Helicopter Glacier Tour

[fightpiter]

Has anyone done this? If you have please give me any thoughts on it. Was it the greatest shore excursion of all times? One which all future ones will pale in comparison to? Really it's quite a bit of money for a relatively short excursion. It sounds awesome but would like some opinions from those who have done it.

 

Thanks

[mmaube]

My DH and I did the Glacial Tour with the landing on a glacier 4 years ago. We have ziplined, swam with the stingrays, swam with the dolphins.... and this is by far the BEST excursion we have ever done. We plan to do it again when we go back. It is an expierence of a lifetime and definetly worth the expense. Here are a few photos we took and I have so many more and I am not a photobug. It was well worth the expense.

[fightpiter]

My DH and I did the Glacial Tour with the landing on a glacier 4 years ago. We have ziplined, swam with the stingrays, swam with the dolphins.... and this is by far the BEST excursion we have ever done. We plan to do it again when we go back. It is an expierence of a lifetime and definetly worth the expense. Here are a few photos we took and I have so many more and I am not a photobug. It was well worth the expense.

 

Great, this is the kind of feedback I was hoping for. Thank you.

[garycarla]

Outstanding.

 

But - for more info on Alaska, visit the PORTS OF CALL message boards and click on ALASKA.

[BayStateguppy]

It is expensive but our thinking was = "How often are we going to do something like this?"

 

If you think you may never have the opportunity to do this again, you might consider saving up to take this excursion.

 

But I agree that if it is out of your reach financially, then there are plenty of other great activities.

 

Here's a link to my review and pics.

 

Have a great time !

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1026809

[Cruise time]

Took this type of excursion a few years ago and in my opinion, it was totally worth the price. The views from the helicopter were amazing and being able to walk on the glacier felt like a once in a lifetime experience. The blue color of the water you may see was amazing!

[Budget Queen]

There are various helicopter tours to consider. Yes it is excellent and unique in Alaska for the glacier viewing. I have done this touring 7 times. :)

[mousecrazy]

Personally, I've enjoyed other excursions much more than the helicopter tour/glacier landing. I guess it depends on what types of adventures you enjoy. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVED the whale watching tour with Orca Adventures in Juneau. I wanted to stay out on the water searching for whale sitings all day (I liked the participation aspect of scouring the horizon for signs of the whales). While the helicopter ride and walking on a glacier were a first for me, it didn't pack the excitement that other adventures (such as the whale watching and zip line, parasailing) have. Granted, I'm from the northwest, so walking on a glacier was kinda like walking in our backyard in the middle of winter. It's much more of a "sight seeing" tour than an action packed adventure.

[CruisingGoddess]

You will most likely save money by booking this independently and not through the cruise line so definitely look into that. There is a 2 for 1 coupon in the TourSaver book (google Alaska Toursaver) for Temsco in Juneau.

[Wingtips56]

We lucked out when we did the helicopter trip from Juneau. We did the ship's excursion, booking the short one (only 15 minutes on the glacier) to save money. However there were not enough people to run that, so they put us on the trip with 2 hours on the ice instead, on our same ticket (same lower price for us :D ). Even then, we were the only 2 people from our ship, with the other 6 on our chopper being from 2 other ships.

 

The trip and the extended time of the ice was wonderful! Who knew those shades of blue existed! The shorter time on the ice would have been insufficient. We lucked out that time, but would have no problem doing it again at the published price for the longer trip.

 

We had a short stop in Juneau due to spending more time scenic-cruising Tracy Arm that morning on the way in... a feature of Princess Cruises small ships (Pacific Princess) ability to go further in. Booking with the ship probably cost a chunk more, but we didn't have to worry about not having enough time. As it turned out, we did have very little time to spare, so it was a relief.

 

Do it!

[DMH15]

I went on the helicopter in Juneau to Mendenhall glacier.

 

First, the helicopter part: everyone has paid the same price, right? Yet they come out and ask you some questions such as your weight and then they "assign" you a seat. I must say that I did not like mine. I am 5'6" and I was placed in an inside seat in the back row, squished and could not see very much, except sky, which I'd been seeing all week.

