Planning first Alaska cruise and overwhelmed researching excursions! Help!!

[rsdroid]

Sailing from Seattle on the Explorer OTS this coming Aug 4th, with cruising days through the Inside Passage and Tracy Arm Fjord. Stops will be in Juneau from 12 pm to 9 pm, Skagway from 7 am to 8:30 pm, and Victoria, BC from 9 am to 6 pm.

 

I have been reading some on here and researching a bit on TripAdvisor, but frankly, it's a ton of info to sort through!

 

This is a bucket list trip, so want to make the most of it! I'm mid-30s and active. Sailing with a group, but I have no problem booking excursions by myself if it's something no one else wants to do with me.

 

So, what are the top, can't miss things, in each of these ports? I'd be interested in whale watching, glaciers, the White Pass railway, kayaking, hiking, maybe helicopter tours, etc. Hard to figure out which place is the best to do some of these and if it's possible to do more than one thing in some of the ports with the amount of time we're docked. I have no qualms about booking non-ship tours.

 

Can anyone help me narrow it down?:confused:

[K.T.B.]

Ok, you're going to have a tough time in doing all of that with this cruise. So you need to figure out which excursion is THE one to do for you at each stop. You may be able to do some sort of "combination tour" to get in as much as possible. I've done a helicopter tour and a whale watching tour (separately) in Juneau. Both were great, but I really loved the helicopter which we flew out to Mendenhall glacier. You may want to consider the extended glacier trek. Bear in mind that weather may dictate if the helicopter flies or not!

 

If you love trains, White Pass is a must, and there is a tour that has the train and kayaking. It really is a nice train ride.

 

As for Tracy Arm, you may want to check with RC to see if they have an off ship excursion on to a smaller boat to get you closer to Sawyer Glacier. The Carnival cruise I took did have one, so RC might. If they do, it's well worth the expense.

 

Finally, while on board, there's a very good chance you'll probably see some whales and other wildlife. Booking a tour is never a guarantee of seeing wildlife.

 

Have fun! And good luck!

Edited February 2, 2017 by K.T.B.

[ms1badtk]

I have only been to Alaska once in May 2014 and I went with Carnival so I cant speak for the cruise line you are going with.

 

In Juneau: Carnival had an excursion called best of Juneau which took you to Mendenhall Glacier, whale watching, and then a boat ride to an island for a salmon bake. We loved it!

 

Skagway: We rented a car and did a self driving tour with Murry's guide.

 

For Tracy Arm: Carnival offers for you get off the ship on a small boat and takes you pretty close to the Glacier it is booked before you get on the ship and sells out very fast but it was so worth it you might want to see if your cruise lines offers it.

 

Victoria, BC: we walked the whole area it was a lot they had a map with all of the points of interest.

 

I am going back to Alaska in Sept of this year so I am pretty much done with my planning already and again in Skagway I am renting the car again and going to get an updated version of the guide not that I think much has changed but we enjoyed it a lot. We are also now renting a car in Juneau.

 

Enjoy your vacation.

[Budget Queen]

Sailing from Seattle on the Explorer OTS this coming Aug 4th, with cruising days through the Inside Passage and Tracy Arm Fjord. Stops will be in Juneau from 12 pm to 9 pm, Skagway from 7 am to 8:30 pm, and Victoria, BC from 9 am to 6 pm.

 

I have been reading some on here and researching a bit on TripAdvisor, but frankly, it's a ton of info to sort through!

 

This is a bucket list trip, so want to make the most of it! I'm mid-30s and active. Sailing with a group, but I have no problem booking excursions by myself if it's something no one else wants to do with me.

 

So, what are the top, can't miss things, in each of these ports? I'd be interested in whale watching, glaciers, the White Pass railway, kayaking, hiking, maybe helicopter tours, etc. Hard to figure out which place is the best to do some of these and if it's possible to do more than one thing in some of the ports with the amount of time we're docked. I have no qualms about booking non-ship tours.

 

Can anyone help me narrow it down?:confused:

 

It's unfortunate you only have 2 Alaska ports, but you do have a full day in Victoria- is this what you wanted? Most Alaska cruises have 3 Alaska ports. Your "glacier" will hopefully be Tracy Arm. As mentioned, if an add on tour is offered, this is a grossly superior transit. There are several different White Pass RR options- look over the details carefully. This is out of Skagway. You can fit in another activity- IF you are willing to be out all day. Juneau- is whale watching 100% sightings of Humpbacks, Victoria has orca tours- that aren't 100%. Myself, I've been there for days with them out of range, but have gone on many successful trips.

 

Any of your list- can be a "must do". I'd suggest, you take a hard look and rank- YOUR preferences and go with what YOU want out your Alaska trip.

[rsdroid]

Thanks everyone! I'm going with a group, and the flight and cruise are being paid for, so I didn't have much choice on the particular itinerary, but I'm not complaining! :)

 

I definitely want to do a whale sighting trip and it looks like Juneau is probably the best port for the that. I think I really would like to do the White Pass rail trip as well in Skagway. So, I'm now looking for companies that do combo tours in these two ports. Like glaciers and whale sightings, or the train and glaciers. I think I might go ziplining in Victoria. :D

 

So far, they aren't offering the Tracy Fjord small boat excursion off the ship. At least I haven't found it online. But I will keep an eye out for it.

 

Any recommendations on combo tours? Ships or otherwise?

[Budget Queen]

Thanks everyone! I'm going with a group, and the flight and cruise are being paid for, so I didn't have much choice on the particular itinerary, but I'm not complaining! :)

 

I definitely want to do a whale sighting trip and it looks like Juneau is probably the best port for the that. I think I really would like to do the White Pass rail trip as well in Skagway. So, I'm now looking for companies that do combo tours in these two ports. Like glaciers and whale sightings, or the train and glaciers. I think I might go ziplining in Victoria. :D

 

So far, they aren't offering the Tracy Fjord small boat excursion off the ship. At least I haven't found it online. But I will keep an eye out for it.

 

Any recommendations on combo tours? Ships or otherwise?

 

Well can't beat that deal. :)

 

There is no reason to book a combo tour for Skagway- book what you want separately. With those two choices. it's possible to get a railroad/Yukon combo tour, then add a glacier flight in end of the day. But I would not bother looking for any RR/glacier tour, unless you want the hike to Loughton Glacier which is so so for beauty in my opinion.

 

A whale watch vendor that has a Mendenhall pick up/drop off, I would suggest. But- alternatively, you could just get the first shuttle bus to Mendenhall then get a cab direct to the whale watch. Whale watch would have a shuttle back to port. You want to make sure you have a direct transfer Mendenhall/whale watch.

[samandlibby]

For Skagway we are doing a tour to Emerald Lake in Yukon but on the way back taking the white pass train. I also thought about a float trip tour but only 40 minutes on the water and decided against it.

 

 

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[Budget Queen]

For Skagway we are doing a tour to Emerald Lake in Yukon but on the way back taking the white pass train. I also thought about a float trip tour but only 40 minutes on the water and decided against it.

 

 

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A float trip on the Taiya is excellent, which I have done.