Shore Excursions for 4 – On a Medium Budget?

[Need2TravelMuchMore]

Looking for advice from seasoned Alaska cruisers.  My wife and I along with my twin 8 ½ year-old girls will be sailing on the Star Princess at the end of May round trip out of Seattle.  Our ports are Ketchikan, Juneau (afternoon), Skagway and Victoria BC (evening).

 

We're traveling a long way (Ohio) and we can’t wait. We’re treating this very much like a once in a lifetime trip, so we’re not trying to be cheap… but we also don’t have the budget to drop $600-$700 or more in every single port.

 

So what do you recommend?  What is worth splurging on? What can I book myself to save a few bucks vs. what should I book through Princess? What can I absolutely not miss? Really looking for advice on where to spend the budget and where to pull back a bit.

 

Thanks.

[wolfie11]

Ketchikan - Saxman Village, walk around Creek Street, eat at Burger Queen.

 

Juneau - whale watch, Mendenhall Glacier, Mount Roberts tram

 

Skagway - Ranger-led walk, junior ranger activity, summer dog sled camp

[Northern Aurora]

Ketchikan is known for its totems.  So taking the city bus out to Saxman or Totem Bight are options.  If the kids like funiculars, there is one from Creek Street up to the Cape Fox Lodge; easy walk down to the Totem Heritage Center and then on to Creek Street.

 

Juneau offers shuttles out to Mendenhall Glacier.  The Mount Roberts tramway is right downtown, and the view from the top is spectacular on a clear day; no need to reserve ahead, just stand in line to purchase tickets.  And the line moves quickly.  The State Museum in Juneau is another option, but many of the exhibits are not geared toward 8 year olds.

 

If neither renting a vehicle for the day not train is  of interest in Skagway, then spend some time browsing through the town.  The National Park Service owns a number of the buildings, and they house historical displays.  The NPS offers a great junior ranger program in the old Pantheon Saloon.  Visit the Klondike National Park website for the northern unit (www.nps.gov/klgo) and look for the junior ranger tab.

 

I suspect you have already browsed through the trip reports (organized by year) located at the top of this forum index.  A number of kid friendly activities are mentioned. 

[Tourist1292]

What is your budget on excursions? We only booked the excursion in Juneau and Skagway while we are going to do self tour at Ketchikan and Victoria. We also have pre-cruise at Vancouver and post-cruise at Seattle. So we have to limit our cost on excursions.

[Need2TravelMuchMore]

I don't have an exact budget in mind other than that dropping $500-700 in every port isn't an option.  I'm hoping to get thoughts on what is worth splurging on vs. what I can do at a lower price without truly missing out on the Alaskan experience.  

 

I've wanted to see Alaska for as long as I can remember, but I also can't break the bank once I'm there so I'm hoping to find a happy medium.

[Great Sky Girl]

I think you can see Alaska so well by renting a car in Skagway and taking the drive to Emerald lake. The drive and stops are so beautiful and will take your breath away. May is wonderful with a good bit of snow on the mountains and they are so close, right there! You get away from the crowds in the town. You can often spot wildlife. I just want to go back again!

[lynncarol]

On our Princess cruise, my husband and I  totally splurged to take an Island Wings float plane to see the bears feeding on salmon in Traitors Cove, Ketchikan. It was an unforgettable experience and worth every penny. (You need to be there at the right time of year, however).  In the two other ports, we did it cheaply on our own.  Juneau: Shuttle to Mendenhall Glacier with hike to Nugget Falls. Skagway: local bus which dropped us off near train depot to hike to Lower Reid Falls and Gold Rush cemetery followed by walking tour from NP Gold rush museum.

