Alaska Shore Excursions

[wisblue]

We are going to be taking our first cruise next July on the Disney Wonder to Alaska.

I would like some recommendations for shore excursions. We are more interested in things that involve seeing natural scenery and wildlife than physical activities like rafting, though my daughters may be interested in zip lining. We will do easy hiking, but nothing too demanding. At Rocky Mountain National Park this summer we stuck to the easy hiking trails.

Some of the things I have seen both on the DCL site and through a company associated with AAA that are the types of things we would like are the White Pass train, taking a boat for whale watching, and a wildlife tour to look for animals, like bears hunting salmon.

Who has things they have done that they would recommend to others? TIA.

 

[Aby]

We loved the All Aboard Steam Train Excursion in Skagway, and the Neets Bay Bear Watch by Float Plane in Ketchikan was exceptional - both super great for photographers! We also had a blast on our Alaska Whales & Photo Safari in Juneau, and one of the most unique things we did was the Mountain Point Snorkelling adventure in Ketchikan. I would recommend all these excursions to others!

Hope this helps

Aby

 

[KristiMc]

Takshanuk Mountain Trail by 4x4 in Skagway.

Alpine Zipline and Glacier tour in Juneau.

Both were great.

 

[ludari]

I did various tours on my Alaskan cruise including a train ride, ghost tour, chainsaw tour and Mt Roberts Tramway tour. Out of all of them I enjoyed two the most. The first was the Ketchikan Saxman Native Village Tour which included a lot of native history, dances, etc. We even saw several eagles nesting nearby as I walked around the village taking pictures of various totem poles. Second was the Bike and Brew tour in Juneau. In our biking tour we rode by the Chapel by the Lake, University of Alaska and Mendenhall Glacier and stopped at each of those locations. At our last stop (Mendenhall Glacier) we parked our bikes and walked towards the glacier and saw numerous bears. After our visit to Mendenhall Glacier we boarded a van and rode to the brewery to sample Alaskan Beer.

 

[sdjen]

In Skagway we did two fun excursions through the same company (got a discount for booking 2). The grizzly falls ziplining and dogsledding (on dirt track). I'm not in the best shape but absolutely loved the ziplining and would highly recommend it. The dogsledding was fun too and playing with the puppies was my daughters favorite part.

We did a whale watching trip through rum runners charters in Juneau which was fun

In Ketchikan we did a helicopter tour through Ketchikan helicopters which was the highlight of our trip. We landed at a creek to watch salmon and look for bears, saw mountain goats and Eagles. Can't recommend enough!!

Have a great time - Alaska is amazing!

 

[sharksfinatic17]

We did private excursions in all three ports. In Skagway, we booked with Chilkoot Tours. We trained up, then toured the Yukon - we choose to do lunch and dog sled too. In Juneau, we went with Harv & Marv for whale watching. We were a group of 10 and had our own boat. Finally in Ketchikan, we went on a float plane with Island Wings. All three of our excursions were excellent.

 

[Ware Bears]

I could have written the above post as we went with the exact same excursion companies in 2013 - can't recommend enough.

 

[Lcluney]

In Skagway we did two fun excursions through the same company (got a discount for booking 2). The grizzly falls ziplining and dogsledding (on dirt track). I'm not in the best shape but absolutely loved the ziplining and would highly recommend it. The dogsledding was fun too and playing with the puppies was my daughters favorite part.

We did a whale watching trip through rum runners charters in Juneau which was fun

In Ketchikan we did a helicopter tour through Ketchikan helicopters which was the highlight of our trip. We landed at a creek to watch salmon and look for bears, saw mountain goats and Eagles. Can't recommend enough!!

Have a great time - Alaska is amazing!

Who did you book thru?

 

[sdjen]

For ziplining and dogsledding we used : http://www.alaskaexcursions.com/

Whale watching : http://www.rumrunnercharters.net/

Helicopter: http://www.ketchikanhelicopters.com/

Have fun!

 

[Rambler5678]

What time of year did you do Neets Bay? Did you see many bears?

 

[Aby]

We went to Neets Bay on our mid-August cruise in 2013. We saw a total of 4 bears I think - doesn't sound like a lot, but one of them was only about 10 feet away at one point! We watched 3 of them fishing, eating, and lounging from the main viewing area, and then we saw a younger one along the shore bank as we walked back to the pick up point. A pricey excursion - but amazing for the wildlife and/or photo enthusiast!

Aby

 

[dugthetalkingdog]

My DD(20) and I went to Alaska last August and by the second day my daughter was asking to rebook for next year. In Skagway we booked the Yukon Rail and Bus excursion
thru Chilkoot Charters and Tours and had a wonderful time and awesome tour guide. We did the train ride first then the bus tour. The tour stopped at Caribou Crossing Trading
Post for lunch which was included in the price, plus there was a Musher Camp so after lunch we were able to play with the puppies (must have passport with you). In Ketchikan my daughter did the snorkeling
excursion while I went shopping. Make sure to go to Creek Street while in Ketchikan..In Juneau we did the helicopter to the Musher Camp. The excursion was expensive but
the view was amazing and both of us still talk about how much fun that excursion was and the all the dogs especially the puppies. The Helicopter/Musher Camp and Snorkeling were
booked thru Disney.

