Canoe in Juneau? Opinions/Advice needed

[booth22]

Hey everyone! Our trip is quickly approaching and I was looking at our shore excursions and thought the canoe by Mendenhall Glacier looked really neat. We are sailing on the Regal and see that Princess offers the excursion only once during the day. I was wondering if someone was aware of any independent excursion companies which offer the same experience. I think it would be amazing to paddle close to the glacier and maybe even stop near Nugget Falls (i think that's the name!) Thanks in advance! booth

[CruiseIsGood]

It's a great excursion. You can look at some of my pics of it here: http://www.cruise-forums.com/gallery/view.php?id=1189

 

You can't book it independently. Gold Belt Tours does it for the ships only, last I heard. Gold Belt has a permit to be on the lake. But I suppose it wouldn't hurt to ask them!

 

You do stop at the waterfall, with a snack. It's absolutely gorgeous.

 

They let you get as close to the glacier as is safe, which is pretty darned close. I didn't even get a picture, since I was too busy staring at it!

 

We also passed huge icebergs in the lake (take a look at juneauphotos.com for a pic of a huge iceberg frozen above the lake), and saw a bald eagle being chased to the ground by a seagull. There are a lot of birds in that area.

 

I highly highly recommend it.