Favorite Excursions - 7 day Inside Passage?

[ACorgan]

4 hours ago, oaktreerb said:

Do you prefer May or September?  What are the the best things about a May cruise vs a September cruise?  Thinking about the 14 day HAL Alaska cruise which is only offered for the shoulder season.  

 

In September, not likely to have many kids since most of them are at the start of the school year. When we went in September, the salmon were still spawning and it was awe inspiring just to see the sheer number of them crowding the creeks 

[Haljo1935]

7 hours ago, oaktreerb said:

Do you prefer May or September?  What are the the best things about a May cruise vs a September cruise?  Thinking about the 14 day HAL Alaska cruise which is only offered for the shoulder season.  

 

Sept you will be able to see salmon, which you don't really see yet in May, it's just a bit too early for them. And in May, if you fish (I don't but husband does) you aren't allowed to keep salmon. Sept you have a better chance of making it to Tracy Arm Fjord than in May, as there often is too much ice in May.

We tend to see more waterfalls in Sept as May many are still frozen (there won't be no waterfalls in May, just not as many), but we really enjoy the snowy mountains seen in May that you won't see in Sept. May weather tends to be a bit more unpredictable, wet and windy, but it's still lovely and does not deter us from anything we want to do. The scenery is just as important for us as the wildlife, so the snow gets points!

Seems like the crowds are smaller in May, but I can't give you any hard stats to prove that, it's just the way it feels.

If we had to rank them, we'd probably put May above Sept, but don't think you can go wrong with either.

Edited June 5, 2023 by Haljo1935
Typo

[wolfie11]

Northern lights possible in September as well.

[DaveOKC]

17 hours ago, oaktreerb said:

Do you prefer May or September?  What are the the best things about a May cruise vs a September cruise?  Thinking about the 14 day HAL Alaska cruise which is only offered for the shoulder season.  

 

May has more daylight time.  Sept. better for glacier watching as you can generally get closer to them.

 

[Midwestern Cruiser]

On 6/2/2023 at 11:02 AM, cabland said:

Juneau Day

- Tracy Arm small boat excursion (as the cruise ship passes the mouth of the Tracy Arm Fjord you hop onto a smaller 150 person boat that takes you into the Fjord and to Sawyer glacier...it then meets back up with the ship in Juneau)

 

 

I'm looking for detail on the small boat excursion (ours will be Endicott and Dawes next week).
Concerned a little about how easy boarding the excursion boat is (any different than boarding a tender?) and whether we re-board the ship in Juneau or exit on to a dock.
Have one in our party with a slight mobility issue and am trying to get info to share.
Thanks so much!

[Northern Aurora]

4 hours ago, Midwestern Cruiser said:

I'm looking for detail on the small boat excursion (ours will be Endicott and Dawes next week).
Concerned a little about how easy boarding the excursion boat is (any different than boarding a tender?) and whether we re-board the ship in Juneau or exit on to a dock.
Have one in our party with a slight mobility issue and am trying to get info to share.
Thanks so much!

 

I just respond to your same question on the "Endicott Arm..." thread.  Hope you find it.

[cabland]

On 6/18/2023 at 3:34 PM, Midwestern Cruiser said:

I'm looking for detail on the small boat excursion (ours will be Endicott and Dawes next week).
Concerned a little about how easy boarding the excursion boat is (any different than boarding a tender?) and whether we re-board the ship in Juneau or exit on to a dock.
Have one in our party with a slight mobility issue and am trying to get info to share.
Thanks so much!

For Tracy Arm, it was pretty straightforward and my 89 year old "unsteady" Dad was able to walk the "ramp" they had from the ship to boat and vise versa upon return (note: you re-board the ship in Juneau as they have to swipe you out in in the ship.

[cabland]

We were on the Koningsdam from the 10th-17th this month.  One of the pleasant surprise excursions this time was us renting a car in Skagway and driving the 70 miles from Skagway on the Yukon highway to Emerald Lake and back.  It was 70 miles of awesome scenery.  So, so much better than the White Pass Summit train ride we did in 2018 (which was mostly a view of trees on one side and a rock face on the other for the majority of that trip...I THINK the longer train ride is likely better, but I have not done it).  The car rental was PERFECT for us.  There are a ton of pullouts for you to stop and enjoy the scenery, take pics, etc. at our pace and the drive is easy - it's basically one road there and back.  We stopped in Carcross had a surprisingly god fish n chips lunch at the Bistro there, etc.   Heck, we even came upon two bears munching on dandelions on the side of the road!  Regardless, the scenery was just really, really great.

As an aside, we rented an electric vehicle (Hyundai Ioniq 5)  from Klondike EVs (who also have a bunch of electric bikes) - HIGHLY recommended....but you can, of course, rent from Avis as well.  Either way - BOOK AHEAD!  Totally worth it!

[Midwestern Cruiser]

4 hours ago, cabland said:

For Tracy Arm, it was pretty straightforward and my 89 year old "unsteady" Dad was able to walk the "ramp" they had from the ship to boat and vise versa upon return (note: you re-board the ship in Juneau as they have to swipe you out in in the ship.

Thanks for sharing!

Had an "oh, duh" moment about swiping your card to get off the ship ... of course that's how it works 😏

[Midwestern Cruiser]

@cabland

Have done that drive three times & it continues to be my 'best of' Skagway. Without it, I'd rather not port there.

