Alaska Independent Tour Operators and Excursions

[mrsp1030]

We are planning to book 2019 to Alaska and I like to start planning away and research early about potential costs and tours available. ON our Europe cruise, I booked my own independent tours and it was worth it, some even cheaper than our family of 5 doing DCL excursions. Anyone have any recommendations for both must do excursions and tour operators. We will have 3 DS on our trip ages 14, 10, 7 at the time and potentially my parents who are very active. Thanks in advance.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Check out Trip Advisor for each port. We booked most of our excursions in Alaska independently. There are a lot of good ones out there depending on your interests. You can check out my trip report below to see who we used. We went to the Yukon after riding the train in Skagway and went whale watching in Juneau.

 

[mrsp1030]

Thank you so much!! Will check out your trip review. I know whale watching is a must for my boys!

 

[Geomom]

Chilkoot Charters in Skagway. https://chilkootcharters.com/package/yukon-rail-bus-w-dogcart-experience/
We did the Yukon rail/bus with dogcart experience in August 2016. We did bus up to the Yukon, train down. It ticked off lots of 'musts' for us...a chance to go to the Yukon, doing a dogcart ride, holding puppies, scenic train ride, and multiple scenic bus stops. It was the highlight of our trip! Pics/details are in my trip report in my signature.

 

[Shanti]

We are planning to book 2019 to Alaska and I like to start planning away and research early about potential costs and tours available. ON our Europe cruise, I booked my own independent tours and it was worth it, some even cheaper than our family of 5 doing DCL excursions. Anyone have any recommendations for both must do excursions and tour operators. We will have 3 DS on our trip ages 14, 10, 7 at the time and potentially my parents who are very active. Thanks in advance.

We haven't cruised yet, but did a lot of research and here is what we've booked independently for our June 2018 Alaska cruise:

• Skagway: Skagway Float Tour (river float) / Jewell Gardens glassblowing experience
• Juneau: Will bus or taxi to Mendenhall Glacier independently, have lunch at Tracy's King Crab Shack, then ride Roberts Tramway
• Ketchikan: Island Wings' Misty Fjords flightseeing tour

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

Chilkoot Charters in Skagway. https://chilkootcharters.com/package/yukon-rail-bus-w-dogcart-experience/
We did the Yukon rail/bus with dogcart experience in August 2016. We did bus up to the Yukon, train down. It ticked off lots of 'musts' for us...a chance to go to the Yukon, doing a dogcart ride, holding puppies, scenic train ride, and multiple scenic bus stops. It was the highlight of our trip! Pics/details are in my trip report in my signature.

We are also planning Alaska 2019 and I just finished reading your TR yesterday!
Loved it

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

Check out Trip Advisor for each port. We booked most of our excursions in Alaska independently. There are a lot of good ones out there depending on your interests. You can check out my trip report below to see who we used. We went to the Yukon after riding the train in Skagway and went whale watching in Juneau.

Going to start your TR today
Hope we can swing a 9 day cruise, but most likely it will be a 7 night Alaska for us...

 

[TikiThunderPirates]

We did all our port Adventures through Disney for ease. But two out of our three could easily be booked independently. In Skagway we did a helicopter flight to a glacier and walked about. This was through Temsco helicopter tours, and it is literally right next to the dock. Just walk on over. In Juneau we did Taku Glacier Lodge flight plane tour. It was a flight plane over glaciers out to a remote lodge for lunch and exploring by a glacier. It was with Wingsairways.com Lots of people on our tour were independently booked. In Ketchikan we went out on our own hiking. The only one we could only have booked through Disney was the Tracy Arm boat tour. Then tender up to the Wonder, you climb about a much smaller boat for a close up tour of the glacier. Completely worth booking and can only be done through Disney. My suggestion is to read through the Disney port excursions, find a few that sound good to you, then google the descriptions for them at each port. Most, if not all, run independent tours as well. Lots of cruise ships in these ports in Alaska.

You can read about our experiences for our Port Adventures starting in Skagway here http://frequentlyaskeddisneyblog.com/disney-cruise-alaska-part-24/

 

[anricat]

We booked everything independently. We were on the same excursion as Geomom in Skagway (I mean that literally - we were on the same cruise and were on the bus that day). It was fantastic. In Juneau we rented a car and drove to Mendenhall glacier in the morning on our own. In the afternoon we did a private whale watching trip with Rum Runners (with another DISer actually) and then in Ketchikan we did sea kayaking with Southeast Sea Kayaks which was another winner. We had a great time with everything we chose. My full trip report is in my signature.

