Alaska Independent Tour Operators and Excursions

[Mich123]

This thread has been super helpful!

We are heading to Alaska in June and I've booked the Tracy Arm Excursion, a dog cart/puppy camp for Skagway booked through Alaska Excursions, and I'm contemplating a whale watching /glacier combo for Juneau. I have two kids who will want to sleep later and then go on a tour, however, in Juneau that's not quite possible, so I will be waking them up to go on a 5 hour tour that starts at 9:30 a.m.

The problem will be lunch--I'm wondering if there are lunch or snack options at Mendenhall Glacier? Should I bring tupperware or ziplock bags and attempt to make a lunch from breakfast offerings? Can I order a room service lunch at breakfast? Give them each a bag of sour Goofy's and call it lunch?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[havaneselover]

We researched heavily and went with the following in 2016: Chilkoot Charters in Skagway or White Pass/Yukon Territory. We did bus up and back with lunch and dog cart ride. In hindsight I'd leave off the dog cart ride as the place where the dogcart was located was running behind, not taking people in any specific order (time of tour booked) and we almost did not get to do ours for having to get back on bus. No fault of Chilkoot Charters though. We chose not to do the train up or back and do bus both ways as we have ridden on a train similar before and were just saving some money. Our guide was excellent and I would recommend using this tour company.

In Juneau we rented a car through Juneau Car Rental (formerly rent a wreck) and drove to Mendenhall ourselves. Pick up was at their port office about 100 yards walk from where we docked. It was $65 for a 2003 oldsmobile alero-- to take the bus to glacier and back would have been more than $65 for the 3 of us, so this was a no brainer. Brought our GPS from home to get us there.

In Ketchikan we booked a Misty Fjord float plane tour through Family Air tours. This was amazing. They were running an early bird booking special that saved us around $100 off their price (which was already cheaper than booking Misty Fjords with DCL.) Dave, the owner took us up in his plane (and it was only our family- we did not have to share a plane with others like some tours make you) and we had an amazing time. He was very knowledgable and very nice. The view was amazing, and he landed in a little area where we got to get out and walk around for about 30 mins. This would be a must do, and I tell everyone I know who wants to go to Alaska that they need to do this, and they need to book with Family Air.

Both tour companies had great policies offering full refunds if the ship was unable to make it to port/on time, weather not cooperative (for the plane), and also stating if you did not make it to ship for all aboard due to their fault they would pay to get you reunited with the ship.

I booked with Family Air Tours and am so happy to see your glowing reviews. With the early bird discount it was so reasonable. My mom wasn’t sure if she wanted to join us but she has agreed!

 

[Its a Princess Thing...]

We are cruising to Alaska in June and because my twins are 11, we chose to book independently. I had seen recommendations for Harv and Marv's, so we booked that in Juneau. We booked late, so we have a super early trip, but our group of 13 will have our own boat! Then I figure we will be done early and have the rest of the day to explore! In Skagway, I booked the train ride. It is the same trip at DCL offers, but we saved some money by paying the kids price. The only downside is that you do have to walk a little farther to catch the train when you book independently, but we'll survive. I am still debating on what to do in Ketichikan...that's on this week's to do list!

 

[ajo]

This thread has been super helpful!

We are heading to Alaska in June and I've booked the Tracy Arm Excursion, a dog cart/puppy camp for Skagway booked through Alaska Excursions, and I'm contemplating a whale watching /glacier combo for Juneau. I have two kids who will want to sleep later and then go on a tour, however, in Juneau that's not quite possible, so I will be waking them up to go on a 5 hour tour that starts at 9:30 a.m.

The problem will be lunch--I'm wondering if there are lunch or snack options at Mendenhall Glacier? Should I bring tupperware or ziplock bags and attempt to make a lunch from breakfast offerings? Can I order a room service lunch at breakfast? Give them each a bag of sour Goofy's and call it lunch?

Thanks in advance for your help!

We went to Mendenhall Glacier a couple of years ago and I don’t remember any food available. You can easily grab a couple of the small boxes of cereal from breakfast at Cabanas to take with you. That might be enough to tide them over.

 

[dcassetta]

This thread has been super helpful!

The problem will be lunch--I'm wondering if there are lunch or snack options at Mendenhall Glacier? Should I bring tupperware or ziplock bags and attempt to make a lunch from breakfast offerings? Can I order a room service lunch at breakfast? Give them each a bag of sour Goofy's and call it lunch?

Thanks in advance for your help!

No concession stands at Mendenhall. The Ranger told us it was because of bears and they don't want people taking food out on the trails. The ships usually have uncrustables available through room service, so you can call and ask about that. There are sometimes packaged chips available at the quick service places on deck, and Cabanas will have sealed boxed cereal at breakfast. You may only take sealed packaged foods off of the ship. You might want to consider packing protein bars or granola bars from home. The other option is in Juneau itself. The area right around the port has the number of restaurants and shops where you can get food to go.

 

[Dug720]

No concession stands at Mendenhall. The Ranger told us it was because of bears and they don't want people taking food out on the trails. The ships usually have uncrustables available through room service, so you can call and ask about that. There are sometimes packaged chips available at the quick service places on deck, and Cabanas will have sealed boxed cereal at breakfast. You may only take sealed packaged foods off of the ship. You might want to consider packing protein bars or granola bars from home. The other option is in Juneau itself. The area right around the port has the number of restaurants and shops where you can get food to go.

