Updated Itinerary and questions on what needs to be booked in advance

Based on research and recommendations from many here on CC, we have finalized many of our plans(booked is in green) I now need to start booking tours that may sell out or simply require advance booking. I still have questions (listed in red) and look forward to any suggestions on portions that still can be changed.

You all have helped so much and now I am having a hard time finalizing times for the tours that we have left. Any additional suggestions are appreciated!

Vancouver – 2 nights airbnb – booked ( contacted owner regarding airbnb laws and she insists they are and will be legal)

Stanley Park

Granville Island

Capilano Suspension Bridge

Can I leave these open and take free shuttle, rent bikes and/or taxi once we are there?

Cruise – HAL July 8-15

Ketchikan July 10 7AM – 3PM

Southeast Sea Kayaks – Kayak Ketchikan (2 hours) or Orcas Cove (3 hours)

Better to book for mid morning instead of as soon as we dock?

Planning to walk around town either before or after depending on time booked

Juneau July11 10AM - 10PM

Tracy Arm – booked through HAL

Tracy’s Crab Shack/Alaska Brewery Co

Skagway July 12 7AM – 9PM

Grizzly Falls Zip Line 8:00 or9:50

South Klondike Highway - Rent car and drive to Emerald Lake booked

Downloaded Murray’s Guide

Seward July 15

Kenai Fjords National Park tour 8:00 booked

Rent car – one way from Hertz – booked

If time - Exit Glacier – free

Drive scenic route to Anchorage

AirBNB in Anchorage booked

buy food/snacks for week

7/16 pick up rental car from Enterprise 7:30 AM booked

return Hertz rental car

drive to Knik Glacier for10 AM tour – do we have time????

HomesteadCabins - booked

http://matanuskaglacieradventures.us/ guided - late afternoon time? – need to book now?

7/17 Scenic route to Denali

House rented through VRBO – 3 nights

Depending on arrival time, drive Denali 15 mile car route

7/18 Denali Park green bus to Wonder Lake shuttle –book now?

7/19 May want to visit Denali Park Day 2

Denali– free dog sled demo, bus at 9:15

explore Denali on our own/relax or Denali Rafting or hike Savage River Loop Trail (1.7 mi)

7/20 drive to Fairbanks

Riverboat Discovery book now or can we wait?

Drop car off and fly home

Based on research and recommendations from many here on CC, we have finalized many of our plans(booked is in green) I now need to start booking tours that may sell out or simply require advance booking. I still have questions (listed in red) and look forward to any suggestions on portions that still can be changed.

 

You all have helped so much and now I am having a hard time finalizing times for the tours that we have left. Any additional suggestions are appreciated!

 

 

Vancouver – 2 nights airbnb – booked ( contacted owner regarding airbnb laws and she insists they are and will be legal) Airbnb now have to collect a 11% taxon all rentals.

Stanley Park

Granville Island

Capilano Suspension Bridge

Can I leave these open and take free shuttle, rent bikes and/or taxi once we are there?

 

Cruise – HAL July 8-15

 

Ketchikan July 10 7AM – 3PM

Southeast Sea Kayaks – Kayak Ketchikan (2 hours) or Orcas Cove (3 hours)

Better to book for mid morning instead of as soon as we dock?

Planning to walk around town either before or after depending on time booked

 

Juneau July11 10AM - 10PM

Tracy Arm – booked through HAL

Tracy’s Crab Shack/Alaska Brewery Co

 

Skagway July 12 7AM – 9PM

Grizzly Falls Zip Line 8:00 or9:50

South Klondike Highway - Rent car and drive to Emerald Lake booked

Downloaded Murray’s Guide This is probably a little tight . Round trip Emerald Lake is about 4 to 5 hours depending on traffic and how often you stop for pictures.

 

Seward July 15

Kenai Fjords National Park tour 8:00 booked

Rent car – one way from Hertz – booked

If time - Exit Glacier – free

Drive scenic route to Anchorage

AirBNB in Anchorage booked

buy food/snacks for week

 

7/16 pick up rental car from Enterprise 7:30 AM booked

return Hertz rental car

drive to Knik Glacier for10 AM tour – do we have time????

