Alaska with no excursions

[adSimba]

It might have been helpful if you phrased your question a little differently. When I first read it I thought you were planning to stay on the ship the whole time. I haven't been to Alaska yet but when I get there I will definitely be getting off the ship and doing things. It now sounds like you plan to get off the ship and just do some things on your own at each port. If the organized excursions don't interest you or are not suitable in any way, you can research each port of call and see if there are things that interest you that can be done on your own. That should give you an idea whether you'll have enough to do to really experience Alaska without an organized tour off the ship. You might find that for some ports, getting off and walking around will be enough for you but for other ports an excursion might be better. The more you know about each port and what is available, the better chance you have at determining if you would be sorry for skipping the excursions or will have a grand old time doing things on your own.

thank you, I'm not sure how no excursions could mean never leaving the boat, but apparently other people understand the word differently than I do.

TBH I had a hard time reading your post because your avatar is so cute, I would keep looking over at it and loosing my place. lol

 

[coloradocutie]

When you think about how amazing the boats are, they provide a vast amount of activities, entertainment, or time and places to sit back and enjoy the company of those who you are with. I think one of the nicest things about Disney ships are that you can have so many rich opportunities without having to be busy or rushed. Some of our favorite memories include playing shuffleboard while everyone else was off the ship

The ports in and of themselves are amazing. You do not need to add to the excitement if you would just rather take it easy and take a stroll to the Ketchikan Candies candy shop...

We love family time and we feel that the Disney boats are quite conducive to that. It sounds like you know what you want. You will have an amazing time. Those who want excursions will have amazing times if that is what they want. That is the joy of cruising

 

[WestFamily]

I've answered this one before and still stand by my original response but since I can't remember what I said exactly I'll respond this way:

We did it Summer of 2015 (to give you a time reference) without excursions and loved it! In fact I feel like when we go again in 2018 or 2019 we will do the same thing.

To me the point of the cruise was to relax and enjoy the family time. Without worry and without needing be anywhere. We got off the boat in every location to look around and get touristy vibes. Then we got back on the ship and relaxed. We swam (well my son did). We did the ship activities. We drank, a lot. Seeing people rush off to their excursions and rush back to get back in time sealed the deal for us in not doing them.

tl/dr: no regrets not doing excursions. Probably won't do them next time either

 

[xlxo]

Thoughts....

• you can explore Skagway and Ketchikan towns on foot. Juneau may require a shuttle as the town is a mile away from the AJ dock.
• staying on the ship has movies, food and internet. You will have much of the ship facilities to yourself as most will want to be off the ship after all those sea days.
• as mentioned earlier.... another cruise line with Glacier Bay will offer savings. I also enjoy the Deck 2 oceanviews for savings.
• do spend a few days exploring Vancouver.

 

[Ljbadfan]

has anyone here done it? what was it like? do you regret it? would you do it again?

We have gone to Alaska three times. First time we did excursions. The other two times we never did excursions. We don't regret not doing them. We liked being on the ship. We did walk around juenau and Ketchikan. There is a really wonderful Christmas shop in Ketchikan right by the pier. We go there. I think it was juenau or Ketchikan the last time I got a reindeer fur and had it sent home. They also had fur hats. We want to go back in 2018 and won't don't excursions then either but walk around the city. We have also walked around shops on creek street in Ketchikan. So if you don't want to do excursions don't do them.. only you can make that choice for you. It's nice to have ship by yourself while everyone is off. It's a good time to go swimming those days

 

[mcodsnyfreak]

We did Alaska last may and we only did one excursion in Skagway, Musher´s Camp, because it was something I´ve always wanted to do. It wasn´t a matter of budget, honestly, none of the other excursions really appealed to us. We did our research before, printed out maps and explored Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan on our own. I found walking tours on all three the cities on their websites and we printed those and used them as a starting point to explore the towns. I enjoyed Alaska very much and don´t feel that I missed out on anything by not going on any excursions nor do I regret not going on excursions. I do plan on cruising to Alaska again sometime in the future, again with DCL, and at that point I might do the White Pass in Skagway, but other than that, I would want to explore the cities on my own again. Btw, we explored all three towns on foot, Juneau was about a 20 to 30min walk from port to the center of town, but it was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the walk. Like Ljbadfan said, only you can make that choice for you.

 

[Geomom]

Honestly I'm really disappointed in the responses, what if I said money is not the motivating factor?

I realize that my reasons are different than everyone else, suffice it to say, I am eventually going on a Disney Cruise to Alaska, and for Alaska will never consider another cruise line. My family and I are interested in views from the ship, the culture and towns we visit, not thrills, or bragging rights (though I suppose we'd still have enough our way)

I wasn't including Vancouver in the mix, that's precruise, and I am, theoretically, planning on visiting Mendenhall glacier, and the little discussed hatchery in Juneau, on our own but looking through all of the excursions from Disney and others, there is little else to interest us outside of the towns that we cannot see from the boat.

