Alaska Excursions--post your reviews here!

[Mackie Mouse]

Originally Posted by topsy

We are booked on the September 2nd cruise and are booking the following tours (none are with DCL):

Skagway
Chilkoot Charters: Yukon Bus & Rail Excursion With Lunch / Husky Puppy Camp / Emerald Lake

Juneau
Harv & Marv's Whale Watching Tour
(We'll get dropped off at Mendenhall Glacier and return to town on the $8 shuttle bus)

Ketchikan
Misty Fjords floatplane flight - not sure who with yet. Any suggestions would be welcome!

We booked with Island Wings per recommendations here for this summer! Very pleased with their customer service so far.

We are doing Chilkoot Charters in Skagway, too...would have also loved to do whale watching with Harv and Marv, but DH wasn't too enthused...so instead we have a day of our own fun planned out in Juneau

[EllinK]

We also booked the Temsco helicopter/glacer/dog sled excursion in Skagway. It was steps away from where the Wonder docked. Phenomenal! If we return to Alaska, we will do this again even though it is $$$. Don't miss it.

In Ketchikan we did the canoe trip because I wanted to get away from crowds and figured my son would be itching to do something physical. Another incredible success -- you take a van to a state park that is remote and breathtaking. Being out on the water and experiencing the calm and the quiet was a perfect way to spend the afternoon.

You won't be disappointed with either of these tours.

[topsy]

Brilliant, that's exactly what we're hoping to do! Thanks.

[AZMermaid]

Originally Posted by topsy

We are booked on the September 2nd cruise and are booking the following tours (none are with DCL):

Skagway
Chilkoot Charters: Yukon Bus & Rail Excursion With Lunch / Husky Puppy Camp / Emerald Lake

Juneau
Harv & Marv's Whale Watching Tour
(We'll get dropped off at Mendenhall Glacier and return to town on the $8 shuttle bus)

Ketchikan
Misty Fjords floatplane flight - not sure who with yet. Any suggestions would be welcome!

We are booked for Harv and Marv for the July 15 cruise and also looking at Chilkoot Charters- just for the bus and rail though. Not sure my kids can hang in for anything more than a 4 hour excursion. In Ketchikan we are debating between the Deadliest Catch tour and Wilderness/Crab fest one. We will be booking that through DCL since we will leave the kids in the nursery for sure if it is the Deadliest Catch one and maybe for the other one. I have an email into the company asking if it is appropriate for kids under 3 but no response yet.

[Broncobait]

What was the cost of the Harv and Marv excursion? I was considering this one also. I had been planning on booking our excursions in early March. Y'all are getting the jump on us.

[AZMermaid]

http://www.harvandmarvs.com/

We have 6, and 2 under 13 (you have to do a private tour if you have kids under 13 though them) and it was $870 plus tax. Works out to $145 a person- the whale tour through Disney is $147 a person (less for kids though) but a 150 person boat, so we felt like Harv and Marv was a good value.

[jadedjojo]

Skagway- We did White Pass and Yukon round-trip (the long one!). It was AWESOME! I loved hearing the stories about the gold rush, and the sights were incredible. You can go outside of the cars and take photos and get some fresh air. You also board the train literally steps from the ship, so it's convenient if you have kids or have a disability (although be forewarned, the kids I did see on the train were sleeping after half an hour... a huge waste of $$$ if you have kids that would rather be playing with your iphone than seeing mountains and waterfalls). It was a great time (for adults ), and I definitely give it a 5/5. We walked through Skagway on our own after the train, and got a cone from Kone Kompany (best bubblegum ice cream EVER!) We found a historical area that had a nice little park and ate our ice cream there. We also visited a park near the White Pass' photo op with the trains area, that had a stream and nice shots for photos.

Juneau- We did Mendenhall Glacier on our own. Took the blue bus (much, much cheaper than the DCL excursion) and rode to the Glacier. It wasn't a long ride, and we saw a lot of interesting things on the way. We hiked as many of the trails as we could, took the trail to Nugget Falls (incredible!), and took a lot of photos. We didn't see any bears (although the signs were everywhere warning of bears, and someone said we missed a bear by five minutes in the parking lot), but we saw a lot of salmon in the streams and bald eagles. I will rate our own excursion of Mendenhall as 5/5 . Of all of the ports, Juneau had SO much to do, and I was very disappointed we didn't have more time. We only went to Mendenhall and briefly visited the downtown area, and barely made it back to the ship on time! We look forward to visiting again in the future and doing more.

