Alaska excursion recommendations

[meandmyguy]

We are traveling to Alaska on the Radiance of the Seas Northbound cruise leaving 8/10/07-our first cruise ever:D. We are a little overwhelmed with the excursion choices. Anyone have any advice on ones to avoid or ones the definately look into doing.????

Also, can you do more than one in a port if you have the time? And how do you find out when they begin to you can plan accordingly?

Trish

[Hapi]

We cruised on Princess in July of 03. We went salmon fishing in Ketchican. We caught the limit pretty quickly and had time to walk thru town and shop. We had several pounds of the fish packed and shipped to us at home. DH went halibut fishing in Skagway. He didn't catch anything, but had a blast. My parents did the railway trip in Skagway that included the cookout. They loved it, said the food was great. In Juneau, my parents flew by helicopter to a glacier and rode with the sled dogs. They loved that one, too. DH & I rode the tram to the top of the cliff and did some trail walking on our own, and then walked thru Juneau stopping at the Saloon for a drink. We didn't go by Mendenhall (sp?) glacier, but wish we had.

[rcm95060]

Hapi, do you remember how much it cost to have fish shipped home? Husband is going to salmon fish in Ketchican and I'm hoping he gets a lot of salmon to ship home.

[cp556]

If you're visiting Skagway, the White Pass & Yukon railway trip up the mountain is unforgettable. Amazing scenery. You can generally choose either a round-trip (at the top you stand, reverse the back of your seat, and sit back down facing the opposite direction); or a one-way where you take the train up and take a motorcoach back (thru Canada) to Skagway. I've done it twice and would do it again in a heartbeat....

We also did the Mendenhall Glacier trip, which involved some walking, but seeing the blue ice was phenomenal...

[polodad]

One of the best excursions we've ever done was the float plane from Ketchikan to Mysty Fjiords. We got lucky & stood on the struts of the float plane to watch grizzly bears feeding on salmon in the creek 150 yards away. I have the pics to prove it. Amazingly we booked the outing thru the Alaskan coupon book at a 2 for 1 rate. We still had time to do a nature cruise in Ketchikan.

 

Whale watching in Juneau was also very good.

 

Have a great trip.