While in Vancouver we stayed at the Pinnacle Hotel Harbourfront. We also went to the Capilano Bridge. You can buy tickets and free bus ride to the bridge at Canada Place.
Recommend to go early because it gets very busy around lunch time. We also had lunch at the Tea Room located in Stanely Park.

Have a fun cruise

 

[GrumpyBelle]

We did Takshanuk 4x4 and Whale Watching with Harv and Marv. Both were excellent!!!

 

[jtba]

We did private excursions in all three ports. In Skagway, we booked with Chilkoot Tours. We trained up, then toured the Yukon - we choose to do lunch and dog sled too. In Juneau, we went with Harv & Marv for whale watching. We were a group of 10 and had our own boat. Finally in Ketchikan, we went on a float plane with Island Wings. All three of our excursions were excellent.

we also booked our train ride with chilkoot tours in skagway. took the bus up, then the train down. if you do that, make sure you sit on the right side of the train as you come down the mountain (and left side if you train goes up the mountain). this way you'll get a better view. on the bus itself it doesn't matter which side as it's a 20-rider airport shuttle type, and the view doesn't differ too much on either side.

we also had a great time with harv & marv on our whalewatching tour in juneau.

highly recommend both.

 

[DizMagic]

We did Skagway Private Tour in Skagway. I cannot recommend them enough. We did a 6 hour private van ride up the Yukon and saw all the major sites. We got to see much more than the train/other tours and even made it back to town with enough time to do the DCL Liarsville Bake - which was also really good.

In Juneau, we did Harv and Marv whale watching. Again - amazing.

In Ketchikan, we did the DCL Bear / Rainforest deal (not the floatplane). It was also really awesome. We saw no fewer than 8 different bears, including babies.

 

[sharksfinatic17]

we also booked our train ride with chilkoot tours in skagway. took the bus up, then the train down. if you do that, make sure you sit on the right side of the train as you come down the mountain (and left side if you train goes up the mountain). this way you'll get a better view. on the bus itself it doesn't matter which side as it's a 20-rider airport shuttle type, and the view doesn't differ too much on either side.

we also had a great time with harv & marv on our whalewatching tour in juneau.

highly recommend both.

We did the opposite....train up/bus down. For train up, sit on the left. I would agree about the van/shuttle part of the ride. We stopped enough and got out that where we sat, didn't matter.

 

[Sarabi's Cubs]

Does it matter if you do train up/bus down or vice versa on the White Pass excursions? Any preference for one or the other? Some excursions have the bus both ways - how was the train experience?

Thanks!
Laurie

 

[cruisehopeful]

We took a 4 hour bus tour in Skagway through M and M tours. They are located right next to the dock. It went into Canada and we enjoyed it very much. We saw a momma bear and 2 cubs. It was early in the season and considered not prime bear season.

We did a whale watching/mendenhall Glacier/salmon bake excursion through DCL in Juneau. I don't recommend it. Everything was too rushed. We would have preferred to have a lot more time at Mendenhall Glacier. While some people enjoyed the whale watching, I thought it was a dud compared to other whale watching I've done in my home town and in Hawaii. We did see many bald eagles, though.

Our next cruise, we are doing a 4 hour train ride in Skagway. For Juneau, we are going to take the public $20. bus to Mendenhall Glacier and spend our time there without any tour groups so we can really enjoy it. We are still undecided about Ketchikan, but leaning towards a guided nature hike.

One thing for sure, once you decide what you want to do, shop around. There are many choices in tours and tour companies in the ALaska ports.

 

[xlxo]

We are going to be taking our first cruise next July on the Disney Wonder to Alaska.

I would like some recommendations for shore excursions. We are more interested in things that involve seeing natural scenery and wildlife than physical activities like rafting, though my daughters may be interested in zip lining. We will do easy hiking, but nothing too demanding. At Rocky Mountain National Park this summer we stuck to the easy hiking trails.

A tip.... if you find there is not enough port time to do everything in Alaska.... consider pre/post-cruise day visit to Grouse Mountain when in the bonus port of Vancouver. Zipling, hiking, wildlife and those lumberjacks are available there to free up your Alaska time.

 

[xlxo]

Does it matter if you do train up/bus down or vice versa on the White Pass excursions? Any preference for one or the other? Some excursions have the bus both ways - how was the train experience?

You can just do the train, but consider combo tours to see more of the canyon and Skagway options. Love both "Yukon (Carcross)" and "Best of Skagway experiences" on my visits. I did bus up and train return on both occasions. The weather was clearer in the afternoon for the train with less fog.