Excursions?

[staceycs]

My husband and I are going on an Alaskan cruise the first week of August. Should we book our excursion prior to getting on the boat? I prefer to book most of my excursions through the cruise line. Here is what we have planned:

 

Juneau -

Mendenhall Glacier we are just taking the bus on our own but my concern is we have 6 ships in port that day. Should we book something through the cruise? I don't want to be rushed and want to do the glacier, waterfall and ice caves which is why we want to do it on our own.

 

Skaway - White Pass Rail 3 1/2 trip

 

Ketchikan - DH is doing a salmon fishing trip and I want to do Misty Fjord

 

Victoria - on our own and walking the town.

 

Other questions:

 

I would love to do a whale watching with either the Mendenhall Glacier or Misty Fjord. Do you see whales on the Misty Fjord cat trip? I know that you can see Eagles which is also on my bucket list.

[geoherb]

If you prefer to book your excursions through the cruise line, then do so as soon as possible. Many of them sell out.

 

I don't think there will be a problem getting one of the shuttles to the Mendenhall Glacier. There seemed to plenty of them when we went. You'll be able to hike to Nugget Falls. I think the ice caves are on the other side of the glacier.

 

Don't worry about seeing eagles. They seem to be everywhere. On our first cruise, the naturalist pointed out how to spot them from the ship--looking for golf balls in the trees. We saw a lot of them from a distance. Once our ship docked, there were a few eagles sitting on top of light poles in Juneau.

[sherryf]

My husband and I are going on an Alaskan cruise the first week of August. Should we book our excursion prior to getting on the boat? I prefer to book most of my excursions through the cruise line. Here is what we have planned:

 

Juneau -

Mendenhall Glacier we are just taking the bus on our own but my concern is we have 6 ships in port that day. Should we book something through the cruise? I don't want to be rushed and want to do the glacier, waterfall and ice caves which is why we want to do it on our own.

 

If you take one of the buses, you will be able to see the glacier and waterfall, but not ice caves. That's a several mile hike from a different location.

 

Skaway - White Pass Rail 3 1/2 trip

 

If you are just taking the round trip train, then booking through your cruise line or directly from the railroad are fine. If you want to do a train/bus combo tour, then using an independent tour like Chilkoot Charters is preferable, and should be booked in advance.

 

Ketchikan - DH is doing a salmon fishing trip and I want to do Misty Fjord

 

Misty Fjord boat or plane? If plane, you really want to book in advance as these tend to sell out. I don't really know about salmon fishing, but I'm guessing this is better book in advance also, and probably best with an independent rather than through the cruise line.

 

Victoria - on our own and walking the town.

 

Other questions:

 

I would love to do a whale watching with either the Mendenhall Glacier or Misty Fjord. Do you see whales on the Misty Fjord cat trip? I know that you can see Eagles which is also on my bucket list.

 

If you really want to see whales, you should book a whale watching trip in Juneau. These can be combined with a stop at Mendenhall. I like Orca Enterprises. Others like the smaller boats of Harv & Marv. I don't recommend booking through the cruise line. The independents are much better.

[JimAOk1945]

I always book our shore excursions through the cruise lines as soon as possible to ensure we get the time slot we want on the excursions that we prefer. I suggest you book yours as soon as possible since many will sell out.

 

I suggest you book your whale watching in Juneau. We have done this twice through the cruise lines and had wonderful experiences both times.

 

Happy cruising!

Edited May 30, 2014 by JimAOk1945