Answers for those excited about Ketchikan

[alwayscoldmom]

o.k. Alaskandude,

What would an Alaskan due in Ketchikan? We are trying to show our boys more of their great state, any recomendations?

[tortugas]

We will be in town May 12 and our ship arrives at 7... will anything be open by then?? We are looking to book the Misty Fjords flightseeing but they only have availabilty 10 to 12, then we leave out 1, which i'm thinking means we will see zero of the town, assuming nothing will be open till 9ish... any insights?? Thanks!!

[alaskandude]

alwayscoldmom- Are your boys living up here in Alaska now? I recommend either a fishing trip for big halibut and fast salmon, or a floatplane ride out to Misty. Boats and floatplanes is the way a lot of folks travel around here.

 

tortugas- If there is a ship in town the stores and other attractions will be open. They all know the times of the ships and want to be available for you guys. Ships come in here as early as 0530 and the town is awake and ready.

[tortugas]

I am so glad to hear that!! We really want to maximize every moment of the all to short time we are in port!!!!

[alwayscoldmom]

Alaskandude,

Thanks for the information. Yes, we live in Alaska now, and they have been halibut fishing in Deep Creek a couple of times (and plan to go again this summer). We will look into the float plane options. I was thinking more about hiking or something uniquely "Ketchikan". Thanks so much.

[Kat_in_Texas]

Does anyone have comparisons of these two tours? The MGT tour is $205/pp; the website says to allow approximately 1.5 hours. The tour through Princess (KNT-3 "Misty Fjords Seaplane Exploration") is $230/pp and takes approximately 2 hours.

 

Anyone know if one is any better than the other?

 

On a similar note, switching to Juneau now .... we are considering either the MGT tour "Helicopter and Glacier Walk" or the Princess tour JNU-4 "Mendenhall Glacier Helicopter Tour". MGT is $192/pp (2 hrs) and Princess is $240/pp (2.5 hrs). Any comments on these tours?

 

Thanks so much!

[alaskandude]

kat- saw your questions answered in your other thread. Both those guys are well respected operators.

 

Any more questions guys. Two more months till the first ship!!!!

[CStorm]

Alaskandude, We are doing a fishing excursion with Ken at Northern Lights. We get finished at noon and still have 4 more hours in Ketchikan. What's a good place to get a bite to eat after fishing? By the way, we will definitely want a cold mug of Alaskan beer to go with that lunch ;) !

 

Thanks!

[emarismom]

Alaskan Dude,

I will be sailing on the Diamond in June and am very confused as to what to do in K-can. We will be in port from 6:30 -2:00pm. We are traveling with 2 kids aged 7-10. I want to do something really different than what we are used to, that isn't hard as we are from Miami:) .

The Lumberjack show strikes me as a little "Disney Like", is it? I was considering the Duck Tour, but they do have that here now, and I can also do one in Seattle.

Maybe a kayaking tour, I'm not sure if my seven year old can handle it. I've already booked a helicopter in Juneau.. We will be renting a car in Skagway to go to Emerald Lake. I just can't come up with a good plan here. Please help.

[alaskandude]

cstorm- Go to a place called Annebell's. It is right across the street from the ships and has best chowder and AK seafood in town. A few Alaskan brews on tap too. Enjoy, you may see me in the bar while your there too.

 

emarismom- Go kayaking, you kid should handle it fine. They have guides that will assist and give special attention to those who need it. I would do the one through SE Kayaking. They will show you a lot more of the area. You are right I think about the lumberjack show. It is entertaining but not to realistic.

[sailboater1]

We will be in Ketchikan May 15 from 11AM-7PM. I have heard fishing isn't too great that time of year, just getting started. Really want to treat my husband to this, but it will be our last port, and we will probably be more than broke by then. I wondered if there are any alternatives to the $150+ fishing tours, especially since he might not catch any fish. If I were to go also it would really price us out of this activity.

 

Any advise is appreciated.

 

P.S. I also enjoy fresh water fishing if that might be cheaper.

[momeason]

Thanks for all the good information. Here's another question. We would like a tour - float plane one way/boat the other to Misty Fjords. It's the Misty Fjords Wilderness Cruise & Flight through Princess. We're trying to find out if any of the local tour companies have the same tour. Also, if local companies do have this to offer is it something we could pick up the day of or should we book ahead. We'd like to wait until the day of so if it happens to be a terrible day we could go with another option. We'll be in Ketchikan the middle of June. Thanks for all of your help. :)

 

We will be on the Island Princess in Ketchican on May 27. We have booked for a cruise to Misty Fjords, no floatplane. It will be $137.50 pp including the taxes. We will have the Princess cruise group that takes the float plane join our day cruise for the second half of their excursion. I think the floatplane sounds fun but it is very pricey at $299 pp for a family of 4. Go to http://www.goldbelttours.com to get more info if you are interested. They have a toll-free phone number. I talked to David. Alaskan Dude commented that the Cruise lines have exclusive rights to these tours. The reason I was able to book independently is that this cruise only option is not offered in the Princess Shore excursion guide, but David at Goldbelt said the Princess group would be on the same boat as us after their flight. ( at least the first half of my day cruise should not be crowded!! ). Also, I have been led to believe that you need to book ahead for this. Does anyone know if it is safe to wait?

