Can I find Tours in Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway at Cruise Port?

[sydney042904]

Hello my family is traveling to Alaska in 5 days. I would like to pick my excursions from the tour vendors at each port once I get off the ship. I'm on the Emerald Princess sailing July 9th from Seattle roundtrip. Is this feasible to do this in the Alaskan ports of calls? Can someone provide advise how to pick excursions for someone on a budget.

 

Thank you

:cool:

[1025cruise]

There will be tours, but not to the manner as they are in the Caribbean. You probably also won't find much cost savings.

[cganesh]

In Juneau you shoukd see some great deals to go to Mendenhall Glacier. Need the bottom of the sky tram that goes up the mountain and near where ship shuttles drop passengers, there are lots of excursion vendors. You should be able to find something of interest tgat you can do in the time you'll be in port. I'd be leery of doing helicopter or airplane ones that take you to glaciers since you could potentially have a delay and miss the ship. In Skagway we did the White Pass Train. If I had it to do over I'd book an excursion on train going up the mountain and bus coming down. Each cruise line has specific cars their people go on. We got a ticket at a booth near the train to do the round trip. That's something you might consider booking thru ship to be able to do the bus back down mountain. It stops several times so you can get out and take pics. We did one that started after lunch and spent the morning walking down main street in Skagway browsing in shops and went in a little museum run back park service. Make a mental note that the museum is best place aling the street to find restrooms. In zketchican we just walked around town but as soon as you disembark you should see a small terminal building and there are very helpful people who can go through what you might want to do and where to get reservations. We took public bus around town and stopped at a totem museum that was very interesting. They rescue old totems that have been neglected and restore them. They have a whole room of very old ones in climate control glass containers. The lady that guided us thru was a wealth of knowledge. They have modern ones outside for pictures. Juneau is great place to buy coats, tshirts, etc. At very reasonable prices. We used Trip Advisor to research the ports to decide what we wanted to do in each port. Have a great cruise.

 

Cherie

[sydney042904]

In Juneau you shoukd see some great deals to go to Mendenhall Glacier. Need the bottom of the sky tram that goes up the mountain and near where ship shuttles drop passengers, there are lots of excursion vendors. You should be able to find something of interest tgat you can do in the time you'll be in port. I'd be leery of doing helicopter or airplane ones that take you to glaciers since you could potentially have a delay and miss the ship. In Skagway we did the White Pass Train. If I had it to do over I'd book an excursion on train going up the mountain and bus coming down. Each cruise line has specific cars their people go on. We got a ticket at a booth near the train to do the round trip. That's something you might consider booking thru ship to be able to do the bus back down mountain. It stops several times so you can get out and take pics. We did one that started after lunch and spent the morning walking down main street in Skagway browsing in shops and went in a little museum run back park service. Make a mental note that the museum is best place aling the street to find restrooms. In zketchican we just walked around town but as soon as you disembark you should see a small terminal building and there are very helpful people who can go through what you might want to do and where to get reservations. We took public bus around town and stopped at a totem museum that was very interesting. They rescue old totems that have been neglected and restore them. They have a whole room of very old ones in climate control glass containers. The lady that guided us thru was a wealth of knowledge. They have modern ones outside for pictures. Juneau is great place to buy coats, tshirts, etc. At very reasonable prices. We used Trip Advisor to research the ports to decide what we wanted to do in each port. Have a great cruise.

 

Cherie

 

 

 

Thank you cganesh!

:D

[mskaufman]

The problem with booking tours at the pier is that you do not always know the quality of what you are buying. In Skagway you can book the railroad at the depot. Will save a couple of bucks but not a lot. As mentioned in Juneau you can find something to take you to Mendenhall. You could also DIY there and there are threads to tell you how. Would need to have a plan before you got there and you only have 4 days. Same in Ketchikan. You can DIY. There are threads to tell you how to get to Totem Bight. Creek Street should be fairly easy to find. Good luck and enjoy.

[wolfie11]

How big is your, family? It's easy to get a tour for a couple of people, but possibly not for a group as the dock vendors are usually small companies and the van or boat may already be partially full.

[zdcatc12]

I'd be leery of doing helicopter or airplane ones that take you to glaciers since you could potentially have a delay and miss the ship. In Skagway we did the White Pass Train. If I had it to do over I'd book an excursion on train going up the mountain and bus coming down. Each cruise line has specific cars their people go on. We got a ticket at a booth near the train to do the round trip. That's something you might consider booking thru ship to be able to do the bus back down mountain. It stops several times so you can get out and take pics.

 

Taking the train up and bus back in Skagway, you could also potentially miss the ship. You could take the bus up and the train back and be on the train with the ship passengers and not have to worry. The bus up stops at just as many locations as the bus down. Plus, if you take it early enough, on the way up, you will not face the sun for any west facing pictures. Also, our train car was less than half full. If you book through the ship, I would expect that would not be the case.

[smokesmom]

I can't speak for Skagway or Juneau as we took ship excursions but in Ketchikan there were a number of vendors at the pier that were offering different types of tours. We also saw what looked like a hop-on/hop-off trolley tour and a Duck tour vendor.

 

We did the self-guided walking tour of Ketchikan which was interesting to us but probably would not have been for children or teens. During the walk, we went into the Totem Heritage Center ($5 each) and paid for the tour of Dolly's House on Creek Street ($7.50 each). If we had had more time, we might have tried the Deer Mountain hiking trail.

[Budget Queen]

In Juneau you shoukd see some great deals to go to Mendenhall Glacier. Need the bottom of the sky tram that goes up the mountain and near where ship shuttles drop passengers, there are lots of excursion vendors. You should be able to find something of interest tgat you can do in the time you'll be in port. I'd be leery of doing helicopter or airplane ones that take you to glaciers since you could potentially have a delay and miss the ship. In Skagway we did the White Pass Train. If I had it to do over I'd book an excursion on train going up the mountain and bus coming down. Each cruise line has specific cars their people go on. We got a ticket at a booth near the train to do the round trip. That's something you might consider booking thru ship to be able to do the bus back down mountain. It stops several times so you can get out and take pics. We did one that started after lunch and spent the morning walking down main street in Skagway browsing in shops and went in a little museum run back park service. Make a mental note that the museum is best place aling the street to find restrooms. In zketchican we just walked around town but as soon as you disembark you should see a small terminal building and there are very helpful people who can go through what you might want to do and where to get reservations. We took public bus around town and stopped at a totem museum that was very interesting. They rescue old totems that have been neglected and restore them. They have a whole room of very old ones in climate control glass containers. The lady that guided us thru was a wealth of knowledge. They have modern ones outside for pictures. Juneau is great place to buy coats, tshirts, etc. At very reasonable prices. We used Trip Advisor to research the ports to decide what we wanted to do in each port. Have a great cruise.

 

Cherie

 

 

I disagree with any "tours" of Mendenhall. Simply, at this point- the shuttle bus is the best option- you do NOT need any "tour". With a large group (more than 4) a cab is a good option- be prepared to have all the add on fees. They ARE valid.

 

I definitely dispute the above claim on flights. Simply NOT valid. You KNOW when your ship leaves, so if you want a flight- go with the vendors recommendation for schedule. Ketchikan is ideal to pick up walk up flights, good availability. Less so in the other 2 ports. Same with the combo train/road, Skagway recommendation- Book this IN Advance. Several excellent operators. especially if you want to get into the Yukon. This poster is only talking about a short summit combo.