Answers for those excited about Ketchikan

[TENNEESSEETRAVELER]

Any more questions guys and gals??

I noticed that when we are in Ketchikan that it will be low tide...Are there any beaches nearby? I love tidepools..

[momthecruisedirector]

Thank you HCF. I am determined to spend the rest of this glorious Sunday afternoon with this computer attached to my finger tips looking at all web sites relating to my cruise!

[sstoalaska]

Thanks Alaskandude. Someone on either this or another message board said they had taken this tour booking on the dock. I know this might not be 100% correct. They said that Promech Air had done the flying portion of this tour. I will look them up but would love to have some more info on them. Do you know anything about them. Maybe I should just go with the cruise tour. Thanks:)

[cruisingbug]

Thanks for the info and help on these boards. I was wondering if there's an inexpensive way to get to Totem Bight w/o booking a tour, so we can explore at our own pace. Taxis? Shuttles? We'll be on the Island Princess, in town 5/19. Thanks!

[alaskandude]

sorry bug, lost the thread, went to the 3rd page. You can rent taxis by the dock if you want to explore yourself. It would be best with a guide but you can pick up maps at the visitors center which is located right on the dock.

[bearbait]

Hiring a taxi can be a nice way to take a tour on your own. Just remember

they cannot get you into the private tours. Most taxi's will post in there window what the tour price is. It's usually an hourly rate but some have their own town tours, etc. I haven't seen the signs in the windowns yet so I can't really tell you what they are gonna charge this season. They can take you out to Totem Bight, Saxman, etc. Totem Bight is a state park so it is open to the public. Saxman is a little different but I have seen a few taxi tours out there.

 

If you are there at a low tide and want to check out some tide pools etc,

take a cab ride out to Rotary Beach or Bugges Beach it's the same place some people just call it different names. I personally think the best tide pools are out at South Point Higgins beach. But that is quite a ways out of town by

taxi.

 

Don't let the taxi drivers tell you they can set you up for a tour at the Alaska

Rainforest Sanctuary. That is a private tour and must be booked either on the

cruise ships or at the Visitor Center on the dock. We had quite a few cabs

drop people off there and they were sorely disappointed when we couldn't let

them go on a tour or hike on the private trail.

 

If I didn't want to do the normal excurison stuff I'd hire a cab. It's a pretty

good deal...

[cruisingbug]

Thanks Alaskandude and Bearbait. I think we want to spend majority of totem time at Totem Bight, maybe a quick stop at Saxman (opposite direction?) since we can't go into the buildings w/o being on cruise tour. We like to go at our own pace...but didn't think it was worth it to rent a car for the day. Ketch is our last stop of 3 in a row so we'll be ready to take it easy, no kayaking or mountain climbing. :)

[Bsan1221]

Thanks for all the valuable info.

[bakerguys]

I was told that they are adding some kind of tree climbing excursion (lines) in the same area as the wildlife sanctuary tour. Is that true, and if so, won't that scare away any wildlife that would normally be around?:confused:

[bakerguys]

I need help making a choice. I hope you are familiar with where these tours go. If not, I can post the description off the Princess site. Here are the 3 tours we are considering. My husband and I are 42 and our two sons, 17 and 20, will be coming along.

 

The three we can't decide between are:

 

Backcountry Jeep and Canoe Safari (Is this more "off the beaten path" than the other trips"?

 

Rain Forest Wilderness Safari (This was our first choice, but we are having second thoughts about it being too commercial)

 

Backcountry Jet Boat Adventure (Sounds neat, but we would miss seeing the "rainforest" I believe?)

 

Any help you can give would be much appreciated.:)

[uktog]

We will be on an early morning float plane with Michelle getting back around 11 but the ship does not sail until 7. Ketchikan is our last stop so we should have done all the whale/glacier etcs by then. Shopping does not bother us. Virtually all our ships excursions are mornings only - it is September so maybe they are putting less on - so anyone any ideas for something not too active and perhaps quite personal to us

Ta

AJ

[alaskandude]

All you guys are up here in 4 months. Are you ready.

[mwoodrowe]

i need some opinions please...we are traveling with 2 kids age 10 & 7 and will be there in late june. we don't have alot of time in ketchikan 6:30am til 2:30. i was thinking the kids would get a kick out of the lumberjack show. what else are the things we must see/do while in port? any recommendations on arranging a private tour? we are 3 adults & the 2 kids. this is our first alaskan cruise. i tend not to book excursions on the ship and prefer to go local. thanks!! beth

[Cruisechick82]

Ok, we are having a hard time deciding which kayaking excursion to do. We have been looking at the Orca's Cover or Pennock with Southeast.

I've been trying to find pictures of what we might see, but haven't had much luck.

 

Do you know which one would be better? We are only in port from 8-3 and want to be able to walk around town, take the funicular, and do just a little shopping also.

