Alaska Excursions--post your reviews here!

[Disjanny]

It appears it's the same tour just offered by two different companies, one is Taquan and I'm not sure of the other.

Thanks!

Has anyone ever done this excursion? Any recommendations on which one to book? This is my last excursion decision and I just can't seem to tell the difference between them to pick one over the other.

 

[Skylarr29]

Thanks!

Has anyone ever done this excursion? Any recommendations on which one to book? This is my last excursion decision and I just can't seem to tell the difference between them to pick one over the other.

I've done this tour and its very good. Last time I booked independently with island wings air and I am booked with them again for our upcoming trip in August. In Alaska you can feel very safe booking outside excursions if you want. We are only paying $239 a person. I'm sure both are great it's just that the demand is probably too high for one company to handle it.

 

[twinstars]

There will be four kids in our group, 3 yr old, 4 yr old, 6 yr old and 8 yr old. We are thinking of doing the Yukon Suspension Bridge, City and White Pass Rail in Skaway. For Juneau, my husband is thinking of doing the whale watching. Will the water be rough? He says it won't, but all I can remember is whale watching many years ago in Boston and I was sick as a dog.....I am usually fine on cruise ships, but nervous about going on a smaller boat.....
Any other suggestions on excursions? We will probably skip excursions in Ketchikan and Victoria given the very short port times.
Thanks!
Twinstars

 

[Skylarr29]

There will be four kids in our group, 3 yr old, 4 yr old, 6 yr old and 8 yr old. We are thinking of doing the Yukon Suspension Bridge, City and White Pass Rail in Skaway. For Juneau, my husband is thinking of doing the whale watching. Will the water be rough? He says it won't, but all I can remember is whale watching many years ago in Boston and I was sick as a dog.....I am usually fine on cruise ships, but nervous about going on a smaller boat.....
Any other suggestions on excursions? We will probably skip excursions in Ketchikan and Victoria given the very short port times.
Thanks!
Twinstars

In Juneau whale watching is in Auke Bay so you're not out in the open ocean. I don't recall it being rough at all. Would it be possible for your group to split up? It'd be a shame to be sick and not enjoy your day. You could also research and book your whale watching tours on your own so you know exactly which boat/size group/etc. that you are getting. Last time I went out with Captain Larry at Orca Enterprises and this time we are booked for Harv and Marv's which has a smaller boat that only holds 6 people so you get a very personalized experience. Have you been over to cruisecritic.com? There Alaska board is a wealth of knowledge.

 

[poohj80]

There will be four kids in our group, 3 yr old, 4 yr old, 6 yr old and 8 yr old. We are thinking of doing the Yukon Suspension Bridge, City and White Pass Rail in Skaway. For Juneau, my husband is thinking of doing the whale watching. Will the water be rough? He says it won't, but all I can remember is whale watching many years ago in Boston and I was sick as a dog.....I am usually fine on cruise ships, but nervous about going on a smaller boat.....
Any other suggestions on excursions? We will probably skip excursions in Ketchikan and Victoria given the very short port times.
Thanks!
Twinstars

We did the rail and suspension bridge with 5 year old last summer and she LOVED the bridge but fell asleep on the train. The bridge was a bit disappointing to us as we thought there would be more than one, but the scenery was beautiful.

The only excursion we booked outside of DCL was whale watching in Juneau. The water was pretty flat except when racing to get us back to shore since we stayed out a bit longer than we should because we found a pod of orcas. I highly recommend Captain Chris and Rumm Runner Charters (you can read my review and see pix on Trip Advisor). Booking a smaller boat than the larger excursions offered through DCL allowed us to get closer to the whales and we didn't have to camp out for rail space to get good pix.

In Ketchikan, we did the raft/hike tour of the forest and DD LOVED this. She still talks about teaching the DCL crew members how to roast marshmallows (she couldn't believe they had never done it before even though they were from another country). We saw seals and lots of bald eagles along the way.

 

[Disjanny]

I've done this tour and its very good. Last time I booked independently with island wings air and I am booked with them again for our upcoming trip in August. In Alaska you can feel very safe booking outside excursions if you want. We are only paying $239 a person. I'm sure both are great it's just that the demand is probably too high for one company to handle it.