[Coral]

We will be on the Island Princess in Ketchican on May 27. We have booked for a cruise to Misty Fjords, no floatplane. It will be $137.50 pp including the taxes. We will have the Princess cruise group that takes the float plane join our day cruise for the second half of their excursion. I think the floatplane sounds fun but it is very pricey at $299 pp for a family of 4. Go to http://www.goldbelttours.com to get more info if you are interested. They have a toll-free phone number. I talked to David. Alaskan Dude commented that the Cruise lines have exclusive rights to these tours. The reason I was able to book independently is that this cruise only option is not offered in the Princess Shore excursion guide, but David at Goldbelt said the Princess group would be on the same boat as us after their flight. ( at least the first half of my day cruise should not be crowded!! ). Also, I have been led to believe that you need to book ahead for this. Does anyone know if it is safe to wait?

 

I did the cruise/flight trip last year. I probably did it about 2 weeks before you did - I think I was on a May 7th cruise. There were 3 people on our ship from the Sun Princess that did the combo trip, 2 people from the Regal Princess. 2 people walked off the ship and met up with the tour guide and joined the boat ride (they did not pre-reserve). The guy at the dock did tell them that they wouldn't miss the tour because Princess people would be joining them on the 2nd leg (so this part is correct). The boat ride was pretty deserted - we had no problems with crowded. There were people from Crystal on the cruise but we felt like the boat was empty. You can look at my pics in my album and see the boat and how few people. They offered some nice snacks on the cruise portion. The only negative is that we were about 30 minutes late getting back and the ship did wait for us. Though there were only 3 people on our tour - I would double check and make sure that Princess has people going on the combo tour because if they don't - the ship will not wait for your tour (because they won't know about you). Maybe we had an unusual week with so few people?? We had a very short time in Ketchikan that week and there was no leaway incase we were late.

[hogwildcruzers]

Alaskandude, have not seen anything about the zip-lines on this thread, we love doing those and have done several in the Caribbean, can you tell me anything about the ones there? Thanks!!

[hsmom]

We would really like to make sure that we have a local guide who knows their stuff. Is it possible to find that with a group tour or do we need to get a small/personal tour?

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks.

[DEL67]

Alaskandude:

 

We are cruising on the Sun Princess in July. Our group of 12 includes 4 children, ages 3 through 14, and my DH who is disabled and uses a wheelchair. Do you have any suggestions of what we could do that would interest the children,; yet be accessible for my husband?

[alaskandude]

Del67- I may have made a little fun about the Lumberjack show but its because I have an ego or something:cool: :cool: . You guys would have a blast. There show is very entertaining and great for familys. They really get the crowd going and use the people watching as part of the show. It is located only a few minutes away from where the ships park so you spend tons of time getting there. You might spend some time at our museum and historic creek street only a few blocks away.

 

 

hsmom- it depends on what you want to do. My advice if you are fishing or flightseeing hire a local.

 

hogwild- You know I hve never been out there. I am out of town a lot during the summer and they close it up soon afterwords. All the things I have heard about it were great. I know the area out south of town and it is pristine.

[hogwildcruzers]

Alaskandude, thanks for the reply. We know the area has to be beautiful and the zip is most likely the best we have done, or will do, so we are going to book it and have ourselves a blast.

[nancy2702]

Alaskandude....We will be on the Princess in June and my husband and grandson are going fishing in Ketchikan. It is with an independent, Northern Lights. They are being picked up at noon at the dock where Princess will be. My question is...I would like our grandson to be able to see the Lumberjack show as well...but the Princess has it scheduled for 10:45 a.m. to 11:45a.m. You say the show is close to the port....do you think they can make both...or is it truly too close in time to try it? We get into port at 10:00a.m. and leave at 6:00 p.m. Appreciate you answer...:confused:

[deevmo]

Hi,

 

Do you know anything about the Amphibious Tours (Duck Tours) or the Undersea Tours? I'm not looking for an active excursion, just something to see a bit of Ketchikan. Any information or opinions would be great.

 

Thank you,

 

Deedee

[alaskandude]

nancy- I was talking to my friend that ows True Alaskan Charters up here and he said they should hit the fishing as soon as you got in and to watch the show after the fishing trip. They run throughout the day but having your trip right in the middle of the time you are in town will make it tough. I imagine where he will park is close to the lumberjack show but I am guessing he is adding some more guests to fill his boat so there might be time issues there. Good luck.

 

 

deevmo- I have never been on the tour but have seen them at different parts of town so I think I can give you the rundown. They pick you up at the dock and and someone onboard starts telling you about some history of my town. They make a loop through downtown then head south through the city and hit the water at Bar harbor. Then they cruise you around the narrows, check out the voew of the ships from the water, show you eagles flying around a processor, and I believe over to a cove that has some abandond boats. I think it is quick and entertaining and you will get some history.

[nancy2702]

Thanks alaskandude...we tried to get out first thing but it was already booked and Ken was kind enough to make room in the afternoon fishing trip. I guess I'll just contact him and see what he says...again thanks.

 

Now for another question...I am not going fishing...anything special I can do on my own in Ketchikan while they fish...other than shopping, which of course I will do anyway. :D Your suggestions are welcomed.

Nancy

[jrmende63]

AlaskanDude,

Have you heard of a tour company called Sourdough Tours in Ketchikan? I have signed up with them for a 3 hour tour of Ketchikan. I got a glowing recommendation from another website but just wondered if you had heard of them.

thanks, Julie

[noj]

That Duck tour thingie sounds like fun; about as much small boat as I think I can take! We (DW & I)are going with daughter,son-in-law, and grand daughter(who thinks the big boat she gets to be on is the Seattle ferry), in May.

[IMACRUZRNOW]

Wish I found this thread earlier. I recently booked with Luke at Strike Zone for a sportfishing charter. So you know anything about them (price is $660 for six of us).

 

Thanks!