excursion help?

[bones774]

I will be leaving on the NCL Pearl on june 29 we will be stopping at Juneau, skagway, ketchikan and Victoria BC.

I have heard that the Chillkoot railway in skagway is a must, can anyone recommend some must do's in the other ports?

My daughter mentioned whale watching, is this the right time? and which port?BTW - 2 girls, 17 and 19?

My son would like to some type of exotic, exciting fishing, Salmon perhaps? again is this the right time of year? anyhting else for a 16 y.o boy?

 

If i were to break off with my son on one excursion(fishing) can anyone tell me if my daughters can go on their own with another tour excursion? age limits?

 

Thanks

[sherryf]

I will be leaving on the NCL Pearl on june 29 we will be stopping at Juneau, skagway, ketchikan and Victoria BC.

I have heard that the Chillkoot railway in skagway is a must, can anyone recommend some must do's in the other ports?

My daughter mentioned whale watching, is this the right time? and which port?BTW - 2 girls, 17 and 19?

My son would like to some type of exotic, exciting fishing, Salmon perhaps? again is this the right time of year? anyhting else for a 16 y.o boy?

 

If i were to break off with my son on one excursion(fishing) can anyone tell me if my daughters can go on their own with another tour excursion? age limits?

 

Thanks

 

You are going June 29, 2014? In 2 weeks?? You are pretty late in planning your excursions. Many of the best independent vendors will be booked.

 

It is the White Pass railroad in Skgaway. Chilkoot Charters is an independent vendor which does train/bus combo tours. I highly recommend them, but they may be completely booked at this point.

 

Juneau is your port for whale watching. There is no right/wrong time for whale watching. The whales are there all summer. I highly recommend Orca Enterprises. Others enjoy the small 6-person boats of Harv & Marv. Again, these vendors are very popular and may not have availability at this late date. The cruise ship tours use much larger boats and are not nearly as good an experience, IMO.

 

I know nothing about fishing, except people talk about doing it in Ketchikan. I'm sure someone else will have info.

 

As for the age limits, you may have to ask each individual vendor for their policies. If you book through your cruise ship, they will have information about age restrictions on their web page for each excursion. It will not be an issue for your 19 year old daughter, since she is an adult. The main question is whether your 17 year old can go with her.

[bones774]

You are going June 29, 2014? In 2 weeks?? You are pretty late in planning your excursions. Many of the best independent vendors will be booked.

 

It is the White Pass railroad in Skgaway. Chilkoot Charters is an independent vendor which does train/bus combo tours. I highly recommend them, but they may be completely booked at this point.

 

Juneau is your port for whale watching. There is no right/wrong time for whale watching. The whales are there all summer. I highly recommend Orca Enterprises. Others enjoy the small 6-person boats of Harv & Marv. Again, these vendors are very popular and may not have availability at this late date. The cruise ship tours use much larger boats and are not nearly as good an experience, IMO.

 

I know nothing about fishing, except people talk about doing it in Ketchikan. I'm sure someone else will have info.

 

As for the age limits, you may have to ask each individual vendor for their policies. If you book through your cruise ship, they will have information about age restrictions on their web page for each excursion. It will not be an issue for your 19 year old daughter, since she is an adult. The main question is whether your 17 year old can go with her.

 

OK, just an FYI- I jut called ORCA and their boat has plenty of seating and if full the lady said she has another boat to send out, so we're good there.

[bones774]

PS-anybody know any discount tricks for any excursions? AARP? AAA? Military?thanks

[sept10dsm]

PS-anybody know any discount tricks for any excursions? AARP? AAA? Military?thanks

 

There is an Alaska discount book that has many coupons for excursions. We used Northern Lights last summer. They had a buy one get one free Major Marine cruise in Whittier. It was well worth the cost of the book. The cruise was about 150 pp. The book costs $55.00 so costly if you don't use any. I bought the book last minute (found out about it here) at my local Barnes and Noble that had it shipped to the store from Anchorage store. Couldn't get it online when we were looking for it. Also, if you have a National Parks pass, it can be used at Mendenhall visitor center as well as the Discovery Center in Ketchikan. I also request information from each port and at times there are coupons in the package they send. If sailing Princess, they have a military OBC available as well has a shareholder OBC

Edited June 12, 2014 by sept10dsm