Mendenhall Glacier float trip excursion

[cmph]

Has anyone been on this type of excursion in the last couple of years, through DCL or otherwise? I searched the forum but I'm getting nothing beyond 2014, and what I found from that time frame doesn't answer my questions anyway.

My primary question is: how long were you actually floating on the one you booked? I've looked over the descriptions from DCL, my TAs preferred shore excursion company, and a couple I've found through googling / trip advisor. Every description is slightly different and doesn't really lay out the timeline. For example, DCL's says how long it takes for the transfer there (but not the transfer back, which will obviously be different), and talks about having a couple of hours for a snack at the end (but where are you doing this? and 2 hours to have a snack? there has to be more to this). The shore excursions site my TA sent me to gives zero timeline info, aside from telling you the float part is 12mi long - whereas DCL's is 6mi long. One other site mentions 1.5h floating but not the distance. I don't want to pay for a two hour snack... but I also don't think my kids want to float for 2 hours.

One child is concerned about bathroom accessibility too, if anyone recalls that? Perhaps this 2 hour snack is located somewhere with a bathroom and other stuff to see/do?

 

[cruiser21]

Has anyone been on this type of excursion in the last couple of years, through DCL or otherwise? I searched the forum but I'm getting nothing beyond 2014, and what I found from that time frame doesn't answer my questions anyway.

My primary question is: how long were you actually floating on the one you booked? I've looked over the descriptions from DCL, my TAs preferred shore excursion company, and a couple I've found through googling / trip advisor. Every description is slightly different and doesn't really lay out the timeline. For example, DCL's says how long it takes for the transfer there (but not the transfer back, which will obviously be different), and talks about having a couple of hours for a snack at the end (but where are you doing this? and 2 hours to have a snack? there has to be more to this). The shore excursions site my TA sent me to gives zero timeline info, aside from telling you the float part is 12mi long - whereas DCL's is 6mi long. One other site mentions 1.5h floating but not the distance. I don't want to pay for a two hour snack... but I also don't think my kids want to float for 2 hours.

One child is concerned about bathroom accessibility too, if anyone recalls that? Perhaps this 2 hour snack is located somewhere with a bathroom and other stuff to see/do?

We did this in September. I booked through Alaska excursions. I believe we were on the raft for a little under two hours. The river was high we did have white water. but the majority of it was floating. The bus ride up and back was maybe 20-30 minutes. Snack time maybe 15 minutes. We enjoyed it. It was something different, but it was extremely cold. I wouldn't book through DCL. You'll save a lot of money booking on your own. I booked two excursions through Alaska Excursions and I have no complaints.

 

[cmph]

We did this in September. I booked through Alaska excursions. I believe we were on the raft for a little under two hours. The river was high we did have white water. but the majority of it was floating. The bus ride up and back was maybe 20-30 minutes. Snack time maybe 15 minutes. We enjoyed it. It was something different, but it was extremely cold. I wouldn't book through DCL. You'll save a lot of money booking on your own. I booked two excursions through Alaska Excursions and I have no complaints.

Thanks for the feedback! I have on-board credit that I need to use, beyond what we'll spend on tips and drinks, which is the only reason DCL's is even in consideration. There wasn't anything in Skagway that we wanted to book through them (booking direct for that port), although I might book the Duck tour in Ketchikan which is actually cheaper through DCL (my kids want to do that more than anything... sigh). I need to run the numbers. But - it's crazy to book the float excursion through DCL if it seriously has a 2 hour snack break. What a waste.

Your comment about the cold gives me pause though, b/c we're also from Phoenix, LOL! We've done something like this in Tennessee before, but it seemed like the glacier / icebergs aspect would make this more exciting and unique. Did you see any ice like the photos show, or is that a thing of the past? And would you do this again, if you had a choice? What about your son? DD who will be 13 is the one most excited about this but her brother is likely to complain a whole lot if it's miserably cold. Alternatively, we'll rent a car and do our own thing, which will cost less than half as much with 4 of us.

 

[cruiser21]

I'm not going to lie it was cold. We probably did not dress appropriately. We should have had gloves and hats. They do provide you with boots and rubber overalls. My son enjoyed it. We did not see ice, but we were there in Sept. He enjoyed the musher camp in Skagway more. He loves dogs. I wouldn't do it again because there so many things I want to do in Alaska. We saw the lumber jack show in Ketchikan. When you get off the ship in Ketchikan there will be a lot of venders selling tours if you don't want to plan ahead.
Alaska was by far my sons favorite cruise. Next year we're doing the fjords in Quebec. I can't wait.

 

[cmph]

He enjoyed the musher camp in Skagway more. He loves dogs.

What company did you book the musher camp through? One of my nieces wants to do something with sled dogs. Some of them seem so overpriced, when the kids mostly want to go on the (15min in Juneau) sled ride.

 

[cruiser21]

What company did you book the musher camp through? One of my nieces wants to do something with sled dogs. Some of them seem so overpriced, when the kids mostly want to go on the (15min in Juneau) sled ride.

Alaska excursions. We did the musher camp not the really expensive glacier dog sledding. Everything is overpriced, but it's an interesting experience. You do get to pet and hold all the puppies.

 

[Mazz519]

Booked on our own through Alaska Excursions was great , picked us up at dock whole trip from start to finish was about 4 hours

 

[Bee2u]

Has anyone been on this type of excursion in the last couple of years, through DCL or otherwise? I searched the forum but I'm getting nothing beyond 2014, and what I found from that time frame doesn't answer my questions anyway.

