Alaska---just back from

[fvuscmom]

Awesome, Amazing, Spectacular, Breathtaking, Majestic Alaska...Words do not do her justice.

 

We flew to Anchorage early on the day of our cruise, took a taxi to town and dropped our luggage at the museum where our tour bus operator stowed it for our trip to Whittier. We toured the area on foot and walked to the mall to buy shoes since I neglected to pack them.

 

In Whittier, our tour bus checked our luggage at the ship and dropped us at the kayak center for our first excursion. We kayaked Prince William Sound to a nearby salmon run. We saw many eagles including a giant juvenile preening on a boulder just above our kayak. This was an exhilarating experience. Our guides dropped us at the ship terminal for embarkation just before 8:00 p.m.

 

We enjoyed our first meal in the main dining room. Our room was upgraded to an obstructed view and was larger as it was handicapped equipped, and apparently not booked for such purposes.

 

We woke at the face of Harvard Glacier. AWESOME! The thunder; the calving; the creation that we beheld...

 

In Sitka, it drizzled steadily but did not dampen our enthusiasm. We took a wildlife boat tour. AMAZING! We saw humpback whales in abundance, as well as otters, stellar sea lions, and puffins.

 

From Juneau we toured to Tracy Arm. In Tracy Arm Fjord we witnessed the most SPECTACULAR calving of the season. It is called a shooter because it shot up as it calved, breaking off first below the water line, bouncing up and down, and finally resting on its side. Our tour guide said that his next tour group would be able to circle around it. It was by far larger than our boat. The size of the iceberg it created was bigger than my house.

 

From Skagway, we rented a car and drove to the Yukon Territory where we rode horseback to enjoy the scenery and views of Emerald and Spirit Lakes. Nothing could top the eagle soaring overhead as we stopped on our horses to take in the BREATHTAKING view.

 

In Ketchikan, we rented bicycles for an eight mile scenic trek to Herring Cove where we spotted a bear in the creek before taking a taxi back to Creek Street to turn in our bicycles. We hiked back to the visitors' center for our floatplane excursion over the Misty Fjord. MAJESTIC! the views; the sheep on the side of the mountain; the cobalt blue hue of the hanging lake; the bear running along a stream as we flew overhead; the experience of landing in the fjord and creeping out onto the pontoon for a quiet meditation with nature collectively spoke to the MAJESTY of Alaska.

[cruisin 07]

We will be in Skagway in June. We plan on renting a car. Can you give me more details from car rental to the horseback riding? How much time should we plan on to do it right?

 

Glad you had a great time, Larry.:)

[NancyIL]

Wow, your trip sounds fabulous! Thanks for the report.

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Sounds like you had an awesome trip, we leave this Friday, how was the weather, did it rain everyday??

Anything you wish you had taken (besides shoes) or feel you missed that you wish you had done??

Any advise for our first cruise in Alaska??

Thanks

[Alaska05]

What company did you use for your Tracy Arm excursion? How long did it last? What time did you board and get off the boat?

 

I'm looking to do this next year and hope I'll be in Juneau long enough to be able to. I'll be on the Island Princess.

 

Thanks so much.

[pmmarket]

Has anyone rented from Sourdough rentals recently in Skagway? We leave next Saturday and they were the only ones..We have a van but would prefer a sedan..I have heard a few reports and I do not want to break down with my eldery parents with me..Please any feedback..Thanks

[luv2cruise123]

We have used Aviscar rentals when in Juneau and were very pleased.

[fvuscmom]

We will be in Skagway in June. We plan on renting a car. Can you give me more details from car rental to the horseback riding? How much time should we plan on to do it right?

 

Glad you had a great time, Larry.:)

 

Hi Larry,

I am pasting in the info for AVIS. You should know that they are housed in the office of a hotel/motel directly behind the address listed in the reservation. They have moved locations, but just around the corner. Also, they actually open at 9:00 a.m. on Sundays, not 8:00 a.m. as it states in the reservation. Their internet reservation site is at http://avisalaska.com/. Look at the menu tabs before you reserve. There is one for discounts.

 

I will add the email for Joni our horseback tour guide at Emerald Lake. Her web site is www.yukonhorses.com/. She took great care of us on our private tour. You should know that they are an hour ahead of us in the Yukon. I was over an hour late for my tour, but she shifted her next tour to accommodate us. I paid $120.00 per person U.S. dollars. It takes about an hour and a half to get to Joni's just past Emerald Lake on the left. On the way back you can stop and enjoy the scenery. The horseback ride is approx. two hours with a snack back at the camp. You need six and a half hours minimum off of the ship to do this excursion. We took a courtesy shuttle to the end of the ship dock and then jumped on the Skagway shuttle bus ($1.50 per person) to get to town quickly. If you have 30 minutes to spare it is a nice leisurely walk to the heart of town from the ship. Fast walking, you can do it in 15 minutes easily. Also, don't forget your passports as you will make a border crossing into Canada. After Skagway, you won't need your passports again until Victoria or Vancouver (unless you aren't American). Email Joni at: whrs@polarcom.com .

There is a Skagway (city) visitors' bureau in town. The building facade has tree timber logs and trim (gray). This center gives a newspaper guide. In the back there is a Klondike Hwy scenic tour guide to help you know when to pull over on the highway. You do this backward on your return to Skagway. The park service has a visitors' bureau building that is dark brown. They give out hiking trail maps.

