Ketchikan excursions

[Karin1984]

Hello!

Less than 3 months till my Alaska cruise, and I am looking at excursions for Ketchikan.

Anyone here who has done Saxman Native Village and Exclusive Lumberjack Show (KE02) and/or Ketchikan Photo Safari (KE66)?

In Skagway I have planned to go on Alaska Nature and Wildlife Expedition (SW38) and in Juneau the Mendenhall Glacier and Rainforest Garden Adventure (JU10).

The main reason to pick the photo safari is that my friend is booked on this one. After all the nature in the first two ports, I would like to have a bit more culture in my excursion. However, none of the options really grab my attention, the native village seems the best option.

Anyone who has done either or both of these excursions and can help, or other suggestions?

TIA for your help!

 

[TikiThunderPirates]

Hello!

Less than 3 months till my Alaska cruise, and I am looking at excursions for Ketchikan.

Anyone here who has done Saxman Native Village and Exclusive Lumberjack Show (KE02) and/or Ketchikan Photo Safari (KE66)?

In Skagway I have planned to go on Alaska Nature and Wildlife Expedition (SW38) and in Juneau the Mendenhall Glacier and Rainforest Garden Adventure (JU10).

The main reason to pick the photo safari is that my friend is booked on this one. After all the nature in the first two ports, I would like to have a bit more culture in my excursion. However, none of the options don't really grab my attention, the native village seems the best option.

Anyone who has done either or both of these excursions and can help, or other suggestions?

TIA for your help!

Ketchikan is easy to do on your own and you can visit Totem poles, walk Creek street, and even visit a few historical and cultural museums. If none of the PA's strike you, and your comfortable on your own, this is a great port to try going off sole.

 

[happycamper47]

I wouldn't pay the DCL premium for the Village and Lumberjack show, we didn't think it was worth it.

 

[KGmomoftwins]

I would suggest wild wolf tours. They offer great private and small group excursions to the rainforest and totem park. You could get amazing pictures. We did the 3.5 hour private one. I have some pictures in my TR. I then had a ton of time to explore creek street could have done the lumberjack show if I wanted to. I loved Ketchikan

 

[Calantha]

Ketchikan Photo Safari (KE66)

We did this in Juneau, and it was amazing. Alaska Shore Tours did a fantastic job. We didn't get much in the way of actual 'photography' lessons (just some briefings)...but while we were out on the boat, I got some great shots.

 

[Sakura1017]

Ketchikan is easy to do on your own and you can visit Totem poles, walk Creek street, and even visit a few historical and cultural museums. If none of the PA's strike you, and your comfortable on your own, this is a great port to try going off sole.

For some of the stuff you listed, is it within walking distance from the port? Or do we need to take their city bus and hop on/off?

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

I would suggest wild wolf tours. They offer great private and small group excursions to the rainforest and totem park. You could get amazing pictures. We did the 3.5 hour private one. I have some pictures in my TR. I then had a ton of time to explore creek street could have done the lumberjack show if I wanted to. I loved Ketchikan

Can you link to your TR?

 

[TikiThunderPirates]

For some of the stuff you listed, is it within walking distance from the port? Or do we need to take their city bus and hop on/off?

Most of what I listed is within easy walking distance. The Totem heritage center is about an 0.8 miles walk from the center of the downtown. There is a bus system you can take. If you just want to see a few totem poles there is a small park (Whale Park) in the center of downtown that has a few on display. For museums both the Southeast Alaska Discover Center and the Tongass Historical Center are both located in downtown and easy walking distance. And don't forget the massive Ketchikan rain gauge sign. Also right downtown and you can see how much rain (it's always an impressive amount) they have gotten this year.

 

[Kcnc]

Not a Disney cruise, but went to Ketchikan with Princess a few years ago. We did a salmon fishing tour. If that's an option and your thing you may consider that. We really enjoyed it. Small group with a local guy, beautiful sights. They mailed my salmon home.

Edit- just reread that you were maybe looking for something besides nature. Sorry! We did do some shopping too. Very walkable town.

 

[KGmomoftwins]

Can you link to your TR?

https://www.disboards.com/threads/the-wonder-in-alaska-the-last-frontier-completed-10-09-22.3894990/

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

https://www.disboards.com/threads/the-wonder-in-alaska-the-last-frontier-completed-10-09-22.3894990/

Thank you!

 

[lklgoodman]

We did the lumberjack show and Potlatch totem park in 2014 and enjoyed them both. In Juneau we did a excursion that went to Mendenhall Glacier and Glacier Gardens. If your excursion goes to Glacier Gardens, it is BEAUTIFUL and very informative. We're doing another Alaskan cruise on Norwegian leaving June 11. We're doing the lumberjack show again and Saxman village. If your cruise is after that, I can let you know how it was. The lumberjack show was less than 5mins walk from where the Wonder docked in 2014. If you decide to not do the excursion with DCL, you may want to see if you can buy tickets online. When we did it through DCL there were lines of people waiting to get tickets. Since we already had them through the excursion, we were let right in to see the show.

 

[Sakura1017]

How often does the bus/trolley run?

 

[snowwite]

For some of the stuff you listed, is it within walking distance from the port? Or do we need to take their city bus and hop on/off?

Ketchika-We walked to everything except the totem poles. We took a local tour on a bus that looks like a trolley. It was cheap and they parked in the lot by big gift shop right beside port. We didn’t have a reservation and got right on in June.
Mendenhal Glacier was awesome. Be aware the parking lot had bears!
Skagway-we took a gold rush tour then explored on our own. It was really interesting. You could just meander the town. There is a lot to see and we didn’t have much time because we took the tour. The town has wooden sidewalks, old fashioned saloons and just looks like you stumbled into the wild Wild West.