Two tours in Alaska

[akissa]

i just wanted to know if anyone has done two tours in one port? was it hectic? which ones did you do?

 

:)

[jrask]

People do this all the time. If you have sufficient time in port and give enough clearance between excursions and boarding, you won't feel rushed.

 

In fact, I'd recommend booking 2 excursions rather than just spending excess time milling through the shops (endless souvenire and jewlery stores) with tons of other people...the same in every port. In every port, there are probably some things you want to just walk around and see (Ketchikan's Creek Street, Skagway free tours by the national park service, etc.). Double booking excursions will cut down on the amount of time you have for this sort of thing but will still give you time to see some of your personal highlights. In large part, excursions will give you the Alaskan experience that you are envisioning -- which is a little different for each of us (wildlife, exploration, peaceful solitude, close encounters with glaciers, cultural interests, etc.) -- rather than the more commercial feel of most of the towns themselves. Its often said that you have only half and Alaskan trip without excursions. I'd say that is being generous to the excursion-less traveler. So, I'd say use the time to do what you want to do.

 

Maybe this can give you a sense of timing:

 

In Ketchikan, we had a short port day, so only did 1 formal excursion, but it was fairly long. We got up early and walked around town for a bit...Creek Street, etc. We then did a 4-hour kayak trip booked independently (which ends with a nice snack of smoked salmon, cheese, crackers and fruit so it calms things down a bit). Afterwards, we had enough time to tour the salmon hatchery and totem heritage center on our own and to walk around some of the galleries. Also bought some cola so that we wouldn't pay the ship's price.

 

Juneau is excursion-heaven and should be very easy for multiple excursions. We began with a guided hike of the temperate rain forest, which was great - very different environment than the tropical rain forests we've visited plus you learn about the ecology and get to taste berries if the season is right. That ended with enough time for us to (1) find a place to buy a knee brace, (2) take a walk up to/tour the russian orthodox church and around some of the government buildings, (3) look for restaurants and finally decide we just wanted to go back to the ship for lunch, (4) eat for about 45+ minutes and (5) get out with more than enough time before the next excursion -- Glacier trek (helicopter ride + 2 hour hike on the glacier), which was the best excursion we did. Others commonly combine a whale watch with a glacier experience of some kind. Didn't feel rushed at all.

 

Skagway is typically a long port day and should give more than enough time for multiple excursions too. We spent the first half of the day exploring town (took 2 different park programs...first a slide presentation on the historical development of the town, which was a very sudden process and the other toured us around town telling us the story of Skagway by way of the locations we visited) and made a couple of purchases without devoting too much time to shopping. We had a leisurely lunch. We then took a trip to Haines (which eats up a lot of time in traveling to get to the excursion).

[jdecker2000]

We went to Alaska the first full week of September and had 2 excursions scheduled per port.

 

Ketchikan - Lumberjack show (OK) and Saxman Native Village (OK). This left almost no time to walk around/shop but was fine with us, we were not there for shopping anyway.

 

Juneau - Rainforest Walk of Discovery (GREAT!!) in the morning and a combo Mendenhall Glacier and Whale Watching tour in the afternoon, also GREAT.

 

Skagway - White Pass & Yukon Railway in the morning (also very enjoyable, the scenery is fabulous, I can't understand the bad reviews on this by some, other than if they took kids on it) and a Pilot's Choice Helicopter Glacier Tour in the afternoon (OUTSTANDING! -- this was with Temsco by the way).

 

We also did not end up shopping/wandering the town in Juneau or Skagway - again shopping was low priority and I did not want to wear myself out for no good reason. But if we had not minded pushing it we would have had time in those 2 ports. (FYI, we were on the Island Princess northbound.)

 

Would be glad to answer anything else as well.

[JohnQ]

Two excursions in a port could be a problem, due to the fact that you don't control the time factors. If the cruise line changes the port times from the brochure or gets in late or decides to leave early, you could be impacted. If your first tour is late starting or runs long, you will be rushing for second tour if booked too tight. You have to allow time to get off and back on the ship and to get to your excursion. It can be done, but it could involve worrying about the clock and not enjoying what you came to see. Pick one you like best and save the others for next trip.

The only time we booked two bus tours in Sitka for morning and afternoon, we were rushed on both due to lateness of bus and passengers, and did not enjoy missing parts of the tour due to waiting for others.

[akissa]

thank you all for your detailed answers!! it helps a lot to know which tours people have taken and to know your individual experiences!!

[Budget Queen]

An important factor- time in port. If all day certainly can arrange 2 tours easily. Make the most of your day if you don't plan on frequent trips. :) But post here perhaps for information on specific tours, some fit better than others, and there may be better ways to make the most of your time.

[KVR]

If we decide to book 2 tours through the ship; one in the morning and one in the afteroon, will the ship ensure that we make each tour on time and get back to the ship on time. I know with booking on your own it's my responsibility to find my own transportation to each excursion and get back to the ship on time, but with ship scheduled excursions how does that work?

[Budget Queen]

Yes your ship excursions will schedule you correctly. You will be able to verify this directly with the shore excursion desk also. But if you wish to do a glacier helicopter and whale watch, or either of those and a visit to Mendenhall glacier- booking independently will save you an hour of transfer time. You can arrange a drop off between the two.

[two cruisers 723]

We booked two excursions in Juneau. We book them both through Orca Enterprises. We went on Captain Larry's Whale watching and then the bus from Orca Enterprises took us directly to Coastal Helicopters for our glacier dog sledding tour before they even took the whale watcher bus load back to their office. Basically, they made sure we got there on time. Afterward, Coastal took us back to the ship in one of their vans. And it was cheaper than booking through the ship. Also, Orca Enterprises is directly across from where the ships dock. So it was very convenient. We even had time after this to go to the Red Dog Saloon and eat some crab cakes and have some drinks. It was yummy. I highly recommend their crab cakes.

 

Do as much as you can in Alaska. You'll be glad you did. We also took a horse and buggy tour of Skagway before our Skagway Extravaganza tour which was a very long tour taking the train up the mountain, then a bus back down that stopped at Liarsville for a Salmon Bake and gold panning. This was a lot of fun. I loved the train ride up. And I thought I'd get bored. No way. We stood outside the rail car the whole time. The view was incredible. After all this, we still had time after it was over to go to the Skagway Fish Company near where the ship was docked and have some fried Halibut. I had fried Halibut three times during our cruise trip. And it was by far the best at this place.

 

Have fun. This was the best vacation we've ever taken in our lives. Do it all and enjoy every minute of it.