Alaska: DCL Glacier Viewing (DG01) or 3rd party Juneau Mendenhall Glacier Canoe Tour?

[Cyn T]

Hi! I'm booked with my husband and two sons (12 and 9) for our first Alaska cruise (and first trip to Alaska) in mid-June. We've booked DCL's Glacier Viewing adventure for 3:15pm, but I'm wondering, since the point is to be closer to a glacier, if it'd be better to book a 3rd party Mendenhall Glacier tour in Juneau where we can row/paddle even closer. Can anybody who has done either/both comment, please? I'm trying to keep this in the $250-$350 price range, so sadly a helicopter+glacier walk excursion is out of the question.

For reference, we're currently booked on a (fully refundable) Mendenhall Glacier + Whale Watching tour in Juneau.
In Skagway we are booked on a (fully refundable) Yukon Suspension Bridge & White Pass Summit tour.
In Ketchikan we may just walk and explore the town.

Thank you!

 

[dcassetta]

The Glacier Explorer really is amazing, and the area you visit (whether Tracy or Endicott) will be more of an experience than even paddling at Mendenhall will be. You’re likely to see seals and their pups, and may be lucky enough to watch the glacier calve.

if you’d like to get close to Mendenhall, rather than taking the Disney tour, I would just take the shuttle from town. Round-trip tickets are available right in downtown Juneau. That would allow you to hike around Mendenhall and spend as much time there as you like. The visitor center there is very well done, and there are hiking trails that explore the area. If you do the whale watching, and Mendenhall combination, the amount of time you’re able to spend at the glacier is very limited, and may not even include time inside the visitor center.

 

[MinnieInVA]

I did an Alaska cruise with RCL this past summer, and I booked a tour through a company called Liquid Alaska Tours that was fantastic. We paddled a canoe with about 16 other folks plus tour guides right up to the base of the Mendenhall glacier on Mendenhall lake, then hiked nearly a mile up to the edge of the glacier, got some photos, hiked back to the canoes then paddled back to the starting point. I will say that the paddle part is about a 5 mile round trip, so you should have some level of fitness to manage that and still enjoy the trip.

 

[Cyn T]

Round-trip tickets are available right in downtown Juneau. That would allow you to hike around Mendenhall and spend as much time there as you like. The visitor center there is very well done, and there are hiking trails that explore the area. If you do the whale watching, and Mendenhall combination, the amount of time you’re able to spend at the glacier is very limited, and may not even include time inside the visitor center.

Thank you so much! I had read on this board to be mindful of short times at the glacier with combo whale watching tours, so I booked with a tour company that has a flexible return time policy. So if I am at the Mendenhall visitor center and have the time, I can hike close to Mendenhall? From viewing photos it seemed like most of the views were remote?

 

[Cyn T]

I did an Alaska cruise with RCL this past summer, and I booked a tour through a company called Liquid Alaska Tours that was fantastic. We paddled a canoe with about 16 other folks plus tour guides right up to the base of the Mendenhall glacier on Mendenhall lake, then hiked nearly a mile up to the edge of the glacier, got some photos, hiked back to the canoes then paddled back to the starting point. I will say that the paddle part is about a 5 mile round trip, so you should have some level of fitness to manage that and still enjoy the trip.

It sounds amazing! And it's helpful to know that it's a 5-mile canoe ride bc I think that takes it off the table for my family. My husband has actually already vetoed canoes, but I was hoping to talk him into it. I think the distance will make that difficult. Haha. Thank you for sharing!

 

[jimmymc]

I would keep everything the way you have it. The Glacier Explorer is amazing and there also isn't a lot else to do that day on the ship. The Mendenhall Glacier and Whale Watching is a great excursion to do in Juneau, since those are the two big highlights of the port IMO.

 

[professorandmom]

Thank you so much! I had read on this board to be mindful of short times at the glacier with combo whale watching tours, so I booked with a tour company that has a flexible return time policy. So if I am at the Mendenhall visitor center and have the time, I can hike close to Mendenhall? From viewing photos it seemed like most of the views were remote?