So please ponder if it's really worth risking your life (and that of anyone around you) by taking food. Because there ARE bears, and while the rangers will do all they can to prevent contact, if they smell food and go after it, it would be bad news bears. For real.

If some place is not selling food because of bears, taking food to eat is probably not the brightest idea.

 

[woody64]

We went to Alaska last summer on the Wonder and booked everything independently.

Skagway-Klondike Tours Yukon Gold and sled dogs:just ok, spent too much time with the sled dogs and Liarsville was kind of hokey for us (all of us are over 19). We were delayed in getting picked up so didn't have as much time. We did see bears though on our drive and our guide was able to stop so we could watch them.

Juneau-Harv & Marvs whale watching: awesome! We were in a small boat and saw everything-humpbacks, porpoises, seals, sea lions and an orca. One of the best trips I've been on and the crew was great. They have multiple boats talking so you go to the best areas.

We took a cab from downtown to Mendenhall-$40 one way for 4 of us, way cheaper than shuttle. Only difference is they have to drop/pick you up about a 15-20 minute walk to the visitors center. It was no problem for us, and we actually saw another bear because of it!

Ketchikan-Southwest Sea Kayaks: great...even though we never made it out. They called as soon as they could see the weather was going to be bad and gave us a full refund. They looked for our safety and that of their staff first, money second. Hopefully someday we'll be back and I would definately book with them.

If you want, check out my trip report below. More details and tons of pictures.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/a...-last-day-at-sea.3629678/page-2#post-59088302

 

[cruiser21]

This thread has been super helpful!

We are heading to Alaska in June and I've booked the Tracy Arm Excursion, a dog cart/puppy camp for Skagway booked through Alaska Excursions, and I'm contemplating a whale watching /glacier combo for Juneau. I have two kids who will want to sleep later and then go on a tour, however, in Juneau that's not quite possible, so I will be waking them up to go on a 5 hour tour that starts at 9:30 a.m.

The problem will be lunch--I'm wondering if there are lunch or snack options at Mendenhall Glacier? Should I bring tupperware or ziplock bags and attempt to make a lunch from breakfast offerings? Can I order a room service lunch at breakfast? Give them each a bag of sour Goofy's and call it lunch?

Thanks in advance for your help!

The gift shops in town have packaged snacks and candy bars. You could grab some stuff before you meet your tour guide. They also may have hot chocolate and some sort of snack on the whale watching boat.

 

[cruiser21]

So please ponder if it's really worth risking your life (and that of anyone around you) by taking food. Because there ARE bears, and while the rangers will do all they can to prevent contact, if they smell food and go after it, it would be bad news bears. For real.

If some place is not selling food because of bears, taking food to eat is probably not the brightest idea.

It would be also be kind of stupid to go hiking without food and water. You know people do back pack for days in bear country and take food with them. They probably don't have a snack bar because they don't want bears hanging around the tourist center looking for handouts.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Can anyone share how early they booked excursions? For May cruise, would you book in January or wait until February or March?

 

[CyndiLouWho]

We just booked this for 2019! Thanks so much for the recommendation. Seems so much better than the huge whale tour boats, and cheaper than hiring a private on Harv and Marvs, which we would have had to do because we have young kids and they only allow them if you hire a private tour.

Also looking for 2019. I don’t see prices on their website or a listing of tours/options. Are they listed somewhere?

 

[cruiser21]

Can anyone share how early they booked excursions? For May cruise, would you book in January or wait until February or March?

I booked a couple months before. I would book when you're absolutely sure you know what you want to do.

 

[TikiThunderPirates]

If you are booking through Disney book as soon as the Port Adventures are open. If you are booking through independent operators, check their cancelation policy. If you can cancel for any reason with a full refund up until a month or so before the cruise, go ahead and book in January. Things do fill up. If the cancelation policy isn't so generous, book as soon as you know you plan to go on that excursion and the likelihood of canceling is low. If you do cancel due to canceling the cruise, and have non DCL trip insurance, it can cover the cost of the booked excursions.

 

[dcassetta]

Can anyone share how early they booked excursions? For May cruise, would you book in January or wait until February or March?

I would book early as tours do sell out.

Also looking for 2019. I don’t see prices on their website or a listing of tours/options. Are they listed somewhere?

https://www.harvandmarvs-alaska-whale-watching.com/juneau-whale-watching Click on Book Now to see rates.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

https://www.harvandmarvs-alaska-whale-watching.com/juneau-whale-watching Click on Book Now to see rates.

Was actually looking for whalewatchingjuneau.com because Harv and Marv’s doesn’t allow kids except private.

 

[dcassetta]

Was actually looking for whalewatchingjuneau.com because Harv and Marv’s doesn’t allow kids except private.

Call or email. They were very responsive when we used them. If I recall correctly, it was in the range of $150 a person.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Also looking for 2019. I don’t see prices on their website or a listing of tours/options. Are they listed somewhere?

I emailed them. It's $189 per adult and $159 per child, with an option to drop of at the Mendenhall glacier for $17pp.

 

[RedSox68]

I emailed them. It's $189 per adult and $159 per child, with an option to drop of at the Mendenhall glacier for $17pp.

See the glacier -- worth it.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

See the glacier -- worth it.

Planning to! It means the little one might have a skipped or pushed back nap that day but I think the little hike to Nugget Falls will be fun for my kiddos to burn off some steam.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

See the glacier -- worth it.

Is it really a “hike” or more of a walk? I have a bum knee and much of a hike is not possible