 

Second, the glacier landing: outstanding! To step on a glacier and walk around and explore was truly memorable. I saw the most incredible shades of blue. My mom was chicken and just stood still in one place, she was afraid she would fall.

 

Summary: glad I did it. Not the best excursion, not the worst. No regrets.

[morgan1929]

3 trips to Alaska, 3 rides to the glacier. We always book a combo tour with Captain Larry at Orca Enterprises. Whale watching first, then they deliver you to Temsco for the helicoptor ride. Definitely do at least one. They are both very memorable. I would have a hard time picking between whales and walking on the glacier. This is not a place to cut costs. Cut somewhere else.

[Wingtips56]

I went on the helicopter in Juneau to Mendenhall glacier.

 

First, the helicopter part: everyone has paid the same price, right? Yet they come out and ask you some questions such as your weight and then they "assign" you a seat. I must say that I did not like mine. I am 5'6" and I was placed in an inside seat in the back row, squished and could not see very much, except sky, which I'd been seeing all week.

 

Second, the glacier landing: outstanding! To step on a glacier and walk around and explore was truly memorable. I saw the most incredible shades of blue. My mom was chicken and just stood still in one place, she was afraid she would fall.

 

Summary: glad I did it. Not the best excursion, not the worst. No regrets.

 

FYI - the seating is for weight and balance purposes and is critical for small aircraft. I was working for a small airline (8-seats, 9 if we bumped the co-pilot) in 1980 when new regulations came out requiring operators of 10-seat and fewer- aircraft to log actual weights, rather than using a table of averages. We were not popular folks at the ticket counter when asking ladies how much they weighed :confused:. When Mr. is big and Mrs. is petite, they don't sit together often. Not sure how choppers balance, but heavy goes forward in the fixed-wing commuter planes.

 

But yeah, I've been mashed in the back-center of the choppers too. But worth it once you get out on the ice, or white-water raft (in N.Z.).

[no port @ dfw]

A few years back we took the kids to Alaska on the Pear. We looked at the glacier tour but also thought it was pricey for what I felt we would get - we tend to do more active excursions. What we did instead, and I recommend if you are used to "active" excursions, was the dog sled adventure as it was suggested to us that it essentially included the glacier tour as well. The dog sled was on a glacier and you flew there by helicopter. On the helicopter ride over we got an abreviated (10-15 min)narrated tour of the glacier, which was more than enough for us. We then landed on the glacier, did the dog sleds, and got another brief tour and history lesson again as we flew out. Personally, the two short tour was more than enough for me and the kids and the dog sled adventure made the high price seem much more tolerable.

[DMH15]

FYI - the seating is for weight and balance purposes and is critical for small aircraft. I was working for a small airline (8-seats, 9 if we bumped the co-pilot) in 1980 when new regulations came out requiring operators of 10-seat and fewer- aircraft to log actual weights, rather than using a table of averages. We were not popular folks at the ticket counter when asking ladies how much they weighed :confused:. When Mr. is big and Mrs. is petite, they don't sit together often. Not sure how choppers balance, but heavy goes forward in the fixed-wing commuter planes.

 

But yeah, I've been mashed in the back-center of the choppers too. But worth it once you get out on the ice, or white-water raft (in N.Z.).

 

I totally understand the weight and balance stuff, but when you are in an "interior seat" and really can't see much of the scenic views and really can't take any GOOD PICTURES from the air, it is a bit of a dissapointment. The glacier was cool though. And I did have fun.

 

And I'll bet a few ladies fudge the weight, but they probably "have our number" :).

[billie5]

I also have taken a great variety of excursions I would rate as much more interesting (and less expensive) than the helicopter tour of a glacier. Sure, the blue ice is interesting, and so is viewing crevasses from the air. If you can afford it, why not? But not, in my opinion, all that exceptional an experience. I guess, like so many things, one's valuation is a very personal matter.

 

Bill