Favorite Alaska Excursions

[Maxpowers]

Trying to decide which excursions to do while on the Alaska cruise. Anyone have any favorites? preferably not the $3.5k+ ones.

Thanks!

 

[saxmangeoff]

There's a lot of variety, and everyone has different tastes, so it might be better to start with what sounds interesting to you and see if there are any thoughts/experiences.

For example, my favorite excursion BY FAR was the steam train in Skagway. It bores other people, so just because I'm a train buff and had an amazing time doesn't necessarily mean you will.

If you're up for it, the mother of all Alaska excursion threads is here: https://www.disboards.com/threads/alaska-excursions-post-your-reviews-here.2723087/

 

[RedSox68]

Steam train in Skagway, and a tour of the Red Onion at the end (on our own).
Whale watching in Juneau -- fabulous excursion.
Tour of Ketchikan (booked as we walked off the ship) that included visiting Totem Pole Park.
If leaving out of Seward or Anchorage, the Kenai Fjord was well worth the trip.

 

[Maxpowers]

@saxmangeoff Thanks for the link!

The excursions I'm currently thinking about are:

(Juneau) Mount Roberts Tramway
(Juneau) Mendenhall Glacier Explorer & Mount Roberts Tramway
(Juneau) Mendenhall Glacier and Rainforest Garden Adventure
(Juneau) Alaska Whales & Science Adventure
(Juneau) Whale Watching and Sea Life Discovery
(Skagsway) White Pass Railway & Trail Camp
(Ketchikan) Duck Tour
(Ketchikan) Rainforest, Wildlife Sanctuary, Raptor Center & Totems
(Ketchikan ) Mountain Point snorkeling Adventure
(Ketchikan) Misty Fjords National Monument by seaplane
(Ketchikan) Amazing Misty Fjords by Floatplane

Also forgot to mention I'll have a 3 & 6 year old with me. So all ages is a must!

Thanks for any thoughts on these.

 

[saxmangeoff]

The tramway in Juneau is easy to do on your own (you can buy tickets at the tram, and it's conveniently located). Conventional wisdom is to go only if you can see the upper station (it's often fogged in).

If the 3 & 6 year old at all love animals, there's little than can beat seeing whales out in open water, so those are definitely worth considering.

 

[Drbaw5]

We have not been to Alaska but are going on the September 4 cruise So I will share what we are doing. I've been asking tons of questions on here and everyone has been super helpful so hopefully this helps! We will be traveling with a 10, seven and four-year-old.

In Juneau, we are doing a 7 am whale watching tour with rum runner. I would prefer a later time but they were already booked so if you are considering a private whale watching tour you may want to book early. This is costing my family of five approximately $850. We are being dropped off at the Mendenhall glacier afterwards. After spending some time there we will take a taxi back to town and plan to eat lunch somewhere. Possibly Tracey's king crab shack.

In Skagway, we are doing the Yukon rail & bus excursion w/ dog cart experience. Bus up & train down. Lunch provided. $925.

In Ketchikan, I have not booked yet but I am almost 100% positive that we will be chartering a boat with Baranof Excursions. It is a six hour private tour so we will fish for four hours or so then have our choice of being taken to their campsite for a wilderness dinner featuring our catch OR going to their restaurant, the Alaska fish house, for a meal featuring our catch. Approximately $1400.

Editing to add that we booked everything independently.

 

[anricat]

This is the ultimate thread of Alaska excursions:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/alaska-excursions-post-your-reviews-here.2723087/

I recommend reading trip reports, particularly from people who have similar aged children.

For our family, we loved everything we did and I wouldn't have changed a thing. We did:
Skagway: Chilkoot Yukon Rail & Bus Excursion w/ Dogcart experience (bus up/train down)

Juneau: In the morning rented a car and drove to Mendenhall Glacier. In the afternoon we went on a private whale watching trip with Rum Runners (sharing the boat with a fellow DISer)

Ketchikan: In the morning we relaxed (well, sort of, I did a spin class, but DH and DD hung out), then in the afternoon we went into town to do some exploring, then at 2:15 we went sea kayaking with Southeast Sea Kayaks for a 2 hour trip.

