Juneau-Mendenhall and Visiting Sled Dog--Possible in 6 hours?

I am booked on a cruise to Alaska with

my son and 3 children--12 and under.

My son wants to see the Mendenhall Glacier, and I have read

that the most authentic place to pan for gold is in

Juneau.

Wonder if both can be done in 6.5 hours. Ship excursion to

glacier leaves too late to include panning.

Would a private tour be best and be most able to accommodate both

excursions.

If so, could you please recommend one/some.

Thanks--when I started planning this trip I thought it was going to be a breeze.

I have arranged many excursions in Europe and never felt as confused or conflicted

as on this upcoming one. So many places--so little time. And so many guides and

tour leaders. Help, please.

Sorry--the question about 2 excursions in Juneau for 6.5 hours was posed inaccurately by me.

My question was can you fit in Mendenhall Glacier and a visit to Gold Panning Site in that time frame?

If we do a ship's excursion to Mendenhall, we leave too late to do both.

But does anyone know a private guide who could do both and get us back to ship on time.

We are a party of 5-2 adults and 3 children from 12 to 8, Thanks, sorry about the confusion.

Where are you thinking of gold panning? Most sites are in conjunction with tours. You can take a taxi to Mendenhall or the shuttle bus. You don’t need to go there on a tour.

The place I found is Alaska Travel Adventures. They have a "tour" that is 1.5 hours. It includes use

of rain ponchos, the opportunity to keep whatever you pan!! and a certificate entitling you to

an inch of property in Alaska. Sounds like just the perfect length of time--I think I will contact them

and see how they suggest combining their excursion with a trip to Mendenhall and back to the ship

in less than 6 hours.

Any other panning companies that you are aware of in Juneau--although this one seems to fit all our

requirements--time, great kid experience and pick up at Juneau docks.

I have a 7 and 10 year old and I’m conflicted on tours too! There are a lot of family friendly gold panning trips in Juneau that I’d like to take, but I can’t fit them in. I think we probably won’t get to gold panning until Anchorage.

What time is your ship in port?

I don’t know if this helps or not, but I was told if we’re going to glacier bay we’ll see a lot more there than Mendenhall. You can’t get anywhere near Mendenhall glacier on land as a quick 1-2 hour stop. But we’re going to Mendenhall mainly for the waterfall hike, so for now Mendenhall is on the agenda for us.