Alaska Questions

[KatieKepic]

If your only options are from mid-June to early August, I'd do early August. The very end of August to early September is my perfect time for an Alaska cruise, but I know that's tough with school. Any time in July or August will have great wildlife viewing.

Late dining is definitely preferred. Even some DCL excursions don't get back to the ship until 6 on the later port days.

Aft verandahs are generally in high demand, but it's always worth a shot if you're flexible about the floor and don't need them connecting.

In Juneau, I can highly recommend Alaska Whales & Rainforest Trails (JU34). It's run by Gastineau Guiding. They only sell through cruise lines, not independently, but the groups are small. I think it's a great value for what you get. For 8 people, you could reach out to them directly for a private tour and compare the price.

In Skagway, I like renting a car and driving the white pass route on your own. That lets you stop wherever you want and stay for as long as you want. If you don't want to drive, the White Pass railway and spending time in town is a great day too.

I did the George Inlet Lodge crab feast in Ketchikan, and it was one and done for me. I'd just get crab legs from a restaurant in town instead. The Rainforest Bear Sanctuary is a great option that isn't too expensive. There are also plenty of wildlife viewing excursions here.

If your cruise visits Icy Strait Point, definitely do whale watching there. It's more of a manufactured port and doesn't have as much to do as the other towns, but it's also near some of the best waters for seeing whales.

For general advice, bring all types of clothes. It can be 40 and windy one day, then 75 and sunny the next. Also bring comfortable walking shoes. Hiking boots are overkill unless you're doing an all-day hike on your own. If you want to photograph wildlife, you'll need a long lense. Vancouver is a great city and easy enough to use public transit around. Go early if you can.

So helpful, thank you!

The school schedules definitely make it harder to plan, especially with 3 different ones.

I'm really hoping we can get the afts. We'd prefer connecting but would take what we could get. We'll be able to book on platinum opening day so fingers crossed we can. If not we'll do regular verandahs that connect.

Thank you for the tour recommendations and advice. We're leaning toward Juneau over ISP, I think.

I know my family is going at least a week early to be able to explore. There looks to be so many great places to check out in Vancouver.

 

[KatieKepic]

Re timing for bears, Disney offers a few options out of Ketchikan but they were not offered yet in early July this year. If your schedule allows, I would target late July to early August for best chance to see some. Since you are looking at 2027, maybe reach out again here during 2026 season to see if folks who are going next summer can help you better define the timeline when those are offered. Otherwise you may need to look at a private tour.

Very good to know, thank you! We tend to prefer private but DCL not offering them tells me they want to gaurentee there are bears and to aim for the dates DCL offers the tours for the best change.

 

[Mathmagicland]

Perfect, thank you! That is who we were looking at. Did y'all do the Yukon option or a different one? The only thing I was a bit nervous about for the morning option is that at least for 2026, it shows the port time starting at 7:15 and for Chilkoot the morning tour was at 7:30 so I wasn't sure how doable that would be but I would much prefer the morning and getting to wonder the town at the end of the day.

Yes, we did the Yukon train/bus tour with the train portion first. They were right at the pier with a rep and I think a small van to take us to where we boarded the train, which is not far away, Breakfast opened early and we were one of the first walking off the ship as soon as it was cleared. But I would not worry about the timing as the first train won’t leave until those ship excursion passengers are also on the train. The Disney excursion groups were in rhe next train car ahead of the Chilkoot tours train car.

 

[Disnsyncey]

Perfect, thank you! That is who we were looking at. Did y'all do the Yukon option or a different one? The only thing I was a bit nervous about for the morning option is that at least for 2026, it shows the port time starting at 7:15 and for Chilkoot the morning tour was at 7:30 so I wasn't sure how doable that would be but I would much prefer the morning and getting to wonder the town at the end of the day.

The train pulls right up to the (main) dock for the cruise line, and then it stops just a bit into town where you get on from the outside companies (their bus picks you up from the ship). 90% of the passengers on any train are from the cruise lines, no worries on missing it. Our tour started super early like that and I even missed my birthday announcement because they wouldn't announce things ship wide until after 7:30 or something hahaha Don't worry about the timing, the free afternoon is a great way to end it!

I did the Yukon, but I would have done the Bennett lake one if we were there only a day later (it hadn't started yet). I don't think it does a TON more, but it gives you another place to see the scenery! It was a minibus and we got to beat the big tours to spots.

