Tracy Arm Fjiord vs Helicopter Glacier Landing

[peachycruiser]

Our second Alaska cruise is coming up and my husband and I are debating over a n excursion. During our first trip, which was a cruisetour, we went flightseeing over Mt Mckinley with a glacier landing. I thought it was a no-brainer as to what we would do this time because we enjoyed it so much. However, this time we will not be near Denali and would be doing a helicopter glacier landing near Juneau. Then I ran into some video clips of a small boat excursion of Tracy Arm Fjiord and I questioned our decision. I know all glacier landings may offer something different but the Tracy Arm trip shows the glaciers from another perspective. Has anyone done both and did you like one more than the other?

[Budget Queen]

Yes I have done both multiple times. First, I'm assuming you have verified you have the port time to add a Tracy Arm boat tour? (if you are doing it round trip Juneau?)

 

You can also do a glacier helicopter landing out of Skagway?

 

Both are excellent tours. But, I am never one to claim one "better" over the other, simply not true, since it depends on interests.

 

Alaska is all about choices and never enough time. :)

[dateacher]

We had a tough time making that same decision. Our ship (HAL Volendam) had an excursion into Tracy Arm from the ship. We got onto a catamaran at the mouth of TA and then the catamaran took us into TA and then on to Juneau. The problem was, we didn't get back to our ship and Juneau until it was too late for a helicopter trip (plus they were both expensive excursions).

 

It was a fabulous excursion and we had a wonderful time. It's a hard choice but we were also lucky that we had a sunny day and got up as close as the catamaran could get.

 

Am I sorry we didn't get a helicopter landing? Sort of but wouldn't have wanted to miss TA. We did do a float plane in Ketchikan which isn't the same as a glacier landing but also a wonderful excursion.

 

If we ever go back (and I think we will) we will do the helicopter next time.

[peachycruiser]

Thanks, Budget Queen. We are limited to one "big' tour and in most of the other ports will explore on our own. We will be on HAL. Could you recommend any private Tracy Arm excursions? We have time for the TA excursion but nothing else in Juneau. In fact the only one we have seen is through the cruise ship. That one is 7 hrs; Ive heard there were shorter ones.

Edited August 9, 2014 by peachycruiser

[dateacher]

Our excursion on HAL to TA left the ship about 9:30 and we got to Juneau at 3:30. (Our ship got there about 1:30) It gave us time to walk around and shop and get back to the ship for dinner. The round trip excursions from Juneau take much longer and your ship needs to get there early enough to get on it.

[Budget Queen]

Thanks, Budget Queen. We are limited to one "big' tour and in most of the other ports will explore on our own. We will be on HAL. Could you recommend any private Tracy Arm excursions? We have time for the TA excursion but nothing else in Juneau. In fact the only one we have seen is through the cruise ship. That one is 7 hrs; Ive heard there were shorter ones.

 

I still don't know what you are looking for? Are you looking for a round trip out of Juneau, or an add on Tracy Arm excursion from your cruise ship- because your cruise ship is sailing there?

 

There are various replies above that mix both these up.

 

Adventure Bound, requires you to be in port at 7 until at least 7p. My preference is not to consider any shorter tours, as I like the time involved in wildlife stops. Shorter boat tours aren't going to see as much.

 

IF you are talking about the ship add on boat tour, this is a "must" in my opinion, since it's so superior compared to the cruise ship transit.

[peety3]

We've recently returned from a Seattle RT aboard the Grand Princess. On day 4 of the itinerary, the ship sailed into Tracy Arm Fjord, and we had a wonderful view. Thankfully, we'd bought the tickets far ahead of time for the small-boat excursion (offered by Allen Marine) which allowed us to get off the Grand directly onto the Allen boat, and then go "right up" to the glaciers. That experience was amazing and undoubtedly the best of our cruise (which had five excursions in total).

 

We'd done two northbound cruises into Glacier Bay and College Fjord, yet my wife kept nagging me that we needed to do a cruise that included Tracy Arm. TA was so good that specifically turned to her a day or two later and thanked her for getting me to TA. Highly recommended. I've landed on a glacier via helicopter out of Skagway and that was unique, but not nearly as spectacular.