Cruise veteran...Alaska virgin

[tjatczak]

I have been reading with interest (and excitement) all I can about shoretours and etc. for our upcoming Alaska cruise.

Although this will be cruise # 20, it is our first to Alaska. I need a bit of help with "best suggestions" for the ports.

We are cruising out of Seattle on June 3. (NCL Pearl)

Family of 4, late 40's, kids 21 and 15

1)Juneau - looking at whale watching with Captain Larry or Harv&Marv, is this the right place for whale watching? Are these the right tours to look at?

2)Skagway - ?????

 

3)Ketchikan - ??????

 

Should add this note - I am a BIG guy, so I don't think any of the helicopter or plane tours are an option...

 

What are the 'best bets' and 'be sure not to miss' ideas from all of my cruise critic friends????

 

Thanks for your help,

Ted

[kruisecat]

Also an Alaska virgin here but after a ton of research I can offer this info.

 

First, from all I've read Juneau is the only port of the 3 you're going to that will offer whale watching so if that is something you want to do that's where you should do it!!

 

Secondly, I would suggest that first you start by looking at the excursions offered by your cruiseline that way you can narrow the search down to the things you all like to do. Once you've done that I would recommend you come back here and search for information on those tours you liked.

 

This is what I've done and I'm booking all of my tours independently and saving a significant amount of $$$ overall by doing so.

 

I would also recommend a book on traveling Alaska. I used the Frommers books but other travel guides will be good as well!

 

Good luck and happy cruising!

[NancyIL]

Hi, Ted! We're planning our first Alaska cruise, too - and I'm married to a big guy! There will be no helicopter flights or kayaking for us - but we're doing a floatplane trip (no weight surcharge) in Ketchikan to Misty Fjords with Island Wings: http://www.islandwings.com

 

Yes, Juneau is the place for whale watching, and both Cat. Larry and Harv & Marv get great reviews.

 

In Skagway, I booked a 3.5-hour bus/train excursion to Fraser, BC and back with Chilkoot Charters. They also offer a longer rail/bus trip that goes to Carcross and Emerald Lake in the Yukon, as well as the newest rail trip to Carcross with bus return: http://www.skagwaysbesttour.com/

[mytime53]

I don't know how large "big" is, but if you want to fly in a small plane or helicopter, don't immediately discard the idea without checking with the tour provider.

Also, with the age of your children, consider not doing everything together as a family of four. We have found that once our children were older, it made for an exciting evening when we went in different directions during the day and met back up for dinner to discuss the day.

[Toyz711]

my DH is over 250, didn't want to pay the extra for any flights. there are plenty of other things to enjoy. the train (skagway) was comfortable enough, the seats are not as well padded as we would like, but plenty of room to more around some. we did the whale watch on capt larry's purple boat (orcra enterprises has 3 boats)..very comfortable..lots of room. we almost went with harv & marv..but the other members of our family didn't want to plan anything. both vendors have great reps, harv & marv for family-type service, orca enterprises for many, many years of whale studies/knowledge. ketchikan you are plenty of ops for tours/shuttles for totem poles. ketchikan is good for just walking around.

[tjatczak]

Thanks for the information so far...anyone out there have experience with panning for gold? Not sure I am excited, but the rest of the family really wants to do it.

 

We are reserved with Harv and Marv for whale watching- and hoping this will be one of our trip highlights!

 

Thanks again for the the information and ideas...

Ted

[Joy2Day]

Thanks for the information so far...anyone out there have experience with panning for gold? Not sure I am excited, but the rest of the family really wants to do it.

 

We are reserved with Harv and Marv for whale watching- and hoping this will be one of our trip highlights!

 

Thanks again for the the information and ideas...

Ted

 

A friend of mine and her family did the gold-panning excursion in Juneau. They take you up to a creek above Juneau. They loved it. Her dad was fascinated by the process, and said that the trip was worth it for the scenery alone.

[Budget Queen]

With your group, consider spliting up depending on interests. There are plenty of excellent tours to consider, so look over and narrow down your interests from a shore excursion list. Juneau is your only option for whale watching, but Victoria is possible if they are offering anything late?? Orcas out of Victoria, humpbacks out of Juneau.

[MVPinBoynton]

This will be our first time in Alaska also. We have booked Harv & Marv in Juneau. The next day we will be at Icy Straight Point, which is supposed to be a great whale watching location. I would prefer to do something else at Icy Straight Point, but there really isn't much else; plus if for some reason we can't go out in Juneau, I would hate to miss not going on a whale watching excursion. Do you think that there will be any differences in the two ports for whale watching or will it be boring to do the same thing two days in a row? We will probably use the Celebrity excursion in ISP, which would be a bigger boat than Harv and Marv.