I have a friend whose family owns a whale watching excursion group at one of the ports, so I could probably do it for free, but I've been whale watching in the pacific northwest multiple times, it always seems to make my wife and I sick no matter what we do. I see no value in going to a food oriented excursion on this trip because the ship food (which is already paid for) includes everything at the extra cost meals, and more. My wife is very uncomfortable with small aircraft and for the prices that are being asked we see no reason to try to over come that fear just to see similar things to what can be seen on the boat from a different angle.

I really would just like if someone could answer my question as posted:

Alaska with no excursions: what was it like? do you regret it? would you do it again?

please quit telling me I am wrong to feel the way I do.

So sorry if my reply came across that way--I could only give you my own experiences. In my last paragraph I said to find out what YOU want to see in Alaska--there is nothing wrong with just seeing scenery from the boat, or walking around the towns and soaking up the culture. You can certainly do that without excursions. If you're true to yourself--you'll have no regrets.

 

[tvguy]

I've done 2 Alaska cruises, (on HAL), and while we have done excursions on both, I would say what you can see from the deck of the ship while cruising, and the sights within walking distance of where the ships dock are amazing and YES you certainly can do an Alaska cruise with no excursions and you STILL will be overwhelmed by the beauty.

 

[cruisingtwins]

Wow someone is grumpy.

 

[TeaBee]

I really would just like if someone could answer my question as posted:

Alaska with no excursions: what was it like? do you regret it? would you do it again?

please quit telling me I am wrong to feel the way I do.

We didn't book any excursions on our Alaska cruise (NCL), but still got off the ship and created our own so maybe that's not what you're asking.
In Juneau we took a city bus [EDIT: we took a paid Glacier shuttle, not the city bus] to Mendenhall glacier. In Skagway, we rented a car and drove up into the Yukon to see the scenery on our own. In Ketchikan, we walked around the port area and watched the lumberjack show. We enjoyed everything we planned for ourselves and didn't miss being on an official excursion at all.

 

[o&smom]

Your cruise is exactly that, your cruise. It is what you make it, and you get to decide what you will enjoy and be happy with. Our Alaska cruise was our most relaxing of all of our cruises. We did do some excursions as we felt like if we were going to go to Alaska there were a few things that we felt like we could only experience there. We were traveling with younger children, so our port adventures were simpler and not all day affairs. On our Juneau day the weather cancelled our excursion and it poured all day long. We waited for the weather to clear somewhat to explore town on our own, but that never happened. Our day was just as wonderful and not lacking in any way compared to any other day on the cruise - even with not leaving the ship. Enjoy the cruise that you create for your family to make the memories that you want to have for a lifetime.

 

[xlxo]

In Juneau we took a city bus to Mendenhall glacier.

While public transit is cheaper....

• how often does public transit run? I think it's once an hour.... http://www.juneau.org/capitaltransit/documents/LocalScheduleMendenhall-WEB11102015.pdf
• where's the bus stop to the visitor centre? Google Maps says it's a 30 minute or 1.5 mile hike..... ONE WAY.
• where's the bus stop to the Disney Wonder? Is it the AJ dock a mile away? Add another mile or 20 minute hike each way. Let's also add the Alaskan rain without a sidewalk next to a highway
• the shuttle is a 21 minute drive from the docks to the Visitor Centre.
  • Public transit is about an hour to get to Glacier Spur Road....
  • which you need to then walk 30 minutes from the bus stop to the visitor center. Not pleasant in the rain for 1.5 miles.
  • you also need to budget 20 minutes or 1 mile to walk from the Wonder's AJ dock to the bus stop
  • So that is 2 hours plus additional time if you miss the bus. Double that time for the return trip.

My Juneau port time is too valuable to be using public transit for 5 or 6 hours getting to and from Mendenhall. I rather spend the time explore Mendenhall or some other place in Juneau.

 

[richkaryn]

Honestly I'm really disappointed in the responses, what if I said money is not the motivating factor?

I realize that my reasons are different than everyone else, suffice it to say, I am eventually going on a Disney Cruise to Alaska, and for Alaska will never consider another cruise line. My family and I are interested in views from the ship, the culture and towns we visit, not thrills, or bragging rights (though I suppose we'd still have enough our way)

I wasn't including Vancouver in the mix, that's precruise, and I am, theoretically, planning on visiting Mendenhall glacier, and the little discussed hatchery in Juneau, on our own but looking through all of the excursions from Disney and others, there is little else to interest us outside of the towns that we cannot see from the boat.

I have a friend whose family owns a whale watching excursion group at one of the ports, so I could probably do it for free, but I've been whale watching in the pacific northwest multiple times, it always seems to make my wife and I sick no matter what we do. I see no value in going to a food oriented excursion on this trip because the ship food (which is already paid for) includes everything at the extra cost meals, and more. My wife is very uncomfortable with small aircraft and for the prices that are being asked we see no reason to try to over come that fear just to see similar things to what can be seen on the boat from a different angle.

I really would just like if someone could answer my question as posted:

Alaska with no excursions: what was it like? do you regret it? would you do it again?

please quit telling me I am wrong to feel the way I do.