[ajtaylor29]

A few years ago, while in Ketchikan, we did the Bering Sea Crab Fishermans Tour. To our surprise, once we motored out a ways from the dock they drove us to an area where we saw LOTS of eagles, i mean hundreds of them!!! We did not expect that on this tour. We also saw whales. I think we saw more wildlife on this tour than we had on other tours (like a whale-watching boat!). Just a very pleasant surprise!

[bookmomoftwins]

We just returned from a 7 day Inside Passage cruise on HA's Koningsdam.  We booked our excursions thru HA. 

In Juneau, we did the whale watching and wildlife cruise, and enjoyed it, although we'll need to go back to visit museums we wanted to see which were closed by the time our excursion finished.

In Skagway, we did the bus trip up into the Yukon and White Pass rail on the way back down.  It was a long but incredible excursion.  The bus made several stops on the way up, for picture taking, lunch and time meeting sled dog puppies, and visiting a small village.  The train had views you could not see from the road on the way up, so it didn't feel repetitive. 

In Ketchikan, we took the bus ride and tour of Totem Bight State Park.  I liked the walkng paths in the wooded area at Totem Bight, but our tour guide was pretty new and inexperienced, which was a bummer. I think that's the luck of the draw to some extent though.  

Have a wonderful time!

 

[Sea-n-Ease]

On 6/25/2023 at 3:03 PM, cabland said:

We were on the Koningsdam from the 10th-17th this month.  One of the pleasant surprise excursions this time was us renting a car in Skagway and driving the 70 miles from Skagway on the Yukon highway to Emerald Lake and back.  It was 70 miles of awesome scenery.  So, so much better than the White Pass Summit train ride we did in 2018 (which was mostly a view of trees on one side and a rock face on the other for the majority of that trip...I THINK the longer train ride is likely better, but I have not done it).  The car rental was PERFECT for us.  There are a ton of pullouts for you to stop and enjoy the scenery, take pics, etc. at our pace and the drive is easy - it's basically one road there and back.  We stopped in Carcross had a surprisingly god fish n chips lunch at the Bistro there, etc.   Heck, we even came upon two bears munching on dandelions on the side of the road!  Regardless, the scenery was just really, really great.

As an aside, we rented an electric vehicle (Hyundai Ioniq 5)  from Klondike EVs (who also have a bunch of electric bikes) - HIGHLY recommended....but you can, of course, rent from Avis as well.  Either way - BOOK AHEAD!  Totally worth it!

Wow!  Those pictures are spectacular!  We (three single adults) were leaning towards the White Pass rail R/T excursion, but this has us seriously considering renting a car and making this drive ourselves for more scenery/photo opportunities.
 

Is this road basically the main scenic route/road for self-driving tours in Skagway?

 

Is the road/route safe?

 

Thanks!

 

 

[MrSnuffleupagus]

1 minute ago, Sea-n-Ease said:

Wow!  Those pictures are spectacular!  We (three single adults) were leaning towards the White Pass rail R/T excursion, but this has us seriously considering renting a car and making this drive ourselves for more scenery/photo opportunities.
 

Is this road basically the main scenic route/road for self-driving tours in Skagway?

 

Is the road/route safe?

 

Thanks!

 

 

Check this out: A Local's Guide: Drive from Skagway to Emerald Lake

 

We booked a car with them over the train. 

[Sea-n-Ease]

11 minutes ago, MrSnuffleupagus said:

Check this out: A Local's Guide: Drive from Skagway to Emerald Lake

 

We booked a car with them over the train. 

Oh thanks!!

[cabland]

32 minutes ago, Sea-n-Ease said:

Wow!  Those pictures are spectacular!  We (three single adults) were leaning towards the White Pass rail R/T excursion, but this has us seriously considering renting a car and making this drive ourselves for more scenery/photo opportunities.
 

Is this road basically the main scenic route/road for self-driving tours in Skagway?

 

Is the road/route safe?

 

Thanks!

 

 

Totally safe.  It is basically a freeway with a bunch of pullouts.  The tour busses and vans take the same route.  Heck, some cruisetour passengers who do land first and a "4 day" cruise after can come from Whitehorse to Skagway this same way.

Edited August 17, 2023 by cabland

[Sea-n-Ease]

22 minutes ago, cabland said:

Totally safe.  It is basically a freeway with a bunch of pullouts.  The tour busses and vans take the same route.  Heck, some cruisetour passengers who do land first and a "4 day" cruise after can come from Whitehorse to Skagway this same way.

Many thanks!

[Ileneilene123]

On 6/2/2023 at 7:49 AM, MrSnuffleupagus said:

It seems as though the Tracy Arm Fjord & Glacier Explorer excursion is the way to go on a first cruise to Alaska. 

 

The ship drops off passengers going on this excursion at approximately 0900. Would approximating a 1000 start time for this excursion be an appropriate guesstimate for those that have done this before?

 

The excursion lasts approximately 6 hours. So, you may be back to the ship around 1600 (4 pm). The ship is in Juneau until 2200 (10 pm). 

 

My question is... if going on this excursion, does it legitimately leave any time for an additional excursion in Juneau? Or is this where one must make a decision - either Tracy Arm or a Juneau excursion? 

I am browsing as I do research for a HAL inside passage cruise and I had this exact question. I am wondering whether taking the Tracy Arm excursion would preempt taking an amazing excursion in Juneau? Like the Mendenhall Glacier & Dog Mush? I know this was an old post but hoping to hear more on this. Thank you.