For example, DCL's says how long it takes for the transfer there (but not the transfer back, which will obviously be different), and talks about having a couple of hours for a snack at the end (but where are you doing this? and 2 hours to have a snack? there has to be more to this). The shore excursions site my TA sent me to gives zero timeline info, aside from telling you the float part is 12mi long - whereas DCL's is 6mi long. I don't want to pay for a two hour snack... but I also don't think my kids want to float for 2 hours.

One child is concerned about bathroom accessibility too, if anyone recalls that? Perhaps this 2 hour snack is located somewhere with a bathroom and other stuff to see/do?

I read over the description on the DCL site, and it states that the snack is after the approximately 2-hour float. They also provide a photo of you. The trip back to the ship should take around 25 minutes, since on most rafting trips you end up where you started. (On rafting trips I've been on, not in Alaska, elsewhere, they put you on a bus or van to take you to the put-in spot, and take you back to the starting point at the end of the rafting.) I'm assuming there will we bathroom facilities at the end-point.

I checked the Alaska Excursions site, but they currently don't offer anything comparable to the float trip, but there a couple of dog musher activities that look interesting.

 

[cruiser21]

I read over the description on the DCL site, and it states that the snack is after the approximately 2-hour float. They also provide a photo of you. The trip back to the ship should take around 25 minutes, since on most rafting trips you end up where you started. (On rafting trips I've been on, not in Alaska, elsewhere, they put you on a bus or van to take you to the put-in spot, and take you back to the starting point at the end of the rafting.) I'm assuming there will we bathroom facilities at the end-point.

I checked the Alaska Excursions site, but they currently don't offer anything comparable to the float trip, but there a couple of dog musher activities that look interesting.

We booked through Alaska "shore" excursions and we were on a raft with people that booked through DCL. The only difference is we paid less. My bad I thought we booked through Alaska excursions... the names are similar. The snack is just hot apple cider and sausages. We rode back on a bus with the DCL excursion peeps and they took us right to the ship. We had to walk into town to be picked up. It's a 5-10 minute walk.

 

[cmph]

I read over the description on the DCL site, and it states that the snack is after the approximately 2-hour float. They also provide a photo of you. The trip back to the ship should take around 25 minutes, since on most rafting trips you end up where you started. (On rafting trips I've been on, not in Alaska, elsewhere, they put you on a bus or van to take you to the put-in spot, and take you back to the starting point at the end of the rafting.) I'm assuming there will we bathroom facilities at the end-point.

I checked the Alaska Excursions site, but they currently don't offer anything comparable to the float trip, but there a couple of dog musher activities that look interesting.

You're right, I did totally misread that 2 hours snack part. Still leaves an hour for the snack (if the to/from transportation is nearly 1 hour total and the excursion is 3.5-4h). I'm not sure there is any advantage to booking through DCL, in any case.

We booked through Alaska "shore" excursions and we were on a raft with people that booked through DCL. The only difference is we paid less. My bad I thought we booked through Alaska excursions... the names are similar. The snack is just hot apple cider and sausages. We rode back on a bus with the DCL excursion peeps and they took us right to the ship. We had to walk into town to be picked up. It's a 5-10 minute walk.

There are a few quirks where DCL is cheaper, but those are few and far between. Even the Ketchikan Lumberjack show - Disney version, costs $1 less per person if you buy it on the lumberjack's own web-site! I kind of laughed when I saw that, b/c basically anyone from any cruise could book the Disney version of the lumberjack show. Of course I doubt they have it on the days the Wonder isn't there, but there is nothing to stop other people from booking it direct even if they're on other cruiselines - and pay less than DCL charges pp. Kind of silly!

 

[cruiser21]

You're right, I did totally misread that 2 hours snack part. Still leaves an hour for the snack (if the to/from transportation is nearly 1 hour total and the excursion is 3.5-4h). I'm not sure there is any advantage to booking through DCL, in any case.



There are a few quirks where DCL is cheaper, but those are few and far between. Even the Ketchikan Lumberjack show - Disney version, costs $1 less per person if you buy it on the lumberjack's own web-site! I kind of laughed when I saw that, b/c basically anyone from any cruise could book the Disney version of the lumberjack show. Of course I doubt they have it on the days the Wonder isn't there, but there is nothing to stop other people from booking it direct even if they're on other cruiselines - and pay less than DCL charges pp. Kind of silly!

My son was 12 when we did the cruise, and I was able to get child pricing for him. DCL child prices stops when they turn 10, and most outside company's it's 13. That made a big difference for us. When we went to Europe a lot of things are free for kids under 15 or greatly reduced in price. The blue Lagoon in Iceland is free 15 and under, same thing when we went to Pompeii in Italy, but people on our cruise were paying full price for their kids thru DCL. Pretty sneaky on DCL's part. I think a lot of people just want the convenience and aren't concerned about cost. I'm kind of a budget traveler I'll save wherever I can.

 

[cmph]

My son was 12 when we did the cruise, and I was able to get child pricing for him. DCL child prices stops when they turn 10, and most outside company's it's 13. That made a big difference for us. When we went to Europe a lot of things are free for kids under 15 or greatly reduced in price. The blue Lagoon in Iceland is free 15 and under, same thing when we went to Pompeii in Italy, but people on our cruise were paying full price for their kids thru DCL. Pretty sneaky on DCL's part. I think a lot of people just want the convenience and aren't concerned about cost. I'm kind of a budget traveler I'll save wherever I can.

Yeah, and the national parks also have a 15 and under free rule, which applies to some Alaska stuff. That weird Disney adult thing won't matter to us for this trip though. We have an extremely brief window where no one is 10-12, and our cruise happens to fall into it!