Alaska Excursions--post your reviews here!

[lmb80129]

Hmmm. We are doing basically the same times for this and I've been concerned about our 9 yearold and lunch. Heck I'm worried about all of us. Not sure we can pack enough food to keep everyone happy from 10-4.

Honestly, I spent the entire time at the Glacier wishing that I had just booked the whale watching and skipped the glacier and spent the time exploring the town of Juneau. I didn't feel like we had enough time before the excursion to walk around town and we had very little time after the Glacier.

 

[buddywesley]

Juneau - Exclusive whale watching and Mendelhall Glacier 10ish departure. The whale watching was fun and we saw humpbacks and orcas. There were 36 people on board. I did pack ahead and brought snacks from the ship for the kids but it wasn't enough. Right after the whale watching we were taken to a bus and dropped at the Glacier for approximately an hour and a half. My kids were starving and there was no food to be found anywhere. The nature center was cool and the trails looked like fun but my kids just wanted to leave and eat. Had we had lunch in between or if we had taken an earlier excursion they would have really enjoyed the glacier. As it was, we just wanted to leave and find something to eat in town.

Ketchikan - Wilderness Exploration and crab feast. Another great excursion. There were about 55 people on this one and we took a bus to the George Inlet Lodge where we boarded a boat. We saw eagles, eagle nests, a waterfall, an old cannery, and some sea lions or seals. My kids helped pull up a crab trap and learned a little about crabs. They even held the crabs with some assistance from the crew member. Then we went back to the lodge and had a delicious feast of all you can eat crab legs. My kids left with a new favorite food - crab!

Thanks for this info. We are doing both these tours on the June 28 cruise.
Question on the Juneau tour? Was there food for purchase on the boat? Or was it a smaller boat? We are doing the 8:45-2:45 one
On the Ketchikan one...was it a bigger boat? Were all 55 on the same boat?

thanks

 

[lmb80129]

Thanks for this info. We are doing both these tours on the June 28 cruise.
Question on the Juneau tour? Was there food for purchase on the boat? Or was it a smaller boat? We are doing the 8:45-2:45 one
On the Ketchikan one...was it a bigger boat? Were all 55 on the same boat?

thanks

There was complimentary crackers, smoked salmon, sodas and bottles of water on the boat. There was also a restroom. I thought it was a fairly small boat as it only held 36 passengers.

In Ketchikan, there were two boats. I thought we got lucky as we were on the smaller boat. I think it only held about 20 people and I think my kids got more time pulling in the crab traps and holding the crabs than they would have in the other boat. We were fairly lucky being the first ones out of the Disney Theater, the first ones on the bus, and the first family down the stairs and onto the smaller boat.

 

[buddywesley]

There was complimentary crackers, smoked salmon, sodas and bottles of water on the boat. There was also a restroom. I thought it was a fairly small boat as it only held 36 passengers.

In Ketchikan, there were two boats. I thought we got lucky as we were on the smaller boat. I think it only held about 20 people and I think my kids got more time pulling in the crab traps and holding the crabs than they would have in the other boat. We were fairly lucky being the first ones out of the Disney Theater, the first ones on the bus, and the first family down the stairs and onto the smaller boat.

Good to know We'll try and be first out

 

[808Mickey]

Has anyone done the zipline in Ketchikan. We have the Bear Creek booked and interested and how people have liked it.

Chuck

We were on the May 31st sailing and did the Bear Creek Zipline in Ketchikan. It was our first time ziplining, so we have nothing to compare it with, but DD and I had a blast! I think there were a total of 6 ziplines each progressively longer, 1 suspension bridge, 1 rappel down from a platform, and 1 awesome long slide! It was all great fun and probably the highlight of our cruise! Our two guides were great, and very thorough...I have a thing with heights, but never felt unsafe at any point on the course. I would highly recommend this excursion.

 

[cruisenow01]

Hmmm. We are doing basically the same times for this and I've been concerned about our 9 yearold and lunch. Heck I'm worried about all of us. Not sure we can pack enough food to keep everyone happy from 10-4.

