Shore Excursion About to Be Cancelled?

[strickerj]

I got notices that my Sitka shore excursion (Historic Sitka Highlights) had been modified (the exact change didn't matter to me), and my Victoria shore excursion (Victoria Highlights & Craigdarroch Castle) had been canceled (castle is closed). I logged in to save an updated itinerary and brochure, and I see our Juneau excursion (Exclusive Mendenhall Glacier, Rainforest Garden & State Museum) is no longer listed, though it's still in our booking. Given the changes that have already occurred, is this likely to be cancelled too? If so, what would be a good replacement, or should we just plan to explore Juneau on our own? (We really want to see Mendenhall Glacier, Mt. Roberts, and possibly the state museum.)

 

I assume we can explore Juneau and Victoria on our own without a shore excursion? (I haven't seen any restrictions on this published for Alaska itineraries.)

Edited March 24, 2022 by strickerj

[FOPMan]

If  Butchart Gardens is an available excursion in Victoria,  take it. If it’s early summer, the weather will be cool.  If it’s evening and before the Gardens switch to summer hours, there will likely be less than 300 people in the entire garden.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

You can do all of those on your own. There are usually local school buses that go out to the Mendenhall Glacier after you buy a ticket from one of the local tour vendors who have stalls set up on the pier. The Mt. Roberts Tram is right downtown easily walkable from the ships and you can buy your ticket there. The Alaska State Museum is walkable about 10 blocks if I remember correctly. Check their website for directions and hours.

[Bucketlist22]

4 hours ago, FOPMan said:

If  Butchart Gardens is an available excursion in Victoria,  take it. If it’s early summer, the weather will be cool.  If it’s evening and before the Gardens switch to summer hours, there will likely be less than 300 people in the entire garden.

Butchart Gardens are absolutely gorgeous. Really beautiful any time of the year

[strickerj]

4 hours ago, FOPMan said:

If  Butchart Gardens is an available excursion in Victoria,  take it. If it’s early summer, the weather will be cool.  If it’s evening and before the Gardens switch to summer hours, there will likely be less than 300 people in the entire garden.

I thought about that, though I'm not sure about the lighting at that hour. (We're in port from 6:00 to 11:30 in the evening on May 27; it looks like sunset is around 9:00 but I'm not sure how the terrain and trees will be.)

 

1 hour ago, SJSULIBRARIAN said:

You can do all of those on your own. There are usually local school buses that go out to the Mendenhall Glacier after you buy a ticket from one of the local tour vendors who have stalls set up on the pier. The Mt. Roberts Tram is right downtown easily walkable from the ships and you can buy your ticket there. The Alaska State Museum is walkable about 10 blocks if I remember correctly. Check their website for directions and hours.

Thanks, I think I'll do that, or maybe rent a car (that is, if my excursion does end up cancelled).

[FOPMan]

If you had to pick any day of the year, tour date in May happens to be a FANTASTIC day. I’m pretty sure the Gardens won’t have shifted to summer hours. Instead of throngs of people, you’ll have it virtually to yourself.

 

You CANT do the Gardens on your own for 2 reasons: the public entrance would be closed by the time you got there. 2) The Gardens are a bit north of the city and there’s not enough time to pick up a car, get there, and back, and still make the ship’s departure.

 

 

 

it’s one of our favorite places- we live in Texas and used to live on the East Coast.

 

We  were there on pretty much the same day a few years ago, so I’m sharing direct, comparable information.

Edited March 25, 2022 by FOPMan

[jkrislc]

1 hour ago, strickerj said:

I thought about that, though I'm not sure about the lighting at that hour. (We're in port from 6:00 to 11:30 in the evening on May 27; it looks like sunset is around 9:00 but I'm not sure how the terrain and trees will be.)

 

Thanks, I think I'll do that, or maybe rent a car (that is, if my excursion does end up cancelled).

We were on the Oosterdam with similar port times in Victoria and did Buchard Gardens. They did have lights set up and we did arrive just before sunset, so we were able to see it both in daylight and with the built in lighting. It's definitely better in the day when you have more time, but if you've never been and might not go again it's worth doing.

[strickerj]

11 hours ago, jkrislc said:

We were on the Oosterdam with similar port times in Victoria and did Buchard Gardens. They did have lights set up and we did arrive just before sunset, so we were able to see it both in daylight and with the built in lighting. It's definitely better in the day when you have more time, but if you've never been and might not go again it's worth doing.

Sounds good, I'll take a look today. I imagine I'll be back at some point since my dad used to live in Vancouver (and we'll be missing that on this trip), but of course I'm not sure when that would be.

[jeh10641]

Juneau is a small city and, as has been said, very walkable. Mendenhall Glacier is about 15 minutes away and a must see. Unless you helicopter to a glacier, you will never get closer. Red Dog Saloon is worth a peek and a taste, if you can get in. Lots of history there.

 

Jim

[Copper10-8]

Another vote for Butchart Gardens, especially if you have never been there before! Definitely worth it and that's from a former jarhead who is not that much into flowers and stuff 😉 

 

 

 

[ontheweb]

14 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

Another vote for Butchart Gardens, especially if you have never been there before! Definitely worth it and that's from a former jarhead who is not that much into flowers and stuff 😉 

 

 

 

Gorgeous pictures, thank you for posting them.

[strickerj]

One more thing - it looks like there are two excursions through HAL that go to Butchart Gardens; should we go with the one that includes the butterfly garden or not? (I'm not sure what the difference is otherwise; maybe the one without the butterfly garden sees more of downtown?) I assume being indoors, the butterfly garden has activity year round?

[LBCABob]

Have done S/E w/butterfly garden and found it to be not worth the time.  Especially when you include waiting for the next bus to stop and take you on to Butchart.  Just my opinion, YMMV.

[jkrislc]

While I don't recall doing this specific butterfly garden, I'd skip it as your time in Victoria is limited and hopefully you'll get more time at the gardens themselves. If nothing else, hopefully it's a little cheaper and can save you some cash.

[strickerj]

The one without the butterfly garden is $10 less (130 vs. 140), so not enough of a difference to be a deciding factor. My only concern was potentially getting less time at Butchart Garden if the butterfly garden isn't really worth it.