Alaska Hubbard glacier cruise

[dolly1965]

Good morning everyone 

my husband and I are cruising the above and would like some tips from anyone who has done this cruise. We would like some recommendations on which excursions would be worth doing and best places to see. 
thank  you in advance x

 

[Suzanne123]

Which ship and ports do you have?

[dolly1965]

15 minutes ago, Suzanne123 said:

Which ship and ports do you have?

Celebrity eclipse 

 

[3rdGenCunarder]

I would say whale watch in Juneau and/or Icy Strait. Ketchikan I usually just have a walk around the town. 

 

Have you checked out what your ship is offering for tours? That will give you a start thinking about what appeals to you.

 

There has been a lot of discussion of your ports here lately. Do a search (the button is near the upper right of the page) for the port name and be  sure to select "this forum" and you will get lots of results with recommendations for independent tour operators. 

[Suzanne123]

I don’t know your ages, or if you enjoy the more physical activities, but I’m in my 70’s and this summer will be my 21st cruise to Alaska, doing a back to back on the Celebrity Millennium. 

The Eclipse is a beautiful ship, and you have nice long days in your ports. 
I don’t do shopping, helicopters or floatplanes, but a lot of cruisers do, and seem to enjoy that.

Anyway,  in Juneau,  my daughter is doing the Mendenhall Glacier Trek with Above and Beyond Alaska https://beyondak.com/ and I am doing the Whale Watching and Mendenhall Glacier Photo Safari thru Celebrity. The next week we are going together on the Guide’s Choice Mendenhall hike thru Celebrity. 

In Ketchikan we’re doing the Orcas Cove Fast Boat & Sea Kayaking Tour with Southeast Sea Kayaks.https://kayakketchikan.com/ . The next week we are doing the Bering Sea Crab Fishermen tour.

In Icy Strait, we will probably do whale watches, but it’s a lovely walk/hike to town. The Ocean Raft is a lot of fun.

If you have time in Vancouver either before or after the cruise.  Take a look at the trips offered by LandSea Tours https://vancouvertours.com/? utm_source=GMBlisting&utm_medium=organic or just walk along the sea

wall out to the Vancouver aquarium https://www.vanaqua.org

 

 

 

[dolly1965]

Thank you Suzanne, we are celebrating my husbands 60th birthday whilst on the ship. We actually love aircraft as we both are airline staff and my husband also is a pilot. I may look into the float plane

[Suzanne123]

OK, then for sure book as soon as you are able, as I know those trips sell out on every cruise.

if you just can’t get enough flying 😁 there is a neat attraction right at Canada Place. https://www.flyovercanada.com

[5waldos]

I am 75, nearly 76 and this summer will be on my 4th trip to Alaska. On the same itinerary with Celebrity.  I can only tell you what we are doing.

 

Ketchikan- Float Plane with Island Wings and then a totem tour- visiting both major totem pole centers and around town- have seen some of them but this time also including the park

Icy Straight Point- whale watching

Juneau- small boat trip out to the glaciers on Adventure Bound

Skagway- train

 

On previous trips I have done the Bering Sea Crab trip- which I enjoyed far more than I expected to. And whale watching in Juneau. In Skagway we took Dave Dyer's private tour up to the Yukon one year. Rented a car and drove up ourselves one time. Read The Floor of Heaven: A True Tale of the Last Frontier and the Yukon Gold Rush by Howard Blum - it made Skagway come alive for me. 

 

 

[rkacruiser]

9 hours ago, dolly1965 said:

We would like some recommendations on which excursions would be worth doing and best places to see. 

 

Welcome aboard CC new Member dolly1965!

 

My suggestions based on my experiences:

Icy Point Strait--The native cultural show (if offered) and the rain forest tram ride with narration that includes cultural information for those who live in that area

 

Ketchikan--A floatplane tour to Misty Fjords where the plane actually lands on a lake; then, the pilot helps the passengers out of the plane to stand on the plane's floats for a few minutes.  The beauty is magnificent!  The silence!  Memorable!  

                                   or

The Bering Sea Fisherman's Tour.  Educational, lots of wildlife to view with an opportunity to hold some of the marine life that is removed from the crab pots that are brought aboard during the tour.  A stop is made where there are many Eagles and as the crew toss some bits of fish overboard, the Eagles provide quite a show.

 

Juneau:  A visit to the Alaska State Museum might be of interest and that could be nicely coupled with a good seafood lunch at Alaska Fish & Chips Co. at the head of the cruise ship docks.  Their Halibut & Chips are the best I have ever eaten.  

 

Celebrity Eclipse is a beautiful, comfortable ship.  I think you will enjoy her.  

[dolly1965]

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Welcome aboard CC new Member dolly1965!

