When to make reservations for land and flightseeing tours?

[dinomac]

We will be doing our Land/Cruise tour with Princess the first 2 weeks of June and wondering when to make the reservations for flightseeing around Denali, whale watching in Juneau? These are our two big excursions, but also need to make some for the rest of the cruise too - Skagway and Ketchikan.

[BacchusGal]

If you really want any specific excursion, make the booking as soon as possible as the more popular excursions sell out well in advance of the sail date.

 

Bear in mind that the weather at Denali often prohibits the flightseeing. McKinley creates it's own weather pattern and thick fog can blow in on a moment's notice. We took a flightseeing trip at Denali and loved every moment of it, but the fog moved in at the last minute so we had to abort landing on the glacier. :-( However, our pilot flew us around for an additional 30 minutes and we saw some glorious scenery. It would be good to have a back-up plan in case the weather is not favorable.

 

At Denali, I would also definitely suggest taking the tour of the park, and try to take the earliest tour in the day (ugh, around 5 am) as that is when the animals are most active and visible. We saw no fewer than 9 grizzly bears on our tour (1 was only 15 feet from the side of the road), plus moose, foxes, eagles and dall sheep.

 

I cannot speak highly enough about whale watching in Alaska. You'll be able to do plenty of whale watching from the decks of the ship as well, particularly in some of the narrows. The ship will undoubtedly have a naturalist on board, so be sure to seek them out and ask about the best parts of the cruise to catch the whales. By all means, take your binoculars!!!

 

We were very fortunate to see a pod of humpback whales bubblenetting. It was quite the sight to see half a dozen gaping baleens suddenly surge out of the water in unison, gulping down thousands of herring in one swallow.

[dinomac]

BacchusGal, thanks for your advice. Sounds like you've had some fabulous experiences in Alaska... this will be our first and so looking forward to it.

 

Which flightseeing group did you take? I was thinking using K2. We are already booked on the Tundra Wilderness Tour... first tour of the day. I've already bought a great pair of binoculars for the trip. Do you recommend any whale watching tour operators??? I heard the tour operators up there were taking time off for the holidays and get back to work after the 1st... true or false?

[BIG_Steve]

If you really want any specific excursion, make the booking as soon as possible as the more popular excursions sell out well in advance of the sail date.

 

 

Bingo. Bear in mind some of the tour companies may not be staffed right now. Hopefully they have a msg on their web site or on their phone system explaining that.

[Budget Queen]

If McKinley flightseeing is a priority, then I suggest you book this at your first opportunity. Meaning, if you are coming from Fairbanks, then book this at Denali park, IF coming north from Talkeetna, then book it first there. IF you are canceled in either of these areas, then immediately book it when next available. With Princess, you do have to factor in the 2 hour round trip from your lodge. It is highly recommended by me, to book the flights, WHEN you are in Talkeetna, if using the train.

[LindaKE]

Several months ago, we made reservations with Island Wings to go to Misty Fjord in June. This is out of Ketchikan. So, if you really want to do a particular excursion, I'd say book now. As noted, you may have to leave a message, but someone should get back to you fairly quickly.