HomesteadCabins - booked

http://matanuskaglacieradventures.us/ guided - late afternoon time? – need to book now?

 

7/17 Scenic route to Denali

House rented through VRBO – 3 nights

Depending on arrival time, drive Denali 15 mile car route

 

7/18 Denali Park green bus to Wonder Lake shuttle –book now?

 

7/19 May want to visit Denali Park Day 2

Denali– free dog sled demo, bus at 9:15

explore Denali on our own/relax or Denali Rafting or hike Savage River Loop Trail (1.7 mi)

 

7/20 drive to Fairbanks

Riverboat Discovery book now or can we wait?

Drop car off and fly home

See my comments in red.

Is this tour ran by Hal ? if not how do you plan on getting off the ship and getting to that tour in Seward by 8am...........aren't you kind of cutting it close?

When are you picking up the rental car, before or after the excursion, what are you doing with your luggage?

Jimbo:)

Kamloops50 - I am stuck with the airbnb as they will not refund my money and we had to pay in full. I will double check to see if they are going to add an additional tax or if that was already included in the fee we paid.

The ziplining is 4 hours so if we book for 8:00, we should be able to pick up the rental car by 12:30-1:00. We are in port until 9 so would love to be back in the area by 7 - 7:30. That should give 6 hours. I don't want to rush or cut it too close. Do you think that would give us enough time? If not, we may have to move ziplining to a different day.

Jimbo - We booked through Kenai Fjords Tours (Alaska Collection) and I had emailed them many questions prior to booking. They assured me that we will be off the ship with plenty of time to spare and they have luggage storage at their facility which is walking distance from the port. I hope this is true! If it is - we plan to pick up the rental car after the tour.

Thank you both for your help!

The tax will probably not be charged. The time for the car might be an issue. They usually like to rent the car from Morning to evening. Keep in mind that there will be large tour buses on the road all day. Make sure you have passports to Ross the Canadian border and return back to the US. Confirm the time that cars have to be returned in Skagway.

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Skagway not infrequently runs out of rental cars. They overbook because people change their minds if it's a lousy day or make other plans and just don't show up. If you don't pick up your car or inform them that you will be there at noon and that they will save a car for you, you might be disappointed when they tell you no cars left for the day.

Seward July 15

Kenai Fjords National Park tour 8:00 booked

Rent car – one way from Hertz – booked

If time - Exit Glacier – free

Drive scenic route to Anchorage If it's still open when you go by, stop in at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center in Portage. Plan about an hour or so. Well worth it.

AirBNB in Anchorage booked

buy food/snacks for week

 

7/16 pick up rental car from Enterprise 7:30 AM booked

return Hertz rental car

drive to Knik Glacier for10 AM tour – do we have time???? I think you'll be fine. You'll be going the opposite way of rush hour traffic. But you'll want to be headed out of town no later than 8:30.

HomesteadCabins - booked

http://matanuskaglacieradventures.us/ guided - late afternoon time? – need to book now? I would book now.

 

7/17 Scenic route to Denali You should have time here to drive up into Hatcher Pass.

House rented through VRBO – 3 nights

Depending on arrival time, drive Denali 15 mile car route

 

7/18 Denali Park green bus to Wonder Lake shuttle –book now?

 

7/19 May want to visit Denali Park Day 2

Denali– free dog sled demo, bus at 9:15

explore Denali on our own/relax or Denali Rafting or hike Savage River Loop Trail (1.7 mi)

 

7/20 drive to Fairbanks

Riverboat Discovery book now or can we wait?

Drop car off and fly home

My comments above in BLUE . Over all it looks like a solid plan.

Thank you for the warning about the cars in Skagway. I never thought of that! I did make my reservation for 12:00 but I will contact them once it gets closer to let them know we definitely want the car. I hope they will hold it. I did find out that I can book the ziplining through HAL and their tour starts at 7:20. They would save a little time for later. I normally book on my own but even though it is a little more expensive, it may be worth booking with HAL and starting 40 minutes earlier. If I am not fully awake, I am sure the zipline will take care of that!

Thank you for the other suggestions also. I have added Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center to our itinerary and will book Matanuska Glacier hike. I will check to see what time we can check in at the cabin and then book for a little after that.

