Alaska Excursons with Princess

[hondo1717]

Good Morning fellow Princess Cruisers.

 

If you do not mind, would you be able to give us your recommendations for excursions in Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan and Victoria BC. We are going on the April 28 cruise out of Seattle and obviously looking for some recommendations. Any of your personal experiences would also be welcomed.

 

Thank You in advance. :)

[easyboy]

You can also post on the Alaska Port of Call Forum for additional recommendations

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?55https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?55

 

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[SadieN]

What do you like to do? How active are you?

 

In Skagway the big excursion is the railroad. In Victoria it’s Butchart Gardens.

 

Juneau and Skagway both have unique distilleries.

[Wishing on a star]

We did not book Princess Excursions...

This is one place where it is best if you do your own.

 

I really comes down to what type of excursions you want to do.

Active, Sightseeing, Helicopter, etc..

.

We booked our own Whale Watching in Juneau, and there was only on other party onboard.

The train at Skagway can easily be done on your own. Book a combo, for a van to meet you at the end, and tour by van back to the ship. Or, easy to rent a car on your own.

 

And, yes, go to the Alaska Ports of Call... (lower down on the boards page here on CC)

This should really be moved there.

[Bollycats]

I was there last summer and in most ports we did something easy. For Skagway, I wanted to get out into the wilds of Alaska so we chose a river rafting trip to the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve. I am in no way an outdoorsy person so this was a little out of my element. I LOVED IT! We didn't paddle the rafts-we were just passengers, but it was a great chance to see the mountains and water and of course the eagles. It was an overcast day, but the scenery was gorgeous! They also provided a picnic lunch at the beginning and coffee/tea/hot chocolate and cookies at the end. Very well done and a great experience I never thought I would get. I highly recommend it.

[dinibo]

I actually would like to piggy back on this post and ask if anyone has done the Princess excursions specifically in Alaska. I have plenty of information on what to do outside of the ship excursions but as my husband and I have a considerable amount of OBC we would like to use it to pay for an excursion through Princess. Anyone have a good experience with one of their trips, particularly in Ketchikan?

[LeeW]

After four trips up there we generally don't do the cruise line excursions any more since they tend to be more crowded and cost more.

 

Train booked through cruise line in Skagway gets you cars closer to the ship. Eagle preserve float trip best through Princess since it requires ferry trips to Haines.

 

Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau might be cheaper through Princess since local buses (base of the tram) are now over $30pp, even if you have a National Park Pass.

 

Whale watching is less crowded on non-cruise-line tours in Juneau.

 

Float planes in Ketchikan can be done either way, unless ship has all the companies booked. Several bear watching sites have limited permits, so book early.

 

Weather can shut down flights in both Juneau and Ketchikan, so have a backup activity planned.

 

Parliament tour in Victoria is free and excellent.

[Wishing on a star]

Excellent info, Lee !!!!

[USCcruisecrazy]

Weather can shut down flights in both Juneau and Ketchikan, so have a backup activity planned.

 

This is the best piece of advice!! Not just for flights, but for many activities. I lived in Alaska for four years and the one constant is that the weather changes on a dime! Be prepared.

[Alaskanb]

I actually would like to piggy back on this post and ask if anyone has done the Princess excursions specifically in Alaska. I have plenty of information on what to do outside of the ship excursions but as my husband and I have a considerable amount of OBC we would like to use it to pay for an excursion through Princess. Anyone have a good experience with one of their trips, particularly in Ketchikan?

We did a great Princess excursion in Ketchikan

Wilderness Exploration Cruise & Crab Feast

 

It goes to the George Inlet lodge with a terrific meal. The lodge is accessed either via steps or a van for those who need assistance.

This what I wrote in my review :

This was our cloudy damp cool (55F) day. We took breakfast in the MDR as we did not dock until 10:30 am then began our Princess Wilderness Exploration and Crabfeast tour. There are lots of college students working for the summer in Alaska and our driver was a well informed young man from Utah. The drive along the coast from Ketchikan took about thirty minutes with a few Bald Eagle sightings. At George Inlet there are 79 steps down to the boat — I decided I could do that but a shuttle was available….. The next part of the excursion was a 30 minute boat trip to see eagle nests and how Dungeness crabs are captured. It was very educational. The boat captain threw out a herring and a Bald Eagle came down to grab it. When we got back to the lodge we were greeted with hot apple cider then were offered a choice of drinks —we chose an Alaskan Amber beer. The feast began with a green salad followed by a lesson in crab eating before the main course was delivered. The crab was delicious. I saved space for their cheesecake with blueberry sauce.

[JoRoy218]

I was there last summer and in most ports we did something easy. For Skagway, I wanted to get out into the wilds of Alaska so we chose a river rafting trip to the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve. I am in no way an outdoorsy person so this was a little out of my element. I LOVED IT! We didn't paddle the rafts-we were just passengers, but it was a great chance to see the mountains and water and of course the eagles. It was an overcast day, but the scenery was gorgeous! They also provided a picnic lunch at the beginning and coffee/tea/hot chocolate and cookies at the end. Very well done and a great experience I never thought I would get. I highly recommend it.

