bay Lodge (whale/bear search combo) and last summer with Hoonah Travel Adventures (bear search), I don't know if Misty Bay Lodge has upgraded their van but the vans with Hoonah Travel Adventures was a little more comfortable I think they were more of a transit van and Misty bay a regular passenger van.  I saw bears with both tour companies. You can search on Trip Advisor my sign is NEWLKAT, I have pics and reviews of both companies (unfortunately not the vehicle) I would not hesitate to go out with either company and enjoyed both immensely.  Just a note Icy Strait has one of the highest populations of bears per capita in the world and while there are a lot of bears, sightings are not guaranteed.  On my last tour which was 3 hours we did not see bears until the last 45 minutes to hour. But got a jack pot there 2 sets of moms with cubs. Just one of my favs from our tour last summer out the front window of our van, I was in the second row.  Cub looking us over.

saddened by this news, it is such a quaint non commercialized port.  Not sure it can handle 5000 people in port at 1 time.

Hoonah Whale Tours was an awesome experience they are good buddies with the folks at Glacier Winds and kept in contact with them during our tour they all helped each other with whale spotting, but I think they only run until mid August.  Hoonah Whale Tours only take out 6passengers but the day we went as a party of 3, they were unable to fill the boat so we had it all to ourselves.  I would go out with them again in a heartbeat.  We actually had a whale dive right under our boat and saw several breaches.

I have been to both, here are my thoughts,  Skagway is a cute town and the drive up to Emerald Lake has some beautiful scenery, we have seen black bears on the drive several times.  The train is fun but can get a little boring if you are not into gorgeous views, I liked it but my sister almost fell asleep lol. The town is small and a bit more touristy but worth going.

Icy Strait is great for whale watching, zip lining and looking for grizzlies, it has one of the highest populations per capita populations of bears in the world and does not require a float plane to access it. (it is not a zoo and no bear sightings are guaranteed, so keep that in mind if you do a bear search). But it is one of my favorite stops because it is not so touristy yet.