Which land excursions to do in Alaska?

[2little time]

Could those of you that have been on Alaska cruises please give me some input as to which shore excursions are the best to take? Most of them are very expensive and I want to make sure they are worth the price.:confused:

[MCC retired]

For me , any of the Helicopter/Glacier tours would be my choice again.

Expensive but very memorable.:)

Gotta reserve these online to avoid sell-out.

[Cruiserkenn]

Yes, definitely, I agree that any of the floatplane or helicopter tours are wonderful! Breathtaking. I have found, also, that the pilots are very gentle and considerate... in other words, they bank gently, and take off and land gently. They don't scare you to death! So their tours are wonderful.

 

As mentioned, the airborne tours are expensive, so others you might consider are the White Pass and Yukon Railroad, in Skagway, and the Misty Fjords boat trip, in Ketchikan. (Misty Fjords can be toured from the air, too, and both ways are fantastic!)

 

If you are interested in wildlife, the whale watching tours from Juneau are first rate, as is the Mt. Roberts Tramway.

 

On the airborne tours, the railroad, Misty Fjords, and whale watching, there are wonderful speakers who teach you so much. Most times they are locals who live right there, and they tell you so much about life in Alaska. Great experiences!

[Cruiserkenn]

sorry for the confusion

[zacc]

I echo the helicopter tour. I did it in Skagway and booked it myself directly with the company. I don't recall their name at the moment but if you google Skagway you will find them with no problem. Their office was located a short walk from the pier. It was truly worth every penny!! If you enjoy hiking consider the rain forest hike in Juneau.

[Cruiserkenn]

sorry for the confusion

 

I had another question, which I meant to post elsewhere. I don't mean that I want to delete the info about the Alaska shore excursions.

 

Sorry, again...

[Loonbeam]

It's really going to depend on your budget and interest (and if you are doing a cruisetour or just a cruise). We did the following and enjoyed all of them:

 

Skagway: Sled Dog Camp - You got an interesting presentation, a ride in a wheeled 'sled' pulled by happy dogs and a chance to play with the puppies! Lots of fun if you are interested. We also did 'To the Summit' a van tour that takes you along a similar route to the White Pass into the Yukon, but is only $40 per person and takes 1/3 the time.

 

Juneau - Helicopter Glacier Landing and Walkabout - Favorite excursion of the trip. Also most expensive. They fly you up to the glacier, give you gear and you hike around the the service of the glacier. There are different options that vary the length of walking from just landing to a half day hike. We did the 2 hour one, that seemed to be a good time, was about $500 each and worth EVERY penny!

 

Ketchikan - Misty Fjords Cruise and Fly - This was okay, the cruise out was a little blah, mostly because of grey rainy weather. At the halfway point we transferred to the float plane and flew back, that was really nice even with the rain and it was interesting seeing the same terrain from the sky. If I had to choose one of the three that we did to change though, this was it, I probably would have done just the flight and spent more time in the town, as it was our favorite of the three. Again, the weather may have influenced my opinion.

 

BTW, I strongly recommend checking the various ports of call forums. Most of the cruiselines use the same tour companies so you can get a good set of ideas...

 

We were there in Sept 09, pictures from the trip are here...

 

http://loonbeam.smugmug.com/Travel/Alaska-2009/13372271_S5ZH3#972447851_w4MsP

 

(I started at page 7, the land portion)

[woollybugger314]

Juneau: the fly-fishing excursion. Fly out on a deHavilland, get spectacular views of the islands, ocean, Mendenhall Glacier, then fly fish in a remote area.

 

Skagway: probably the train. We did the eagle river boats, but they don't tell you that the eagles aren't there during the summer. Still, it was a lot of fun. Panning for gold is a tourist trap.

 

Ketchikan: if you want to fish for salmon, be sure to check whether the salmon will be running during your visit.

[psyfi]

We did the helicopter flight in Juneau with Above and Beyond with the 2 hour glacier hike and it was the coolest thing I have ever done. I would go again in a heartbeat.

 

In Ketchikan we did the Misty Fjords floatplane which was also very cool.

 

In Skagway we took the train up into BC with Chillkoot tours and they bused us back. It was a long day. (7.5 hour, ended up being closer to 9) but they stopped everywhere we wanted to take photos and I got some fantastic enlargements.

 

In Whittier we did a Prince William Sound boat cruise (6 hour, through Ester passage). This was our least expensive excursion and was just fantastic. We got really close to wildlife like dozens of otters, seals, etc... and close to several glaciers.

 

I would not hesitate to do any of these again, the trip was worth every penny.

[Budget Queen]

You need to do your homework and decide for yourself, what your interests are and determine your budget. There is no point, in me listing "my" favorites when they aren't going to be yours. There are hundreds of tours available in Alaska, few aren't worthwhile with the interest.

[Budget Queen]

i echo the helicopter tour. I did it in skagway and booked it myself directly with the company. I don't recall their name at the moment but if you google skagway you will find them with no problem. Their office was located a short walk from the pier. It was truly worth every penny!! If you enjoy hiking consider the rain forest hike in juneau.

 

temsco

[jmorgania]

We really REALLY enjoyed Kayaking on the Mendenhall Lake while in Juneau. Excursion not offered through the cruise lines though. Very peaceful and beautiful without the crowds from the ship.

[LindaKE]

For me , any of the Helicopter/Glacier tours would be my choice again.

Expensive but very memorable.:)

Gotta reserve these online to avoid sell-out.

 

Another ditto.

[psyfi]

We did the helicopter flight in Juneau with Above and Beyond with the 2 hour glacier hike and it was the coolest thing I have ever done. I would go again in a heartbeat.

 

 

Sorry, my bad, it was NorthStar Trekking that we used in Juneau.

[shepp]

Being both independent-minded and thrifty, my partner and I managed to have great times on our two Alaska cruises while spending very little on excursions. There's a bus that goes to the main area at Mendenhall Glacier for, I think, $14 r/t. Ketchikan city buses will get you to either totem park: we spent a long time at Totem Bight while guided tour groups came and went, and you can also walk out to the Ketchikan totem museum on your own. There's a fascinating, free NPS tour of Skagway, and if you're a hiker, a dizzying trail above the town. We did rent a car in Skagway and drive out to the Yukon for considerably less than the railway fare, and went at our own pace minus the croewds.

 

But the absolute best thing we did in terms of cost-to-thrill ratio was take a Juneau city bus to the trailhead of the West Glacier Trail at Mendenhall. This was a really tough, sometimes slippery climb, and something of a struggle to get back to the ship in time for dinner - a real adventure, especially for aging geezers like us. Definitely exhausting, even a bit dangerous. But we ended up way above Mendenhall, looking far down at the helicopters that landed on the glacier. I've done a lot of hikes, including Half Dome, the Andes, and the top of Mt. Whitney, and this was definitely one of the most amazing schleps ever, well worth the three bucks in bus fare. :)