We are doing this same excursion. I had planned on ordering some Uncrustables the night before so that we could take them for snacks. I will have to be sure to order extra. My children love salmon and crackers so I may have to supplement on the boat (sneak some crackers into our stash). Perhaps packing a soft sided lunch box would help. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[princess81499]

We are doing this same excursion. I had planned on ordering some Uncrustables the night before so that we could take them for snacks. I will have to be sure to order extra. My children love salmon and crackers so I may have to supplement on the boat (sneak some crackers into our stash). Perhaps packing a soft sided lunch box would help. Thanks for the heads up.

Great ideas! We are also doing this excursion on the July 12th cruise. I also booked the Mt Roberts Tramway. For those that you have gone already, will we have enough time to the Exclusive Whale Watching and Mendenhall Glacier (9:50 - 2:20), then do the tramway when we get back?

 

[lmb80129]

Great ideas! We are also doing this excursion on the July 12th cruise. I also booked the Mt Roberts Tramway. For those that you have gone already, will we have enough time to the Exclusive Whale Watching and Mendenhall Glacier (9:50 - 2:20), then do the tramway when we get back?

Our driver did not pick us up until 2:25 and of course there was a family that was late so I don't think we left until 2:30 or 2:35 and it is about 15 minutes back into town. All aboard was 4:30 and we had to catch a shuttle back to the ship. I don't know how long it takes to do the tramway but I'd say at worst, you'll only have a little more than an hour for the tramway or to see the town.

 

[buddywesley]

Great ideas! We are also doing this excursion on the July 12th cruise. I also booked the Mt Roberts Tramway. For those that you have gone already, will we have enough time to the Exclusive Whale Watching and Mendenhall Glacier (9:50 - 2:20), then do the tramway when we get back?

I'd say cancel the tramway thru Disney. You can get tickets right at the tram if you end up having time. That way you wont be out money if you can't use them!!!! Plus I've heard if it's overcast, you wont see as much up there so it's best to wait and see how the day fares

 

[cindy18]

We just got back late Tuesday night, and I thought I should share what we did since this thread helped me out so much before we left for our cruise.

We got to spend a day in Vancouver before we got on the Wonder, so I'm including what we did there as well.

Vancouver: We found a stretch limo driver that was FABULOUS! He charged us $75 per hour, and we could use his service for as many hours as we wanted. We decided to limit our tour to two hours, and we were so happy we did this! For $150, we got to customize what we wanted to do, and our limo driver was a native to Vancouver and provided us with so much information on the city. We chose to have him take us to Grouse Mountain so we could do the tram ride to the top. We then went to the fish hatchery and got to view some salmon jumping upstream. This was cool and probably not something I would have chosen if our limo driver hadn't suggested it to us. He drove us thru Stanley Park, to a beautiful place called Prospect Point, to the famous Steam Clock downtown, and then just took us around the city showing us beautiful homes (and they are GORGEOUS) and telling us the history of Vancouver. I cannot say enough good things about Vancouver. I'd definitely vacation there again, and I highly recommend the limo driver we had. I have his info if anyone is interested.

Skagway: We did the White Pass Railway, City, and Yukon Suspension Bridge tour. This was also a great excursion! We took the train to Fraser, British Columbia, and the sites along the way were beyond beautiful! It was about a 90 minute to two hour ride on the train, and then we boarded a bus that took us to the suspension bridge and then drove us back to Skagway. It was neat to take the bus back because it all looked different from the point of view you get on the bus compared to the views from the train. Plus, our driver was wonderful and provided lots of information as we drove back. I'd also recommend this tour.

