Alaska Port excursions

[Pooh2]

Looking for excursion recommendations in Juneau and Skagway. I browsed the Disney excursions and having some sticker shock.
Any local companies that anyone had a great experience with?

 

[missyp]

Coastal Copters Juneau

 

[sdjen]

We used Rum Runner charters in Juneau for a private whale watching trip.

Skagway booked through Alaska Excursions and did the ziplining and dog sled excursion. Loved the ziplining and my 9 year old loved the sled dog puppies!

 

[xlxo]

• Think about what you want to do.... marine and flight tours will cost significantly more than bus tours. My first trip was the "Best of... " series.
• Consider combo tours for some savings. For some.... time is more valuable than money
• look at your pre/post-cruise hotel. Hotels a few blocks away from the cruise terminal offer significant savings.

Check out these NCL excursions (similar to Disney) to get an idea on what to do in my fav ports.

 

[GrumpyBelle]

In Skagway we did the Takshanuk 4x4 tour. Was DH's favorite of the trip. We did whale watching in Juneau--everyone else's favorite.

 

[anricat]

Unfortunately, a lot of third party companies can also elicit that reaction. We're going next summer and we've booked two out of three ports with third party companies, but they aren't much cheaper. After reading a lot of reviews and trip reports here on the DIS, we've decided to go with a tour in Skagway with Chilkoot Charters and in Ketchikan we're going with Southeast Sea Kayaks. For Juneau, we're going a DCL tour because its the only one that does both the things we want to do (glacier and whale watching) with lunch for a reasonable price.

 

[sharksfinatic17]

Unfortunately, a lot of third party companies can also elicit that reaction. We're going next summer and we've booked two out of three ports with third party companies, but they aren't much cheaper. After reading a lot of reviews and trip reports here on the DIS, we've decided to go with a tour in Skagway with Chilkoot Charters and in Ketchikan we're going with Southeast Sea Kayaks. For Juneau, we're going a DCL tour because its the only one that does both the things we want to do (glacier and whale watching) with lunch for a reasonable price.

In Skagway we went with Chilkoot Tours - trained up, lunch, dog sled, and van back and in Ketchikan we went on a float plane to the Misty Fjords with Island Wings.

 

[anricat]

In Skagway we went with Chilkoot Tours - trained up, lunch, dog sled, and van back and in Ketchikan we went on a float plane to the Misty Fjords with Island Wings.

That's what we're doing in Skagway, but instead bus up train down (with dogs). Did you find you had enough time with the dogs? My daughter desperately wanted to do a dog sled thing and it was pretty much the only way I could squish it in both time and money-wise.

 

[sharksfinatic17]

That's what we're doing in Skagway, but instead bus up train down (with dogs). Did you find you had enough time with the dogs? My daughter desperately wanted to do a dog sled thing and it was pretty much the only way I could squish it in both time and money-wise.

Yes, our lunch was super quick though in order to get to the dog sled time slot. We had the dog sled run and then lots of time to play with the puppies. My DDs (19 and 17) hung out with the 6-month puppies and then had a chance to hold the youngest of the puppies. We had to wait for those because they were feeding with their mom. Other members of our party went to see the other things on the grounds, but we choose to hang out with the puppies.

 

[TeaBee]

We had a great experience renting a car in Skagway and then driving up into the Yukon. We were able to do what we wanted on our own time table and hit the highlights when there were no tour buses around. We went to the gold panning place on the way back to port and were the only people there!

 

[thinkoflaura]

We used Rum Runner charters in Juneau for a private whale watching trip.

Skagway booked through Alaska Excursions and did the ziplining and dog sled excursion. Loved the ziplining and my 9 year old loved the sled dog puppies!

we are looking at the Glacier Point Wilderness Safari excursion also offered through Alaska Excursions. It seems nearly identical in description to the one on the DCL website. My only concern is that it departs at 7:30am and according to the DCL webpage, our "ashore" time isn't til 7:15... not sure we'd make it! But tell me, how did you find your experience, dealing with that tour operator?

 

[Pooh2]

Has anyone done the Takshank Mt Trail 4x4 excursion?
Wondering if it is okay for someone with mild walking disability.

 

[DizMagic]

Skagway - we did a private car tour up the Yukon with Skagway Private Tours. Cannot recommend enough. Truly one of the best days of my entire life.
Juneau - we did Harv & Marv's whale watch. This was also great. We only had 5 people in our boat, where some of the larger tours were packed like sardines.

 

[katellynne]

Yes, our lunch was super quick though in order to get to the dog sled time slot. We had the dog sled run and then lots of time to play with the puppies. My DDs (19 and 17) hung out with the 6-month puppies and then had a chance to hold the youngest of the puppies. We had to wait for those because they were feeding with their mom. Other members of our party went to see the other things on the grounds, but we choose to hang out with the puppies.

Was this a dog cart or dog sled experience?

 

[anricat]

Was this a dog cart or dog sled experience?

It's a cart. PP was answering a question I had about this tour: https://chilkootcharters.com/package/yukon-rail-bus-w-dogcart-experience/

 

[sdjen]

we are looking at the Glacier Point Wilderness Safari excursion also offered through Alaska Excursions. It seems nearly identical in description to the one on the DCL website. My only concern is that it departs at 7:30am and according to the DCL webpage, our "ashore" time isn't til 7:15... not sure we'd make it! But tell me, how did you find your experience, dealing with that tour operator?

They were great. Very responsive to my email questions. If you're not sure about timing I would just ask them. It's right off the ship where you meet so I think you would be okay.

 

[thinkoflaura]

They were great. Very responsive to my email questions. If you're not sure about timing I would just ask them. It's right off the ship where you meet so I think you would be okay.

thank you! i reached out to them today and they were fantastic! answered all my questions and i'm totally sold on this excursion. turns out, they are the ones doing the official DCL glacier excursion at 10:30am (we are taking their alternate ("booked on our own") one at 7:30am and saving about $150 for the family)

 

[sdjen]

Have a great time. Alaska is amazing!! We loved our trip.

 

[anricat]

In Skagway we did the Takshanuk 4x4 tour. Was DH's favorite of the trip. We did whale watching in Juneau--everyone else's favorite.

I was reviewing another thread where you indicated that you were also going to try to make a trip to the glacier in the morning. Did you end up doing that? Did you head back to town and have lunch or did you just have the whale watching company pick you up there?

Just trying to work out the logistics of doing something similar.