Alaska Excursions

[auntlynne]

Princess

So really, Victoria is a mark stop, with not enough time (or the right hours) for an activity.

I’ve done 3 Princess AK cruises. I had a great time - but it’s about Alaska, so DCL and NCL were good cruises, too.

Do you go to Glacier Bay - or Endicott Arm? Just curious.

 

[tlprice]

I always try to avoid booking excursions through the cruise line unless I absolutely have to so these are my recommendations. https://alaskashoreexcursions.com/ is a good place to book a lot of Alaska excursions.

Juneau: https://www.harvandmarvs-juneau-whale-watching.com/ fantastic company with small boats so you can get closer and get there faster. We saw so many whales.

Be prepared with a backup if you plan to do a helicopter tour. They get cancelled a lot because of weather. (Ours was cancelled in July so we did the sky tram and we paid for a tour to Mendenhall Glacier at one of the booths by the sky tram. It ended up being a great day and saved us a ton of money when we were refunded from our helicopter tour)

Skagway: https://chilkootcharters.com/ (similar to excursions offered by the cruise line, but better--less
people is always better!)

Ketchikan: the town is great to just walk around and we love to eat at The Alaska Fish Company. This trip
we also did the Lumberjack show (https://alaskanlumberjackshow.com/), which was fun (I recommend booking it on your own unless your ship is docking far away. It is literally a couple blocks from the dock.) Our first time to Ketchikan I booked a canoe trip through the cruise line that was very expensive and totally not worth it. I wouldn't recommend it.

Victoria: I don't think Princess is there long enough to really do anything. We were there from 11-6 so had
time for something. If you do, I recommend https://www.atasteofvictoriafoodtours.com/ this was a fantastic excursion of food, history, interesting information, sights, etc.

 

[auntlynne]

@tlprice - spot on.

 

[TheBigErn]

So really, Victoria is a mark stop, with not enough time (or the right hours) for an activity.

I’ve done 3 Princess AK cruises. I had a great time - but it’s about Alaska, so DCL and NCL were good cruises, too.

Do you go to Glacier Bay - or Endicott Arm? Just curious.

glacier bay

 

[auntlynne]

glacier bay

Nice. If you do the National Parks passport book, they will stamp it while in the Bay.

 

[cburnett11]

Maybe a silly question, but for those that have landed on a glacier (via helicopter) to do a walk around, was it slippery to walk? My wife had arm surgery last month and it would be bad if she fell. Just wondering if the footing is poor and/or if you could choose to stay by helicopter instead of walking much? Thx

 

[auntlynne]

Maybe a silly question, but for those that have landed on a glacier (via helicopter) to do a walk around, was it slippery to walk? My wife had arm surgery last month and it would be bad if she fell. Just wondering if the footing is poor and/or if you could choose to stay by helicopter instead of walking much? Thx

Checking out our photo…

The ice is not cleanly slick.

And they issued us boots and a walking pole.

There was no rushing about, nor a lot of walking.

The seated one had been recently hospitalized and had mobility issues and did fine.

Getting up and into a helicopter might be the bigger challenge. But itis only one arm and you are there to assist, along with the guides.

 

[happycamper47]

Maybe a silly question, but for those that have landed on a glacier (via helicopter) to do a walk around, was it slippery to walk? My wife had arm surgery last month and it would be bad if she fell. Just wondering if the footing is poor and/or if you could choose to stay by helicopter instead of walking much? Thx

The rough surface, along with stepping over rocks and the gouged out areas would be more of a challenge in my opinion.

 

[auntlynne]

The rough surface, along with stepping over rocks and the gouged out areas would be more of a challenge in my opinion.

And I very possibly would agree with you now that I am less sure-footed.

 

[auntlynne]

Dog sledding. Check out this YT video of a visit to Skagway this Summer. It gives a nice look at the town, too. It’s a grand- mother -daughter trip.

Their dog sledding was in Yukon. She booked it through Shore Excursions Group (which she has done in multiple countries). SEG is a consolidator that gets recommended by a lot of vloggers and non- vlogging cruisers.

^ That’s just a photo op.

 

[pjacobi]

So really, Victoria is a mark stop, with not enough time (or the right hours) for an activity.

This fulfills the restriction of visiting at least one foreign country.

It's also why there are few Hawaii cruises, since the run to another island country is such a long distance.


-Paul

 

[cburnett11]

The rough surface, along with stepping over rocks and the gouged out areas would be more of a challenge in my opinion.

Thanks for the input. In an abundance of caution, we canceled the glacier walk and booked the Taku Lodge Seaplane excursion. It looks pretty good too.

 

[lilsonicfan]

One of my fave excursions I've done was in Skagway, based on a reco from here - we rented an electric car and drove up to Yukon following roughly the White Pass train ride. Way better though, since you can do your own thing in terms of timing. We saw some great spots along the way and the couple that rents out the vehicle also gives you a guide you can follow. https://www.klondikecars.com/