[alejorubi]

Hi.  I booked through alaska shore tours because thay have some combos and some discounts when you book with them more than 1 excursion.  For around 959 usd for 2 fo us I've booked

 

Whale + glacier.  Juneau

Yukon day (by bus not train). Skagway

Flights + crab fest.  Ketchikan

 

Obviously the last one was the most expensive but you could change it and try for all 4 a total of 1200

Edited March 1, 2019 by alejorubi

[mapleleaves]

There are free and budget activities in every town.  Most people can't afford to drop big bucks at every port. I would budget for one special activity though .... something that will provide a great family memory from your visit to Alaska.

 

Look thru past trip reports to see what others travelers have done on a budget.  Look at the town web sites for ideas. ( the thread just down the page called ' 2019 Resources .... ' has all the town web sites. Inside each web site you can also download the town Visitor Guide)

 

KETCHIKAN --- $2 pp for the bus out to Totem Bight. Beautiful waterfront and rainforest location for a totem park.  The colors and stories behind the totems will probably fascinate the kids.  And look for purple starfish along any pilings or moorings by the water.  In town pick up a walking tour map and wander around Creek Street, the Fish Ladder, Married Mans Trail.  (you're too early for the bear-watching tours)

 

JUNEAU  -  great port for whale watching !  or rent a car for a 20 minute drive to Mendenhall Glacier and walk to Nugget Falls.  A car will probably be cheaper than shuttle tickets at $40/45 pp.  If you have the time continue the drive out to the coast , for another 30 minutes and visit Shrine of St Therese, Eagle Beach.

 

SKAGWAY - rent a car drive into the Yukon to see Emerald Lake, Carcross Desert, and scenic viewpoints along the way.  (May and early June is when people often spot bears munching on greenery along the hwy)

 

VICTORIA - walk to the Inner Harbor from the pier, about 20 minutes.  About halfway there you come to Fishermans Wharf ...  little shops and restaurants, houseboats,  and usually seals around the dock.  The Inner Harbor is beautiful ... the Empress Hotel, Parliament Bldgs, totems, and lots of boat and seaplane activity on the water.

 

Have fun !

 

 

[TwinMamainMN]

We have twins also. ❤️ ❤️ Ours are b/g and were 10 when we were in Alaska last summer. We planned our excursions around what we wanted to see, and absolutely included the things that our kids would like too.  

 

Ketchikan - we did the Bearing Sea Crab Fisherman's tour. We booked it directly with the company to save some money. It was really fun, interesting, and the kids loved it!

 

Juneau - we rented a minivan (6 of us traveling together total, 3 adults and 3 kids). Then drove to Mendenhall Glacier and explored as much as we wanted. Drove to Eagle Point Beach and explored there. Stopped at the DIPAC Salmon Hatchery on the way back into Juneau and did the tour. The kids liked the freedom to explore and it was an inexpensive day overall. We did not do the Mount Roberts Tram because it was foggy and drizzly all day.

 

Skagway - we did a private tour to Emerald Lake, Carcross in the Yukon, and did the sled dog cart at Caribou Crossing. The kids LOVED the dog sled/cart ride. My mom booked that day through ShoreTours, and it was less than the ship price, and we had a great tour guide. Plus, we travelled alone just our family so we could stop and see what we wanted. It was a long day in a van, but lots of neat things to see, and the dog sledding was super fun. We specifically did NOT want to do the Skagway train tour as we knew our kids would not enjoy being confined to a seat in a train for several hours. On the van tour, we got out several times to explore and had more freedom. It was a good mix for us. Our 10-yr old daughter even said she "liked hearing about the land and history and stuff" that day. LOL!

[masterdrago]

Look at jeep rentals in Skagway to save $$$. Drive up the Klondike highway to Carcross.

 

[Tourist1292]

On 3/1/2019 at 4:18 PM, alejorubi said:

Hi.  I booked through alaska shore tours because thay have some combos and some discounts when you book with them more than 1 excursion.  For around 959 usd for 2 fo us I've booked

 

Whale + glacier.  Juneau

Yukon day (by bus not train). Skagway

Flights + crab fest.  Ketchikan

 

Obviously the last one was the most expensive but you could change it and try for all 4 a total of 1200

We have been struggling whether to do the float plane at Ketchikan. We have booked the Yukon 4hr tour at Skagway and the whale watching plus glacier at Juneau for around $1200 for 6. They do have a combo 15% off discount. For now, we are planning to do self tour at Ketchikan with their city bus. We will save the money to have a good meal on crabs at Juneau or Ketchikan.

