Juneau logistics - glacier in the AM, private whale watch tour in the PM

[anricat]

We want to go to the Mendenhall glacier in the morning, have lunch in town and then do a private whale watch tour in the afternoon. We have to be back at the cruise dock by 12:30 for our whale watch tour pickup. We're thinking renting a car will give us the most flexibility because I understand a cab to the glacier is around $35 each way and the shuttle bus there is $20/person round trip. We're a family of 3 so the bus would be cheapest, but we're concerned about timing since it doesn't start running until 9 AM (the Glacier visitor's center opens at 8 AM) and with it running every 30 minutes, we don't want to be in a situation where we're standing around waiting when we need to be eating lunch before our whale watch. So I'd like to get moving sooner than the bus starts running.

Has anyone rented a car in Juneau? I was looking at Juneau Car Rental (formerly "Rent a Wreck") and reviews are super mixed on Yelp. But they're over $30 cheaper than the Avis in town. (A midsize for $70 vs. $114 for Avis.) I'm a morning person, always up earlier than my family, so I was thinking I could get off the ship and go grab the car and come back and pick up my family, but I don't know the dock layout or how far the rental company is and it's hard to tell from maps because not all of them note the cruise dock in the same place and I feel like I remember something about a shuttle from the dock into town?

The other option is that we have the whale watch company pick us up at the glacier (and do a one way bus or cab ride there in the morning) but we're concerned we'll get really hungry without lunch and I tend to get motion sick on an empty stomach on a small boat.

Has anyone done the glacier in the morning combined with a private whale watch tour in the afternoon? What did you do? I feel like there are a lot of moving parts here. Thanks!

 

[roobug]

A couple things to keep in mine, starting this year during the tourist season the glacier is charging 5.00 per person to see the glacier (it used to be you would only get charged if you went into the visitors center) if you take the bus they are supposed to include that charge in the rate although it may not happen seeing as this is the first year and from what I've heard no one is really sure how it's going to look. If you rent a car or take a taxi you will need to add the 5.00 in.

It will depend on where you dock how far away the rental company is - the reason the map doesn't show the dock in the same place is that they keep adding on to that dock so the end of it is I want to say about 10 blocks from town where as the closest is less then a block away. The Juneau Car rental is up a hill from about the middle of the docks, I've never paid any attention where the avis rental place is. Also if you rent a car parking in downtown and around the docks is very scarce and expensive you may want to have a plan on where you are going to meet your family that does not include you trying to park and getting out of the car. If you have to do that it could add at least a half an hour to your time if not more - unless you are blessed by the parking gods.

You should have plenty of time if you rent a car or take a taxi to get back into town to have a quick lunch. The bus might make it a little close. Also if you want to do the hike out to the waterfall you may not have enough time depends on how quickly you hike.

 

[pillow]

If you do the bus to Mendenhall route (which I think is the easiest option) . . . for food, check with your whale watch company. I seem to recall there being a place to grab quick sandwiches near the docks (at least for Harv & Marv - not sure who you're using). They may give you a few minutes to grab food to bring on the whale boat with you. I had researched doing the reverse of what you're planning (whales in morning followed by Mendenhall), and I had noted two potential food options: Hot Bite Shack and Deharts convenience store (deli style options). Good luck!

Jodie

 

[anricat]

If you do the bus to Mendenhall route (which I think is the easiest option) . . . for food, check with your whale watch company. I seem to recall there being a place to grab quick sandwiches near the docks (at least for Harv & Marv - not sure who you're using). They may give you a few minutes to grab food to bring on the whale boat with you. I had researched doing the reverse of what you're planning (whales in morning followed by Mendenhall), and I had noted two potential food options: Hot Bite Shack and Deharts convenience store (deli style options). Good luck!

Jodie

Thanks! We're using Rum Runners and he did indeed mention Hot Bite, which we considered, but we sort of want something more "Alaska" if we're going to pay for food off the ship, ya know?

 

[anricat]

A couple things to keep in mine, starting this year during the tourist season the glacier is charging 5.00 per person to see the glacier (it used to be you would only get charged if you went into the visitors center) if you take the bus they are supposed to include that charge in the rate although it may not happen seeing as this is the first year and from what I've heard no one is really sure how it's going to look. If you rent a car or take a taxi you will need to add the 5.00 in.

