Alaska--Ketchikan & Skagway

[bridgetmck]

Hi!
We will be in Ketchikan on 9/5. We have the Bering Sea Crab Fisherman's Tour booked for 1:00pm. The Wonder docks at 11:15am and departs at 7:45pm. So, we have ample time to explore Ketchikan and do our 3.5 hr tour. What were some things you did/ are planning to do to fill the time? I would love to take my boys to Potlatch Totem Park but it's 10 miles outside of Ketchikan. Anyone been there?

In Skagway, we are doing the Sled Dog Camp at 10am. The ship departs at 7:45pm. Again, lots of time to explore! Any recommendations of where to go? Where to eat?

Thank you!

 

[Disneyteachers]

I'm planning for 2016, but we are doing our own thing in skagway (this is our first cruise and 500/pp excursions are out( and are going to hike to Yakutania point/smugglers point (I might have the names slightly "off".). We are also going to do the Bering Sea tour. I found some info online which I might use as a guide in ketchikan (hoping to see the salmon running here).

 

[DISGRL13]

We actually did both tours you are signed up for on our Alaska cruise a couple of years ago. Both tours were fantastic!! We saw all kinds of sea creatures on the Bering Sea tour and got to hold and touch some of them. Dress warmly and in layers.
In both Ketchikan and Skagway we just enjoyed the towns. It is very easy to walk around and see most of the town. Fun shops and places to stop and have a drink or a bite to eat.
Enjoy!!
And don't forget to pack binoculars for the cruise! We used ours ALL the time form the ship.

 

[xlxo]

Hi!
We will be in Ketchikan on 9/5. We have the Bering Sea Crab Fisherman's Tour booked for 1:00pm. The Wonder docks at 11:15am and departs at 7:45pm. So, we have ample time to explore Ketchikan and do our 3.5 hr tour. What were some things you did/ are planning to do to fill the time? I would love to take my boys to Potlatch Totem Park but it's 10 miles outside of Ketchikan. Anyone been there?

In Skagway, we are doing the Sled Dog Camp at 10am. The ship departs at 7:45pm. Again, lots of time to explore! Any recommendations of where to go? Where to eat?

Thank you!

Here's some Top 5 ideas...

 

[sunryzez]

We did a private tour of potlatch park. it was a 2.5 hour tour. It was truly amazing. The guide knew all of the stories of each totem and told us. Explained to us all the different berries that grew in the park and the ones you can eat and the ones you can't. We met with the master carver, watched him work, he spoke with us, did a little tutorial and even chopped off a little piece of the totem to the kids to keep. I highly recommend going there. However, if you go alone you will not have someone to explain everything and might not be able to go in the carer's area I think. But either way the park and totems were breathtaking!

 

[bridgetmck]

We actually did both tours you are signed up for on our Alaska cruise a couple of years ago. Both tours were fantastic!! We saw all kinds of sea creatures on the Bering Sea tour and got to hold and touch some of them. Dress warmly and in layers.
In both Ketchikan and Skagway we just enjoyed the towns. It is very easy to walk around and see most of the town. Fun shops and places to stop and have a drink or a bite to eat.
Enjoy!!
And don't forget to pack binoculars for the cruise! We used ours ALL the time form the ship.

We JUST brought binoculars yesterday!
Any recommendations on where to eat?

 

[DISGRL13]

We JUST brought binoculars yesterday!
Any recommendations on where to eat?

You will love having the binoculars. There are eagles all along the shore line and when you get near Tracey's Arm there are icebergs with seals on them. We even saw a whale one evening from the dining room window! (we didn't have the binoculars with us that time.)

In Skagway the Red Onion Saloon was fun. Good beer and a fun atmosphere.....it is an old bordello and all the waitresses are dressed up as madams. There is a museum upstairs we didn't go upstairs but wish we had checked it out.

 

[mylittlebuttercup]

Hi!
We will be in Ketchikan on 9/5. We have the Bering Sea Crab Fisherman's Tour booked for 1:00pm. The Wonder docks at 11:15am and departs at 7:45pm. So, we have ample time to explore Ketchikan and do our 3.5 hr tour. What were some things you did/ are planning to do to fill the time? I would love to take my boys to Potlatch Totem Park but it's 10 miles outside of Ketchikan. Anyone been there?

In Skagway, we are doing the Sled Dog Camp at 10am. The ship departs at 7:45pm. Again, lots of time to explore! Any recommendations of where to go? Where to eat?

Thank you!

It was raining in Ketchikan, so we didn't explore the town much after our excursion. However, I have heard Creek street is supposed to be interesting.

In Skagway, if you had time after the Dog Sled camp, we really enjoyed the railway. The main strip in town also has some cute little shops and bars.