For Victoria, we are too early in the season for Butchart Garden, so we will just do the walking tour and go to the Chinatown perhaps with dinner there.

Edited March 9, 2019 by Tourist1292

[Melinda Brasher]

I agree that you should splurge on one thing.  Maybe whale watching in Juneau?  Or something glacier-related.  Then do budget in the other ports:

 

Ketchikan:   Walk around Creek Street and up to the salmon ladder, especially if the salmon are running.  Go to the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center right in town--which has a kids' scavenger hunt and lots of cool displays regarding wildlife and native culture.  Take the local bus to Totem Bight and walk around the lovely park and learn about Totem poles.  Hike Deer Mountain (if the kids are good hikers) or Rainbird trail.  

 

Juneau:  Mendenhall Glacier is really cool, but the shuttles are getting more and more expensive.  I'd consider a taxi or ride share.  Whale watching is good here.  If you book independently, you'll probably get a slightly better price or a smaller boat.  On the free side, use the binoculars in Marine Park to look for mountain goats on Mt. Juneau.  Don't forget to look for the statue of Patsy Ann, Juneau's most famous dog, and read about her.  Duck in to Tatu smokeries to hopefully see some salmon processing in action.    

 

Skagway:  Historical walking tours (really interesting, even if you're not a history buff) and free museum at Klondike National Historic Park visitor center.  Stroll down the cute streets and duck into interesting shops or replicas of gold rush saloons and such.  And...hiking!  Skagway's got so many fantastic hiking opportunities.  One of the best hikes of my entire life (and I hike a lot) was to Upper Dewey Lake (quite strenuous because of the elevation gain).  But there are easier alternatives:  Yakutania Point and Smuggler's Cove, Lower Reid Falls and the gold rush cemetery, or Lower Dewey Lake.

 

Victoria:  Watch the boats perform in the harbor, take a free tour of the parliament building.  And of course, Buchart Gardens are gorgeous but not terribly cheap. Doing it yourself is more economical but takes more time, so factor that in.

 

For more details and pictures or some of these things:

https://cruisingalaskaonabudget.wordpress.com/2017/06/14/10-inexpensive-things-to-do-in-alaskan-ports/

 

 

    

[martincath]

50 minutes ago, Tourist1292 said:

...For Victoria, we are too early in the season for Butchart Garden, so we will just do the walking tour and go to the Chinatown perhaps with dinner there.

I believe from your other posts that you're cruising May 10th, so you are literally in the absolute peak time for Butchart (which is a year-round destination with no off-season; tickets are discounted in winter due to many fewer plants in bloom but their peak pricing runs May through September because it's a riot of colour in all the flower beds).

 

There are of  course valid reasons not to visit Butchart (it's not the ONLY thing to do in and around Victoria, it's not a cheap entry ticket, and cruise stops can be just too short/too late in the day to make the logistics work) but the date of your visit is absolutely not a problem, quite the opposite in fact, so if that's why you are not visiting I suggest you reconsider - and go slap whoever told you that May is off-season...

[Tourist1292]

56 minutes ago, martincath said:

I believe from your other posts that you're cruising May 10th, so you are literally in the absolute peak time for Butchart (which is a year-round destination with no off-season; tickets are discounted in winter due to many fewer plants in bloom but their peak pricing runs May through September because it's a riot of colour in all the flower beds).

 

There are of  course valid reasons not to visit Butchart (it's not the ONLY thing to do in and around Victoria, it's not a cheap entry ticket, and cruise stops can be just too short/too late in the day to make the logistics work) but the date of your visit is absolutely not a problem, quite the opposite in fact, so if that's why you are not visiting I suggest you reconsider - and go slap whoever told you that May is off-season...