 

My suggestions based on my experiences:

Icy Point Strait--The native cultural show (if offered) and the rain forest tram ride with narration that includes cultural information for those who live in that area

 

Ketchikan--A floatplane tour to Misty Fjords where the plane actually lands on a lake; then, the pilot helps the passengers out of the plane to stand on the plane's floats for a few minutes.  The beauty is magnificent!  The silence!  Memorable!  

                                   or

The Bering Sea Fisherman's Tour.  Educational, lots of wildlife to view with an opportunity to hold some of the marine life that is removed from the crab pots that are brought aboard during the tour.  A stop is made where there are many Eagles and as the crew toss some bits of fish overboard, the Eagles provide quite a show.

 

Juneau:  A visit to the Alaska State Museum might be of interest and that could be nicely coupled with a good seafood lunch at Alaska Fish & Chips Co. at the head of the cruise ship docks.  Their Halibut & Chips are the best I have ever eaten.  

 

Celebrity Eclipse is a beautiful, comfortable ship.  I think you will enjoy her.  

Float plane at Ketchikan sounds fab. Did you book it separately or through celebrity ?

[Dancing Shoes]

Not rkacruiser.  Michelle @ Island Wings is highly regarded in Ketchikan and on this forum.  You can book directly with her.  You will land on a lake.  We did this in 2018.  She books quickly.

Edited April 28, 2022 by Dancing Shoes

[dolly1965]

5 hours ago, Dancing Shoes said:

Not rkacruiser.  Michelle @ Island Wings is highly regarded in Ketchikan and on this forum.  You can book directly with her.  You will land on a lake.  We did this in 2018.  She books quickly.

Thank you I have sent her a booking request 🙏 I may be a bit late as we go on 27 May 22. But fingers crossed 🤞. It’s my husbands 60th birthday that day and we are both aviators so this would be perfect. Thank you again 

[rkacruiser]

On 4/27/2022 at 5:13 PM, dolly1965 said:

Float plane at Ketchikan sounds fab. Did you book it separately or through celebrity ?

 

I booked it through Shore Excursions on the ship.  

 

21 hours ago, Dancing Shoes said:

Not rkacruiser.  Michelle @ Island Wings is highly regarded in Ketchikan and on this forum.

 

This company is highly recommended on CC.  I have no personal knowledge of them.  I have no idea as to the company that provided my tour.  

 

My suggestion is to compare the Celebrity and the Island Wings tours and what the itinerary is.  Compare pricing.  My personal priority would be the landing on the lake in Misty Fjords and the ability to get out of the plane, stand on its floats awhile, and enjoy the experience that, I think, you will find to be a most unique experience.  

 

If one offers that and the other one doesn't, I think you understand which I would suggest you book.  

[dolly1965]

On 4/28/2022 at 4:09 AM, Dancing Shoes said:

Not rkacruiser.  Michelle @ Island Wings is highly regarded in Ketchikan and on this forum.  You can book directly with her.  You will land on a lake.  We did this in 2018.  She books quickly.

Thank you for the recommendation. I have managed to book with island wings. We are both very excited now. Just hope we don’t catch Covid now 😳

[Nidec]

On 4/27/2022 at 12:23 PM, dolly1965 said:

Celebrity eclipse 

 

We're doing the same trip in June. Would love to hear your thoughts when you get home

[dolly1965]

8 hours ago, Nidec said:

We're doing the same trip in June. Would love to hear your thoughts when you get home

Sadly the celebrity cruise was cancelled so we have transferred onto the Holland American which has a similar itinerary.

[Nidec]

10 hours ago, dolly1965 said:

Sadly the celebrity cruise was cancelled 

That was a bit last-minute. Why was it cancelled?

[5waldos]

3 hours ago, Nidec said:

That was a bit last-minute. Why was it cancelled?

Isn't that the one with the barnacle problems? If so, it was cancelled so that they could do a major scrap job on the hull.It was cancel one trip or seriously impact a lot of cruises. 

Edited May 12, 2022 by 5waldos

[dolly1965]

7 hours ago, Nidec said:

That was a bit last-minute. Why was it cancelled?

Apparently barnacles on the hull so have canx 2 cruises that I know of to clean them off. Very disappointed as this is a big trip for my husbands 60th birthday. We are travelling from the uk, travelling on the Rocky mountaineer then onto the cruise. I just hope the Holland American will be the same 

[Dancing Shoes]

dolly1965.  What ship are you on?  We sailed on HAl - Volendam. It is their R class.  R/T Vancouver.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Holland America does a great job on Alaska cruises. It may be a smaller ship than Celebrity, so fewer bells and whistles, but their service is excellent.

[dolly1965]

18 hours ago, Dancing Shoes said:

dolly1965.  What ship are you on?  We sailed on HAl - Volendam. It is their R class.  R/T Vancouver.

We are sailing on the koningsdam VD class

[misguy]

Here is a playlist that has a lot of information, and more coming.