[stired]

If it were me, I would cancel the whale watching in Juneau and do something else. There are tons of other things to do there, but as you mentioned, not so much in ISP. That just IMO.:D

[originolsin]

3)Ketchikan - ??????

 

 

May I suggest snorkeling? I know it sounds crazy, but my DW and I went snorkeling there in Ketchikan and loved it. It really wasn't too cold(and I get cold easily) and we had time to do other things after that. You are given a dry suit, and the marine life is very interesting! We saw all sorts of fun cold water life. It is definately different than tropical snorkeling, but well worth the experiance IMO. If we go back on an Alaskan, I will do this again.

[tjatczak]

Any other thoughts or suggestions out there?

 

Ted

[Red Rox]

We're planning our first Alaska cruise, too - and I'm married to a big guy! There will be no helicopter flights or kayaking for us - but we're doing a floatplane trip (no weight surcharge) in Ketchikan to Misty Fjords with Island Wings: www.islandwings.com

 

Nancy,

In addition to all the other interests that we seem to have in common, I am the big guy in our house. I just talked to Jarrod at Island Wings this morning and confirmed our Misty Fjords flight tour on our day in Ketchikan. Now I REALLY want to read a full report on your trip this summer:)

[Corner Exit]

My wife and I are going to Alaska this summer as well on Princess out of Seattle RT. Hopefully it's ok to piggy back on this thread as I have similar questions and we are visting the same three ports as the OP.

 

I am a big person also and the helecopter flights are out, but the float plane may work out ok. Was wondering if there may be any seat width or seatbelt length issues on the float planes???

 

There was one float plane excursion that went up to some hunting cabin/lodge and stopped there for a salmon bake and self guided walking tours of the area if dessired. Has anybody happend to have gone on this one?

 

Also, back to the big person thing, are there width issues on the seats of the motorcoaches they use on many of the tours?

[Red Rox]

My wife and I are going to Alaska this summer as well on Princess out of Seattle RT. Hopefully it's ok to piggy back on this thread as I have similar questions and we are visting the same three ports as the OP.

 

I am a big person also and the helecopter flights are out, but the float plane may work out ok. Was wondering if there may be any seat width or seatbelt length issues on the float planes???

 

There was one float plane excursion that went up to some hunting cabin/lodge and stopped there for a salmon bake and self guided walking tours of the area if dessired. Has anybody happend to have gone on this one?

 

Also, back to the big person thing, are there width issues on the seats of the motorcoaches they use on many of the tours?

I'm afraid I don't have any definite answers for you but I can offer a few suggestions.

For info on the motorcoach seats you should probably call Princess since I believe they own the buses. As for the flight tours, I have been contacting the tour operators directly. Search the forums for posts about various trips and use the internet to search for activities and flight companies in each port. We are not booking these excursions through Princess. The man at Island Wings in Ketchikan did ask for the approximate weights of the 4 passengers that I booked. I guess our average was OK. As for info about their aircraft I would direct you to their website www.IslandWings.com

[getmycruiseon]

I have been reading with interest (and excitement) all I can about shoretours and etc. for our upcoming Alaska cruise.

Although this will be cruise # 20, it is our first to Alaska. I need a bit of help with "best suggestions" for the ports.

We are cruising out of Seattle on June 3. (NCL Pearl)

Family of 4, late 40's, kids 21 and 15

1)Juneau - looking at whale watching with Captain Larry or Harv&Marv, is this the right place for whale watching? Are these the right tours to look at?

2)Skagway - ?????

 

3)Ketchikan - ??????

 

Should add this note - I am a BIG guy, so I don't think any of the helicopter or plane tours are an option...

 

What are the 'best bets' and 'be sure not to miss' ideas from all of my cruise critic friends????

 

Thanks for your help,

Ted

 

I went to AK last summer, in Skagway we did the Mushers camp and the Yukon Jeep Experience. I would reccommend both. So fun! :D

 

In Ketchikan we did the Totem Bight (sp?) State Park bus tour and we also went to the lumberjack show. Totem park tour was ok but not my favorite. The lumberjack show was a really good time.

[Budget Queen]

I am a big person also and the helecopter flights are out, but the float plane may work out ok. Was wondering if there may be any seat width or seatbelt length issues on the float planes???

 

There was one float plane excursion that went up to some hunting cabin/lodge and stopped there for a salmon bake and self guided walking tours of the area if dessired. Has anybody happend to have gone on this one?

 

Also, back to the big person thing, are there width issues on the seats of the motorcoaches they use on many of the tours?

 

Frankly, there are limits to the seat sizes, and most floatplane seats are probably smaller than commercial aircraft seats. Be upfront on size issues with the vender.

