Icy point to Juneau trip OR out of Ketchikan to Misty Fiord as an excursion?

[muffin]

First one… at Icy point  very short stop for this excursion to off load to a catamaran  boat from cruise line ship. Travel for 6 hours  up coast to Juneau where you meet ship again. 299$.  OR.  From Ketchikan take faster boat, not cat, out to explore Misty Fiord area for 4.5 hours at cost of 209$? anybody familiar with either? recommendations? Thank you.

[Crew News]

On 11/11/2021 at 9:45 PM, muffin said:

First one… at Icy point  very short stop for this excursion to off load to a catamaran  boat from cruise line ship. Travel for 6 hours  up coast to Juneau where you meet ship again. 299$.  OR.  From Ketchikan take faster boat, not cat, out to explore Misty Fiord area for 4.5 hours at cost of 209$? anybody familiar with either? recommendations? Thank you.

I cannot help with the first choice but the second I have experienced.  The long boat ride to Misty Fjords is required to keep some distance from a protected wilderness area so wildlife spotting is impeded.  Time at the fjords is less than one hour, so bring a book to read that will last about 3.5 hours.

[muffin]

Thank you. Sounds like the first one is more what we want. We can read on the ship!  Your observations helped a lot. 

[Coral]

Can you elaborate on option 1 - what do you see? Does this see Tracy Arm?

 

Misty Fiord boat ride is not worth the price or time. The scenery is amazing just in one spot. The rest of it is very similar to what you will see elsewhere in Alaska.

Edited November 17, 2021 by Coral

[Italy52]

Agree with Coral about option 1 --- something is not quite right.  I have never heard of an Icy Strait excursion like you described. Maybe something new?  Or, are you talking about a Tracy Arm excursion?  The Tracy Arm excursion that off loads from the ship is a great excursion.  We have done it several times and always had a good experience.

 

I am also in agreement with Coral about the Misty Fjords boat ride not being worth the money.  We have been to Alaska many times and opted to do it because we had never done it.  Our takeaway was that the scenery was similar to what we were seeing on our cruise, the excursion took some time to get to the actual good scenery and the money spent would have been better spent on another excursion. 

 

Please remember that questions answered here are based on personal experience and can vary.  Something I like might not be something you like.  This is YOUR cruise and your decisions need to reflect that.  Whatever you decide, I am sure you will have a wonderful time in the beautiful state of Alaska.

 

 

[muffin]

Thanks for your confirming opinion. Always nice to getvtwo people agreeing on a question like mine. Yes, it is the Tracy Arm excursion....Princess seems to use the locations interchangeably!  We will book it now, as I suspect it fills up rather rapidly.  Thx again!  

[Crew News]

I have enjoyed the Tracy Arm excursion but I departed from the Juneau pier which added an extra hour.  The box lunch provided by Allen Marine was tasty and the scenery amazing.  The wildlife was plentiful:  whales, harbor seals on the ice flows, and sea lions on the rocks.  The most impressive was the huge ice flows with some bigger than a house (above the water) and how close we could get to them. 

 

 

 

 

[Coral]

I highly recommend the Tracy Arm excursion. I agree about booking it early.

[kochleffel]

For Misty Fjords, I'd recommend a flight tour with Island Wings.

 

[travelbug11]

On 11/28/2021 at 10:23 AM, kochleffel said:

For Misty Fjords, I'd recommend a flight tour with Island Wings.

 

ditto to that. Michelle is the best up there

[muffin]

Thanks to all for your comments. I am sure a flight would be wonderful too.  Will save Michelle idea for our next trip!  Crew news…..what month did you visit? We are going mid May. We have done this trip several times, and as I recall May was particularly good for ice flows near the ships.  All times are wonderful! 

[Crew News]

32 minutes ago, muffin said:

Thanks to all for your comments. I am sure a flight would be wonderful too.  Will save Michelle idea for our next trip!  Crew news…..what month did you visit? We are going mid May. We have done this trip several times, and as I recall May was particularly good for ice flows near the ships.  All times are wonderful! 

First two weeks of May is my favorite time to visit Alaska with lots of baby creatures discovering life, lowest travel prices of the season, still some snow on the peaks, days are not too long, and still a morning chill in the air.