If you could only do ONE Alaska excursion, what would you choose?

[LBS1]

We only have enough to spend on one excursion during our 13 June 2009, trip to Alaska on the Pearl.

 

So we are trying to decide on what to do. We are a family of four: 45, 43, 14 and 11.

 

The NCL Pearl will be visiting; Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan and Victoria. I am interested in somthing that will give us the widest range of experiences possible. Bears-Eagles-Whales-Mountains-Glaciers-Local things to do-basicly anything we cant see or do at home in Texas.

 

What would you'll suggest?

[ellbon]

flighseeing- landing o na glacier- if all flying is out to the whale watch.

 

remember you can go to medenhall by bus. you can take the tram for 4 people up the mt for 100 and hike up there or hike down.

[tetleytea]

Glacier trekking.

[rjm1cc]

Juneau is the stop you would take the bus to medenhall. This would be a good trip and very inexpensive. Do this first. You can also do a little hicking there. I think they charge to go into the vistor center but you can skip this and not miss much, unless you are into history. You can also go to the capital and have a free tour. The town is not bad to walk arround and you can also take a hike up the mountain. (research the trails). I would not purchase a tour here as there are things you can do on your own. I would not take the Roberts tram since you are on a budget. Do some research and you can find other places to go for free in Juneau. I think they might have some signs for walking tours. You will be going up some steep hills if that matters. The town is small so you should not worry about getting lost.

 

I have not gotton off the ship in Victora as I did not see anything worth doing in the short time we were there. However you can get off and walk out on the breakwater (I did do this for some pictures). Their might be people standing on it to watch you land and maybe some people fishing.

 

The bus is not the city bus. It leaves you too far from Medenhall. I think it is called the blue bus but it runs back and forth to Medenhall all day.

[Marie321]

Our all time favorite excursion was taking a helicopter to a glacier and dog sledding. I am an Iditarod fan and we got to go out with Sebastian Schnuelle (second place finisher in the Iditarod, winner of the Yukon Quest). Talk about an experience!!!

 

Other things we have done which we enjoyed include whale watching, going to Tracy Arm, hiking to the waterfall at Mendenhall Glacier, salmon fishing, going on the train in Skagway, eating crab at Tracy's Crab Shack, seeing all kinds of wildlife with Captain Davey on the Esther G, seeing Glacier Bay, ziplining, photography tour in Haines, and on and on.

 

You will have to decide what you are really "in" to.

 

Here is a link with information: http://alaska.yolasite.com/

[fleckle]

In Skagway a budget conscious family would get the most "bang for the buck" IMHO by renting a car and taking the South Klondike Highway drive up to the Yukon.

 

For a preview of what may be seen along the way, take a look at Murray's photos

http://explorenorth.com/library/roads/sklondike-photos1.html

 

and also MercedMike's descriptions and photos at

http://users.elite.net/thehalls/skagway.html

[MizzouMary]

Great ideas, thanks! This might sound like a stupid question, but is the Tracy Arm the same as Sawyer Glacier? Thanks!

[AlanAllyn]

Since your cruise visits Glacier Bay, you will get to see a lot of glaciers, although you will not step on one.

 

I would do a walking tour in Ketchikan, perhaps take the kids to the lumberjack show.

 

Either drive to Emerald Lake in Skagway with a rental car or with Dyea Dave as your guide

 

or

 

do a whale watching trip in Juneau.

 

We are doing our second trip on June 14 on the HAL Amsterdam andam trying to keep our excursion costs down (but not nearly to your level).

[im4golf]

Has anybody heard of this boat tour charter? . It operates out of Skagway. very reasonable prices on web. Please let me know if you have heard of him or tried him before.

[vbmom87]

Great ideas, thanks! This might sound like a stupid question, but is the Tracy Arm the same as Sawyer Glacier? Thanks!

 

The Sawyer Glaciers are at the end of the Tracy Arm fjord.

[fleckle]

Great ideas, thanks! This might sound like a stupid question, but is the Tracy Arm the same as Sawyer Glacier? Thanks!

Not at all stupid -- the two Sawyer Glaciers are located at the end of Tracy Arm, but cruise ships that go to Tracy Arm often don't make it all the way to the Sawyer Glaciers. Tracy Arm is a beautiful fjord, south of Juneau, that is very scenic and worth a visit even if you don't get all the way to the glaciers.

 

Many people will book a Tracy Arm sightseeing excursion on a small boat to have a better chance of reaching the Sawyer Glaciers and a more "up close and personal" experience with scenery and wildlife along the way.

[martinsfo]

White Pass and Yukon railroad. It is a unique line. My second choice would be a flightseeing tour with a stop on a Glacier. Never done it, very expensive, but sounds absolutely intriguing.