Juneau: We did the Alpine Zipline and Glacier tour. This tour was amazing! We had ziplined in Hawaii on a previous trip, and the ziplining in Alaska was WAY better than what we did in Hawaii. Our ziplining guides were wonderful, and it included 7 ziplines and a suspension bridge. When we got back to the lodge, they had blueberry tea for us, and we could make s'mores over a fire if we wanted to. Very cool excursion and one we would highly recommend. The glacier was cool too! We thought it was better than Tracy Arm because we could actually get quite close to the glacier here. It's quite a hike to make it close to the glacier and to the huge waterfall that is near the glacier, but it's worth it! We only had a limited amount of time at Mendenhall Glacier, but we were able to make the trek up to the glacier and waterfall with time to spare when we got back to meet the bus.

Ketchikan: This is by far the highlight excursion of our trip. My kids are already begging us to let them do this again some day! At the last minute (and thanks to a fellow DISer on this thread), we booked a float plane adventure to Misty Fjords thru a place called Island Views. Michelle is the pilot, and I cannot say enough good things about this excursion! Michelle is very knowledgeable and has been flying for many, many years. The sites are breathtaking! We got to land on a lake in the fjords and walk around on the side of one of the mountains. I cannot wait to get our pictures back from this one! We even saw a mini avalanche while we were there (but nothing to worry about). Island Views is a small company that goes above and beyond to make sure you have the experience of a lifetime. The ship was scheduled to leave port at 8:00 that night, and we didn't have our excursion with Island Views until 5:00. We booked the two hour tour so we could have some time on the mountain when we landed at the lake. The price was far more affordable than booking something similar thru Disney, and we will definitely book thru this company again if we ever go back. SUPER GREAT EXCURSION!

Hope this helps someone out there! Let me know if you have any questions or want the contact info for the limo driver we had. I told him I'd be recommended him on the DIS!

Susan

Definitely interested in the contact infor on the limo driver! We'll be in Vancouver from August 20-23rd, before getting on the ship. Thanks!

 

[PBader]

We are doing this same excursion. I had planned on ordering some Uncrustables the night before so that we could take them for snacks. I will have to be sure to order extra. My children love salmon and crackers so I may have to supplement on the boat (sneak some crackers into our stash). Perhaps packing a soft sided lunch box would help. Thanks for the heads up.

I thought I had read they took the uncrustables off the room service menu?

 

[texasteacher]

Disneypoor, I am definitely interested in the Vancouver limo contact information, but I'm not sure how to contact you. Thanks for any help you can give this posting amateur!

 

[disneypoor]

Disneypoor, I am definitely interested in the Vancouver limo contact information, but I'm not sure how to contact you. Thanks for any help you can give this posting amateur!

Hi! I just sent you a private message with all of the information! Hope it all works out for you. He was great, and of course, we felt like royalty getting hauled around in a stretch limo. You should have seen the people just watching to see who was getting out. They were quite disappointed. I believe someone even asked him who we were when we were at Prospect Point. Gotta love it!

Susan

 

[disneypoor]

Definitely interested in the contact infor on the limo driver! We'll be in Vancouver from August 20-23rd, before getting on the ship. Thanks!

I just PM'ed you with the details. Hope it all works out for you!

Susan

 

[thej]

We are doing this same excursion. I had planned on ordering some Uncrustables the night before so that we could take them for snacks. I will have to be sure to order extra. My children love salmon and crackers so I may have to supplement on the boat (sneak some crackers into our stash). Perhaps packing a soft sided lunch box would help. Thanks for the heads up.

Uncrustables are an excellent idea. Thanks!

It's been so long since we've been on DCL I can't remember if the chips that you get with sandwiches from cabin service come in single serving bags... That would be toooo easy. We were going to pick up some snacks in vancouver to carry on for excursions, so between the two we should be good.

 

[rsjj]

Uncrustables are an excellent idea. Thanks!

It's been so long since we've been on DCL I can't remember if the chips that you get with sandwiches from cabin service come in single serving bags... That would be toooo easy. We were going to pick up some snacks in vancouver to carry on for excursions, so between the two we should be good.

the chips were not in bags. but this was 2005...so quite long ago. i learned from this board that you should bring zip lock bags, and that's what we put our sandwiches from room service and chips in another ziplock bag, and that was our "snacks" while we were out on our various excursions/town...our dss were little at the time (3 & 5), and we weren't sure how they would do w/local food. just to be safe, b/c we all know hungry kids aren't happy kids!

