Alaskan Excursions

[jschutz]

Am on the Summit 09/17 Alaska cruise - anyone have "MUST SEE" excursions for Ketchican, Skagway, Juneau or Sitka???

[lucyjohnz]

Go to the Ports board for Alaska and either post your question there or read the hundreds of posts already there on Alaska excursions. There's a lot of information there.

Lucy

[CaribbeanBound]

Juneau: we rented a van for $65 from Rent-A-Wreck in advance and were met at the pier. We drove to Mendenhall Glacier Park where we took in the glacier and two self-guided trails: Photo Point and Nugget Falls (Free). Toured the Macaulay Salmon Hatchery ($12 for our group of 6). Highly recommend both. Hit Safeway for an early afternoon snack and souvenirs. Upon returning the van we were given a gratis tour of downtown. We elected to be dropped off in town to shop. Red Dog Saloon was too crowded so we just checked out a few shops in route to the ship.

Skagway: Rented a van for $75 from Avis which is located very close to the piers. We drove to Carcross, Yukon Territory, Canada (130 miles roundtrip). As it turned out, there’s really nothing in Carcross, but the trip was [I]incredible[/I]. (It’s not the destination —– it’s the journey). There was almost no traffic at all. We saw but one bus, a truck, and maybe 2 dozen cars the entire trip. We saw bears, caribou, mountain goats and bald eagles. We saw snow capped mountains and crystal clear lakes, numerous water falls, sweeping valley and mountain views, raging rivers, the White Mountain Pass Train. We got back into town about 2pm and shopped. Many interesting stores. The place was packed with 4 ships in port. Enjoyed an Alaska Amber Ale at the Red Onion Saloon and were driven back to the ship by the folks at Avis. Between 8pm and 10pm that night we saw numerous Humpback whales, including tail slaps, and a breach within 50 yards of the ship.

Tracy Arm Glacier: Spectacular. The weather was so good that we were able to get within 200 yards of the glacier. This was the first time a ship this big has gotten this close. It was such an event that Princess sent a helicopter down from Juneau to record video and photo footage. The calving glacier was breathtaking from my grandfather’s balcony. Lots of blue ice. The captain slowly rotated the ship 360 degrees to allow all cabins a good view of the glacier. Several mother and baby seal duos were sited on small icebergs near the ship. Bald eagles were also sited.

Ketchikan: the skies were clear. Short-sleeved shirts were the dress of the day. We simply walked around town. They experienced an electrical power shortage for about 1 hour around 8am. Some shops closed temporarily. Not much time to do anything special in Ketchikan other than visit the National Park Service’s museum which was quite informative, and shop. The town had some really fun shopping opportunities. Three places to stop in... "Good God" and ask for a sample of his Special Reserve smoked salmon; "Sockeye Sams": a nice all-around store; check out the ancient whale bone carvings. Look for the awesome (and reasonably priced) fossils and gemstones at "Poker Creek Gold" , and ask for a taste of the Birch Syrup at “Sam McGees” on Creek Street. We enjoyed another Alaska Amber Ale in a 3rd floor pub overlooking the dock. We didn’t leave the bar until the lines, to get back on the ship, got short.

Hope this helps. If we had to do it all over again, we wouldn't change a thing!

[marvholly]

I do not know what your particular time/budget limits are but our budget was very limited last summer on the Mercury and tours in all Alaska ports, ship or private vendors tend to be very $$$.

In Juneau and Sitka the native tribes operate on/off buses that stop at a bunch of the major interest areas. You get off, do your thing and get on the next. In Ketchican we opted for a private tour of the town and one of the totem villages. This can be purchased right at kiosks set up at the pier or the tourist cent on the pier.

Holly

M/S Boheme 11/69
Rhapsody 2/77?
Azure Sea 3/89
Panama Canal 11/90
Mexican Riviera 3/98
Carnival Triumph 12/99
Carnival Spirit 12/01
NCL Dream 11/17/02
Celebrity Mercury 6/1/03
carnival Victory 3/28/04

[rjg41]

Click on the review below which might be of assistance. Note pictures also. Enjoy.

Carnival Ecstasy, March 1993
Celebrity Millennium, Caribbean, Jan 2002
Coral Princess, Panama Canal Feb. 2, 2003 [url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=887097554&m=6683066607&r=6683066607#6683066607"](Review)[/url]
Celebrity Summit, Alaska Land [url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=268097554&m=1763035447"](Land Tour Review)[/url] & Sea [url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=147097554&m=2043034547"](Cruise Review)[/url], Aug. 15,2003
Navigator of the Seas, Family Reunion, March 13, 2004
[url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=408097554&m=94910369&r=94910369#94910369"](Review)[/url]
Celebrity Infinity, Valparaiso(Santiago), Chile to Fort Lauderdale, via Panama Canal, Feb. 27, 2005
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=ff0000&cdt=2005;2;27;21;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]

[davis0056]

rjg41

Just try to review your pictures and Webshots wouldn't let me in. I have pictures posted there and use this link [url="http://www.community.webshots.com/user/davissatx"]http://www.community.webshots.com/user/davissatx[/url] and it work for me. I made the same misstake as you and copy the link and then found out it would't allow anyone but me to view the pictures.
Maybe your could do a new post and try the about address so everyone can enjoy yours.

Your review was greet and alot of good information.

Best to you

Dave

Transatlantic sailing on the Constellation
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=111111&cdt=2004;9;7;17;0;00&timezone=GMT+0000[/img] [img]http://www.zooish.com/_borders/drinkin_md_wht.gif[/img] [img]http://www.zooish.com/_borders/lickin_food_md_wht.gif[/img]