[MercedMike]

Great ideas, thanks! This might sound like a stupid question, but is the Tracy Arm the same as Sawyer Glacier? Thanks!

 

Although the "Twin Sawyer Glaciers" are located at the end of Tracy Arm, they were never spectacular and now have retreated so far that they can often barely be seen from the ship. Tracy Arm is a beautiful scenic cruise but not a prime glacier watching spot.

 

For a comparison of glaciers check out my page at

http://www.bully4.us/alaskaglaciers.html

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[MercedMike]

We only have enough to spend on one excursion during our 13 June 2009, trip to Alaska on the Pearl.

 

So we are trying to decide on what to do. We are a family of four: 45, 43, 14 and 11.

 

The NCL Pearl will be visiting; Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan and Victoria. I am interested in somthing that will give us the widest range of experiences possible. Bears-Eagles-Whales-Mountains-Glaciers-Local things to do-basicly anything we cant see or do at home in Texas.

 

What would you'll suggest?

 

For those ports the ONE thing I would suggest is the drive from Skagway into the Yukon using Murray's Guide. Check out our review and pics at http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/skagway.html

 

That will not be too expensive. So you should be able to opt for some of the less expensive excursions in other ports. What I would suggest is a whale watching trip in Juneau and the Ketchikan Ducks. This will give you a real nice look at Alaska and covers almost all your list except bears.

 

Some excursions we have enjoyed are at

http://www.bully4.us/alaskaexcursions.html

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[Sunny AZ Girl]

DD and I are going to the same ports in July and are also budgeted for just one excursion. We are planning on the 7.5 hour White Pass Rail & van trip in Skagway. I do not feel comfortable doing the drive myself as many others propose and I think this will be a great time to jusst sit back and enjoy the views!:D

 

In Juneau we plan to take the blue bus to Mendenhall. We may splurge on the Roberts Tramway if the weather is nice. In Ketchikan we plan on just walking around and enjoying the town & totems on our own. In Victoria - we will be there in the evening hours. My first thought was to stay on the ship, but my research tells me that the lights around the Parliament Buildings and the street activities after sundown in the Inner Harbor are a treat, so we may go and just enjoy the activity. It would be nice to find a place for fish and chips in a nice English Pub while there!:D

[Putterdude]

I would take the White Pass & Yukon RR in Skagway, it is extremely scenic and loaded with history. In all of your other ports of call you can do walking tours, in some there is free or very low cost local transit which will take you to many of the local sights. Have a great time whatever you decide to do.:)

[Marie321]

I would suggest Butchart Gardens in Victoria. They are open in the evenings and they are truly beautiful. Usually, ships have a short port time, so we take the ship excursion on this one.

[alpal1993]

Whale watching in Juneau

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I keep reading about how wonderful the whale watching is in Juneau. We will be there in July and plan on just going to Mendenhall and explore the town - possibly the Roberts Tramway. I am wondering if we should splurge and do the whale watching instead. :confused:

 

I have been whale watching in Cabo San Lucas (same whales, I presume) and I must admit that I was a bit disappointed. As a previous poster pointed out - all we saw were a few spouts, tails and flukes, but the price was a heck of a lot less than in Alaska! Is there such a greater concentration in Juneau that we would have a greater chance of seeing the humpbacks 'perform'? If not I would prefer to stick with our original plan. We are not going to IPS, so Juneau would be our best bet.

 

We will only be in Juneau from 7:30 - 3PM so the whale watching through Orca would pretty much use up the day. I doubt if we would also try to do Mendenhall in the remaining time frame.

[alaskabound2323]

Seems that most replies here are forgetting your kids. I am going to Alaska with 3 kids 19, 16 and 12. If we could only do one excursion it would involve a boat. We would whale watch, or do the sea otter excursion or the Bering sea deadliest catch tour.

 

I would stay off a tour bus...

 

I would be likely to rent a van and do some exploring on my own at another port.

 

I would also eat raman noodles until the trip to save money to spend in Alaska.

 

We have not gone yet, and excursions are included (or reduced) on our ship so we are doing more excursions than we normally would do. On other cruises we have not done any excursions through the ship and booked all on our own to save money.

[vbmom87]

I keep reading about how wonderful the whale watching is in Juneau. We will be there in July and plan on just going to Mendenhall and explore the town - possibly the Roberts Tramway. I am wondering if we should splurge and do the whale watching instead. :confused:

 

I have been whale watching in Cabo San Lucas (same whales, I presume) and I must admit that I was a bit disappointed. As a previous poster pointed out - all we saw were a few spouts, tails and flukes, but the price was a heck of a lot less than in Alaska! Is there such a greater concentration in Juneau that we would have a greater chance of seeing the humpbacks 'perform'? If not I would prefer to stick with our original plan. We are not going to IPS, so Juneau would be our best bet.