The main reason not to go there is because their summer schedule starts in June. By the time we arrive the port at 5pm, the garden would be closed for the day. If the ships arrive a few hours earlier, or between June 1 and September 15, then it would be fine. Their peak season is June 1 to August 31 when the garden close at 10pm. Mid May is definitely not in their peak season.

 

https://www.butchartgardens.com/hours/

Edited March 9, 2019 by Tourist1292

[martincath]

I think we're perhaps using different definitions of peak;-)

 

Butchart are very inconsistent with their variable rates and hours - they don't match (the hours are at their maximum June 1st - Aug 31st, but 'summer' pricing starts June 14th and runs until Sep 30th). I can assure you (as a Botanist, with a landscape-gardener father, a grandad who literally made me use scissors to trim the edges of his flower beds, plus now being a PNW local familiar with our climate and with multiple visits to Butchart at different times of year under my belt) that the marginal discount for 'Spring' tickets compared to 'Summer' is nothing to do with a lack of flowers - but simply down to no fireworks (rather than charge extra on firework nights, Butchart spreads the hefty cost of the weekly shows over their whole 'Summer' season).

 

April can be marginal - we have had some late frosts that do impact spring flowers even on the Island into April - but May is consistently fantastic for floral displays in this part of the world. In fact a very long winter can be a boon as you might get a really good display of tulips into May, which normally peak in March or April over this side. In short, May is IMO the BEST month to see the gardens - assuming you can actually make it there on a port day of course.

 

Unfortunately if you are arriving at 5pm this doesn't help you - but since OP specified they were cruising at the end of May, in case their day in Victoria day has an earlier arrival time/is actually in early June when the hours go later the point that May is a great time to visit the gardens needed to be clarified.

[Tourist1292]

As there are different flower and foliage peak seasons over many months in the year. May may be a peak season for certain vegetation but unfortunately not necessary for the park as it is typically defined by the number of tourists. I wish they would have extended hours in May. By the way, I was a biology major decades ago and led numerous botany field trips when I was in college. I still have a lot of interest in plants.

 

[MommytoAsquared]

I have girls who were 16 and 11 when we went to Alaska last summer.

 

Ketchikan - We did a walking tour and really enjoyed the lumberjack show.  It was a little hokey, but actually very entertaining.

 

Skagway - We rented a Jeep did a self guided jeep tour.  We saw the same highlights as the trian tour and loved the freedom of being able to come and go as we pleased.  Make sure you stop at the cemetery also and the waterfall behind the cemetery.  

 

Victoria - We did the horse trolley tour.  It took about an hour.  My 11 y/o child enjoyed it a lot.  The older one was less impressed.

 

Juneau - We rented a car from Juneau Car Rental and explored on our own.  Looking back, I wish we had done a whale watching excursion.  But on the positive side, we did get a see a bear on the side of the road for about 10 seconds!

 

Your family is going to have a great time!  Enjoy it!

 

[martincath]

6 hours ago, Tourist1292 said:

...I still have a lot of interest in plants.

In that case I'll throw you a map of a few gardens around Victoria which open more sensible hours than Butchart (generally until dusk, so at least 8pm by mid-May). Abkhazi unfortunately closes at 5pm like Butchart, but the gardens of Government House include several very different styles of garden (about 4km walk, and if you'd like to stretch your legs go via Beacon Hill Park on the way for local oaks, another Rose Garden and various other planted areas); Hatley Castle has some pretty sweet gardens around it too, and a whopping $5 for 'self guided' entry through the summer (totally free until the end of April) - unfortunately guided tours won't be available in the evening, and it's rather out of the way involving a couple of transit buses ($5pp for a day pass) or a taxi ride in the ~$25 ballpark.

