Alaska cruise

[BananaCupCake]

Can't wait to go to Alaska in late July. It's only me and 2 kids this time (10 & 13) and trying to decide which excursion I should go with them. Any input?

 

[kickash]

I can only speak for our cruise (5 night Alaska) but we loved the glacier explorer excursion and kayaking in Ketchikan with an outside company. Both were fantastic!

 

[dcassetta]

Can't wait to go to Alaska in late July. It's only me and 2 kids this time (10 & 13) and trying to decide which excursion I should go with them. Any input?

We loved whale watching in Juneau and the Bering Crab experience in Ketchikan.

 

[dclpluto]

I will tell you one to not go to. Don’t do the one with the totem poles. Very boring.

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

Not an excursion, per se, but we rented a car from Juneau Car rentals for <$100 for the day. Fantastic. Made our way to Mendenhall Glacier (A+) to beat the crowds, then up to Eagle Bay State Park (another A+). Coming back we stopped at some local places and did shopping in downtown. Highly recommned.

In Skagway we did the campfire breakfast in Liarsville. It was wonderfully campy, but the highlight was panning for gold. The pans were salted with a flake or two, but still lots of fun for DW, DS 14, DDs 12 and myself.

In Ketchikan, we wandered the town. Creek street was...ok? Not awesome, but not terrible. The Tongass NPS facility was very neat. If we had it to do over again, I'd elect for a more outdoorsy activity in Ketchikan.

Enjoy your cruise!!

 

[GPaLarry]

If you go to Liarsville, two things: 1. If you pan for gold, look in the creek before you cross the bridge to the panning area (all I can reveal). 2. This is truly the origin of "fake news"...there is a "Press" tent there where false reports of gold discoveries were published.

 

[anjuan]

I haven't gone on my cruise yet, but for Skagway and Juneau we have excursions booked with outside companies to save some money. I looked at this board and others for recommendations. In Skagway we're doing the train and dogcart pull with Chilkoot charters. (I know that someone on here posted a trip report that included it.) We booked a small boat whale watching tour in Juneau.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

Not an excursion, per se, but we rented a car from Juneau Car rentals for <$100 for the day. Fantastic. Made our way to Mendenhall Glacier (A+) to beat the crowds, then up to Eagle Bay State Park (another A+). Coming back we stopped at some local places and did shopping in downtown. Highly recommned.

In Skagway we did the campfire breakfast in Liarsville. It was wonderfully campy, but the highlight was panning for gold. The pans were salted with a flake or two, but still lots of fun for DW, DS 14, DDs 12 and myself.

In Ketchikan, we wandered the town. Creek street was...ok? Not awesome, but not terrible. The Tongass NPS facility was very neat. If we had it to do over again, I'd elect for a more outdoorsy activity in Ketchikan.

Enjoy your cruise!!

We did what dad of 3 did in Juneau as well. Exact stops he did. One of our best days! Highly recommend as well. And very easy to get around. We also did the glacier excursion tour on glacier day. Expensive, but for our family, worth every penny. In Skagway, we hired Chilkoot to take us on tour. They were great. Recommend them. In Ketchikan, we wandered too. Did the lumberjack show. It was fun, but that for us was a one and done. Next time we would also opt for something a bit more outdoorsy there too!

Enjoy your cruise-Alaska is amazing!

 

[ajo]

We went with kids your same ages. We did the Ketchikan Lumberjack show (just walked up and bought our own tickets-saved money over the Disney excursion). In Skagway we did the White Pass and Yukon train through Disney - we have a train lover and the scenery was fantastic. In Juneau we splurged on the helicopter to Mendenhall Glacier through Disney - a once in a lifetime experience and it was AMAZING! The kids still talk about it!

 

[BruinEd03]

We loved whale watching in Juneau and the Bering Crab experience in Ketchikan.

If you are doing the Bering Crab Sea Fisherman experience, you can book it separately for less. There's only one Deadliest Catch ship. So you will be on the ship with everyone else that booked with the Cruise. However, if you want the dinner experience, you will have to book through Disney.

 

[stinkerella]

With my 12 yr old daughter and 14 yr old son we did grizzly falls ziplining adventure in
Skagway. Rained the whole time but we had a great time thanks to the guides. Like a ziplining waterpark that day. At Juneau we did the dog sled summer camp. The kids loved the interaction with the dogs and puppies.

 

[doublesided]

We are going in June. We booked private in Skagway with Beyond Skagway tours. They have everything we would want to do and you can spend as much or little time as we want. For Juneau we are starting with the underground gold panning then likely renting a car to do mendenhall as the disney excursions don't give you enough time there. In Ket we are doing the family rainforest adventure excursion through Disney. We also plan to do the glacier explorer.

 

[dcassetta]

If you are doing the Bering Crab Sea Fisherman experience, you can book it separately for less. There's only one Deadliest Catch ship. So you will be on the ship with everyone else that booked with the Cruise. However, if you want the dinner experience, you will have to book through Disney.

This is true, but you have to book pretty early if you go direct as they hold a lot of their spaces for the cruise ships.

 

[iivye]

My daughter was 13 when we went to Alaska. In Skagway we did a jet boat tour that looked at wildlife. In Ketchikan we did an Adventure Kart Expedition (they have a meeting place close to the pier). In Juneau we took the helicopter to Mendenhall Glacier. These were all pricey but by far the best excursions we have done.

 

[Kanga&TwoRoos]

We are going in June. We booked private in Skagway with Beyond Skagway tours. They have everything we would want to do and you can spend as much or little time as we want. For Juneau we are starting with the underground gold panning then likely renting a car to do mendenhall as the disney excursions don't give you enough time there. In Ket we are doing the family rainforest adventure excursion through Disney. We also plan to do the glacier explorer.

We’re booked with Beyond Skagway in July so come back and let us know how it goes!

 

[AngelDisney]

We zip-lined in Skagway, did glacier dog-sledding in Juneau and snorkelled in Ketchikan. Originally we planned to do dog-sledding in Skagway and canoeing in Juneau but the Skagway dog-sledding excursion was cancelled about 2 weeks before sailing. I would really want to canoe closer to the glacier to have a better view.

 

[anjuan]

If you are doing the Bering Crab Sea Fisherman experience, you can book it separately for less. There's only one Deadliest Catch ship. So you will be on the ship with everyone else that booked with the Cruise. However, if you want the dinner experience, you will have to book through Disney.

I actually looked on their site over a month ago and it was all booked for the day we're in port. I'm thinking that Disney booked all of the spots. I was pretty bummed about having to pay more for it.

 

[ForMyBoys]

We are going in June. We booked private in Skagway with Beyond Skagway tours. They have everything we would want to do and you can spend as much or little time as we want. For Juneau we are starting with the underground gold panning then likely renting a car to do mendenhall as the disney excursions don't give you enough time there. In Ket we are doing the family rainforest adventure excursion through Disney. We also plan to do the glacier explorer.

We also used Beyond Skagway Tours in Skagway. We did the Emerald lake tour. We added the kids treasurer hunt and pet the pups for a small fee and my.kids loved it. There is an option to take the train back as well. It was a fantastic day

 

[tvguy]

Whale watching was one of the best excursions I have taken in 10 cruises.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

For Skagway - does anyone know if there is a way to visit the pet the pups or gold panning places if you are driving yourself? We are renting one of the green jeeps but a stop at the gold panning place for 30 minutes might entertain the kids. Just not sure exactly where it is or if you would have to reserve a spot in advance, or if they only work with official tour companies.