We did this excursion this past June (booked directly through company) and thought it was great! Highly recommend. Eagle pictures are amazing!

[yags]

Good Morning fellow Princess Cruisers.

 

If you do not mind, would you be able to give us your recommendations for excursions in Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan and Victoria BC. We are going on the April 28 cruise out of Seattle and obviously looking for some recommendations. Any of your personal experiences would also be welcomed.

 

Thank You in advance. :)

I have not been to Alaska but we WILL be going on the Grand in June of 2018. I have also been trying to figure out the best excursions. Check out my post from around 9-27-17 there is some information there that might help you. For us we think we want to do the Dog Sledding and the Whitepass and Yukon RR. I am sure we will do more but are really interested in those two so far. I will follow your thread with great interest.

[ckck]

In Juneau, my husband and I did the Helicopter Glacier Trek (JNU-855) and it was our favorite excursion of the cruise - pricey but worth it. Two hours of trekking on the ice was awesome. Great equipment (pants, jacket, helmet, boots, crampons, fanny pack, harness, etc) provided and scenic helicopter ride to and from glacier. And we had a terrific guide! Picture from the glacier

Edited October 24, 2017 by ckck
adding pic

[geoherb]

I recommend the Princess snorkeling excursion in Ketchikan, especially if your time in port is short. We did that on our first cruise to Alaska and loved it. On subsequent cruises, we booked an independent kayaking excursion once and took the public bus to Totem Bite on the other. We had time to walk over to Creek Street on all three cruises.

[Mike45LC]

If you are thinking of taking a ship’s shore excursion (non-helicopter) to the Mendenhall Glacier, I have a warning.

 

I took this shore excursion a couple of months ago. It cost $45 per person, $90 for a couple. We were put on a shuttle that dropped us off near the tourist center at the Glacier. The bus driver told us that he’d be back to pick us up in 2.5 hours. I asked the driver “what if we want to come back early?” and he told me to check the white board for the next available bus.

 

After about 45 minutes, I was ready to leave the Glacier. But the white board did not show a bus leaving for another hour! My time in port is too short for me to hang around for an hour waiting for a bus, so in the end, I paid an extra $35 for a taxi (plus tip) to bring us back to downtown Juneau.

 

So, here is my recommendation: Do NOT buy the Ship’s $45 shore excursion. Instead, take a taxi – the one-way taxi cost me $35 + tip (the cabbie was a nice guy, I gave him $20%, so my total cost from the Glacier to downtown was $42). For two of us, taking a taxi each way would have cost slightly less than the Ship’s Excursion (and much less than the Shore Excursion plus a one-way taxi). For three people, the taxi is much cheaper. Or, we could have bought tickets from one of the vendors dockside, for the shuttles that run every 20 minutes, for $35 per person – because these shuttles ran almost continuously, we would not have had to hire a taxi to return.

 

Of course, if you are going on a tour with kayaking up to the face of the glacier or some other activities, my warning is not relevant. But if you are just going to take a shuttle up to the Glacier, grab a cab instead.

[Mike45LC]

In Skagway, the White Pass Railroad is the main excursion. The ship offers multiple excursions wrapped around the railroad. My first choice had been sold out, so I took my second choice: Railroad one way to the top, then a bus ride to the Suspension Bridge and the Jewell Flower Gardens for lunch.

 

This was a last minute cruise, so I did not do any planning in advance, and I have no idea how hard it would be to take the railroad on your own. Little details, like how to get to the railroad, how to get back. And then, without some kind of tour, do you remember that you need your passport?

 

The RR was very enjoyable, amazing views. The suspension bridge was okay, but it did not impress me all that much.

 

The Jewell Gardens – lunch was disgusting. If memory serves, there was some kind of soup, that I did not touch. There was a salad with strange leaves; I do not do “strange.” We had a choice of salmon quiche or veggie quiche; I would not let the server put that stuff in front of me. I tried to eat a roll, but it was not edible – I don’t care what anyone says about nutrition, but unground wheat is not fit for bread. Then there was some kind of dessert based on rhubarb – rhubarb is not a dessert. And the gardens, after that farce of a meal, I was not in the mood to look at the gardens. At least we could bail out on this for a $2 pp bus ride back to the ship!!

[rocklinmom]

In Victoria we did the Princess excursion to Butchart Gardens and their Butterfly Gardens. It will depend if you are docked there during the day or in the evening. Both were great! If you are there in the evening, they might offer the Gardens lit up and possibly with fireworks (if they still do that). The Butterfly Gardens were a daytime only excursion.

 

 

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[peety3]

We did not book Princess Excursions...This is one place where it is best if you do your own. We booked our own Whale Watching in Juneau, and there was only on other party onboard.

 

After four trips up there we generally don't do the cruise line excursions any more since they tend to be more crowded and cost more.

 

Whale watching is less crowded on non-cruise-line tours in Juneau.