Because the visitor center was constructed many years ago and the glacier has shrunk, the visitor center is no where near the glacier. It is a sad commentary on the environment

 

[auntlynne]

 

[Cyn T]

I would keep everything the way you have it. The Glacier Explorer is amazing and there also isn't a lot else to do that day on the ship. The Mendenhall Glacier and Whale Watching is a great excursion to do in Juneau, since those are the two big highlights of the port IMO.

Great! Thank you!!

 

[Cyn T]

Because the visitor center was constructed many years ago and the glacier has shrunk, the visitor center is no where near the glacier. It is a sad commentary on the environment

Wow, that is very sad. It makes a lot of sense, though, when you say it like that. Thank you!

 

[Cyn T]

If you do the Nugget Falls Trail, you are going to walk 1 mile to near a pretty waterfall. They have made the sand spit under it accessible without walking through water (Since 2013). Here are the falls and glacier in May 2015.

Thank you for sharing the photos! It looks gorgeous! I will definitely add this hike to my list.

 

[dcassetta]

Thank you so much! I had read on this board to be mindful of short times at the glacier with combo whale watching tours, so I booked with a tour company that has a flexible return time policy. So if I am at the Mendenhall visitor center and have the time, I can hike close to Mendenhall? From viewing photos it seemed like most of the views were remote?

As others have said, it’s probably not possible to hike to the actual glacier field itself with the amount of time you would have there on a cruise stop. You can hike to the actual glacier using the West Glacier Trail, but the start of this trail is not near the visitor center so you would need to have access to a car. You’d also need to do some pretty serious back country hiking off trail to reach the glacier and would need between eight and 10 hours for the trip.

The Nugget Falls Trail really is nice as the waterfall is pretty spectacular and it does give you good views of the glacier itself. The fact that Mendenhall has receded so far really has changed the view of the falls. The first time we went there when I was a kid you couldn’t even really tell Waterfalls were there because they flowed through the ice. Nugget Falls today is much more spectacular than it used to be but for a sad reason.

 

[mmmears]

We did a kayak and Mendenhall Glacier hike with Above and Beyond (beyondak.com) and it was a blast. We paddled across the lake, then they put crampons on our boots and we hiked up part of the glacier. It was a very memorable day and I recommend it to anyone who wants to do more that just see it from across the lake.

 

[jldcherry]

To echo others the dcl glacier experience on glacier day was amazing. It was how we envisioned visiting a glacier. Seal pups, ice everywhere in the water, it was a highlight of our trip!! We also went to mendenhall in Juneau and hiked the nugget falls trail. It was a let down after the glacier explorer, but our kids enjoyed the waterfall. Our experience was summer 2022. I went back and forth about the glacier explorer for a long time due to the cost, but I am so glad we chose to do it.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

To echo others the dcl glacier experience on glacier day was amazing. It was how we envisioned visiting a glacier. Seal pups, ice everywhere in the water, it was a highlight of our trip!! We also went to mendenhall in Juneau and hiked the nugget falls trail. It was a let down after the glacier explorer, but our kids enjoyed the waterfall. Our experience was summer 2022. I went back and forth about the glacier explorer for a long time due to the cost, but I am so glad we chose to do it.

Thank you for this, we have the DCL Glacier Explorer booked for our end of May cruise and I have been going back & forth, is it worth $299 pp over what we can see from ship.
I think we’ll keep it though.
I also thought that seeing Mendehall Glacier the next day will be a bit underwhelming.
We might wait to book the Blue Glacier express when we arrive in Juneau or the tram, or both. Depending on the weather.

 

[soniam]

I know this isn’t really related. However, if people want to see glaciers up close and even walk significant distances on them, you can still do that for now in Patagonia in South America. It probably won’t last long either though. It’s not as difficult a trip as people think. We went in December 2019. Still looking forward to our Alaska cruise in June and doing the glacier day excursion. It will be interesting to be able to compare the glaciers in the different locations.