Thanks for the information, the recommendation and the review. I really appreciate it.

 

[son3disfan]

I've done this tour and its very good. Last time I booked independently with island wings air and I am booked with them again for our upcoming trip in August. In Alaska you can feel very safe booking outside excursions if you want. We are only paying $239 a person. I'm sure both are great it's just that the demand is probably too high for one company to handle it.

We are looking at Island wings as well for next year, Aug. as well.
Would love to hear how it was, weather wise too.

 

[Skylarr29]

Thanks for the information, the recommendation and the review. I really appreciate it.

You're welcome!

We are looking at Island wings as well for next year, Aug. as well.
Would love to hear how it was, weather wise too.

Last time I was there it was July and the weather was very foggy. We had booked the flight with the glacier fly over. When we got there, Michelle told us that while we could still do the glacier part, she thought the weather wasn't good enough and visibility would not be the best, so she issued us a refund for that part.

One of the nice things about her trip is that there is an approx. 30 minute stop where she lands on the water by an island and you get out and walk around right in the middle of the fjords. She offers to take your photo in front of the plane etc. Even with the foggy weather we enjoyed it a lot and the price is better than the ships. I'll do a review of all of my excursions here when we return. If you have any questions just ask.

 

[son3disfan]

You're welcome!



Last time I was there it was July and the weather was very foggy. We had booked the flight with the glacier fly over. When we got there, Michelle told us that while we could still do the glacier part, she thought the weather wasn't good enough and visibility would not be the best, so she issued us a refund for that part.

One of the nice things about her trip is that there is an approx. 30 minute stop where she lands on the water by an island and you get out and walk around right in the middle of the fjords. She offers to take your photo in front of the plane etc. Even with the foggy weather we enjoyed it a lot and the price is better than the ships. I'll do a review of all of my excursions here when we return. If you have any questions just ask.

Thank you!
The stop over on land was a big part of wanting to book with her.
We are a family of 5, so this is a pricey excursion for us...(as they all seem to be for Alaska) but would be an amazing experience for my boys. Landing on water, in a little bush plane, in the middle of the fjords! I have goosebumps just thinking about it!
On Michelle's website, it says the weather can look awful at port, but might not be bad through the fjords, and that she will fly when ships have cancelled their excursions.....makes me a little nervous to be honest.

 

[Skylarr29]

Thank you!
The stop over on land was a big part of wanting to book with her.
We are a family of 5, so this is a pricey excursion for us...(as they all seem to be for Alaska) but would be an amazing experience for my boys. Landing on water, in a little bush plane, in the middle of the fjords! I have goosebumps just thinking about it!
On Michelle's website, it says the weather can look awful at port, but might not be bad through the fjords, and that she will fly when ships have cancelled their excursions.....makes me a little nervous to be honest.

You're welcome. How old are your boys? It says on her website one child under 5 flies free with 2 paying adults, not sure if that will help you or not with costs. I'm hoping the weather will be better this time but it was still an amazing experience even with all the mist ;-) It's very exciting. Have you looked at trip advisor? There are lots of photos and reviews there.

Alaska is one place you can rest assured booking outside vendors so that can save you money especially if you have a 10-12/13 year old since Disney says a 10 year old is an adult but a lot of other vendors have a higher age limit. Also Disney marks up the excursions to make a profit. You have plenty of time to research though. We booked all of our excursions independently (Whale watching in Juneau, zip lining in Skagway, and Misty Fjords in Ketchikan).

 

[sarahgirl]

Living social has a 2 for 1 deal for whale watching.

http://www.livingsocial.com/deals/318206?ref=email-xm4f&rpi=60814758

 

[son3disfan]

You're welcome. How old are your boys? It says on her website one child under 5 flies free with 2 paying adults, not sure if that will help you or not with costs. I'm hoping the weather will be better this time but it was still an amazing experience even with all the mist ;-) It's very exciting. Have you looked at trip advisor? There are lots of photos and reviews there.

Alaska is one place you can rest assured booking outside vendors so that can save you money especially if you have a 10-12/13 year old since Disney says a 10 year old is an adult but a lot of other vendors have a higher age limit. Also Disney marks up the excursions to make a profit. You have plenty of time to research though. We booked all of our excursions independently (Whale watching in Juneau, zip lining in Skagway, and Misty Fjords in Ketchikan).

