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Alaska on your own


mistertoaster
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Anyone have tips, success/ failure stories in attempting to tour Alaska on your own. We are looking at the typical ports of Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan. Is renting a car feasible at these ports? Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks

 

 

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I've rented cars in all three of those ports. This past May was the latest cruise and we didn't have anything in particular we were wanting to do other than just getting off the ship to explore. There are some good car rentals at each of those cities that don't break the bank and give you the freedom to do what you want for the day.

 

At Sitka is "Sitka Car Rental" that will leave the car for you where it will be convenient. We drove out to the Fortress of the Bear, came back by the Raptor Center then parked right downtown.

 

At Juneau we rented from "Juneau Car Rental" which has a small storage building size office near the AJ dock where were our ship was docked - a 100 yard or so walk. Their cars are older used things (we had a Chrysler PT Cruiser) that run fine but aren't the nicest looking rides in town but we didn't care. It was a little less than $70 for the day. We drove far out north to the Shrine of St. Therese then came back by Mendenhall where we walked out to Nugget Falls. On the way back we stopped at the Gold Creek Salmon Bake for dinner (we had already stopped by an paid in advance - I didn't know if they would let us since we were self-driving and they provide a shuttle from town and back) where we had a great time.

 

We used "First City Car Rental" at Ketchikan - very, very easy. Their rep met us right at the exit of where we got of the ship at our berth with an iPad that had digital forms to sign. Our car (a practically new and super clean Kia Optima) was parked a 100 feet away in a public parking lot. We drove as far north out of town as we could go to Settler's Cove for a great photo opp - a creek with waterfall pouring into the bay. On the way was Totem Bight. We stopped by Walmart for a new bag for extra items we had bought on the trip. There's a blacksmith shop out south of town we went to also - I had been there before. I'm thinking this car rental was under $100 but can't remember. We left the car with the keys locked inside at the same lot where we picked it up. Easy.

 

All three of these cities are not that big, very easy to navigate and perfect for days on your own. You're not going to get lost...at least for very long. Ha Ha Do a little research on what there is in each place that you might find interesting. Juneau is definitely the largest place. The first time in Juneau we did a helicopter flight to land on a glacier - but we had rented a car that time too which saved us time by not using their provided shuttle. I'm pretty independent and don't like being herded around. It's not for everyone but if you're interested in doing things on your own it's pretty simple. The one thing I do is set an alarm in my phone to remind me to get back so we aren't late. We try to be back to the ship (or at least nearby) an hour or so before departure time.

 

Good luck!

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We would have rented a car in Ketchikan, but we wanted to hike one-way along the Ward Creek Trail to Ward Lake, for time’s sake, without back tracking. So it was more feasible in that case to use taxis, although they can be expensive (but still less than a shore excursion). Loved our day! I plan to rent a car next time and go out to Settler’s Cove.

Here’s what we did in Sitka: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=56857457&postcount=24 . The absolute highlight was the National Historical Park. It was about a 20 minute leisurely walk along the water from the shuttle drop off to the entrance. Sitka is beautiful!

I can see the benefit of a car in Juneau, you could see the Mendenhall Glacier at your own pace. Be sure to pull over and look at the eagles at the beach along the Channel on your way there. The times we’ve passed by there were too many to count!

Happy Sailing!

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Thanks for everyone’s suggestions. Juneau and Sitka car rental never responded to my call or emails. I suspect because we are out of season. However, I got through to Avis in Juneau and secured a downtown car rental. After doing more research on Sitka, we are going to use the shuttle which will get us to fortress of the bear and the raptor center. Unfortunately, not stopping in Skagway this time. We are traveling as a family of four, and by my calculations we will save over $1,000 in excursion costs by touring on our own and still see the same stops as the tours.

 

 

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I got through to Avis in Juneau and secured a downtown car rental.

 

We rented from Avis in Juneau in July 2018. From my understanding, the latest is that the local car rental that used to be so much cheaper is no longer so much cheaper...having raised their rates to still be less but not significantly less than Avis. This is what I've read on the boards.

 

Check out where your cruise docks in Juneau. We were docked at the furthest dock from the car rental location. It was a distance of over a mile, which doesn't seem awful but it was uphill for virtually the entire walk. We ended up taking a taxi to get there. Not a horrible expense, just something to be prepared for more with relation to time.

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