Alaska Excursions--post your reviews here!

[2littlestitches]

I also have a question for anyone who has done the dogsledding in the snow....do we need to bring our own snow boots or waterproof shoes? I read in one excursion that they provide you with boots. Just trying to figure out if I should pack these bulky boots or not for our dogsleddding excursion in the snow. LOL. Thanks so much!!!!

 

[staffieri]

Anyone done the Summer Dog Wheel Cart tours. Not the one with the helicopter. It is offered in Juneau and Skagway. I have a 12 year old boy and a 5 year old girl. Love any feed back on this.

 

[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.

 

[mmmears]

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

I'm interested in the aquarium. Any advice on touring it, like what is not to miss, how much time we need to see it all, etc.?

 

[jlwhitney]

I'm interested in the aquarium. Any advice on touring it, like what is not to miss, how much time we need to see it all, etc.?

Its not hard to see it all, its not super big, but is nice and it highlights alot of marine life in the British Columbia area. We were there for a couple of hours I think. The 4d show was fun and the otters were so adorable. There were different talks at different times about different animlas but we did not go to any of them. You could easily see eveything and do the 4d show and probaly a talk or two in a half day. You get admission all day to come and go, so you can go for a bit and then wonder the park and head back if you want and such.

 

[SanDiegoSteph]

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.
Juneau: Coastal Helicopter, we did the dog sledding on a glacier.
Ketchikan: Bearing Sea Crab tour.

Oooh, you did all the trips we've signed up for!! Except we did the Chilkoot Charters trip that adds the summer dogsled.

SO glad to hear you enjoyed them all!!

A few questions regarding specifics:

1) How old were the folks in your party that went on each trip? I've got a 5 year old and a set of 75+ grandparents with us - going on some of the excursions but not others and just want to get a feel for if I judged them right

2) What times did you do each trip (start and end if you remember)

3) Did you get "fed" (even snacks) on any of the trips and if so what?

Thanks SO much for your feedback - helps a ton

 

[SoThisIsLove]

Hi Everyone....

I was wondering if anyone has done the White Pass Steam Train excursion. We are looking into it and was wondering how it was.

Thanks!

 

[mmmears]

Hi Everyone....

I was wondering if anyone has done the White Pass Steam Train excursion. We are looking into it and was wondering how it was.

Thanks!

I'd love to hear about this one as well. DH and DD are signed up to try it.

 

[scoutsmom99]

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.

How big was your tour group and how long did the excursion last? Did they pick you up at the pier or did you meet up with them somewhere?

 

[jilljill]

Anyone do the ABD excursions? Or talk to anyone who did? Can't seem to find ANY reports or even mention of anyone doing it. I'm dying to hear about it!

Ah ha - went to ABD website and apparently the ABD doesn't start until June 7. So anyone on June 7 or later let us know about the ABD add-on!

I don't think the ABD was offered for the May cruises. So we will have to wait until the first June sailing to get details. We are doing the ABD on the August 16 cruise. We can't wait!

We signed on for the ABD, anyone else signed on for June 28th?

I'd post this question on the meets thread for your sailing.


We'll have to start an ABD thread for when the June 7th cruisers return.
Anyone worried they will cancel their ABD portion if not enough cruisers sign up? I'm on the 8/9 cruise and have booked excursions thru DCL just in case the ABD add-on gets cancelled for our sailing. I thought that someone has posted if they don't have 50% capacity then ABD will be cancelled.

 

[sabrecmc]

How big was your tour group and how long did the excursion last? Did they pick you up at the pier or did you meet up with them somewhere?

We did the same Chilkoot Charters tour on the first Alaskan cruise. It was fantastic! They picked us up at the pier at 7:30am and drove us a couple minutes to the train. They then met us at the Frasier, Canada end point of the RR (looked like one of their tours also got on there, since there is an option to do the RR going back to Skagway instead of first thing). Our tour had about 12 people, but 1 was an employee of the charter service along for the ride. The excursion lasted until around 3:30-4 or so, I think. That left us plenty of time for shopping! We also added the dog sledding, which was fun.

 

[jlwhitney]

Oooh, you did all the trips we've signed up for!! Except we did the Chilkoot Charters trip that adds the summer dogsled.

SO glad to hear you enjoyed them all!!

A few questions regarding specifics:

1) How old were the folks in your party that went on each trip? I've got a 5 year old and a set of 75+ grandparents with us - going on some of the excursions but not others and just want to get a feel for if I judged them right

2) What times did you do each trip (start and end if you remember)

3) Did you get "fed" (even snacks) on any of the trips and if so what?