Ketchikan- We did the Lumberjack show. This was a fun show, especially for anyone with kids. The kids in the audience seemed to be having a great time (as did my hubby, who cheered so loudly I had a headache). It's a little on the corny side at times, so if you are one of those stuck-up cruisers you may not want to go . Overall, a really great time. I'll give this one a 4.5/5, just because I was hoping for a tad more action (I'll take the corny ). Besides that, we wandered all over Ketchikan after the show. We visited a ton of parks on our own with totem poles (I really wanted to see the totem poles and was bummed I didn't have enough time to do both the Lumberjack Show and Totem Bight Park). The locals were friendly and pointed us towards the locations of all of the totems. For shoppers, the deals were best here. We aren't big shoppers, but we got a ton of stuff for free! Make sure you collect those coupon books when you board (they have them in the towns as well). DH and I had one each, and we got hats and bags, jewelry, train whistle, mugs, etc., all free, or free with any purchase... seriously, you could buy a postcard and get a hat for free! Good deals besides the free stuff too. We also got to see Creek Street, where we found out we had again just missed a bear. It was a gorgeous place, but about this time hubby pointed out we only had one hour left until the boat would leave us, so we had to head back again. Looking forward to visiting here again in the future as well and finding the one totem in town that I missed!

[meajuly5]

Originally Posted by Inkmahm

We are doing Alaska with DCL in August, but DH and I have previously done land/cruise tours with Princess in 2005 and 2008. That is affecting the excursions we have booked for this 2011 trip.

Skagway: 2005 we did the Whitepass railway and trip into Yukon. Up on a bus, lunch at Carribou Crossing, over to see Emerald Lake, back on the train. Loved the trip! The versions they have now have the added meeting with dog sledding puppies which would be a great addition.

2008 we did the 9 hour tour on our own with taking the train to the end of the line and eating lunch in Bennet. My DH is a big Gold Rush fan and I have to admit, it was very cool to see the area left as it was when the miners were there. Again, it was a bus ride back with lots of stops for pictures. I don't know that this trip is available because the train tracks had washed away awhile ago but if it has been rebuilt, I'd highly recommend booking this through Chilkoot tours.

2011 with DCL: Highly tempted to do the steam train version of the White Pass as it is rarely available. But the chance to see brown bear on the evening Wilderness excursion has won our first pick, especially since we can do the summer dog sled camp with it. If anyone is debating though and this is your one trip to Alaska, definitely don't miss the White Pass railway.

Juneau: 2005 we did the Pilot's Choice helicopter trip. For everyone that can afford it, flying over the glaciers is really something to see. Standing on a glacier is amazing. I agree 100% that the walking on the glacier was much scarier than the helicopter ride to get there and I am normally afraid of heights. The sense of distance is SO messed up on both the helicopter and the glacier. It really is a once in a lifetime excursion. We also did the Fish Hatchery and Mendenhall glacier tour.

2008 we tried to do the dogsledding on a glacier tour but it was canceled due to weather. This is THE most canceled excursion in all of Alaska. Anyone doing a helicopter flight out of Juneau, especially one with dog sledding, needs to have backup plans ready in case of cancellation. Our day was not a loss because we did whale watching with Harv and Marv in the morning. They use a 6 person boat and you get VERY close to the whales. While the boats must stay a certain distance away from the whales, they can shut their engines off and let the whales come close to the boat on their own. We had one whale that made me jump because it surfaced SO close to us. I thought it was going to treat our boat as a toy! We went back to Mendenhall Glacier to see how far it had receded since 2005.

2011 We are doing whale watching and the Mendenhall Glacier again, but going with Disney. We are on the smaller boat though (less than 36 passengers). It sounds like the glacier has receded very far from where it was originally. We want to see how far that is.

Ketchikan: 2005 we did a jet boat trip out of a fishing camp and loved it. It was May, so it was way too early to see bears and salmon. We did the Lumberjack show and thought it was okay, but wouldn't do it again. Kids would love it though.

2008 we flew with Island Wings to Traitor's Cove in late August to watch black bears fishing for salmon. We flew to see Misty Fjords on the way back. I highly recommend any float plane trip to Traitor's Cove. The bears are fun to watch and you are quite close to them. The salmon swimming upstream are also very interesting.

2011 we are doing the float plane tour to Neets Bay to see the bears fishing again. Since we've already been to Traitor's Cove, we picked the Disney excursion to Neets Bay.