Thank you!

 

Stanley Park

 

Granville Island

 

Capilano Suspension Bridge

 

Can I leave these open and take free shuttle, rent bikes and/or taxi once we are there?

 

 

/QUOTE]

 

 

 

Yes, you can rent a bike for Stanley Park once you get there. You can hop on a bus or taxi to Granville Island - go early in the day as most places start closing around 5 pm. I have read there is a free shuttle to Capilano but I have not used it before.

 

 

 

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Loved our stay at Homestead Cabins. You might want to stop at a grocery store on the way out there for stuff to have in the cabin. There aren't many restaurants in the area. Really short drive from there to Matanuska Glacier. Mica Guides were awesome and walking on the glacier was really cool. Take a water bottle (although they have some for purchase) with you. At one point on the tour, we were able to dump out the water that was in our bottles and fill them up with nice COLD refreshing glacial runoff water. Mine stayed cold for hours!

 

 

I have read there is a free shuttle to Capilano but I have not used it before.

 

 

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We picked it up at Canada Place near the Pan Pacific Hotel. If I remember correctly they had a little sidewalk booth with the schedules posted. Here's their website: https://www.capbridge.com/visit/shuttle-service/

Thank you for the Vancouver and Matanuska/Homestead Cabins info. That definitely helps! We are especially looking forward to staying at the cabins. It was one of the first places we booked and can't wait to go there!

Ketchikan July 10 7AM – 3PM

Southeast Sea Kayaks – Kayak Ketchikan (2 hours) or Orcas Cove (3 hours)

Better to book for mid morning instead of as soon as we dock?

Planning to walk around town either before or after depending on time booked

I had the same concern about time when we booked with Ketchikan Kayaks this past year but the owner, Devon, persuaded me to book a time based on when low tide was to occur. This turned out to be great advice. By booking at low tide, we were able to see all of the star fish and other critters that are exposed when the water level is low. At high tide they would have all been underwater.

For us it was a great choice of how to spend our day in Ketchikan because there were 6 ships in port that day...it was so nice to get away from the crowds! There were only 8 in our group and we had two guides.

If you are interested, here is a link to a blog post with photos from our day kayaking in Ketchikan: Ketchikan Kayaking

I had the same concern about time when we booked with Ketchikan Kayaks this past year but the owner, Devon, persuaded me to book a time based on when low tide was to occur. This turned out to be great advice. By booking at low tide, we were able to see all of the star fish and other critters that are exposed when the water level is low. At high tide they would have all been underwater.

 

 

 

For us it was a great choice of how to spend our day in Ketchikan because there were 6 ships in port that day...it was so nice to get away from the crowds! There were only 8 in our group and we had two guides.

 

If you are interested, here is a link to a blog post with photos from our day kayaking in Ketchikan: Ketchikan Kayaking

 

 

 

 

 

AryMay - did you do Kayak Ketchikan 2 hour tour or the Orca's Cove 3 hour one? Your pics and your blog are absolutely amazing. Thank you so much for sharing. You convinced me that we really need to do this tour and I will also contact the owner and look for recommendations on the tides.

Thank you so much!

Our tour was booked through Ketchikan Kayak Company. (click on link for more info) Here is the description from their webpage:

From what I've read, Southeast Kayaks is the group that does the ship tours and can have quite large groups.

I'm glad the blog post was helpful to you. Did you notice the link to the video that I did of our day in Ketchikan that was at the top of the blog post? If not, here it is:

(I'm not very experienced, but have started making videos of our travels so that our adult kids will watch. They refuse to sit and look at my photos. ) :rolleyes:

AryMay - thank you for your quick reply! I read your original info and contacted the group we had been looking at to seek advice for the best tour and time for us. We are 3 "older" females (50s & 60s) in good shape. My husband does not want to kayak so will most likely fish that day. Reading your recent reply, I realized that you used a different company so I contacted them also! I look forward to response from both of them but love the smaller, less commercial sound of the one you used.

I love the video! I may need to contact you separately to find out how to do that. My adult kids love our vacation pics but totally cannot sit still to go through all of them!