wolfie11

You are heavily discouraged from getting off the ship after you get on. You have to go through Canadian immigration getting off the ship and through US immigration getting back on. Make sure you have your passport or you won’t be allowed to reboard.

But the room is close to $1000

You will be at docks with lots of boat traffic. I would book a tour with a local at one of the ports and tell them you want to stop for a quick swim somewhere. In Skagway, Dyea would probably be good. You can swim in Mendenhall Lake with the local kids but it’s not the ocean. Haines also has a local beach. Be aware that many spots look fine but can be very dangerous fit to strong tides and undertows.

Don’t book on NCL or go to Sitka and your problems are solved.

I personally rank the float trip among my least-favorite tours, but a 7-year-old would likely love it.

At Denali you can take a hotel shuttle to the visitors center or the sled dog kennels. There’s also a free shuttle from the bus center to Savage River which has several good hiking trails.

I’m assuming that it’s dealing with passengers as I don’t think his mom would encourage random people to trespass into office or warehouse space to hug him. She also posted a picture of him on the Norwegian page so people would recognize him. ISP is quite small with limited venues. On some days this summer they will be cycling 8000+ people through. Employees will be run off their feet and working very long days. In those conditions, any distraction would be disruptive to the work environment.

You will not see gray whales in Juneau. The humpbacks who don’t spend the winter in Juneau start arriving in May. Don’t expect a great show since they haven’t eaten in months and when they arrive they are feeding pretty much 24/7. Lots of lunge feeding but not much bubble net feeding.

Unless you booked the tour through the ship, it will probably leave from the downtown area. I do think you are underestimating how long it will take for the shuttle bus. When I was there last summer, the line for the shuttle in the morning was around two hours. If there is another ship, that time increases. Make sure you are one of the first off the ship. Also allow at least an hour for the return shuttle before the all aboard time unless they agree to drop you off back at the ship.

The boat holds around 150 but most of them likely got it at a cheaper price.

Turo

Hoonah is a small community and relatively conservative. I think his boss and coworkers would find it bizarre and unprofessional if a bunch of random people came up to someone on the job and started hugging him. He would likely be teased and possibly bullied and could conceivably lose his job long before you got there to visit him.

I know the Bliss went to Vancouver once when it was brand new but had to wait for low low tide to leave. I think most of them can get in and out of Vancouver but only at low tides which would play havoc with a regular cruise schedule. They all have azipods so Seymour Narrows wouldn’t be a problem but it’s a couple more hours of sailing to go inside from Seattle.

The shuttle bus will drop you off for $15.

There might be a few tours sold at the dock but there are very few independent tour companies in Haines. If there’s something you want to do, book it in advance.