There are loads of pictures and more detailed descriptions of all of these in my trip report here: http://www.disboards.com/threads/wo...dventure-with-extra-fun-in-vancouver.3537617/

 

[AquaDame]

@saxmangeoff Thanks for the link!

The excursions I'm currently thinking about are:

(Juneau) Mount Roberts Tramway
(Juneau) Mendenhall Glacier Explorer & Mount Roberts Tramway
(Juneau) Mendenhall Glacier and Rainforest Garden Adventure
(Juneau) Alaska Whales & Science Adventure
(Juneau) Whale Watching and Sea Life Discovery
(Skagsway) White Pass Railway & Trail Camp
(Ketchikan) Duck Tour
(Ketchikan) Rainforest, Wildlife Sanctuary, Raptor Center & Totems
(Ketchikan ) Mountain Point snorkeling Adventure
(Ketchikan) Misty Fjords National Monument by seaplane
(Ketchikan) Amazing Misty Fjords by Floatplane

Also forgot to mention I'll have a 3 & 6 year old with me. So all ages is a must!

Thanks for any thoughts on these.

Of these we have done:

Mount Roberts Tramway - if you wait until you are there you can be sure the weather is clear so you have a nice view. Its right off the dock so you can easily get there on your own.

Mendenhall Glacier - we took a cab so we could stay as long as we wished. Our driver gave us his cell # and we set up a loose time for him to come back. The time we chose ended up being perfect anyway so we didn't need to call and delay our pickup. Well worth going out to! The time before we did a walkabout on the Glacier as well - probably impossible with little kids, but it was my favorite excursion of everything we've done.

White Pass Railway - again, no reason to book with Disney. We were on the same train and same car with everyone else. There was nothing plussed at all except the price tag...! It was just OK but we live in Oregon so the trees and scenery are very similar to home so we may not have gotten as much out of it as other people.

Ketchikan - We booked Misty Fjords with Island Wings. Their pilot Michelle is lovely - we actually tried to do this on our first trip but it was cancelled so we booked again for our second trip. She said if the weather doesn't provide a good flight then she cancels it rather than get bad reviews (and of course would never fly if it were iffy weather either). She did eat her lunch while flying (one handed sandwich style) as we were her noon flight but she remembered one of the gents flying with her before and made sure to ask if he remembered which lake she set down in last time so she could show him a different one. Id say this was our second favorite even though my husband and I were split up for weight balancing (he got to fly shotgun so certainly no complaints from him!)

We also had a great time doing a Skagway Float Tour our second trip. Its an easy couple mile hike and then you float down a river back to almost where you started.

 

[Dug720]

We have not been to Alaska but are going on the September 4 cruise So I will share what we are doing. I've been asking tons of questions on here and everyone has been super helpful so hopefully this helps! We will be traveling with a 10, seven and four-year-old.

In Juneau, we are doing a 7 am whale watching tour with rum runner. I would prefer a later time but they were already booked so if you are considering a private whale watching tour you may want to book early. This is costing my family of five approximately $850. We are being dropped off at the Mendenhall glacier afterwards. After spending some time there we will take a taxi back to town and plan to eat lunch somewhere. Possibly Tracey's king crab shack.

In Skagway, we are doing the Yukon rail & bus excursion w/ dog cart experience. Bus up & train down. Lunch provided. $925.

In Ketchikan, I have not booked yet but I am almost 100% positive that we will be chartering a boat with Baranof Excursions. It is a six hour private tour so we will fish for four hours or so then have our choice of being taken to their campsite for a wilderness dinner featuring our catch OR going to their restaurant, the Alaska fish house, for a meal featuring our catch. Approximately $1400.

Editing to add that we booked everything independently.