 

The Japanese Gardens in Esquimault are en route to Hatley and have a fascinating history - they were abandoned for decades but reopened with fairly minimal renovation in 2009. This would be somewhere that someone who likes pretty flower gardens would be distinctly 'meh' about, but someone interested in plants (and human interaction with them) might find extremely intriguing... this PDF is about the single most informative note in terms of exactly where they are and what the history is.

 

Left the map as On Foot - if you want to look at transit routes you'll have to delete some of the entries as while Google does have all the BC Transit timetables, it will only do routing from one point to one other point, not a series. The little water taxis can also drop you just outside the Esquimault Gorge Park.

Edited March 10, 2019 by martincath

[Tourist1292]

28 minutes ago, martincath said:

In that case I'll throw you a map of a few gardens around Victoria which open more sensible hours than Butchart (generally until dusk, so at least 8pm by mid-May). Abkhazi unfortunately closes at 5pm like Butchart, but the gardens of Government House include several very different styles of garden (about 4km walk, and if you'd like to stretch your legs go via Beacon Hill Park on the way for local oaks, another Rose Garden and various other planted areas); Hatley Castle has some pretty sweet gardens around it too, and a whopping $5 for 'self guided' entry through the summer (totally free until the end of April) - unfortunately guided tours won't be available in the evening, and it's rather out of the way involving a couple of transit buses ($5pp for a day pass) or a taxi ride in the ~$25 ballpark.

 

The Japanese Gardens in Esquimault are en route to Hatley and have a fascinating history - they were abandoned for decades but reopened with fairly minimal renovation in 2009. This would be somewhere that someone who likes pretty flower gardens would be distinctly 'meh' about, but someone interested in plants (and human interaction with them) might find extremely intriguing... this PDF is about the single most informative note in terms of exactly where they are and what the history is.

 

Left the map as On Foot - if you want to look at transit routes you'll have to delete some of the entries as while Google does have all the BC Transit timetables, it will only do routing from one point to one other point, not a series. The little water taxis can also drop you just outside the Esquimault Gorge Park.

Thank you very much for the info. I do need something to fill our itinerary at Victoria. We will certainly the Government House and Beacon Hill Park.

Edited March 10, 2019 by Tourist1292

[Need2TravelMuchMore]

Thanks for all the great suggestions.  We'll definitely be splurging in at least one port so it's great to see what other cruisers have to say about their experiences .

[julie3fan]

If you're thinking of splurging on a flightseeing trip in Ketchikan, have a Plan B!  Our trip last year (early May) was cancelled due to fog.  

[masterdrago]

41 minutes ago, julie3fan said:

If you're thinking of splurging on a flightseeing trip in Ketchikan, have a Plan B!  Our trip last year (early May) was cancelled due to fog.  

We've heard this advice over and over from CC. On the spreadsheet that Joy made for our trip in  May we have both mtnairservice and taquanair listed as backup plans. We have their phone numbers in case our flight with Island Wings gets scrubbed due to mechanical issues or something unforeseen occurs. It's easy to have a list ready just in case. julie3fan is dead on!

[lynncarol]

If this is any comfort, when we took our flight with Island Wings in September several years ago, it was raining.  I was sure this would mean cancellation of the flight but Michelle (the pilot and owner) said to me, " Of course we are flying. This is a rain forest.  If I waited for perfect weather we would never get off the ground".

We really lucked out, as the rain stopped for the entire time we were watching the bears and only began again when the plane arrived to take us back.

[Need2TravelMuchMore]

Thanks everyone for all the great suggestions and insight.  My family landed on the following:

• Ketchikan – Going to the Lumberjack show, then lunch at Burger Queen, then walk around town and/or take the bus out to the totem poles. Gold rush cemetery too.
• Juneau – dogsled experience
• Skagway – renting a jeep for the day and driving into the Yukon with a self-guided tour
• Victoria – playing it by ear since we are only there in the evening. Probably just walking around or maybe a trolley tour. TBD.  We may be all excursioned out by then.

Just 2 more weeks and we can’t wait!