Recomended alternative activities in Juneau or Ketchikan?

[hdarby]

Hello all.

 

My family of 4, including my 8 & 10 year old boys, will be on the Mercury August 24th. I know of the options for the excursions booked through Celebrity, and I've done a private booking for an excursion in Sitka, but would like to hear people's experiences with things you booked yourself or simply found of interest in Juneau or Ketchikan. I'm hoping that the wealth of experience here will help us find some interesting activities that might be missed if following the normal tours.

 

Thanks in advance.

[berryhappy24]

Not sure what type of activities you are looking for, but in Ketchikan we just walked the city, visited Creek Street, took the funicular $2 up to the Fox Lodge to look around and then walked the trail back to town past the creek and salmon ladder. I was pregnant at the time and all of the shopping and walking just about did me in, so nothing overly strenuous.

 

In Juneau we took the Deluxe Highlights tour and were glad we did. We saw the Glacier Gardens, Mendenhall Glacier and the Salmon Hatchery. We could have done without the hatchery, but the smaller tour of just the gardens and glacier was sold out. The Glacier was the best part. I would really make sure you stop by there and leave yourself enough time to hike over to the waterfall. You get a much closer look at a glacier. There is a visitor center (small fee, but included in the tour) that shows a video, has hands on stuff for the kids and telescopes for close up viewing. Here are a few photos. You can see where the people are.

 

 

 

[Fblack]

There is also an amphibious Duck Tour in Ketchikan. They have a small building with tours right where the ship docks.

 

Also, if you walk up to Creek Street, there is a walking trail alomg the creek and a fish ladder. Both are fun for kids.

[hdarby]

Thanks for the replies, berryhappy & Fblack. About the fish ladder... I assume that's for salmon to go to a hatchery or access their spawning grounds, correct? So that's right near town and we can walk to it? That would be a good thing to do if that's the case.

 

Thanks.

[Fblack]

If you walk over to Creek Street (it's just past the Lumberjack show) and follow the wooden walkways in the back of the shops, you will find the past and the fish ladders. You can walk up into the area above Ketchikan and to a small park and fishery.

 

I found this site with a photo of the path and fish ladder. It's about 200 yards from the shops.

 

http://oakford.wordpress.com/2005/07/12/the-fish-ladder-on-ketchikan-creek/

[Cruise Arizona]

We were there last year with an 9 and 10 year old.

 

In Junea we went to the Alaska State Museum. I think it is free for kids and $5 for adults. My son really liked all the exhibits there. After the museum and a little gelato in the shopping area. We took the cable car that leaves right from the port are to go up to the top of the mountain. There are really nice views of Junea from up there. They also have a gift shop and a little retuarant up there.

 

In Ketchican, for this trip, we ended up booking the Lumber Jack Show through the ship. But you might also enjoy walking Creek Street. When we were there 15 years ago thats what we did. We walked around town, and then we went up the hill to the Totem Pole museum. It was kind of interesting. We then took the little funicular up the hill to the hotel that over looks the docks. There is lots of souvenir shopping in Ketchican. Just be sure that you pack a rain coat and a hat for Ketchican. It rains something like every day there.

 

Enjoy your cruise, and be sure to post what you did when you get back.

[bububr]

They had a great excursion where you wear a wetsuit and snorkle and they explain everything to you...then there lots of time to walk around town. We found the the BEST handpainted Christmas ornaments from Native Alaskan artists in the nicer galleries. This was in Ketchikan BTW it had to be our favorite or at least second favorite stop.

 

Dave:eek:

[Fredr]

Hello all.

 

My family of 4, including my 8 & 10 year old boys, will be on the Mercury August 24th. I know of the options for the excursions booked through Celebrity, and I've done a private booking for an excursion in Sitka, but would like to hear people's experiences with things you booked yourself or simply found of interest in Juneau or Ketchikan. I'm hoping that the wealth of experience here will help us find some interesting activities that might be missed if following the normal tours.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Hello,

 

Rent a car in Skagway and drive up into the Canadian Yukon. Rent a car in Juneau and see the Mendenhall Glacier, Auke Bay and Saint Theresa's. Having a rental car allows you to see and do more, with stops at McDonald's.

 

Get the kids involved with the planning of the cruise and so on. They will be having so much fun they will want you to visit the ports without them.

 

Sitka and Ketchikan can be seen on foot

 

Hope that this helps,

[marylandcrab]

We did the Mendenhall Glacier and Salmon Bake. When we got back to town we walked to the Alaska State Museum. We really loved the museum, small but very well done. Think children would like it. :)

[Ma Bell]

In Juneau I would highly recommend a whale watching tour with Captain Larry at Orca Enterprises. They have a website. Be sure to book ahead. I would do that in the morning and then take the bus over to the Mendenhall Glacier.