It will depend on where you dock how far away the rental company is - the reason the map doesn't show the dock in the same place is that they keep adding on to that dock so the end of it is I want to say about 10 blocks from town where as the closest is less then a block away. The Juneau Car rental is up a hill from about the middle of the docks, I've never paid any attention where the avis rental place is. Also if you rent a car parking in downtown and around the docks is very scarce and expensive you may want to have a plan on where you are going to meet your family that does not include you trying to park and getting out of the car. If you have to do that it could add at least a half an hour to your time if not more - unless you are blessed by the parking gods.

You should have plenty of time if you rent a car or take a taxi to get back into town to have a quick lunch. The bus might make it a little close. Also if you want to do the hike out to the waterfall you may not have enough time depends on how quickly you hike.

Good tips, thanks! I think we'll probably just head right back to return the car after the glacier so parking won't be an issue there. In terms of picking up my family, if I need to do some circling or idling somewhere, it's okay. We'll have our phones, so that's nice.

I read about the $5/pp fee. I'm fine paying that. In fact, I'm surprised there wasn't a fee before. I think that in the end, the car rental will probably give us the most flexibility in terms of timing.

If we have a car, and extra time after the glacier, is there anything else cool to see by car?

 

[poison ivy]

Your dealing with a few logistics.

1) Getting to and from the ship.

Last year, the Wonder docked a pretty good distance from the city of Juneau. If this remains true for 2016, you'll have to hop the first free shuttle bus from the dock into town and I don't know what time that actually fills up and leaves the port. (this is not the same shuttle to the glacier)

Walking into town from that dock is out of the question if you're pressed for time. Too far!

Here are several photos to give you a better idea. We are approaching the dock you see jutting out into the water.

Downtown Juneau is far left in the first photo.

The telephone poles align the only access road into town from where our ship docked and there were NO OTHER SHORTCUT WALKING PATHS!!
You can't even cut thru to that other cruise ship. They don't connect via a path in any way.
You must walk the length of that road. (or take the free shuttle provided to cruise guests)



It looks much shorter and closer than it really is. (keep an eye on the telephone poles)









follow the white busses - one approaching the dock - the other one leaving up toward the main road.




2) the location and time the rental office opens. I did not see any car rental agencies in town - they appear to be closer to the airport and did not open before 8am.

I don't know your exact location, but here are a few pics of downtown Juneau:

the road up ahead in this first shot leads back to the ship.



you grab the free shuttle bus to/fr. the ship in this open area to the right at the end of town. (yes that's the Wonder in this photo which looks so close, but you can't get to it from here - trust me!)

I don't know where the shuttle to the glacier picks up.









looking back from the pick up/drop off point toward town













Tracy's Crab Shack





3) the route.
Mapquest: Juneau, AK to mendenhall visitors center (marked X on the map) to Auke Bay, AK (for whale watching) and you'll see it is a very straightforward trek.



Backtracking into Juneau to enjoy a local lunch at say: Tracy's Crab Shack is a bit off course and may add time and stress once you factor in local traffic; refueling the car; time to eat; etc...etc....etc....

I would reconsider negotiating an add on price thru your whale watch co. for r/t transportation at the ship with an add on transport to/from the glacier.
That's what we did and it was well worth it.

In your case you'd have to barter for an added ride back and forth for lunch.

This co is great. They were provided for us thru our whale watching private tour co. for an additional fee of somewhere around 25/pp.

Our same driver picked us up at each point and actually dropped us off in town at the end of our tour to enjoy the sights. He would leave to manage other scheduled runs in between our stops.



We were picked up at the ship at 7:30am (that's their van waiting for us in the green circle)




Hope I didn't confuse you too much.

For what we wanted to do, we felt the little extra money to spring for a private ride was well worth it.

Have a great cruise!!

 

[anricat]

Thanks, Ivy! The photos are helpful. Evidently the Juneau Car Rental has a location very close to the cruise ship dock (the Avis is located in a the Goldbelt Hotel on Egan). Actually, the guy who runs Rum Runners Charters who we're doing the whale watching excursion with said that last year the office was closest to the dock the Wonder was using. Does the Wonder use the same dock every year?

