Pearl Alaska - Ketchikan - What did you do?

We are sailing in August and would like to see this port by ourselves. Our wait time is around 6 hours and will appreciate recommendations about touring without NCL. Did you use public transportation or cabs? What did you do and which other excursion company did you use? We have our boys (11 and 16) travelling with us who are excited to see almost anything outdoors!

We are not into anything other level 1 activities, for health reasons.. We did the duck tour and walked the around the town.. The weather was fantastic 70 and sunny. Enjoyed Alaska very much

I've used Ketchikan taxi cab tours on two different cruises. Both times great experience. Last summer my grandkids were with me, 18, 15, 11. They had a great time on the tour.

There are tons of shops. There also might be crappy charms that you can collect for free. I usually give them away to ppl back home.

You can also buy some fish and bring it back home. I've seen ppl do it b4.

We are going week after next. We have a map of various trails around the outskirts of the town. We plan to do a couple of them and some shopping. There is a salmon ladder, not 100% sure if the season will be right to view them though.

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We too did the duck tour and then walked around town.

Duck tour gives a good background and hits some sites.

FIshing once, it was great. and did the deadliest catch tour the other. it was great as well!

Check out he Alaska ports of call forum for plenty of excursion ideas and things to do:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55

We were there last August with 8 grandchildren (and their parents) and this is an easy port to DIY. We took the city bus to Totem Bight State Park and then walked nextdoor to see the clan houses. I think that park is called Potlach State Park. Both are free and your boys will love it. Our 11 year old studied clan houses this year and their textbook had pictures of this park.

If there are a lot of people waiting for the bus, go up to the city library and catch it at the bus stop before the cruise ship stop.

When we got back we walked along Creek Street.

One of our favorite days.

We did the Lumberjack show with our boys (7 or 8 at the time). We all loved the show, though your kids may think they're too old for that. It's also like 2 blocks from where we had docked so it was really convenient. After that we just wandered around town a little bit, did some shopping and looked at the neat buildings. Make sure you wander down Creek Street - it's really pretty. VERY walkable. We had no need for any sort of transportation.

If you're looking for a bit of interesting local "culture", The Asylum Bar (easily walkable as well) has free wifi and you can order food from the Burger Queen next door from your server. We sat outside on their deck as it's a smoking establishment.

We are sailing in August and would like to see this port by ourselves. Our wait time is around 6 hours and will appreciate recommendations about touring without NCL. Did you use public transportation or cabs? What did you do and which other excursion company did you use? We have our boys (11 and 16) travelling with us who are excited to see almost anything outdoors!

I suggest that you check the Alaska board for suggestions.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55

You guys are wonderful! Thank you to each one of you for sharing these amazing experiences. We are so excited to create our own itinerary based on your responses. Thanks again fabulous people!

We did the "Rainforest Canopy & Zipline Expedition" with

Alaska Canopy Adventures. It was awesome! I'm not one for heights but MADE myself do it - I think I can ride or do anything now. Ha Ha There is a height minimum of 60" (5') - I have no idea how tall an 11 year old might be... ;p They picked us up right next to the visitor's center (across from the Welcome to Ketchikan over the street sign) and drove us to their location - a few miles south out of town. The whole thing was about 3-1/2 to 4 hours including transfers. I would do it all again without hesitation.

Good luck!

We did the "Rainforest Canopy & Zipline Expedition" with

Alaska Canopy Adventures. It was awesome! I'm not one for heights but MADE myself do it - I think I can ride or do anything now. Ha Ha There is a height minimum of 60" (5') - I have no idea how tall an 11 year old might be... ;p They picked us up right next to the visitor's center (across from the Welcome to Ketchikan over the street sign) and drove us to their location - a few miles south out of town. The whole thing was about 3-1/2 to 4 hours including transfers. I would do it all again without hesitation.

 

Good luck!

We also ziplined. One of my sons was under 5', so we did the "Bear Creek" (slightly easier but still fun) course. Both are located at the Alaska Rainforest Canopy/Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary. One of the highlights of the day was seeing a Mama bear and her cub right below us while we were on the course. We then had about an hour and a half to spend in Ketchikan exploring the little town.

We are sailing in August and would like to see this port by ourselves. Our wait time is around 6 hours and will appreciate recommendations about touring without NCL. Did you use public transportation or cabs? What did you do and which other excursion company did you use? We have our boys (11 and 16) travelling with us who are excited to see almost anything outdoors!

We got off the ship and took the bus to an ATT store. A lot of time wasted waiting for a return bus. On Spruce Mill (across from the ship) there was (2012) a mini mall with restaurants and a fudge shop that had the best fudge I have ever tasted, sorry I don't remember the name. It was near the Mining Company (Google Map).

Fishing and it was amazing! The link in my signature has a review of our cruise and the top notch fishing charter we took.

We loved the town. Lots of great shopping. Saw the Lumberjack show that we all enjoyed. Then took a seaplane ride in the afternoon with Island Wings. Great port!

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We are going week after next. We have a map of various trails around the outskirts of the town. We plan to do a couple of them and some shopping. There is a salmon ladder, not 100% sure if the season will be right to view them though.

 

 

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One of the best things I ever did in Ketchikan was to take off and walk on my own. I wanted to get out of the touristy downtown. Without planning it, I ended up walking up by the stream where the Salmon were running...it was totally amazing. I have never seen a river filled with so many fish. At points it looked like the river was solid fish. I ended up in a park by the hatchery, and turned around there to head back to the ship.

One of the best things I ever did in Ketchikan was to take off and walk on my own. I wanted to get out of the touristy downtown. Without planning it, I ended up walking up by the stream where the Salmon were running...it was totally amazing. I have never seen a river filled with so many fish. At points it looked like the river was solid fish. I ended up in a park by the hatchery, and turned around there to head back to the ship.

What month was this?

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I walked to Married Man's Trail and saw the Fish Ladder, took the free shuttle to Wamart, went to Dolly's House for $7.50, and negotiated for $45 flat a 2.5 hour on a trolley tour that took you to Herring Cove to try to see bears, the Totem Pole Park place, and a waterfall. Pretty good day for me. One of my favorite things to do was free...I liked walking on the pier seeing all the jellyfish. I have never seen so many jellyfish in my life and there were 3 varieties.

Google secrets of Ketchikan. Will give you a ton of info.

Safe sailing

We were in Ketchikan last week on what has been described as the sunniest day of the year...lol. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the locals were basking the sun!! Excursion- We booked through Alaskashoretours.com all of our excursions. If you book 2 or more, they subtract $10 per person per excursion!

In Ketchikan we kayaked. It was wonderful. We were with just another couple, and our guide. We got a close up of all the jellies in the water, saw some starfish, and just got a different view of the city...from the water. I highly recommend this tour. It wasn't too strenuous and our guide was a great.Enjoy!

Been there twice. First time warm and sunny, next time more typical with cool and drizzly. Walked around the town and did a duck tour..with world's funniest tour guide...you results may vary.

We were there two days ago. We went here:

I did flightseeing as well. Took a sea plane trip with Misty Fjords Air. Gorgeous and would absolutely do it again.