Alaska Shore excursions

[cruisenovice2]

Hello All,

I am planning our first Alaskan cruise and right now feeling a bit overwhelmed. Looking at Shore excursions and want to choose carefully, does anyone have suggestions. We are sailing on Radiance of the Seas on the Northbound cruise. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Mapleleafforever]

Whitepass Train and bus to to the Yukon. Amazing.

[janetz]

Hello All,

I am planning our first Alaskan cruise and right now feeling a bit overwhelmed. Looking at Shore excursions and want to choose carefully, does anyone have suggestions. We are sailing on Radiance of the Seas on the Northbound cruise. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

Hit the Alaska board. Tons of info there. :)

[cage keeper]

Read all you can find. We did a b to b. Two of us on the south bound and 11 on the north bound. We booked a private van instead of the train and it was awesome. So much to see. You get closer up. Thought the lumberjack show would be corny, did it for the kids and we loved it. Lots of hiking. Wander into the shops off the be-ton bath and talk to the locals. Trip of a lifetime.

[Ashland]

Bering Sea Crab Tour in Ketchikan...we thought it was amazing...you might also :)

[travelbug11]

Hello All,

I am planning our first Alaskan cruise and right now feeling a bit overwhelmed. Looking at Shore excursions and want to choose carefully, does anyone have suggestions. We are sailing on Radiance of the Seas on the Northbound cruise. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Go to the roll calls and look for your cruise. Lots of info there.

[katrina915]

I would plan time in Seward to go on 6 hr Kenai Fjords cruise. One of my favorite things to do in Alaska. Glaciers, puffins, whales and more.

[olemissreb]

What do you want to see? How active/passive do you want to be? You won't see it all and you will probably feel like you missed out on something - which will just be incentive to come back and see what you think you missed out on!:)

 

I wanted to see whales and the spectacular scenery that is Alaska, but I didn't want to just sit back and let someone else do all the driving. We planned independent excursions for all our ports and did our own DIY land tour prior.

 

We went Southbound from Seward to Vancouver. Here's what we did:

 

Arrived a day early in Seward and took a 6 hour Kenai Fjords Cruise.

Day of cruise: Saw the Alaska Sea Life Center and did a Marine Mammal Encounter

Juneau: walked around town and took the Tram to the top of Mt.Roberts - originally had planned to take the Big Blue Bus to Mendenhall and walk around though

Skagway: White Pass & Yukon Excursion through Chilkoot Charters

Icy Strait Point: whale watch with Glacier Winds Charter

Ketchikan: walked around town and then Misty Fjords flightseeing with Michelle from Island Wings. Also thought about taking the city bus to Totem Bight Park.

 

We had a fabulous time and saw most of what we wanted to see. I think the only thing we didn't see on the cruise portion of our trip was bears. Guess we'll be trying to find some the next time we go back.

[GoVikes]

Whitepass Train and bus to to the Yukon. Amazing.

I agree--it was fantastic!

[moposh]

I'm doing an Alaskan cruise this year myself. I printed out RC's shore excursion book and went through it, reading each excursion, seeing what I want to do. That helped to narrow it down. You can also read people's cruise reviews. I found some recommendations that way. At the end of the day, it all depends on what interests you.

Edited February 6, 2014 by moposh

[Budget Queen]

Hello All,

I am planning our first Alaskan cruise and right now feeling a bit overwhelmed. Looking at Shore excursions and want to choose carefully, does anyone have suggestions. We are sailing on Radiance of the Seas on the Northbound cruise. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Too frequently, I see people, look at the "popular" and what is listed as "must do" tours in Alaska. Instead, I suggest YOU read over the shore excursion lists, and making lists on what is of interest to YOU. Then with this narrowed down list, look further at review details and preferred vendors to consider.

 

There are hundreds of very worthwhile, enjoyed tours. What other people enjoyed, may be of no interested to you. A LOT of Alaska touring depends on budget, which I suggest you don't skimp on.

[peety3]

Do what you want. I usually sit down with goals. My goals for our next trip were "simple": photograph whales/bears/eagles/wildlife. Digging deeper, my goals became "best access to good photo sites while maintaining an ability to schlep (possibly) two large lenses". That ruled out moderate (and longer) hikes, as well as flights (bush planes are never roomy; neither are helicopters).

 

A couple of different methods that may work for you:

Gather a list of titles for all of the excursions, and cross off ones that don't interest you - reject your way to the best choice.

Sort a list of desired excursions in order of intrigue/desire - sort your way to the best choice.

Gather a list of possible excursions that speak to you, and compare the first two in a particular city; cross off the one that's less intriguing. Compare the one that's more intriguing with the next one on the list. Think of it like going to the eye doctor: "A, or B?" "1, or 2?" "A, or B?".