 

[poison ivy]

anricat - what's the address for the Juneau Car Rental location close to the dock? You really need this information.

if you google the Goldbelt Hotel - and then click on the map that comes up you'll see it's proximity to the Red Dog Saloon. Follow along S. Franklin St which turns into Thane Rd. the Red Dog Saloon is basically at the other end of the Main st. downtown.

Now keep following Thane Road away from town and along a rural route - until you finally come to Mt Roberts St. which is where the Disney Wonder is docked. that's the entrance to the A.J. Dock - which is the one Disney has been using for the past few years.

This dock is considered the farthest away which is why it runs the courtesy shuttles back/forth to the Roberts tramway entrance - free to all Disney guests as transportation into Downtown Juneau.

There are schedules which should note where the Wonder will berth in Juneau in 2016. If it is the AJ Dock then everything esp. the Goldbelt is pretty far away from the ship.

(sorry I had to edit this as my first post was inaccurate. I just looked at a google satellite map and realized the mistake.)

 

[anricat]

anricat - what's the address for the Juneau Car Rental location close to the dock? You really need this information.

I just called them. He said are located at the A dock. I assume this is the same as the AJ dock. He said it's the furthest dock from town, so I assume that's the same and he was just calling it "A" dock.

I looked at the schedules and they don't show the dock, just the ships that will be in port that day. Maybe they haven't assigned the docks yet?

 

[roobug]

If that is where the Wonder Docks then you will want to for sure use Juneau rental - they are close to that part of the docks. The address that they have on their website is the main office not the one downtown and I can't remember what street the pick up location is but I do know it's not far from AJ dock. You for sure would not want to do the Avis as the goldbelt is far and also up a fairly steep hill and there are a lot of one way streets between the goldbelt and the docks. The only possible downside to Juneau rental is that they use slightly older cars - they are clean but it won't be the new cars that avis will use.

Actually being that far down on the docks will be a plus for you as parking and waiting for your family will not be an issue. Plus it's a straight shot out to egan drive from the docks you won't have to go through town. If you only want to see the glacier then I would do what poison ivy suggested as I don't think it's worth the added walking/logistics to just see the glacier when you can get out there and get to lunch using either your excursion or the taxi company. If you want to add in other sights then I would do the rental car. What time can you get off the ship? If you can get to the glacier before the shuttles then you would have great viewing of the glacier and you would have attention from the rangers and guides. I love going out there early mornings and late afternoons in the summer when there are few buses out at the glacier. When all the buses are there it gets really crazy. I might be tempted to rent the car just to get to the glacier before the crowds, but you could theoretically do that with the taxi service poison ivy suggested.

 

[anricat]

Well, I went ahead and reserved the rental car through Juneau Car Rental. The whale watching company did offer to pick us up from the glacier, but that doesn't really help us with lunch. They suggested Hot Bite (taking a cab there and they could pick us up there) but we sort of want something more... Alaskan for lunch.

I ended up with a compact for the day for $60. The taxi each way is $35 (so $70 total) and YES this will get us there before the shuttles start. The Wonder docks at 6:45 and the glacier opens at 8. The shuttle to the glacier starts at 9. We plan to try to get their before the crowds. Thanks for the input!

I'll report back when we get home with our experience in case it helps others.

 

[roobug]

For your lunch I would suggest going to The hanger over Tracy's crab shack. Tracey's can get a HUGE line and can take awhile to get through during lunch time. The hanger has great food and typically is faster then Tracy's.

 

[poison ivy]

From what I've been reading Juneau rental may have set up a seasonal rental office in a bldg. off Mill St at the AJ dock. This would be up toward the main rd. which is a little bit of a walk around some industrial bldgs. once you get off the ship.

But rumor has it that last year they started operating out of a kiosk somewhere to the right of the ramp exiting the Wonder.