 

[cruisehopeful]

We had late dining on 2 Alaska cruises. We're trying early next time. Later dining has the benefit of not feeling rushed to get to dinner when you're busy on shore. We had some negatives, which is why we're going with early next time. The dining staff we had seemed a lot slower and sometimes we didn't get out until close to 10pm. It gave me really bad indigestion since I was going to bed an hour or two later. On our second cruise to Alaska, the captain used that time to speed up quite a bit and we (and our servers) could feel it and not in a good way. We skipped dinner a few times because it was so unpleasant.

 

[KatieKepic]

Yes, we did the Yukon train/bus tour with the train portion first. They were right at the pier with a rep and I think a small van to take us to where we boarded the train, which is not far away, Breakfast opened early and we were one of the first walking off the ship as soon as it was cleared. But I would not worry about the timing as the first train won’t leave until those ship excursion passengers are also on the train. The Disney excursion groups were in rhe next train car ahead of the Chilkoot tours train car.

Exactly what I wanted to hear, thank you

 

[KatieKepic]

The train pulls right up to the (main) dock for the cruise line, and then it stops just a bit into town where you get on from the outside companies (their bus picks you up from the ship). 90% of the passengers on any train are from the cruise lines, no worries on missing it. Our tour started super early like that and I even missed my birthday announcement because they wouldn't announce things ship wide until after 7:30 or something hahaha Don't worry about the timing, the free afternoon is a great way to end it!

I did the Yukon, but I would have done the Bennett lake one if we were there only a day later (it hadn't started yet). I don't think it does a TON more, but it gives you another place to see the scenery! It was a minibus and we got to beat the big tours to spots.

Thank you! So glad that we can do the early one. I'll take a look at the Bennett lake one as well!

 

[Disnsyncey]

So helpful, thank you!

The school schedules definitely make it harder to plan, especially with 3 different ones.

I'm really hoping we can get the afts. We'd prefer connecting but would take what we could get. We'll be able to book on platinum opening day so fingers crossed we can. If not we'll do regular verandahs that connect.

Thank you for the tour recommendations and advice. We're leaning toward Juneau over ISP, I think.

I know my family is going at least a week early to be able to explore. There looks to be so many great places to check out in Vancouver.

If you wanna do a glacier and shop (along with your whales), I say Juneau is a good option....

but ISP IS AMAZING for whale watching! And it has my FAVORITE lunch on the whole cruise itinerary, the salmon tacos from the Fisherman's Daughter in Hoonah!

ISP is a partnership between the local tribe and the cruise lines, meaning MOST of the options are through the cruise line as it's private property more or less and you have to get to the end of the property to embark on any outside adventures. We did a kayak tour one time, and then the second time we did the early whale watching which was in the hotbed of whales in the area, HAD TO BE......we had them jumping, we got MANY tails (you know, the tail flip), and then them playing around. If whales is what you want, you NEED to go to ISP.

Our last trip to Juneau, we did a combo through the cruise line, whales, a feast on an island, and then the glacier. We didn't have enough time to walk the 2 mile RT to the lake and waterfall, but we had good views. Harv and Marv are popular (smaller) whale tours in Juneau and our first trip we did a whale watch and glacier with Juneau Whale Watch which had a continuously circling bus every 20-30 min at the glacier to get you back to town so we had time to make it to the lake and waterfall.

 

[KatieKepic]

We had late dining on 2 Alaska cruises. We're trying early next time. Later dining has the benefit of not feeling rushed to get to dinner when you're busy on shore. We had some negatives, which is why we're going with early next time. The dining staff we had seemed a lot slower and sometimes we didn't get out until close to 10pm. It gave me really bad indigestion since I was going to bed an hour or two later. On our second cruise to Alaska, the captain used that time to speed up quite a bit and we (and our servers) could feel it and not in a good way. We skipped dinner a few times because it was so unpleasant.

Very helpful! My husband can be sensitive to the ships movements as well so I really appreicate this!

 

[Mathmagicland]

Very good to know, thank you! We tend to prefer private but DCL not offering them tells me they want to gaurentee there are bears and to aim for the dates DCL offers the tours for the best change.

For private Bear tour options, it would not be cheap with your group of 8, but there are amazingly awesome tours out of Ketchikan to the Anan Bear observatory deep in the Tongass National Forest. It is a 40-minute float plane ride, then about a mile hike with park ranger and guide to an observation tower platform adjacent to a river where you spend 2-3 hours watching bears. The park service limits the permits to just 60 per day and the authorized tour operators get different allocations on different days. They also split up mornings and afternoons so there’s not more than maybe a dozen or so people at a time. Here is a link to the park service website - unfortunately not a lot of info out there right now but you can check back and get the info on which companies have how many permits on which days, then go to those tour operators to book something. During Bear season the park service also operate webcams so you can see the bears. Anan was open starting July 5 this past summer, when Disney tour operators had not yet started up with Bear tours, and went through mid-August.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/r10/tongass/recreation/anan-wildlife-observatory-site

 

[KatieKepic]

If you wanna do a glacier and shop (along with your whales), I say Juneau is a good option....

but ISP IS AMAZING for whale watching! And it has my FAVORITE lunch on the whole cruise itinerary, the salmon tacos from the Fisherman's Daughter in Hoonah!

