Alaska Excursions--post your reviews here!

[nzdisneymom]

We are booked on the May 28th cruise and this thread has been incredibly helpful so far!!!

I have a Skagway question for anyone who took a bus (or shuttle) back down the mountain from Fraser. I have this terrible fear (stupid, I know but can't help it) of taking cliff-like corners at fast speeds. Just thinking about it gives me an ulcer.
How bad is the drive down the mountain? Are there lots of times when you are driving next to a cliff or drop-off? Do the drivers tend to drive slowly?

Thanks for any help!!

We took a bus from Fraser back down. Our driver was really good, and because you're going down, you're not on the "cliff" side of the road - that would be if you were going up. It's a wide road with room to pull over. We stopped at the Welcome to Alaska sign for a photo op. We passed several bicyclists who were on their way down, too - honestly, I'd not have wanted to ride a bike on the highway.

 

[RedSox68]

I started another thread about Chilkoot tours in Skagway. But quick question for those who did the train/bus excursion. Which is more beneficial -- taking the train up or down -- or is there not much difference?

 

[sabrecmc]

I started another thread about Chilkoot tours in Skagway. But quick question for those who did the train/bus excursion. Which is more beneficial -- taking the train up or down -- or is there not much difference?

We did train up, bus down. I don't know if one is more beneficial (unless you could predict the weather!). But, it worked out great for us to do it that way. I guess one nice perk of doing it that way is that Chilkoot offered to drop us off wherever we wanted to be dropped off once we got back to town. Since we wanted to shop, he dropped us off at the end of the "main" street, while others went back to the port. Now, Skagway is tiny, so this is not a huge deal! The train depot is not far at all from the port, so I honestly don't know if one would be better than the other. I did like that we were able to get some coffee at the train depot that morning for the ride up, and some milk for DD. We were the first passenger train through that year, so that was actually kind of cool. Otherwise, I'm not sure why doing it one way or the other would matter.

 

[poohj80]

I searched this thread but have not got to read all 39 pages. Is there a review for the Liarsville Trail with Disney characters and the White Pass with youth activities? Did anyone do this? I am looking for experiences with both. Thank you!

We wanted to but the White pass with Youth was not offered on our cruise because there weren't enough kids on-board to justify (we cruised in August after a lot of schools had started back).

 

[scrapbookingpro]

We took a bus from Fraser back down. Our driver was really good, and because you're going down, you're not on the "cliff" side of the road - that would be if you were going up. It's a wide road with room to pull over. We stopped at the Welcome to Alaska sign for a photo op. We passed several bicyclists who were on their way down, too - honestly, I'd not have wanted to ride a bike on the highway.

Thank you, that is exactly what I needed to hear

 

[RedSox68]

We did train up, bus down. I don't know if one is more beneficial (unless you could predict the weather!). But, it worked out great for us to do it that way. I guess one nice perk of doing it that way is that Chilkoot offered to drop us off wherever we wanted to be dropped off once we got back to town. Since we wanted to shop, he dropped us off at the end of the "main" street, while others went back to the port. Now, Skagway is tiny, so this is not a huge deal! The train depot is not far at all from the port, so I honestly don't know if one would be better than the other. I did like that we were able to get some coffee at the train depot that morning for the ride up, and some milk for DD. We were the first passenger train through that year, so that was actually kind of cool. Otherwise, I'm not sure why doing it one way or the other would matter.

What date did you go? We will be in Skagway on 5/17.

 

[RedSox68]

Thank you, that is exactly what I needed to hear

I'm with you -- I have a crippling fear of heights (so flying is not my friend either), but coming down a mountain road with no guard rails is terrifying.

 

[Doingitagain]

How many passengers are in a helicopter? We are looking at the Glacier Trek in Juneau. Do all the seats have access to a window? I would hate to be in a back seat and not be able to see the complete views.

 

[jilljill]

How many passengers are in a helicopter? We are looking at the Glacier Trek in Juneau. Do all the seats have access to a window? I would hate to be in a back seat and not be able to see the complete views.

The helicopter we were in held 6 passengers and the pilot - 2 rows. On the way to the glacier my DH and DD sat in the front, I was behind the pilot and a family of 3 was next to me. On the way back from the glacier the dad and little boy of the other family sat in the front, the mom on the left window, my DH and DD in the middle in the back row and I was still behind the pilot.
Everyone is assigned a seat by your weight so there's no switching seats around.

I had no problems seeing the sights out the front or side windows.

 

[pixie08]

Has anyone done the Alaskan Rainforest sanctuary and crab fest excursion? I saw some people did the wilderness explorer boats and it didn't get rave review but I am still iffy about the Ketchikan port. It's just dh and I and I do want to get out into the forest a little on foot.

 

[poohj80]

Has anyone done the Alaskan Rainforest sanctuary and crab fest excursion? I saw some people did the wilderness explorer boats and it didn't get rave review but I am still iffy about the Ketchikan port. It's just dh and I and I do want to get out into the forest a little on foot.

We did the rainforest excursion which took us in a raft to the island where we hiked around a bit and roasted marshmallows at the end. It was fun and we saw lots of bald eagles and seals. We wanted an active excursion that our 5 year old could do but the choices were limited.

 

[pixie08]

We did the rainforest excursion which took us in a raft to the island where we hiked around a bit and roasted marshmallows at the end. It was fun and we saw lots of bald eagles and seals. We wanted an active excursion that our 5 year old could do but the choices were limited.

That sounds fun...I am going to look into that too. Thanks.

 

[poohj80]

That sounds fun...I am going to look into that too. Thanks.

I can look up the exact name of the excursion if that would help.

 

[nyh]

Subbing to research the Alaska excursions. I'll need to make time to sit down and read through this thread (that I'm sure contains many great insights and opinions).

 

[pixie08]

I can look up the exact name of the excursion if that would help.

We booked "Rainforest Island Adventure"Thanks again

 

[Tsunami]

Subbing. Booked for summer 2013, but it's never too early to plan.

 

[Deb in IA]

Booked our excursions at midnight last night!

Anyone have any comments on the following:

Skagway - Yukon Suspension Bridge, City and White Pass Railway
Juneau - Mendenhall Glacier and Whale Quest
Ketchikan - Saxman Native Village and Exclusive Lumberjack Show

 

[RedSox68]

Been watching this thread since day one. Hard to believe we leave 6 weeks from tomorrow and I won't be using it anymore It has been an invaluable source of information and tips and opinions and I know I am not alone in thanking everyone for their input.

When I return, I will be sure to post our opinions of the excursions we took. We are not sailing on Disney, but the excursions are pretty much the same from ship to ship.

 

[ThePhantomsGirl]

I'm subbing as I just booked the 8/19/13 Vancouver Alaskan cruise today. Here's the thread meet link.

The helicopter sounds like fun!

 

[ame]

subbing. We book our excursions next week!!