[FloridaTourist]

Alaskan dude..thanks for all your help and information...you make it much easier for all us tourists to plan.....by the way...i have the weather for Ketchikan on my Yahoo home page....I see your hi today is 41 and low is 29......not much different then here in orlando....low tonight around 32 and hi today was 52..........i hope it stays cool for June when we are near 95

[alaskandude]

mwoodrowe- You and your kids should have a lot of fun at the lumberjack show, it is very entertaining to fill up your day look at some of the city tours that are available at the dock. The horse drawn tour is fun or the duck tour where you are see the city by land and sea. Both can be booked once you are in town.

 

cruisechick82- If you want more time in town go with the pennock tour. You leave from Thomas Basin located at the dock and you kayak out to pennock island then back into creek streeet. You will see a lot of our town and have a great photos of your ship that is docked. It makes you feel very small when you kayak next to these huge cruise lines. Your guides are usually college kids from down south so dont expect a lot of info about our town.

 

floridatourist- scratch off orlando for a place to retire. Thats cold.

[FloridaTourist]

Alaskan Dude - any chance of seeing bear on any of the tours in early June or are we just to early in the season

[mwoodrowe]

thanks alaskadude...still reading thru all these posts to figure out our options. i would love to see bear..maybe someday on a land trip. i think we will be a bit too early anyway..late june?

 

any recommendatiosn for really knowledge guides? i arrangd a private tour on a curise this summer and the driver turned out to be just that...a driver...not a guide. i knew more than he did.

 

thanks again

[MrsMoose2001]

I just want to say took a private Hummer Tour while in Ketchikan and it was fine. She took us to Totem Bight and walked around with us and did all the explaining, we were at our pace which was quicker than the "ship tours". She drove us all around Ketchikan and showed us the highlights.

 

Dolly's House was fun, not a time consuming thing. While it was just the two of us (hubby and me), it was worth the money, they are in the Visitor Center, right at the dock but I booked one well in advance. You can send away for a Ketchikan Guide from their tour office (free) visit their website and you will get all kinds of stuff to see and do in Ketchikan.

 

Morning was the Hummer tour, including the Totem Bight park and Dolly's house and basically the major sights of Ketchikan (not shows), then lunch at the Burger Queen for Fish and Chips (was wonderful), after lunch I arranged for a float plane Misty Fijords tour and then the rest was for shopping. a long day but worth it.

 

The one thing I was told was go to the totem park first because of the traffic they said there is basically only one road and if it gets clogged up. It worked as we had no real traffic.

 

Have a great trip, Alaska was amazing, I love Alaska, would move there in a heartbeat. I'm almost sorry I went on a cruise as I would have loved to spend more time in Alaska. I was first off and last on in all ports (4). Plus I did a side trip to Haines for a half day.

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful time in Alaska.

[alaskandude]

Florida- Not a great chance to se any bears at least here in SE. They dont come out of the woods to much till the salmon start heading up the streams in mass. You never know though. I always see them when I am not looking for them. Your best chance up here is on a floatplane trip out to Misty.

 

mwoodrowe- Most of the tour operators are from downsouth especially cruise ship owned tours. If you want a local for sure you should hire a local company(fishing, flightseeing) A good city tour with local guides is Sourdough tours. I can get you there # if you want.

 

Mrs moose- you know they pay you to live up here

 

And all of you guys who have watched the news about ketchikans bridge to no where. It does go somewhere, over to an island that 6 people live on:)

[MrsMoose2001]

LOL Alaskandude, I doubt that, but I love it, so did hubby. While I've travelled a lot, Alaska was my dream trip. Not the cruise as much, but Alaska.

 

If I didn't hate to fly, (ear problems) I would be flying back to Alaska next year (we went on the cruise in 2005) and hubby would be jumping for joy.

 

The only thing that I would not like is your mosquito problem in the summer. I could not handle that. I was there end of August and I choose that time because I knew the problem would be less.

 

I just love the place.

[mwoodrowe]

thanks very much....does sourdough have a website?

[alaskandude]

I will look tonight and post it once I can.

[LINGBER]

I just want to say took a private Hummer Tour while in Ketchikan and it was fine. She took us to Totem Bight and walked around with us and did all the explaining, we were at our pace which was quicker than the "ship tours". She drove us all around Ketchikan and showed us the highlights.

 

MrsMoose2001, do you have the contact info for the hummer tour? Please post!

 

Thanks!

[MrsMoose2001]

I wish I had saved it. I can tell you where they are located and how I found them and hopefully you will find them without problems.

 

They are in the Visitor Information Center when you get off the ship. If you called the Visitor Info Center, you could ask them for the # of the hummer tour people.

 

What I did was I sent away for the Ketchikan Visitor guide. Actually I had one for each City I went to except for my side trip to Haines. They are free. I got them all by their web pages on the internet.

 

I'm really sorry that I can't be of more help. I did the same thing in Juneau. I booked this guy called Ray Lemmons or Ray's Taxi. He was reliable, waiting for us at the designated time and place and did a wonderful private tour for us. Waited at Mendenhal etc. He was exceptional and I highly recommend both of these. I did this all through the internet.

 

Please note that you may not even need to order a copy of the book as many have the books "on the Net" on their website, but it's always good to have the paper version to refer to as it's a bit easier.