Which bear watching would you recommend? We are trying for traitors cove with misty fjords but interested to hear what you thought of meets bay!

[meajuly5]

Originally Posted by EllinK

We also booked the Temsco helicopter/glacer/dog sled excursion in Skagway. It was steps away from where the Wonder docked. Phenomenal! If we return to Alaska, we will do this again even though it is $$$. Don't miss it.

In Ketchikan we did the canoe trip because I wanted to get away from crowds and figured my son would be itching to do something physical. Another incredible success -- you take a van to a state park that is remote and breathtaking. Being out on the water and experiencing the calm and the quiet was a perfect way to spend the afternoon.

You won't be disappointed with either of these tours.

Considering the temsco tour in Skagway. If we go first thing in am, would there be time to do the train in the afternoon?

[meajuly5]

Originally Posted by jlwhitney

We booked all of excursions independently and are so glad that we did!!!

Here is what we did:

Skagway: Chillkoot Charters, Yukon Rail and Bus. It was fantastic, we took a van up the white pass and into Carcross yukon. We stoped at the welcome to alsaka and welcome to yukon signs, as well as the carcross desert and emerald lake. We had lunch at caribou crossings which was yummy but the place was kind of cheesy to us (defiantly touristy). After that we drove back to the Fraser station and took the train down.

Juneau: Coastal Helicopter, we did the dog sledding on a glacier. It saved us a hundred bucks a person to book through them versus through Disney. It was amazing, I can't say enough great things about the company and the experience. Truly once in a lifetime!!!

Ketchikan: Bearing Sea Crab tour. Do not book through Disney, book it on your own, it will save you 20 bucks a person and its a five minute walk to the ship (even on the same pier) it is so easy.

We also did in Whistler ziplining at Ziptrek (5 stars) and Monkido Course through Wildplay (5 stars again)/

In vancouver we did stanley park/aquarium and the capilano suspension. I would recommend all of them.

Feel free to ask me questions on what we did and the companies we used.

We just booked coastal. Glad to hear you were happy! Can you tell me about the glacier? Should I be disappointed its not mendenhall or will I not know the difference?

[meajuly5]

How was this company and tour???

[meajuly5]

Thumbs up

[wachnicki]

Originally Posted by topsy

We are booked on the September 2nd cruise and are booking the following tours (none are with DCL):

Skagway
Chilkoot Charters: Yukon Bus & Rail Excursion With Lunch / Husky Puppy Camp / Emerald Lake

Juneau
Harv & Marv's Whale Watching Tour
(We'll get dropped off at Mendenhall Glacier and return to town on the $8 shuttle bus)

Ketchikan
Misty Fjords floatplane flight - not sure who with yet. Any suggestions would be welcome!

Can you tell me the cost of the chilkoot charter excursion?

[Mackie Mouse]

Originally Posted by wachnicki

Can you tell me the cost of the chilkoot charter excursion?

There are a few choices, but here is what I was quoted via e-mail this year for the Bus and Rail excursion with a stop at Caribou Crossing (their most popular tour and the one PP posted about):

"Yukon Bus & Rail Excursion (lunch included)
Duration: 7.5 Hours
Departure: 7:30AM (Depart Skagway by train)
Departure: 8:30AM (Depart Skagway by bus)
Cost: $176.00 Adult $116.00 Child (12 & Under)
Lunch Included: BBQ chicken, baked potato, coleslaw, dinner roll, cake doughnuts, coffee, tea, water
Admission to the Yukon Wildlife Museum and Husky Puppy Camp also included
Itinerary: Skagway/White Pass Summit/Fraser by train – 1 ¾ hours on train to Fraser, Fraser to Carcross & Emerald Lake and return to Skagway by bus"

To clarify, although both itineraries include a trip on the train and one on the bus, depending on what time you choose to depart, you will either go up to the Yukon by bus, or go up on the train. We chose the 8:30 departure that goes up by bus and takes the train back down.

[topsy]

There are just too many tours, we keep changing our minds! It's such a shame that Juneau appears to have the largest selection of things to do yet the port time is the shortest

As mentioned previously, we hope to go with Harv & Marv for whale watching - does anyone know what time(s) their tours run?

We've now also seen the Taku Lodge/Float Plane tour which we would love to do but we don't want to give up whale watching. Will we have time to do both? We don't mind getting up early and being off the ship as soon as possible.

What time do the Taku Lodge tours run?

Thanks!