 

I whole-heartedly disagree. The best whale watching (in my opinion, obviously) is through Gastineau Guiding, and it's excursions JNU-670, JNU-700, and JNU-705. 14 passenger boats for 700, 20 passenger boats for 670 and 705. Sure, you might find boats with fewer passengers, but they won't be as good as these: stable, due to inflated pontoons that add width and flotation for stability, great windows that 100% lift up and out of the way for the best photography, and enough space between the open decks (forward and aft for the 20-passenger boats, forward for the 14-pax boats) and the interior that you'll never have to stand behind someone.

 

Sure, Harv & Marv has market share, but their 6-passenger boats are V-hull so they're going to rock with the waves and lean as everyone goes to one side or the other, and they'll cancel long before anyone else because of it. The other boats in the <50 passenger range tip more and have sliding windows, so they're never more than 50% open. The bigger boats are certainly more stable, but lots of people means you're standing 4-deep to see.

 

That said, if your ship contracts with Gastineau Guiding, you'll have to book via the ship. It's worth it!

[Papa Hooks]

Good Morning fellow Princess Cruisers.

 

If you do not mind, would you be able to give us your recommendations for excursions in Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan and Victoria BC. We are going on the April 28 cruise out of Seattle and obviously looking for some recommendations. Any of your personal experiences would also be welcomed.

 

Thank You in advance. :)

We're gonna be on the same cruise! Second to AK for us.

 

That being said, the only excursion we will do through Princess is the train ride in Skagway. Whale watching is much cheaper outside of Princess in Juneau and I think our choice of excursion in Ketchikan will be the same.

 

If you've never been, I recommend the train and whales on our first two stops.

[cdngrl]

if you're on the budget plan, the yellow bus trips in skagway are fun, as is the lumberjack show in ketchikan (cheesy but entertaining).

 

depending on how much time you have here in victoria, i recommend butchart gardens, especially on a saturday night because of the fireworks, most stops are only for a few hours though, so i'd stay in town, walk the inner harbour, go to the legislature and museum.

 

i don't think i've taken a ship's tour in juneau, though i loved harv and marv's whale watching (with a stop at mendenhall on the way back).

[goldie099]

When I sailed to Alaska, we did two Princess excursions (Juneau and Ketchikan) and two ports on our own (Skagway and Victoria). In Juneau I did a Bike and Brew Glacier View, and in Ketchikan a snorkelling excursion. Both were excellent. In Skagway, we rented a car and drove (made it all the way to Whitehorse, Yukon) - it was incredible, I highly recommend doing this if you can. In Victoria we just walked around downtown.

[ams cruiser]

We did a round-trip on the Ruby out of Seattle last July/August. Our favorite excursion, by far, was the glacier landing/sled dog trip with Coastal helicopters. At the risk of sounding like a cliche, it was a life-changing experience. In Skagway we booked a combination Yukon rail and bus tour with Chilkoot Charters and had one of the best tour guides we have ever experienced! In Ketchikan we did the Misty Fjords float plan tour with Island Wings, which was a glorious experience. We were in Victoria for only a few hours in the evening, and booked our only ship's excursion for an evening tour of Butchart Gardens. It is the only tour I wouldn't recommend, simply because it was too dark to see much. We would love to go back in the daytime, however. If you are interested in more details, I did a pretty extensive pictorial trip review (my first and only),including our pre-Seattle activities https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2533305 I got a lot of good information from Cruise Critic boards and Trip Advisor in planning our Seattle/Alaska cruise vacation. We had the trip of a lifetime!

[ams cruiser]

I whole-heartedly disagree. The best whale watching (in my opinion, obviously) is through Gastineau Guiding, and it's excursions JNU-670, JNU-700, and JNU-705. 14 passenger boats for 700, 20 passenger boats for 670 and 705. Sure, you might find boats with fewer passengers, but they won't be as good as these: stable, due to inflated pontoons that add width and flotation for stability, great windows that 100% lift up and out of the way for the best photography, and enough space between the open decks (forward and aft for the 20-passenger boats, forward for the 14-pax boats) and the interior that you'll never have to stand behind someone.

 

Sure, Harv & Marv has market share, but their 6-passenger boats are V-hull so they're going to rock with the waves and lean as everyone goes to one side or the other, and they'll cancel long before anyone else because of it. The other boats in the <50 passenger range tip more and have sliding windows, so they're never more than 50% open. The bigger boats are certainly more stable, but lots of people means you're standing 4-deep to see.

 

That said, if your ship contracts with Gastineau Guiding, you'll have to book via the ship. It's worth it!

 

This sounds like a great company! How do you know if the ship's excursion is with Gastineau Guiding? Do they book independently, or only through the cruise lines?

[ColoradoMom!!]

We are going with friends who said the Taku Lodge Float Plane excursion through Princess was their favorite - in Juneau I believe.

 

Has anyone done this one in particular?

 

thanks

[phabric]

I did Alaksa out of Seattle July with Tracy Arms.

 

I would recommend Princess Tracy Arms excursion, excellent tour.