Thanks SO much for your feedback - helps a ton

We are both mid-20's and no kids yet, but i think the excursions you picked would be fine. The chilkoot charters trip is the same as we did (we could have added the dog sled part but we didnt). The bus/rail trip is mainly sitting and enjoying the scenary with a few photo stops. The bearing seacrab trip is again seating in a boat and it was very smooth we had no rocking. Dog sledding on the glacier is again really not much physical work, they give you boots to wear over your shoes so you can walk around easier.

The yukon bus/rail tour you get a full lunch of bbq chicken, potatoes, coleslaw, rolls, and doughnuts.

For the bearing sea crab, they have hot drinks (coffee, hot chocolate and maybe tea) available and at the end they gave everyone a small bag of pretzel goldfish

For times:

Yukon bus/rail was 8:30-4pm, so there was plenty of time to walk around the town

Dog sledding/Glacier we did it from 12:15-3:15pm

Bearing sea crab was 12:30-4pm

Everything ran like clockwork!!!

 

[jlwhitney]

How big was your tour group and how long did the excursion last? Did they pick you up at the pier or did you meet up with them somewhere?

We had about 15 people and the van could probably hold about 20 (which would be the largest it could be).

The tour was from 8:30 to 4pm.

They picked us up right at the pier. Very easy, the tour guide was holding a chilkoot charters sign.

 

[scoutsmom99]

We did the same Chilkoot Charters tour on the first Alaskan cruise. It was fantastic! They picked us up at the pier at 7:30am and drove us a couple minutes to the train. They then met us at the Frasier, Canada end point of the RR (looked like one of their tours also got on there, since there is an option to do the RR going back to Skagway instead of first thing). Our tour had about 12 people, but 1 was an employee of the charter service along for the ride. The excursion lasted until around 3:30-4 or so, I think. That left us plenty of time for shopping! We also added the dog sledding, which was fun.

We had about 15 people and the van could probably hold about 20 (which would be the largest it could be).

The tour was from 8:30 to 4pm.

They picked us up right at the pier. Very easy, the tour guide was holding a chilkoot charters sign.

Thanks to both of you for the great details. We have the Yukon Expedition booked through Disney, but I'm totally considering switching to Chilkoot. Can I ask how much your excursions cost? I notice they don't have pricing on the website.

 

[deepakwa]

Do you know if we can do Lumberjack show after the Bering sea Fisherman tour? What time does the Bering tour end?

 

[bigAWL]

Skagway - Musher's Camp and Sled Dog Experience - We thought this one was pretty lame. You spent most of the time on the bus and then modified ARMY vehicle getting up to the camp. We only spent maybe 15 minutes on the sled with a guy who spent most of his time telling us that he needed to raise money and sponsors for his Iditarod (sp?) race. Would not do this one again, but some of the scenery getting up there was nice.

How many people were on the tour, and how many other tours were there at the same time?

I've got this booked for my family with three littler girls - how would you rate it for kids?

 

[sabrecmc]

Thanks to both of you for the great details. We have the Yukon Expedition booked through Disney, but I'm totally considering switching to Chilkoot. Can I ask how much your excursions cost? I notice they don't have pricing on the website.

Our tour, with the 15 minute dog sled ride, was $206/adult and $147/child.

 

[jlwhitney]

Thanks to both of you for the great details. We have the Yukon Expedition booked through Disney, but I'm totally considering switching to Chilkoot. Can I ask how much your excursions cost? I notice they don't have pricing on the website.

For mine, I dont remember the actually price but it was 35 dollars less than disney i belive for the same exact thing, and you have a van versus a huge bus.

 

[discruiser]

Just wondering what you thought of it. Did you enjoy it? Did your kids enjoy it? Was it worth the money?

Anyone know how this special "Disney" show differs from the regular show? For my family of 6, we could save about $50 by attending the non-Disney show (and buying tickets directly from the company). Just wondering what makes the Disney show special.

Thanks!

 

[Cliffside]

Just wondering what you thought of it. Did you enjoy it? Did your kids enjoy it? Was it worth the money?

Anyone know how this special "Disney" show differs from the regular show? For my family of 6, we could save about $50 by attending the non-Disney show (and buying tickets directly from the company). Just wondering what makes the Disney show special.

Thanks!

Actually I was able to book the Disney Exclusive one right on their website for the cheaper price and DD counted as a kid because she is 11. I wasn't originally looking to circumvent the system but my other excursion I have booked with Disney made it seem like the times overlapped even though it shouldn't. The show I think starts at 4:45 but the meeting time DCL has listed is earlier.