It this holds true for 2016 then you may be in luck with this company.
(some of the rental agencies have come and gone from this area so it's important to make sure you have confirmed staff opening up that day - and you may be able to negotiate a little earlier time before 8am)

Apparently the AJ and Princess docks are the only 2 which can handle larger cruise ships of 1000 ft. or more right now. but there has been an extensive redevelopment project going on since 2014 which is bringing some major changes.

You can read an article here:
http://juneauempire.com/local/2014-04-13/cruise-ship-terminal-project-be-completed-season

I'm sharing a pic of the Wonder I took from the waterfront / passenger pickup area downtown which looks so close to get to but in reality is really far away.
(I would love to go again. So jealous!)



So I went back and checked my photos of the AJ dock to see if I could find a kiosk or rental fleet for Juneau rental.

This area is huge with a lot of designated industrial space.



this just might be your kiosk (where the pickup is parked - lower left corner of photo)



A few shots of the dock to determine the exact location of that little kiosk building.
Follow all the way to the Far Right away from the red pavillion/passenger pickup area.






here you can see possibly what is either a fleet of older vehicles sitting there for rent or the parking
area for the dock workers.



There's the kiosk/pickup truck right near it.
Who knows??? but this is the only possible area they could be set up closer to the ship.

Otherwise it's among the many buildings on Mill St.




FYI: this area is much bigger than it looks! They're off season right now, but as you get closer to the summer, reconfirm exactly where that pick up location is.

Plus I'd consider returning the vehicle to the Juneau airport location and arrange for whale watch pickup from there rather than backtrack all the way to the Wonder. Much closer to where you are headed.


Here we are turning onto Mt. Roberts from Thane Rd. (you can see the Wonder off to the right)




getting closer

 

[anricat]

That's an awesome photo of the Wonder, Ivy. Looks like they are having a lifeboat drill or something, too. Very cool.

I'll reconfirm with them closer to the time of sailing. I didn't pay up front - it's just a reservation. When I called for information, they indicated that they fill up quickly and to book sooner as opposed to later. They didn't give me the option to return to the airport, but since we're happy to eat in town (I think we'll take the suggestion of trying Hangar on the Wharf that a previous poster mentioned) returning to the ship isn't a big deal.

Since we're going to try to get to the glacier earlier, I don't think we'll have an issue. If we leave by 8, arrive at the glacier by 8:30, spend a couple hours or so there, we will be back I think by around 11 which is in time to eat lunch (evidently Hangar on the Wharf has a private lot so parking won't be an issue as a previous poster mentioned), return the car and get picked up. I'll have my cell phone and I have the number of the whale watch company. If we need to make alternate arrangements, that's fine. They said we could drive the car to their dock as well, as long as we're there by 1 so that's also an option, then return the car after the whale watch.

Thanks!

 

[anricat]

Juneau Car Rental sent us this map of their location. They also told me specific dock assignments won't be made until March.

 

[poison ivy]

That map location looks to be right where that little shack and pickup truck were with the line of cars in the photo 3rd from the bottom.
There is nothing else in the entire lot. It's a wide open space for busses; vans and private vehicle transports.

Would be very convenient for Disney cruisers to rent from this co. if they use the AJ dock again in 2016. Chances are pretty good it will be this dock given the length of the Wonder is 965 ft.
(I guess the only deal breaker would be renting an old vehicle with a lot of mileage on it - which is the rent a wreck motto)

btw - here's my post on Mendenhall. We were the first off the ship in Juneau and the earliest to arrive ahead of the crowd as well. It was such a fantastic day.
Your plans should work out great.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/anyone-back-from-alaska-yet.3414870/page-8#post-53856203

 

[anricat]

Wow, your photos are amazing! The water is so glassy. It looks like you got really lucky with the weather.

Is it August yet?!?!?!

 

[poison ivy]

Thanks. We upgraded our camera right before the trip. Well worth it.

But truthfully, we had the best weather! Our cruise was May 25-June 1, 2015. I was expecting much cooler temps. but every day in port had highs in the 70's.
You are going to love this cruise. really jealous!

 

[anricat]

I just bought a new lens for my camera and upgraded the memory card so I am READY to take ALL THE PICTURES!!

Thanks again for the help. I'll report back on my experience with Juneau Car Rental Company.