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Excursion in Ketichan


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We have been to Ketchikan several times. The first time we took the usual totem pole tour, fishery, town tour and was fine. After that, for ease, we always take the Princess fishing trip. We always catch many salmon, and this last time the fishing captain and Princess coordinated taking one of our catch (10 pound salmon) aboard and the next night the couple we fished with (were just the four of us) had dinner together and Princess served the fish on a big plate and carved at our table. Talk about fresh salmon! It was great.

 

Pooh

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We rode the bus with the locals to Totem Bight and Potlach park. Totem Bight was really in a beautiful setting on the water and the totem poles are incredible. We rode the bus back to town, had lunch at a local joint and then walked the town, including down where the eagles gather. It was a very inexpensive day but we really felt like we experienced part of Alaska.

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First time in Ketchikan (2007) we took a Princess excursion: a float plane over the Misty Fjords, landed on the water and transferred to a boat for the ride back to Ketchikan. It was spectacular.

 

Second time (2012) our group of 8 (4 siblings and spouses) took advantage of the beautiful weather and walked to Saxman Village. Then we took the local bus back to town and split up. We all visited Creek St. and my DH and I went to the Southeast Alaska Discovery in town.

 

Third time (2018) our group of 7 (DH, me, our 2 kids and spouses and our almost 3/12 year old granddaughter) we bought tickets to the Lumberjack Show on-line and then walked around town. The show was campy but we all enjoyed it and were very impressed with the lumberjack's athleticism.

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We rode the bus with the locals to Totem Bight and Potlach park. Totem Bight was really in a beautiful setting on the water and the totem poles are incredible. We rode the bus back to town, had lunch at a local joint and then walked the town, including down where the eagles gather. It was a very inexpensive day but we really felt like we experienced part of Alaska.

Note--this is basically a "free" excursion. The bus was $1 per person each way, now increased to $2. Admission to both parks is free and they are right next to each other. There are maps as well as volunteer guides. The volunteers will not even accept a tip! The difference between a $69 cruise line excursion and a $2 per person excursion was that their bus was right in front of the port area, ours was a block or so down the street...and they got a cup of hot chocolate in the gift shop.

 

Also....there is a bus stop at the Walmart. This is great if your teen forgot some of the essentials of life or whatever. No, we didn't go to Alaska to go to Walmart, but a cheap place to pick up a couple of forgotten items was super. I got off the bus as that stop and took the free shuttle back to town.

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Where is the best place to see eagles on a do-it-yourself tour?

I don't know about the "best place," but we saw them in Juneau while waiting for the pick up for our whale watching tour. THey were in the trees right by the port. Nice guy let us use his binoculars. Saw bears in Ketchikan--we were in the bus to Totem Bight, they were walking along the side of the road. Saw more at Mendenhall Glacier park in Juneau--they were salmon fishing and had cubs. We did not have to make much effort to see wildlife in Alaska.

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http://tourketchikan.com/listing/tongass-historical-museum/

http://www.visit-ketchikan.com/en/Things-To-Do/Attractions/Museums-and-Historical

Creek Street

http://www.experienceketchikan.com/creek-street-ketchikan.html/

Dolly's House (Famous Brothel)

http://creekstreetketchikan.com/dollys-house/

Eagles

http://www.alaska.org/destination/ketchikan/eagle-viewing

salmon If I recall right you can walk to these (salmon and eagles)

http://www.alaska.org/detail/deer-mountain-tribal-hatchery

funicular (cable railway

http://youralaskacruise.com/reviews/alaskacruise2005/cruise2005-378a-ketchikan-funicular-1320.html

http://www.explorenorth.com/alaska/images/0147-cape_fox_lodge-funicular-1168.html

https://www.ktn-ak.us/

I also read some books about the gold rush before my trip. Reading made Alaska come alive to me.

Klondike Fever by Pierre Berton

Good Time Girls of the Alaska-Yukon Gold Rush: Secret History of the Far North

By lael Morgan

Gold Rush Women

by Claire Rudolf Murphy

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Note--this is basically a "free" excursion. The bus was $1 per person each way' date=' now increased to $2. Admission to both parks is free and they are right next to each other. There are maps as well as volunteer guides. The volunteers will not even accept a tip! The difference between a $69 cruise line excursion and a $2 per person excursion was that their bus was right in front of the port area, ours was a block or so down the street...and they got a cup of hot chocolate in the gift shop.