 

I'm assuming that you are referring to Taku Lodge out of Juneau?? Very nice scenic flight and great salmon.

[kingsgirl]

If you are going to ditch whale watching in Juneau and do it in Icy Straight Point...maybe considering going to Mendenhall Glacier and walking the trail's out there. There are several to choose from with a great variable of difficulty.

I posted about it last month I think - here is all the information in another thread. Just click on the link.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=465406&highlight=Hiking+Mendenhall+Glacier

 

I hope this helps!

[NancyIL]

Nancy,

In addition to all the other interests that we seem to have in common, I am the big guy in our house. I just talked to Jarrod at Island Wings this morning and confirmed our Misty Fjords flight tour on our day in Ketchikan. Now I REALLY want to read a full report on your trip this summer:)

 

Will do!

 

This is off topic - but I only now noticed you are from Sedona - which explains the "Red Rox"! We visited your lovely area in 2004 - very, very pretty!

[scottam]

What company did you do the Jeep tour with and which tour did you do? We are looking at this one as an option for Skagway and are currently looking at the options. Since you enjoyed the trip, I would love to hear who you went with.

 

Thanks!

[CaliforniaLiving]

...For info on the motorcoach seats you should probably call Princess since I believe they own the buses. ... The man at Island Wings in Ketchikan did ask for the approximate weights of the 4 passengers that I booked. I guess our average was OK. As for info about their aircraft I would direct you to their website www.IslandWings.com

 

We did the Fjords on the Seaplane and we are large people too. we really had no problems because they actually have one seat per person so you each have your own window -- only thing I would suggest is to take any seasick/airsick meds (or ginger tablets work great) -- this was a beautiful trip and I really enjoyed seeing our ship from the air!!

 

We also did a motorcoach (bus) tour in skagway and they are normal bench seats- our tour was not booked full so we spread out once the tour started.

 

We also avoided the helicoptors due to the weight issue (one of us at about 300 lbs the other right around the 250) --

 

We did do a kayak trip to mendenhall glacier with no problems - they even had fishing pants, boots, life jackets etc that fit-- the best photo I have from the Alaska trip is all 4 of us bundled up like big orange pilsbury doughboys!! -

 

Have fun!!

[getmycruiseon]

What company did you do the Jeep tour with and which tour did you do? We are looking at this one as an option for Skagway and are currently looking at the options. Since you enjoyed the trip, I would love to hear who you went with.

 

Thanks!

 

We booked the excursion through the Royal Caribbean. I don't remember the name of the tour company, sorry! The tour we took was 5 hours long and we drove into Carcross, had snacks provided by the tour company and walked around a bit. After that we did a little off-roading which was pretty cool. They do stop a lot so everyone can take pictures which was great. The best scenery pictures I have from the cruise came from this excursion.

[plantlady095]

We have not visited Alaska before, either. AND my DH is a big guy, so we booked a Misty Fjords trip that is on a boat called the Wilderness Explorer. We booked it through HAL as we are on a Cruise Tour and were chicken to attempt to book directly with a vendor. It is supposed to be a great chance to see Bald Eagles in the trees. We were told to look for things that look like golf balls in the branches.

 

After reading the postings, I am torn about contacting Island Wings to see what they might do for us. Hmmm. Have you made a decision yet?

 

Happy travels!

[Budget Queen]

We have not visited Alaska before, either. AND my DH is a big guy, so we booked a Misty Fjords trip that is on a boat called the Wilderness Explorer. We booked it through HAL as we are on a Cruise Tour and were chicken to attempt to book directly with a vendor. It is supposed to be a great chance to see Bald Eagles in the trees. We were told to look for things that look like golf balls in the branches.

 

After reading the postings, I am torn about contacting Island Wings to see what they might do for us. Hmmm. Have you made a decision yet?

 

Happy travels!

 

Frankly- if you are only doing this boat tour for the eagles, you can see them everywhere during your Alaska visit. Misty Fjords is superior from the air in my opinion. No way to see the alpine lakes, into the mts. etc from a boat.

[plantlady095]

Frankly- if you are only doing this boat tour for the eagles, you can see them everywhere during your Alaska visit. Misty Fjords is superior from the air in my opinion. No way to see the alpine lakes, into the mts. etc from a boat.

 

Thank you for the great advice! I will see if my hubby is interested in any other arrangements. I will also sharpen my pencil to see if the toursavers will do any better as you suggested. It is great to get suggestions from people who have already blazed the trails (as it were). I just love to see what others have tried and what works well!

 

Regardless, I know that all of us will have a wonderful time and make many swell memories!

 

Happy planning and travels to all! The planning is almost as much fun as the trip.:D