ISP is a partnership between the local tribe and the cruise lines, meaning MOST of the options are through the cruise line as it's private property more or less and you have to get to the end of the property to embark on any outside adventures. We did a kayak tour one time, and then the second time we did the early whale watching which was in the hotbed of whales in the area, HAD TO BE......we had them jumping, we got MANY tails (you know, the tail flip), and then them playing around. If whales is what you want, you NEED to go to ISP.

Our last trip to Juneau, we did a combo through the cruise line, whales, a feast on an island, and then the glacier. We didn't have enough time to walk the 2 mile RT to the lake and waterfall, but we had good views. Harv and Marv are popular (smaller) whale tours in Juneau and our first trip we did a whale watch and glacier with Juneau Whale Watch which had a continuously circling bus every 20-30 min at the glacier to get you back to town so we had time to make it to the lake and waterfall.

Now you have me rethinking I appreciate the advice and insight. Whales are definitely at the top of my list and probably my son and nephew as well. It's so hard to pick as there are so many great options and so much I want to see & do.

 

[KatieKepic]

For private Bear tour options, it would not be cheap with your group of 8, but there are amazingly awesome tours out of Ketchikan to the Anan Bear observatory deep in the Tongass National Forest. It is a 40-minute float plane ride, then about a mile hike with park ranger and guide to an observation tower platform adjacent to a river where you spend 2-3 hours watching bears. The park service limits the permits to just 60 per day and the authorized tour operators get different allocations on different days. They also split up mornings and afternoons so there’s not more than maybe a dozen or so people at a time. Here is a link to the park service website - unfortunately not a lot of info out there right now but you can check back and get the info on which companies have how many permits on which days, then go to those tour operators to book something. During Bear season the park service also operate webcams so you can see the bears. Anan was open starting July 5 this past summer, when Disney tour operators had not yet started up with Bear tours, and went through mid-August.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/r10/tongass/recreation/anan-wildlife-observatory-site

This sounds amazing! Thank you so much. I'm defnitely going to look into this one.

 

[holula]

I did the Yukon, but I would have done the Bennett lake one if we were there only a day later (it hadn't started yet). I don't think it does a TON more, but it gives you another place to see the scenery! It was a minibus and we got to beat the big tours to spots.

This is the one I did, and it was stunning. The scenery along the part between Bennett Lake and Carcross is beautiful. We did bus first and train second.

 

[jimmymc]

So helpful, thank you!

The school schedules definitely make it harder to plan, especially with 3 different ones.

I'm really hoping we can get the afts. We'd prefer connecting but would take what we could get. We'll be able to book on platinum opening day so fingers crossed we can. If not we'll do regular verandahs that connect.

Thank you for the tour recommendations and advice. We're leaning toward Juneau over ISP, I think.

I know my family is going at least a week early to be able to explore. There looks to be so many great places to check out in Vancouver.

Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan is the best itinerary for a first visit, I think.

 

[Disnsyncey]

Now you have me rethinking I appreciate the advice and insight. Whales are definitely at the top of my list and probably my son and nephew as well. It's so hard to pick as there are so many great options and so much I want to see & do.

never enough time! I know that whales are easier to track down than bears (with boat radios and such, compared to trying to stay far enough away from scampering bears) so I would be more confident in any whale watching in comparison to bear finding.....

on my birthday trip to Alaska, my parents messaged me and said "can you take us next year?" and we booked the same exact trip, but extended the land portion to start in Fairbanks (one way Alaskas are the way to go for me) and do Denali......and I made the trip even better! You won't leave without wanting to come back!

Also, if bears are what you want, Ketchikan has a salmon ladder-y thing with a pretty populated stream where the bears like to hunt salmon, and its possible to see them from high up while they try to eat some fish right by downtown!

 

[tvguy]

We're planning on booking an Alaskan cruise when the next release comes out for summer 2027. It will be our family of 4 (teens wil be 17 & 19) and my sister and her family of 4 (kids will be 10 & 7).

We are trying to decide on the best time to go. We are stuck with school/college calendars so we're looking at mid-June through early August. We're mostly hoping for wildlife viewings (particularly whales & bears). From what I read, it looks like July might be our best bet?