What time are you supposed to be docked and cleared for debarkation???

 

[Drbaw5]

What time are you supposed to be docked and cleared for debarkation???

I'm assuming you mean in Juneau? 6:45 am. Our instructions are to call/text our captain upon docking and we will be given instructions on when/where to meet our captain and that chances are he will already be there waiting on us.

 

[Drbaw5]

What time are you supposed to be docked and cleared for debarkation???

Oops just realized you highlighted that part.

 

[Dug720]

I'm assuming you mean in Juneau? 6:45 am. Our instructions are to call/text our captain upon docking and we will be given instructions on when/where to meet our captain and that chances are he will already be there waiting on us.

Ok. Hopefully things all go according to plan. Seems pretty tight for me...but I always err on the side of more time to get somewhere.

 

[Drbaw5]

He says if we have any problems upon arrival to let him know through call/text. We are doing the 4 hr but they do offer a 2.5 as well so if we're late arriving we may have to do the shorter tour.

Ok. Hopefully things all go according to plan. Seems pretty tight for me...but I always err on the side of more time to get somewhere.

 

[Aby]

@saxmangeoff Thanks for the link!

The excursions I'm currently thinking about are:

(Juneau) Mount Roberts Tramway
(Juneau) Mendenhall Glacier Explorer & Mount Roberts Tramway
(Juneau) Mendenhall Glacier and Rainforest Garden Adventure
(Juneau) Alaska Whales & Science Adventure
(Juneau) Whale Watching and Sea Life Discovery
(Skagsway) White Pass Railway & Trail Camp
(Ketchikan) Duck Tour
(Ketchikan) Rainforest, Wildlife Sanctuary, Raptor Center & Totems
(Ketchikan ) Mountain Point snorkeling Adventure
(Ketchikan) Misty Fjords National Monument by seaplane
(Ketchikan) Amazing Misty Fjords by Floatplane

Also forgot to mention I'll have a 3 & 6 year old with me. So all ages is a must!

Thanks for any thoughts on these.

I can comment on a few of these:

Although I haven't been on the Alaska Whales & Science Adventure, I was on the Alaska Whales & Glacier Photo Safari, which is another tour put on by the same company. They use great small boats with full 360 degree window views - the guides were wonderful and totally professional. I wouldn't hesitate to book one of their other tours such as the whales & science adventure (which I've heard is pretty interesting).

We have done the Mountain Point Snorkelling Adventure and it was such a unique experience I would definitely recommend it. Not that many people can say they've snorkelled in Alaska! The tour is very reasonably priced as far as Alaska goes, and we had a blast viewing the sea life the guides would dive down and get for us. You can see lots of photos from this tour on their website as well as out there on the web to get an idea of what you might see.

My other personal favourites have been the Tracy Arm Glacier explorer and the Neets Bay by Bearwatch. I've also done the All Aboard Steam Train twice so obviously we really enjoyed it!

Hope this helps!

Any

 

[diznymom]

Whale watching and Rainforest in Juneau. We were on a smaller boat and the hike through the rainforest was awesome (I would have liked it to be longer and not a hurried).

 

[Maxpowers]

Another question for everyone. Lonely Planet has a 10 tips guide thing and it states that you should just book excursions when you get off the boat. Did everyone book in advance or just wing it once you were there?

 

[Drbaw5]

Another question for everyone. Lonely Planet has a 10 tips guide thing and it states that you should just book excursions when you get off the boat. Did everyone book in advance or just wing it once you were there?

If there are specific excursions/companies you want to go with, I would definitely book in advance. If you are an anything goes/fly by the seat of your pants type of person that might be ok. There is no way I could do that though. I am a planner and would have so much stress having no plan on what we were doing when we got there.

 

[Maxpowers]

Ketchikan - We booked Misty Fjords with Island Wings.

We're looking into booking this too, do you think a 3 & 5 year old would be entertained for the whole flight? We're worried about whether our kids would be board after a bit.