 

Also....there is a bus stop at the Walmart. This is great if your teen forgot some of the essentials of life or whatever. No, we didn't go to Alaska to go to Walmart, but a cheap place to pick up a couple of forgotten items was super. I got off the bus as that stop and took the free shuttle back to town.[/quote']

 

Reminds me of some of the "walk around the town" tours Princess offers. When we visited Loreto, Mexico they offered one of those. I think folks paid something like $49 (maybe $69) each. The town is tiny. Everywhere we went while walking around on our own the "tour" went and we could hear the "guide" talking. If we had wanted to we could have simply done the "tour" with them for free. We had a much better time doing the same exact things on our own and actually moved on a couple of times to get away from the tour folks.

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We did the cruise-sponsored Rainforest Wildlife Sanctuary Nature Walk on our cruise (June 15-25, 2018). The weather was amazing, 70s and sunny. The walk took a bit less than one hour, and was an easy pretty level walk. Great guide, loads of "puns!" Saw lots of bald eagles. Near the end of tour we saw a small rescue center for wild birds (owls, red-tailed hawks and bald eagle), and a native american totem pole carving demonstration, ended at the gift shops. There were 6 cruise ships in port that day so the area was pretty busy!:)

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Reminds me of some of the "walk around the town" tours Princess offers. When we visited Loreto, Mexico they offered one of those. I think folks paid something like $49 (maybe $69) each. The town is tiny. Everywhere we went while walking around on our own the "tour" went and we could hear the "guide" talking. If we had wanted to we could have simply done the "tour" with them for free. We had a much better time doing the same exact things on our own and actually moved on a couple of times to get away from the tour folks.

We learned long ago that avoiding the group tours is really important. In St. Thomas, we visited a butterfly farm. We arrived about 10 minutes before the tour group got on the bus. When we first arrived, we were a bit disappointed--there was nothing happening, we could see plants. As soon as the tour group left, the butterflies came out of hiding.

 

I do realize the value of doing something sponsored by a cruise line, especially if it is your first time in a port...but a little research will often show equally "safe" alternatives, often at a significantly lower price.

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We were just in Ketchikan about 2 weeks ago. We did the Wildlife Safari and Beach Bonfire through Princess. It was a wonderful excursion - saw lots of wildlife, including orcas and humpbacks. We landed on a small beach, and spent about an hour there. They provided lunch (reindeer sausage) and beverages (including beer and wine). The naturalists on board were very good. The excursion was relatively small - think there were about 25 people total. Would definitely recommend.

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We took a private tour with these guys:

 

Renegade

 

It was three hours long and we got to see everything on land that all of the other tours covered. We just followed their set tour, but they can hook you up if you want to see something specific. And I should add their prices were very reasonable compared to other ports 'private tours'. We had five people in our group, but their van could fit more.

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Where is the best place to see eagles on a do-it-yourself tour?

 

 

You can see the park area from the ship. It is to the left as you go ashore - several blocks down. There may be as many as 20 or more gathered on and old collapsed pier (?) taking off and landing as they fish. They also will be circling the skies about the ship. You can’t miss them.

 

We also saw a ton on a whale watching excursion in Juneau near mendenhall glacier.

 

 

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We learned long ago that avoiding the group tours is really important. In St. Thomas' date=' we visited a butterfly farm. We arrived about 10 minutes before the tour group got on the bus. When we first arrived, we were a bit disappointed--there was nothing happening, we could see plants. As soon as the tour group left, the butterflies came out of hiding.

 

I do realize the value of doing something sponsored by a cruise line, especially if it is your first time in a port...but a little research will often show equally "safe" alternatives, often at a significantly lower price.[/quote'] truth! Though in Alaska a few months back we had promised our 5 year old to take her gold panning. Ended up doing the Princess tour since we had some OBC to burn. We were the only 3 on the tour as we had chosen the afternoon one instead of the morning.

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We did the Misty Fjords Wilderness Cruise through Princess where we went on a boat through the fjords. We all really enjoyed it. Ketchikan is a great DIY port, on our next trip, we plan to just walk around Creek Street and see everything, maybe take a bus to the totem poles. I still want to get a burger from Burger Queen!

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4 years ago we did the deadliest catch crab boat tour. It was a lot of fun. Very interactive, they let you hold the different crabs. And the eagles, wow were there eagles. You can book direct and not through the cruise line if you want.

 

 

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