Seeking Advice for Choosing Land Activities in Alaska

We are taking our first cruise ever on the Shadow in September (6 days, Seward to Vancouver) and are trying to choose land activities. We're in our 60s and like kayaking, hiking, wildlife, and would like to choose activities that showcase these interests. Would any of you experienced cruisers be so kind as to share which activities you really liked - Silverseas or private ?

Some questions:

Should we do a separate whale watching cruise, or do you see many on the cruise?

In Skagway, we are considering the Eagle Preserve Float and Fjord Cruise. Has anyone taken this? How would it compare to the Inside Passage Sea Kayaking?

In Juneau, what is the best way to experience the Mendenhall Glacier?

We'd like to do one flight seeing excursion. Any suggestions for the best spot/provider for this?

Thanks for your help with this. The many choices are overwhelming.

Helicopter tour and one that lands on Glacier. We did it off the ship . We where not on SS that time,

We too did a helicopter trip that landed on a glacier, but it was not a SS tour.

Also did a float plane tour of Misty Fjords with Michelle of Wings (also not a SS tour).

It is very easy to take the city bus to Mendenhall Glacier and back to the center of town.

Check out the Alaska boards for great ideas.

Have a wonderful time!

Melissa

We loved the private whale watching boat tour we took...... 6 passengers max. There were 4 of us, and our captain/guide was great! Check out the website:

http://www.harvandmarvs.com/#!whale-watching/c1xfk

These are great ideas! Thank you! It seems as though the private tours are more favored --- is my hunch correct?

These are great ideas! Thank you! It seems as though the private tours are more favored --- is my hunch correct?

With our helicopter tour there was 1 other couple and the pilot.

With the float plane there were 2 other couples and the pilot.

Very personalized experiences and you aren't waiting on a van full of others to do their thing while you wait.

And it's not like China or Russia where we don't speak the language if there is a problem :)

In Alaska, on Silversea, I would book my own excursions. It is very easy, and as someone else said, everyone speaks English. We are getting ready to return to Alaska on Regent, where tours are included, so we are doing ships tours for the most part, but that is only because they are included.

Just saw your post and wanted to mention the canoe tour we took in Juneau last summer. I think is called Mendenhall Lake Canoe Adventure and we booked through SS. There were only 8 of us including the guide and they limit the number of times they can take visitors out on the lake. We paddled across the lake to an area that was close enough to the glacier to take great photos. It was very serene and majestic. We also paddled over to the impressive waterfall and stopped on the shore to take photos and have a snack. This was probably our favorite excursion in Alaska. We did the whale watching cruise from Sitka. While we saw a few whales from the ship, we did get a better view on the excursion and saw seals and many other animals with a guide who educated us along the way.

2015 Silver Shadow-Alaska

2016 Silver Wind-Caribbean

We highly recommend the flight seeing and crab fest out of Ketchikan.

We've done it 3 times and especially loved the fresh crab all you can eat feast.

There are several tour companies who fly to the George Inlet Lodge.

Great flight seeing also.