 

[missyp]

Skagway Brewing Company for lunch in Skagway- excellent food loaded tater tots are popular there long wait to get in but worth it. Try not to go between 12 and 1:00, seemed to be less crowded at around 1:30

Annabelles in Ketchikan- the salmon chowder is outstanding. I do not even like salmon. I ordered the clam chowder which was very good but the waitress insisted we tried the salmon chowder-WOW

Tracy's crab house- Juneau- Alaskan king crab legs and chowder

 

[bridgetmck]

Skagway Brewing Company for lunch in Skagway- excellent food loaded tater tots are popular there long wait to get in but worth it. Try not to go between 12 and 1:00, seemed to be less crowded at around 1:30

Annabelles in Ketchikan- the salmon chowder is outstanding. I do not even like salmon. I ordered the clam chowder which was very good but the waitress insisted we tried the salmon chowder-WOW

Tracy's crab house- Juneau- Alaskan king crab legs and chowder

Tracy's is our top choice in Juneau. I heard that it get very crowded though.

This thread is getting me so excited.

 

[missyp]

Tracy's is our top choice in Juneau. I heard that it get very crowded though.

This thread is getting me so excited.

It was crowded but not nearly as crowded as Skagway Brewing Company. All three of these restaurants are worth the wait. We usually leave if a restaurant has a wait, glad we didn't. Try to plan it so you are not eating between 12:00 and 1:30, that is when they are most crowded.

 

[bridgetmck]

It was crowded but not nearly as crowded as Skagway Brewing Company. All three of these restaurants are worth the wait. We usually leave if a restaurant has a wait, glad we didn't. Try to plan it so you are not eating between 12:00 and 1:30, that is when they are most crowded.

Is Skagway Brewing Co okay for kids?

 

[MUN]

Is Skagway Brewing Co okay for kids?

Yes

 

[jburge12000]

At the end of Creek Street at the bridge you can rent fishing polls and cast off into the creek. Bridge was crowded with people doing this when we went last year and they were pulling in salmon every few minutes and then releasing them.

 

[Luvzmy3boys]

We did the potlatch park Disney tour- very interesting but it would definitely help to have a guide to tell you about the significance of the totems etc. the setting is beautiful and kids painted pieces of wood to be added to the Disney totem ( not the mouse fortunately). It was a good 30-45 minute drive from Ketchikan though-- past the only Walmart in the area. We also enjoyed Ketchicandy which makes its own candies such as orange rinds dipped in dark chocolate, etc. we also caught the lumber jack show there. It's a little cheesy but fun for all ages. You can also check out the salmon ladder which starts near Creek Street.

Skagway was smaller and more shopping for jewelry and trinkets from what I recall. The railway was popular. It was a nice mellow walk from the town to dock so that killed some time. There is a nice kids park just off the Main Street if you have younger kids. I think we spent more than hour there.

Definitely liked Tracy's crab shack in Juneau. Much better than the seafood in MDR on Taste of Alaska night.

Have a great time!

 

[EskiLvr]

Our Assistant Server ate at Annabelle's three weeks in a row. ;D He even drew us a map (on our tablecloth) to try to get us there. Lots of interesting places in Ketchikan. We ended up at the New York Cafe, and it was pretty tasty.

 

[nzdisneymom]

We did DCL to Alaska in 2011. In Skagway, we did the train up to the Yukon / bus back that stopped at Liarsville. When we got back, we still had several hours before the ship was scheduled to leave, so we had lunch on the ship and then walked back into town for shopping. The ship docks pretty close. We enjoyed poking around the shops, it felt a little bit like a movie set.

In Ketchikan, we didn't do an excursion because we had splurged on a helicopter adventure and whale watching in Juneau, but we took the shuttle transportation they had from the port over to Creek Street which has an eclectic group of shops. We took the funicular up to the hotel which was pretty neat - they had some totem poles outside and some beautiful flowers. We stopped along the main shopping road that is closer to the port on the way back (again, we took the town shuttle they had running from Creek Street back down closer).

We spent some time on Google Maps, Street View, for both Skagway and Ketchikan before we went so we could get an idea of what we would see, what type of shops there were, and how far things were from each other.

Like I said, though, this was in 2011, so things have likely changed some.

 

[bdi]

We went at the end of June and Skagway was raining and windy. We had an early excursion and it was fine in the morning. Just a little drizzle, which we are used to being from Seattle. Once the winds kicked up it was cold though after being wet, so we didn't explore Skagway. In Ketchikan, it was 75 and clear blue skies. My sister and I went and explored town while my nephew stayed on the ship in the morning. Creek Street was very cool. We went to the lumberjack show and it was fantastic!