We did the bus up and back to Yukon directly through Chilkoot Charters, mainly because we've ridden a train similar to that and figured we'd get more than just trees and mountains to look at doing the bus both ways. And yes, and added plus was that it was cheaper, but we also added on the dogcart tour (which was running behind and we almost didn't get to do because it was very disorganized in how they were loading people and we would've missed our bus out of there if we hadn't gotten on the one we did. I've said if we do this cruise again (which I would in a heart beat) we would just explore Skagway on our own next time.
We just rented a car from Juneau Car Rental (right by the dock) and drove out to Mendenhall glacier. Then we explored Juneau when we finished at the Glacier.
In Ketchikan we did a misty fjord float plane direct through Family Air. It was just the 3 of us and the pilot. This was amazing, and I'm glad we had the experience. (Would I have known what I was missing if I hadn't done it? No.) When we finished that we just explored Ketchikan on foot. I think that you could see a lot without excursions and not be disappointed. Are there some amazing excursions out there that you might possibly wish you had done later? Yes......but will you still see a lot of historic and cultural sights if you don't? Yes, you will.
I would have given anything to do the glacier dog sled excursion, but DH put his foot down because I'd already booked the float plane and bus to/from Yukon......money wasn't an issue, but in his words "you have to stop the bleeding somewhere". We went into the cruise knowing that it was a very expensive trip, but we had the money to spend, he just didn't want to let go of as much of it as I did lol. We also know we could have done it cheaper on another line, but we love the level of service you get with Disney compared to other lines, etc. I listened to everyone who said you had to have a balcony for Alaska.....let me tell you, we used it for maybe 90 mins the whole trip. We were always out on deck when on the ship, or doing something out of the room on sea days. We never felt like we had to fight for a spot up on deck on Tracy Arm (really Endicott Arm) day---and if it had come to that, we could have retreated to our room. But we liked being able to go from side to side for different views, and just being out in the middle of it all. So , I guess what I'm saying is, even if everyone is saying "you have to do this to really enjoy or experience it", you know what works for you and your family and it isn't always what the majority says. When (yes, when, not if) we do Alaska again, I am getting an inside room and I will be fine with it. I regret that I spent the extra on a balcony we didn't use, but lesson learned-- I will not listen to the crowd next time.

 

[cruisehopeful]

Honestly I'm really disappointed in the responses, what if I said money is not the motivating factor?

I realize that my reasons are different than everyone else, suffice it to say, I am eventually going on a Disney Cruise to Alaska, and for Alaska will never consider another cruise line. My family and I are interested in views from the ship, the culture and towns we visit, not thrills, or bragging rights (though I suppose we'd still have enough our way)

You will have a great time. I have done excursions when I sailed DCL to Alaska twice, but I'd have a great time just wandering around in the towns. If you enjoy your ship time, you'll get plenty of that. There are views almost the entire cruise.

We helped ourselves in Juneua last time and bought bus tickets to Mendenhall Glacier and Mount Roberts Tram. Both of those you can just walk up and pay for - no reason to book ahead of time. We also ate in a local diner. Skagway is a walking town. There are a couple cafes and lots of stores. Many of the stores are very touristy, but you can find some run and owned by locals that sell local merchandise. There's a museum and garden, also. Should you decide that you want to take the train, you can buy tickets that day as a walk up.

You can also rent a car and just drive around on your own. It really depends on what you like to do. You can have a very mellow Alaska vacation and it will be outstanding.

 

[lae]

We have done a Disney Alaskan cruise. We did do excursions, but they were on the more basic side. You do see lots right from the ship and the ports are very walkable. Book the cruise, and have fun!

 

[TeaBee]

While public transit is cheaper....

• how often does public transit run? I think it's once an hour.... http://www.juneau.org/capitaltransit/documents/LocalScheduleMendenhall-WEB11102015.pdf
• where's the bus stop to the visitor centre? Google Maps says it's a 30 minute or 1.5 mile hike..... ONE WAY.
• where's the bus stop to the Disney Wonder? Is it the AJ dock a mile away? Add another mile or 20 minute hike each way. Let's also add the Alaskan rain without a sidewalk next to a highway
• the shuttle is a 21 minute drive from the docks to the Visitor Centre.
  • Public transit is about an hour to get to Glacier Spur Road....
  • which you need to then walk 30 minutes from the bus stop to the visitor center. Not pleasant in the rain for 1.5 miles.
  • you also need to budget 20 minutes or 1 mile to walk from the Wonder's AJ dock to the bus stop
  • So that is 2 hours plus additional time if you miss the bus. Double that time for the return trip.

My Juneau port time is too valuable to be using public transit for 5 or 6 hours getting to and from Mendenhall. I rather spend the time explore Mendenhall or some other place in Juneau.

You're right, I believe my memory is a little faulty (this was seven years ago). I think we used a Glacier Shuttle which leaves every 30 minutes and takes you to the visitor center. I can't remember if we took the ship's shuttle first? We were on NCL which I believe also docks at the AJ Dock. We were traveling with little kids and there were no long-distance hikes. I'll edit my original post to reflect that - thanks for pointing it out!