For dining, is early or late better for Alaska? Looking at the port times for the 2026 sailings, I'm thinking late to maximize our time in the ports?

Also, room location. How hard are the aft verandahs to get, especially if we're needing 2?

And I know we have ample time to look at excursions but figure I'll ask now to start looking. Any excursions that you loved? Any you'd avoid or wouldn't do again? We prefer to book private and not PAs through DCL. The expception would be the Glacier Explorer. If you've done that one (DG01), what did you think? Worth it?

And anything you wish you knew before you did went? I'll take any advice

We have done two Alaska cruises, both on HAL, both in mid-June. Both times we hit "heat waves" so weather was great.
We are always late seating, no matter the time zone, we are West coasters. I was on a Princess cruise last week, and we did early seating two nights because we were with a group, and that was much much much too early for us. No idea how hard verandahs are to get, just know on an Alaskan cruise the best views are going to be on the top decks because you are SURROUNDED by beauty and if just stay on your verandah you will miss half of it.
The whale and wildlife watching excursions are best, some even offer a money back guarantee that you will see three different kinds of wildlife. I ALWAYS book excursions through the ship. I was reminded of why last week when I was on a Princess cruise. All three of our excursions got back after the all aboard time and I had no worries about missing the ship. In one case, the last Princess excursion got back 30 minutes after all aboard time. Then went everyone was back, they couldn't get the automated gangway to disconnect from the ship, so we were delayed even later from departing. LOL.

 

[KatieKepic]

never enough time! I know that whales are easier to track down than bears (with boat radios and such, compared to trying to stay far enough away from scampering bears) so I would be more confident in any whale watching in comparison to bear finding.....

on my birthday trip to Alaska, my parents messaged me and said "can you take us next year?" and we booked the same exact trip, but extended the land portion to start in Fairbanks (one way Alaskas are the way to go for me) and do Denali......and I made the trip even better! You won't leave without wanting to come back!

Also, if bears are what you want, Ketchikan has a salmon ladder-y thing with a pretty populated stream where the bears like to hunt salmon, and its possible to see them from high up while they try to eat some fish right by downtown!

We go to Fairbanks next month. We're hoping to see the Norhtern lights. If you have any Fairbanks recommendations, I'd love them.
I have a feeling we'll most likely be doing another Alaskan cruise. Hopefully we'll be able to get my parents to join us.

I think we might try for a bear excursion in Ketchikan. Sounds like that's our best bet!

Thank you!

 

[DCLMP]

Great suggestions, thank you! We'd definitely be willing to rent a car.

Check car rental prices before you commit to which airport you want to fly into. Car rental prices were high last year.

 

[KatieKepic]

We have done two Alaska cruises, both on HAL, both in mid-June. Both times we hit "heat waves" so weather was great.
We are always late seating, no matter the time zone, we are West coasters. I was on a Princess cruise last week, and we did early seating two nights because we were with a group, and that was much much much too early for us. No idea how hard verandahs are to get, just know on an Alaskan cruise the best views are going to be on the top decks because you are SURROUNDED by beauty and if just stay on your verandah you will miss half of it.
The whale and wildlife watching excursions are best, some even offer a money back guarantee that you will see three different kinds of wildlife. I ALWAYS book excursions through the ship. I was reminded of why last week when I was on a Princess cruise. All three of our excursions got back after the all aboard time and I had no worries about missing the ship. In one case, the last Princess excursion got back 30 minutes after all aboard time. Then went everyone was back, they couldn't get the automated gangway to disconnect from the ship, so we were delayed even later from departing. LOL.

I'd love to have a heat wave during ours That's great you had one on both of your cruises!


We may be limited on being up on the decks for long periods. Neither my son or nephew do great in crowded areas for long. My son is austistic and my nephew is deaf with cochlears so it's hard for him when there's a lot of noise around him. Hopefully with the verandahs we'll be able to have great views! And especially on glacier day, I'll plan to be up on the top decks!

I totally respect those that like the guarentee of a ship excursion. We're willing to risk it and always book with reputable companies and have travel insurance just in case. The ship excursions we've done have sadly been our least favorite excursions so unless there is something I can only get booking a port adventure, we tend to do our own. But yes, defintely wanting wildlife excursions. I'm just having a hard time choosing, so many great options!

 

[KatieKepic]

Check car rental prices before you commit to which airport you want to fly into. Car rental prices were high last year.

Thank you! Our current plan is to fly into SEA and then take the train to Vancouver but we're waiting for the MLB schedule (my DH is trying to get to all the MLB parks and doesn't have SEA yet) to decide as we might end up doing that in reverse instead.