Assistance with Juneau Excursions

[msuweather]

We are having a difficult time deciding the best route to go in Juneau. :confused: Right now we are scheduled for the Evening Whale Watching tour. What are you opinions?

 

I'm thinking about switching to the photo land and see but not sure.

 

What is a must see?

 

Any advice is greatly appreciated! :D

 

PS: We are in our 20's so we like doing fun exciting things. If that matters :)

[flashdog_1]

No one is going to be able to give you advice that is pertinent to you. YOU have to decide. Look over all these threads on the Alaska board, and you may get ideas from the answers others have received when asking more particular questions.

 

Go to the review section and read those reviewers' comments.

 

How long are you in port? Are you a couple, a group of adults, a couple with children? If so, this will have a bearing on what you select.

 

I did see a post recently about someone who did the photo land and sea and it was whale watching and went to Mendenhal, as well. The poster said it was wonderful.

[Suzanne123]

We did the evening whale watch through HAL a couple years ago. It included a nice buffet dinner. Everyone got binoculars to use while on board. The ride was very smooth, and we saw lots of whales -- two went under our boat and you could almost touch them. We also saw a few sea lions and an eagle.

Maybe because it was in the evening, but our boat was only half full. I think that if you have the whole day, this is a good choice for an evening excursion. In the morning, since you're young and exciting, :) go canoeing or hiking to mendenall or do one of the flying excursions. Good luck!

[Budget Queen]

I am not one to consider the "photo" tours, in my opinion All of Alaska is a photo tour, that would be best if you pick the locations of interest yourself, and not leave it up to a costly tour. Some evening whale watches are also shorter tours, verify your times. Always- longer is better, more view time and opportunities.

[Acemac]

If you have the extra money I'd recommend taking a helicopter or float plane tour.....since you're already doing a whale watch, a flightseeing tour is the next best thing!!!

 

You might want to consider doing a whale watch right when you get here, that way you have all day to do other stuff......

 

How long are you in town?

[msuweather]

Thank you so much for your replies. This is so helpful.

 

We are on the Diamond Princess which will stay in Juneau from 8:00a.m. till 9:00p.m.

 

I've considered maybe doing one of the helipcopter rides to the glacier or going to the Mendenhall Vistor center.

 

How close do you get from there? Is it a good viewing spot. Do the trails around there get you closer and better views?

 

I hate to ask stupid questions, but I just can't pin down this town.

 

We already have planned in Ketichan the Zip line and in Skagway the best of Klondike tour.

 

Again! thank you to everyone who has responded!!!:D

[#1survivorfan]

When we went to Juneau we had about the same amount of time as you...Here's what we did

 

Early morning Whale Watch with Orca Enterprises

Shuttle by Orca to Mendenhall Glacier.....hiked and had picnic lunch

back to dock to catch boat to Zipline excursion.

Whew...it was a lot in one day but what a great day it was

 

Enjoy your days

 

We did the Heli/dog sled out of Skagway with Temsco. It was amazing

[Acemac]

If you go to the glacier on your own, you can hike around on your own....you can get fairly close and the trails are really nice, they certainly will give you different view points of the glacier....most of the helicopter tours will land back on the glaciers, so you can't get closer than that.

 

 

You're lucky you're here all day, seems like NCL ships are only here half days..never made much sense to me that the port with the most to do, the ships stay half the time.....you guys certainly can get a lot done in that time if you wanted.

 

If you're beer drinkers, you might want to think of a stop at the local brewery, though there's not a whole lot to see...I believe they still give you free samples while you're there!!!