Back up plan in Juneau of Heli tour is cancelled?

[KathiB]

We are leaving tomorrow, August 13, on our Alaska cruise. Monday we will be in Juneau and have booked a heli tour and dog sled camp excursion with Coastal Helicopters. Weather reports I have been watching are calling for 100% rain. I know that rain is called for often and is not an all day thing, but this rain could cause a cancellation of our tour.

 

if it is cancelled and we don't find out until we are in port what are our options for a plan B? Whale watching? Mendenhall Glacier? if so, how to get there? Any suggestions for a great day without any advice planning? We are a couple in our 60s with our 26 year old daughter. All very fit and adventurous. I would love to do something special if the heli tour in canceled. Thanks!

Edited August 13, 2016 by KathiB

[Coral]

I would do whale watching and Mendenhall glacier.

 

You can buy tickets across from Mount Roberts Tram - there are booths setup. When you buy whale watching tickets, ask about a drop off after at Mendenhall since they are near each other (across town). You can also buy tickets from the ship at the last minute if they have space.

 

The other thing to consider is sometimes morning tours are cancelled and later ones are not. So ask them if they have any slots in afternoon tours.

 

People rave about Taku Lodge. You fly out for a salmon bake/chicken and there are bear sitings. All of my friends have done this multiple times. You may want to look it up.

Edited August 13, 2016 by Coral

[travelin'peach]

If you go whale watching go with Juneau whale watch tours! They are so awesome! We just go back 3 weeks ago and got to see bubble feeding!! Captain Jason was great as well as the whole team! It was a spur of the moment trip for us and so glad we did! When you get off the ship their are a bunch of kiosks -you can find info about them there!

 

 

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[HOGRANT54]

I second Juneau whale watch tours. We did whale watch, Mendenhall Glacier and city tour..Also eat at Tracy's King crab shack.

 

 

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[Prewelli]

We did the whale watching - it was fantastic

 

 

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[mondello]

If you go to Mendenhall Glacier, there is a hike to Nugget Falls; takes about 45 minutes round-trip. Really nice photo-op near the base of the falls and a nice view of the glacier, too.

 

Don't know what time constraints you'll have if you go on the whale watch trip first.

 

If you don't go on the whale watch there are shuttle buses that will take you to Mendenhall Glacier. It was $30 per person, round-trip. We saw Eagles in the wetlands during the bus ride.

[Sequim88]

Exactly what happened to our heli tour - scrubbed by low ceilings. So we switched to whale watching and got a very close encounter with a curious calf who came right up to the boat.

 

With time to spare we hopped on a city bus and went to Glacier Gardens for a fraction of the cost of an organized tour. Planning to do the same sort of thing (minus whales) next year with an added bus stop at the DIPAC fish hatchery and maybe also at Alaska Brewing.