 

This is my actual email confirmation of my AVIS reservation. I waited an hour on Sunday for their office to open (which is why I was late for my tour with Joni).

http://avisalaska.com/

Pick-up Location:

Avis - Across from railroad depot - AK8

2nd & Spring St, PO Box 361, (Open May 15 -Sept 15), Skagway AK 99840 U S A

(1) 907-983-2247

Sun-Sat 08:00AM-08:00PM

Pick-Up: Sunday, August 20, 2006 - 8:00 AM

Return Location:

Avis - Across from railroad depot - AK8

2nd & Spring St, PO Box 361, (Open May 15 -Sept 15), Skagway AK 99840 U S A

(1) 907-983-2247

Sun-Sat 08:00AM-08:00PM

Return: Sunday, August 20, 2006 - 4:00 PM

[fvuscmom]

Sounds like you had an awesome trip, we leave this Friday, how was the weather, did it rain everyday??

Anything you wish you had taken (besides shoes) or feel you missed that you wish you had done??

Any advise for our first cruise in Alaska??

Thanks

It may have drizzled light rain at Harvard Glacier and the College Fjord, but it wasn't heavy enough to dampen our enthusiasm for being outside. We saw some spectacular calving. It drizzled light rain in Sitka. We wore our rain coats. We took our whale watch that day, and the drizzle was not a factor in the enjoyment of our tour in Sitka. We toured Tracy Arm, and I don't recall any rain. It was cold as we moved in closer to the glacier. In Skagway, it was dry and the sun was playing hide and seek all day. In Ketchikan, the sun was out for the duration. In Vancouver it was also sunny.

I may have taken too many clothes. I had everything I needed. I did more than I had planned; we added the float plane in Ketchikan at the visitors' bureau. My strong recommendation is to browse the boards of recent Alaska cruises for great excursion ideas. I did and everything worked out nicely.

 

My personal preference is to book tours with independent operators. I would avoid Goldbelt Tours:mad: as they tried to switch my Tracy Arm tour to Ford's Terror. I switched to Adventure Bound and Tracy Arm a week before my cruise. I wanted to see the Twin Sawyer Glaciers North and South. I witnessed the most incredible calving of an enormous iceberg there.:p

 

My advice would be to plan exactly what everyone likes to do. Not everyone wants to do the same thing. Maybe sometimes you split up to please the crowd. The excursions make the cruise, not the ship. The itinerary is key. Tendering slows down your port visits. If you have an early excursion booked, be persistent about getting an early tender ticket. We had to wait on Lido at the stage at 8:00 a.m. I was there at 7:30 and made the first tender. I was up at 6:00 a.m. every day we had a port call. I called the purser's desk two or three times to make sure I knew where to be to get that early tender. We tendered in Sitka and Ketchikan. Be sure to tell your tour operators that you are cruising. Ask what their refund policies are if your ship changes/cancels the port call last minute. Most of their clients are cruise ship passengers, so they work with us.

 

I also did individual internet searches of each port (Sitka, Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan) and visitors' bureau, center, etc. to find independent excursions. This avenue plus reading the boards here will deliver your best results in planning your Alaksan adventure.:D

[fvuscmom]

What company did you use for your Tracy Arm excursion? How long did it last? What time did you board and get off the boat?

 

I'm looking to do this next year and hope I'll be in Juneau long enough to be able to. I'll be on the Island Princess.

 

Thanks so much.

You might want to try Carnival Southbound. I have done Princess and the ships are comparable in amenities. The Alaska Carnival cruise is not a party ship atmosphere. It is families, elderly couples, mother/daughter pairs, and some singles--really the same mix I found on Princess to Alaska.

 

If you are doing Vancouver to Whittier (Island Princess), you will definitely be in Juneau long enough for one or more of the available Tracy Arm excursions. You can try Goldbelt Tours (but they tried to switch me to Ford's Terror and I cancelled) http://www.goldbelttours.com/travel/cruises/tracy_arm.html,

Adventure Bound http://www.adventureboundalaska.com/tracyarm.htm, and Harv and Marv http://www.alaskawhalewatch.com/Tracyarm.html.

 

If you are doing Whittier to Vancouver your port time is too short to use Adventure Bound to Tracy Arm. You could try Harv and Marv for $1100.00 divided by six people ($183.33) for a chartered tour to Tracy Arm. You are in port early and they may be able to accommodate your early return to the ship. Their web site is: www.alaskawhalewatch.com/

 

I hope this helps.:)

[fvuscmom]

Has anyone rented from Sourdough rentals recently in Skagway? We leave next Saturday and they were the only ones..We have a van but would prefer a sedan..I have heard a few reports and I do not want to break down with my eldery parents with me..Please any feedback..Thanks

 

see my reply to cruisin 07 in this thread.

[fvuscmom]

Has anyone rented from Sourdough rentals recently in Skagway? We leave next Saturday and they were the only ones..We have a van but would prefer a sedan..I have heard a few reports and I do not want to break down with my eldery parents with me..Please any feedback..Thanks

 

I used AVIS, but if they are booked, I have read on the boards some pros and cons of Sourdough. Call the visitors' bureau for Skagway and ask them what they have besides AVIS and Sourdough. Try the link that I gave for http://avisalaska.com/. Also, there are a lot of tours, not necessarily from the cruise line, that you might like to book instead of getting a rental car.

 

Go to the web site for Skagway and see if there is something of interest to book for your port call there. From the cruise line exclusively is the Glacier Point Wilderness Safari. I think that is what they called it. It is a kayak tour to the face of a glacier (offered from Skagway not Juneau--that's Mendenhall). The posts to the board are raving about it. The train ride is also a great experience, especially if you save the ten dollars and walk to the train depot for boarding. Book this direct with the railway station, unless you believe your port call will be cancelled. I have never had this happen with Skagway, Ketchikan, or Juneau.

 

I read on the boards a few weeks ago one ship missed the College Fjord and glacier viewing, but that was a cruise-only day.:)