 

We will only be in Juneau from 7:30 - 3PM so the whale watching through Orca would pretty much use up the day. I doubt if we would also try to do Mendenhall in the remaining time frame.

 

We originally booked a whale watch in Juneau because of all the recommendations on this board. Like you, we had been on a previous whale watch that did not impress us that much. The more we thought about it, we cancelled the whale watch. We had enough time in Juneau to do the small boat tour to Tracy Arm Fjord. It was the best choice for us. I say, don't second guess yourself. If you feel you have picked an activity that interests you, then go with that. Everyone is different. Not everyone likes the sames things. Although many have written how much they enjoyed the whale watches, I have read of those who did not. You know yourself best.

[44disney]

For an excursion that costs a bit, with kids, whale watching in Juneau would be our first choice with the White Pass rail being a close second.

 

With Harv and Marv, you can get dropped off at Mendenhall Glacier after whale watching and then take the cheap blue bus back to the ship. Great hiking and viewing at the glacier makes that a good deal even if you skip the whale watching. Without starting World War III, we have tried 3 different whale watching trips in Juneau-Harv, Orca, and one through the ship- and would rank them in that order. Book directly to save money.

 

For cheap ideas:

 

1. Skagway- Klondike museum in town, Murray's drive with a rental car.

2. Ketchikan- walk around town, Native American Center museum (can't recall the name) or rental car to Ward Lake and Totem Bight.

3. Juneau- Mendenhall per above.

[sandytoes03]

We only have enough to spend on one excursion during our 13 June 2009, trip to Alaska on the Pearl.

 

So we are trying to decide on what to do. We are a family of four: 45, 43, 14 and 11.

 

The NCL Pearl will be visiting; Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan and Victoria. I am interested in somthing that will give us the widest range of experiences possible. Bears-Eagles-Whales-Mountains-Glaciers-Local things to do-basicly anything we cant see or do at home in Texas.

 

What would you'll suggest?

 

I would do a whale watching tour on the smallest boat you can find. We saw whales, bears, eagles, seals, sea lions, on our tour. It was our of Icy Strait, but you have some great POC, so I'm sure you can find one too.

[MercedMike]

I keep reading about how wonderful the whale watching is in Juneau. We will be there in July and plan on just going to Mendenhall and explore the town - possibly the Roberts Tramway. I am wondering if we should splurge and do the whale watching instead. :confused:

 

I have been whale watching in Cabo San Lucas (same whales, I presume) and I must admit that I was a bit disappointed. As a previous poster pointed out - all we saw were a few spouts, tails and flukes, but the price was a heck of a lot less than in Alaska! Is there such a greater concentration in Juneau that we would have a greater chance of seeing the humpbacks 'perform'? If not I would prefer to stick with our original plan. We are not going to IPS, so Juneau would be our best bet.

 

We will only be in Juneau from 7:30 - 3PM so the whale watching through Orca would pretty much use up the day. I doubt if we would also try to do Mendenhall in the remaining time frame.

 

Whale watching in Juneau is "good" because there is almost a 100% chance of seeing humpbacks. But "seeing" is just as described -- you see a spout, then the back rolling, and occasionally the flukes as the whale dives. It is spectacular -- yet not really spectacular! The chance of behavior such as breaching or bubble feeding is very small. Remember that the people who post on this board that they saw that is exactly because it is unusual!

 

OTOH is is usually a pleasant boat ride, can be very scenic, frequently views other sorts of wildlife from sea lions to bears, and particularly the big boats of Allen Marine, who do the ship's excursions, usually have an excellent naturalist aboard with exhibits such as seal skin and whale baleen.

 

Check out our review and pics at http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/alaska.html

and

http://www.bully4.us/volendam.html

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[muse_clio]

We did many excursions during our (first, but hopefully not last) Alaska cruise. By far, per dollar spent, the whale watching with Capt Larry was the most fun, awe-inspiring, and rewarding. Other excursions may have been more awe-inspiring (the helo to the glacier comes to mind) but had a greater ooh and aah per dollar cost. Other excursions were less expensive and great fun (seeing 7 bears within FEET of the van with Dyea Dave comes to mind) but just didn't have the lifetime awe factor. The whale watch included several species, as many folks have already mentioned.

 

We invested in private shore excursions in all ports, so we were able to do more than if we had paid for ship's excursions.

 

Good luck and have a wonderful cruise.

muse_clio