[Coco Creek]

In Juneau, the Helicopter trip over the Glaciers followed by dog sledding on Norris Glacier is a thrill of a lifetime.

 

Yeah, it is expensive, but there some things in life that should be experienced, whether you are 8 or 80.

[wolfshadow]

In Juneau this past June, we booked an excursion with Adventure Bound (small trauler) that goes up the Tracy Arm to the twin Sawyer Glaciers. It's a 9 hr tour and well worth the price. There were two boys about those ages onboard with their parents, too. Has indoor seating and all-around deck for viewing. They serve great sandwiches for only $5 and $1 sodas. Over 700 waterfalls along the way, lots of whales and eagles, many many icebergs, lots of calving action at the glaciers. When we were there we saw a lot of mama seals birthing their pups and floating all over the ice, was awesome, but might be a little late in the season now. The Captain pushed past a lot of ice to get us close. The larger ships can't go up all of the way so this is the way too get up close and personal with the glaciers. This was a fantastic trip and we found out that this is the one the locals take their lower 48 visitors on when visiting Juneau. Here's their site: http://www.adventureboundalaska.com/ :D

[kwpatel]

Hello,

 

Rent a car in Skagway and drive up into the Canadian Yukon. Rent a car in Juneau and see the Mendenhall Glacier, Auke Bay and Saint Theresa's. Having a rental car allows you to see and do more, with stops at McDonald's.

 

Get the kids involved with the planning of the cruise and so on. They will be having so much fun they will want you to visit the ports without them.

 

Sitka and Ketchikan can be seen on foot

 

Hope that this helps,

 

I also rented a car in Juneau and did the same, the only other suggestion while you are at Mendenhall glacier go to the camping area and you will get a different view, from what you see from park area. Also we stopped at the hatchery.

[halbfl2]

Last summer we visited Juneau and Ketchikan on the Island Princess. In Juneau, we used the bus that is near where the ships dock for the ride to the Mendenhall Glacier. It was a bit of a hike, but we walked down to the nearest city bus stop, and just rode it back to the center of town. Gives you a view of the city for very few $$$. In Ketchikan, we had made arrangements ahead of time for the float plane into the Mystic Fjords (it was highly recommended plus we just wanted to do a float plane). The brother-in-law went salmon fishing through the ship. All of us walked Creek Street--this town isn't very large, but there are also 2 places where you can go to view totem poles.

[SheilaNC]

We've taken a shared taxi to Mendenhall Glacier with a detour coming back to the ship to the other side of the bay to take pictures of Juneau and the ship - lovely. On our 2nd cruise (with family) we did Captain Larry's whalewatching trip with our daughter and grandson - amazing...lots of fun and lots of whales! Agree with renting car in Skagway and driving to the Yukon and Emerald Lake - take your passports with you!. In Ketchican, agree that just walking around, often watching locals catching salmon, visiting fish ladder, taking the funicular, and enjoying the shops in this touristy town is fun (and inexpensive). Enjoy! One of our favorite cruises....

[mom23guys]

Definitely recommend Capt Larry for whale watching. Incredible!!!. Check out the Orca Enterprises website. It was worth every penney and we've been on quite a few whale watch trips but this was the best. You can also take the city bus to Mendenhal. Don't know if you are doing Skagway, but they have a dog kennel trip three that the kids would love.

[Double Nickel]

Another whale watching suggestion; Harv & Marv in Juneau. (we were there 2 months ago.) Pete was our 'captain' and was terrific. You will only have maximum of 6 on board, so it is personal and informative. After our whale watching ( and sea lions ) we were taken to Mendenhall Glacier for a choice of a short stay to get some pics or stay and get back to the ship on your own.We did the morning excursion so we had plenty of time after the whale watching. (I got a young humpback breaching on my video camera.)

 

The funicular was not in operation in Ketchikan when we were there.

The zip line my DH did would not be good for youngsters, but we booked them through X and DH said everything about it was great.

 

In Sitka we used DeLong for our kayaking. There were 4 kayaks (8 people) with one good guide, the two young boys with their parents seemed to love the experience. The guide was plucking things out of the water to show the boys and let them touch/hold. The raptor center is a worthy cause, but not much perhaps for the boys.

 

We did not do the lumberjack show, but it was packed and there were alot of people turned away. Remember to watch your time, the ship will not wait for you.

 

Safe travels.

[hdarby]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. Lots of good things to put on the list.

 

Ten days and counting :D

 

Howard