Alaska excursions on Westerdam

[aubandit]

I need some suggestions on the excursions in Sitka, Ketchikan and Victoria. Would love to hear from previous cruisers and those that have upcoming cruises. Thanks!:confused:

[Assateague Island Princes]

Not knowing your likes and dislikes, I'll just tell you what I've done on our three previous AK cruises and what I'll be doing on this year's Aug. 5th (2 week itinerary:D) on the Amsterdam.

 

Sitka - Capt. Davy (puffinsandwhales) - loved it! Saw our first gray whale and a ton of puffins and eagles. Small, 6 passenger boat, a knowledgeable and personable captain, and warm chocolate chip cookies....ah, what more could you ask for???

 

Sitka - HAL's Rhino 4X4 excursion - SOOOOOOO much fun! Traveling on the self-drive Rhinos thru all kinds of terrain - rain forest, logging trails, black sand beach, estuary - just amazing! And the boat ride to the island where you ride was an excursion in itself!

 

Sitka - Sea kayaking (HAL excursion) - wonderful! Loved seeing all the pastel colored starfish, millions of jellyfish - all shapes and sizes, and lots of eagles up close and personal!

 

Ketchikan - Flightseeing with Michelle of Island Wings (islandwings.com) - Breathtaking!!!! Landing on a remote beach and experiencing the magnificent scenery and the quiet - magical!

 

Ketchikan - The Romance Package with Ketchikan Outdoors! Wow! Taken to a deserted island (Blank Island) by a personable captain - with a tent, table/chairs, cooler packed with chocolate, fresh smoked salmon dip/crackers, a 6 pk of Alaskan Amber for DH, grapes, and hot chocolate, tea, and water, a two-way marine radio in case we needed anything or got into trouble, binoculars, metal detector, and a roaring campfire - 3 hours to explore and hike the entire island, beach combing was fantastic! Thousands of purple, blue, and pale yellow starfish all over the beach, whales right off the shore, and then the captain came back to say they had spotted Orcas in the harbor so off we went! And we found 'em! Amazing! As an added bonus, free of charge, Captain Tab gave us an impromptu tour of Ketchikan from the water - adding another 1 1/2 hours to our tour that was so fun and interesting.

 

Victoria - Walk the harbor area, taking in the beautiful architecture and waching the buskers (look for the copper colored Annie Oakley - wow! Hard to believe she is a real live woman, and not a statue!), grab some fish and chips from Barb's on the wharf, and enjoy your last night on the cruise!

 

Head over to the Ports of Call - Alaska boards - for more ideas and suggestions - lots of willing, helpful folks there who are happy to share their knowledge.

 

Enjoy your trip to the Great Land - trust me, you'll be back;)!

[Willsot]

In Sitka we thought the Sea Life and Otter Wildlife Quest was just excellent. On our first Alaska cruise we did the Misty Fjords Flightseeing excursion out of Ketchikan, which while expensive, was outstanding. On our most recent cruise we did the Bering Sea Crab Fisherman excursion and it was also excellent.

[trvldog]

Sitka - I have been on the Sealife & otter cruise. Also have done the Eagle Habitat excursion. Both were really nice. This year I am doing the ATV Excursion (next week on Westerdam)

 

Ketichan- we have always just used this as shopping & wonder about stop. This time we are doing the duck tour as my mom cant walk as far as she used to. A classmate of ours actually is part of the Bearing Seas crab tour (Derrick Ray)-- everyone I have talked to said they enjoyed this excursion also

 

Victoria- We did the Buchart Gardens excursion was alot of fun last time we went.

[Sandi3667]

We've booked quite a few for our cruise:

Juneau - the Historic Gold Panning Adventure, then Whale Watching & Wildlife Quest. We've been talking about taking a whale watching trip for years, and never have, so we're biting the bullet & doing it in Juneau. We'll do our own trips to Mt. Roberts Tram (weather-permitting) and Mendenhall Glacier.

 

Sitka - Colonial Russian History tour, then Sea Otter Quest & Raptor Center. Friends of ours are doing the sea kayaking & Sea Otter/Wildlife quest instead. We'll have to compare notes over dinner that night.

 

Ketchikan - Bering Sea Crab Fishermans' Tour. 3 of the 4 in our group are Deadliest Catch fans, and the fourth decided to go after reading all the reviews.

 

Victoria - Butchart & Butterfly Gardens. We went to both when we were on a trip to Victoria a few years ago. Absolutely spectacular for photography (which is a hobby of ours). Booked this through HAL as well, since we'll be in port such a short time, and it's some distance from downtown Victoria.

 

Glad to hear the positive reviews for some of the excursions we've booked.