A Million and One Excursion Questions

Hello All,

Long time cruiser, first time Alaska! I'm usually pretty comfortable with everything cruise related up until now. I really wasn't expecting the price tag of the excursions in Alaska. So I'm looking for a little help on how to save.

I was wondering what your experience was with booking direct through excursion companies rather than the cruise line? Can anyone recommend a good company that will actually save me some money?

Hubby and I would love to do a dog musher experience, but $130 a person just to cuddle puppies for a half hour seems really steep to me. Any other recommendations?

As far as Mendenhall ... I've ready you can take a taxi to the glacier. How much does that run? How far away is it?

Does anyone have any experience with ice cave hiking? And can recommend something that doesn't cost $300 a person? LOL ... I'm not meaning to sound cheap but gosh, lol, I just didn't expect the price tags!!!

ANY help is much appreciated!

You will love Alaska, but as you have found out, excursions are not cheap. This is due to a variety of reasons - short season, high demand, higher costs in Alaska, etc.

You will usually not find much savings, if any, through independents, as you would find in the Caribbean. What you do usually get are smaller groups, longer time on the tour and more personal service.

On our cruise in May, we used only independent excursions except for the last day - a Kenai Fjords cruise with transportation to the airport through the ship.

We used Southeast Kayaks in Ketchikan, Adventure Bound in Juneau for the Tracy Arm excursion, Chilkoot Tours in Skagway for a bus / train combo trip to Emerald Lake, rented a car in Haines and went to Kroschel Wildlife Center, took a shuttle to Fortress of the Bear in Sitka and used Glacier Wind for a whale watching trip in Icy Strait Point (Hoonah).

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We used Southeast Kayaks in Ketchikan, Adventure Bound in Juneau for the Tracy Arm excursion, Chilkoot Tours in Skagway for a bus / train combo trip to Emerald Lake, rented a car in Haines and went to Kroschel Wildlife Center, took a shuttle to Fortress of the Bear in Sitka and used Glacier Wind for a whale watching trip in Icy Strait Point (Hoonah).

Hey, thanks for the help JT! Can you tell me more about your Tracy Arm excursion? I'm interested in that.

A taxi to the glacier will be a little less than the shuttle bus that is running $45 per person roundtrip. This includes the entrance fee that is $7.00. There is a public bus that is really inexpensive, but it drops you off approx. a mile from the visitor center.

A taxi to the glacier will be a little less than the shuttle bus that is running $45 per person roundtrip. This includes the entrance fee that is $7.00. There is a public bus that is really inexpensive, but it drops you off approx. a mile from the visitor center.

Thanks DancingShoes! About how far is the pier from the glacier?

Thanks DancingShoes! About how far is the pier from the glacier?

Hey, thanks for the help JT! Can you tell me more about your Tracy Arm excursion? I'm interested in that.

The trip with Adventure Bound travels round-trip from Juneau to Tracy Arm fjord, then approximately 30 miles up the fjord to the North and South Sawyer glaciers. The trip leaves arc approximately 7:30 or 8:00 am and returns by 6:00 pm, so you need to see if your ship has port times in Juneau that would allow you to do that trip.

If your port times don't fit that schedule, many ships offer this excursion directly from the ship. They usually stop for a short time to transfer those on the excursion to a smaller boat. The ship then sails to Juneau and the excursion continues up Tracy Arm, returning to Juneau later in the day so you can re-board the ship.

We saw whales, seals, sea lions and a black bear in addition to beautiful scenery and both North and South Sawyer Glacier very close. Sometimes they have issues with ice and can't make it all the way to the glaciers. The small boats are usually able to maneuver around the ice when the ships cannot.

Adventure Bound was the one excursion that was substantially cheaper than the ship excursion. It was by far the best value of any excursion we did in Alaska. About the same price as others were charging for a 2-3 hour whale watch.

Here are a couple of pictures and check out their website for more photos and details.

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We’ve cruised to Alaska many times, every year for the last 15 or so. Excursions in Alaska are expensive, there no getting around it, yes you can book with a private vendor but it’s still expensive. In Juneau we rented a car and done the tourist thing. If you can swing the Tracy Arm excursion it’s one of the best that offered. In Ketchikan we’ve got the city bus out the Totem Bright state park, cost I think $3 for the bus. Walked down Creek Street. Skagway we’ve rented a car and drove up to Carcross in the Yukon and on into Whitehorse. We’ve taken the train up to the summit of White Pass. Taken the ferry out of Skagway over to Haines. If this is your first cruise to Alaska I highly recommend that you go to Glacier Bay, it’s one is highlights of our cruises to Alaska. If you’ve got questions, I’ve got answers.

What is your recommendation for Glacier Bay? It is our first trip to Alaska too! Thanks!

Every cruise line stops at a different glacier area, so hopefully your ship is going to Glacier Bay. When the ship goes to a glacier area such as Glacier Bay, it is a day at sea viewing the glaciers. You do not get off the ship. It is beautiful. There will be national park rangers on board to give the passengers information about what they are viewing.