 

[Shanti]

We booked everything independently. We were on the same excursion as Geomom in Skagway (I mean that literally - we were on the same cruise and were on the bus that day). It was fantastic. In Juneau we rented a car and drove to Mendenhall glacier in the morning on our own. In the afternoon we did a private whale watching trip with Rum Runners (with another DISer actually) and then in Ketchikan we did sea kayaking with Southeast Sea Kayaks which was another winner. We had a great time with everything we chose. My full trip report is in my signature.

Did you set up the Juneau car rental in advance or do it upon arrival? Did you feel it was worthwhile?

 

[abayaflowers]

We booked our Skagway private excursion through Sitka Wildlife Tours for June 7, 2018. We decided on an early excursion so that we can do something in the afternoon. I booked directly with them, but be aware that if you want a full refund, you will need to cancel one month prior to the scheduled tour. We personally like the DIY port excursions. Saves us alot of money.

 

[Shanti]

We personally like the DIY port excursions. Saves us alot of money.

That and you can book them when you're ready to book, not when DCL says you can book based on your Castaway Club status.

For an expensive, port-intensive cruise like Alaska, I want to know that I can get the excursions I really want, rather than just cross my fingers & hope that concierge, platinum & gold cruisers don't book them up first.

 

[anricat]

Did you set up the Juneau car rental in advance or do it upon arrival? Did you feel it was worthwhile?

Yes, you must set it up in advance. They do get full. Juneau Car Rental is right there at the dock that the Wonder (historically) uses. The car was nothing fancy. In fact, it was bordering on a POS but it got us to the glacier for much less than we would have paid taking the bus ($60 vs. I think $30/person) and earlier than the bus runs so basically we had the place to ourselves. If we hadn't had a whale watching excursion planned for the afternoon, I think we could have still had a great day. The guy at the rental place gave us a little map with all sort of interesting looking places listed. I thought it was definitely well worth it. If you have little ones, I did see a convertible seat available (though you'd want to inquire in advance I'm sure). My daughter was 8 at the time but she's small so we brought along our Bubble Bum for her to use in the rental.

 

[TestingH2O]

We did all of our excursions independently in 2017. My TR is in my signature. Please feel free to check it out. We really did love all of our adventures.

 

[dcassetta]

For whale watching in Juneau, I highly recommend Captain Alan and the Scania. http://www.whalewatchingjuneau.com/

Three viewing areas, the upper outside deck the lower outside deck and inside. He never takes more than 10 people, so you'll get plenty of personalized attention. The man knows the whales that live in the area, in three hours we saw 11 different humpbacks plus porpoises, seals and sea lions, lots of eagles. Best day ever.

 

[RedSox68]

Another vote for Chilkoot Tours in Skagway! Wonderful experience. In Ketchikan, we just walked off the ship and booked a tour guide on the dock (they have a tent set up with all kinds of vendors and offers).

 

[Pens Fan]

We used Skagaway Private Tours for a trip into the Yukon and up to Emerald Lake. I highly recommend Sherry. She is a terrific guide, and we loved spending the day with her. In Juneau we used Rum Runners for their photo and fishing safari. We saw a lot of whales and the guys caught a bunch of salmon. Then, in Ketchikan we used Island Wings for a bear watching trip to Anan Creek. This was amazing. After a beautiful float plane ride, you hike to viewing platform over the creek and watch multiple bears fishing for a couple of hours. So much fun and so many bears!

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

This is such a great thread, thanks to all who have commented so far! Also planning to book for 2019 whenever it finally opens up.

 

[RedSox68]

This is such a great thread, thanks to all who have commented so far! Also planning to book for 2019 whenever it finally opens up.

Alaska was amazing! You will love it.

 

[Trip planner]

Since your DS is 10, DCL would consider him an adult where independent excursions he will still be a child. My DS (s) will be 10 and 7 for our cruise. I booked a private whale watch in Juneau with rum runners. For our family of 4, the private boat was the same cost as going with the large group on DCL. The boats can accommodate 6 so your family would save $ if you went that route. We also booked Chilkoot in Skagway and kayaking with SE kayaks in Ketchikan.