 

[poohj80]

Skagway: We did the White Pass Railway, City, and Yukon Suspension Bridge tour. This was also a great excursion! We took the train to Fraser, British Columbia, and the sites along the way were beyond beautiful! It was about a 90 minute to two hour ride on the train, and then we boarded a bus that took us to the suspension bridge and then drove us back to Skagway. It was neat to take the bus back because it all looked different from the point of view you get on the bus compared to the views from the train. Plus, our driver was wonderful and provided lots of information as we drove back. I'd also recommend this tour.

Thanks so much! I have been waiting for a review of this tour!

We plan on taking out 5 yr old on this tour. Were there many small kids on your tour? if so, did they seem to enjoy it?

 

[buck4568]

We were on the June 7th sailing and had a great time.

Skagway: We did the Yukon 4x4 Jeep excursion which was excellent. It is a long excursion going from Skagway via Jeep convoy following the other jeeps inland to Carcross which is in the Yukon Territory. Along the way we stopped a few times for photo opts and also saw a total of 12 bears (black and brown, no grizzlies) along the route. One was a mother with two cubs, very cool. The guide is in the lead vehicle and all the Jeeps have cb radios which are used to narrate and ask questions along the way. One off road run when you get to Carcross which was pretty rugged going and then a brief stop for a little snack stop with some smoked salmon spread, cheese, crackers, reindeer sausage and water all laid out on the hood of one of the Jeeps.

Juneau: We did the Salmon Bake and also walked about Juneau on our own. The Salmon Bake was good food but for $48 per person I thought it was a bit over priced. It is all you can eat with chowder, slaw, Alaskan style cooked chicken that my kids loved so it must have been good because they are fussy eaters, fresh cooked salmon and baked beans w/ corn bread . Also could roast marshmallows over a camp fire.

Ketchican: We did the Disney exclusive Lumberjack Show which was reviwed in a previous post. It was lots of fun and the popcorn for $1 a bag was good! They have a nice gift shop and the Alaska Shirt Co. had the best deals on sweat shirts etc. That is located straight down along the main St that the ships dock at.

Overall it was a great trip. We have been to a lot of ports around the world and I have to say that I have never seen so many Jewelry stores as we saw on this trip. Seemed like dozens in each port and not many busy!

 

[epjenk]

For those wanting to save a little on your Skagway day, we rented a car from Avis. For about $120 our family of 7 rented a minivan, bought the Murray guide and had a fabulous day. Lots of places to stop and look around on the way, dog camp @ carcross, and the highlights for us- a bear right next to our car walking down the road and seeing beautiful Emerald Lake. We got off the boat early and hightailed it straight to Caribou Crossing, so we were able to do the museum and puppy petting all by ourselves before the tour groups descended. My sister did the train and loved it, but my kids were so not into the train ride from Seattle to Vancouver I couldn't justify the extra $1,000 it would have cost us.

Juneau I highly recommend Juneau Limousine, particularly if you can get Judy. She took us around town and told us all about the history, drove us to Mendenhall Glacier (avoiding the crowded bus) and took us to pan for gold in Gold Creek (she brought pans). We had the limo for 3 hours, which was plenty. The kids thought they were rock stars in the stretch limo. We had lunch later @ Tracey's King Crab Shack. It was pricey, but by far the best meal I had all week. There is a food shack next door that sells burgers and such if you are going with little kids.

Ketchikan- our guys went Salmon Fishing and didn't catch a thing. They said the radio traffic was all about how none of the boats out that day caught anything. Not just no king salmon- no fish. I think they were glad they went, but if you will feel ripped off if you don't get a big haul, be prepared.

 

[cruisenow01]

I thought I had read they took the uncrustables off the room service menu?

Surely they have some kind of sandwich that I can place in a baggy to take with us. At least I hope so. My daughter is a grazer. She likes to eat many small meals a day.