Yes, I have an 11 year old, and a very small 13 year old ( my 15 year old is over 6 feet!)
Island wings offered a price of $179 for the 11 year old.
I do have $750 in stateroom credit that we will use for one excursion, maybe in Skagway.....we want to do the train to summit point and maybe include the suspension bridge. So will book one through the Cruiseline.
Still unsure about Juneu, as the rafting trip was our first choice.
Maybe we can just get on a bus to see the glacier..from the visitors center.

 

[STLDisney_Freak]

Anyone has experiences on these excursions?

I've read some reviews that say the White pass railway is boring as well as the Bear Country and expedition is not worth the money which has me kinda concerned.

Mendenhall Glacier and Whale Quest
Bear Country and Wildlife Expedition
Yukon Suspension Bridge, City and White Pass Railway
Grouse Mountain & Capilano Suspension Bridge

 

[queenbee99]

Just curious, how do you GET that big of a credit? Inquiring minds and all!

Yes, I have an 11 year old, and a very small 13 year old ( my 15 year old is over 6 feet!)
Island wings offered a price of $179 for the 11 year old.
I do have $750 in stateroom credit that we will use for one excursion, maybe in Skagway.....we want to do the train to summit point and maybe include the suspension bridge. So will book one through the Cruiseline.
Still unsure about Juneu, as the rafting trip was our first choice.
Maybe we can just get on a bus to see the glacier..from the visitors center.

 

[queenbee99]

REALLY? I have always heard nice things about the railway...we booked the one with the youth excursion so I hope that is not the case.

Anyone has experiences on these excursions?

I've read some reviews that say the White pass railway is boring as well as the Bear Country and expedition is not worth the money which has me kinda concerned.

Mendenhall Glacier and Whale Quest
Bear Country and Wildlife Expedition
Yukon Suspension Bridge, City and White Pass Railway
Grouse Mountain & Capilano Suspension Bridge

 

[son3disfan]

Just curious, how do you GET that big of a credit? Inquiring minds and all!

We have $275 stateroom credit for each stateroom from Disney for rebooking on board (we are gold).
We have 2 rooms. So that's $550.

Then, we transferred to DU for an additional $100 for each room. That's $200
( oh and BTW, I was $6.00 short from receiving $125 for each room...)
For a total of $750 stateroom credit!

 

[queenbee99]

ok I didn't know you could do that....we are rebooking onboard for another next week. So you just contact them after you get back with your info?

The only drawback is don't they have to make all changes to the reservation? What about booking excursions and stuff?

We have $275 stateroom credit for each stateroom from Disney for rebooking on board (we are gold).
We have 2 rooms. So that's $550.

Then, we transferred to DU for an additional $100 for each room. That's $200
( oh and BTW, I was $6.00 short from receiving $125 for each room...)
For a total of $750 stateroom credit!

 

[son3disfan]

ok I didn't know you could do that....we are rebooking onboard for another next week. So you just contact them after you get back with your info?

The only drawback is don't they have to make all changes to the reservation? What about booking excursions and stuff?

When ( if) you book onboard, you now need to NAME your travel agency in order to recieve this stateroom credit.
So when I booked onboard, I told the Disney booking agent that Dreams Unlimited is the agency I will be using, and that was it. I have booked 5 cruises that way now. I recieved confirmation from Disney, and when I came home, the booking was then with Dreams and I recieved all the info from them.
Yes, you do need to email your travel agency for changes or questions to your reservations but all excursions / dining reservations etc. are done on Disney online.
I have always recieved great service from DU up to this point.

 

[STLDisney_Freak]

REALLY? I have always heard nice things about the railway...we booked the one with the youth excursion so I hope that is not the case.

I googled it and on some of the sites I was on said it was boring. I don't know. I've never been on it and for my sake hope it isn't.

 

[Disney Hot Mama]

I googled it and on some of the sites I was on said it was boring. I don't know. I've never been on it and for my sake hope it isn't.

We did this two years ago and my then 12 year old daughter fell asleep on the train. The scenery is beautiful but there is only so much one can see over and over. She was probably tired from getting up early and then the motion of the train put her to sleep. In our specific case it was a waste of money for her but my husband and I loved it.