Mendenhall Glacier in a taxi or rental car?

[Brentngigi]

Booked on the Infinity inside passage leaving Aug. 17. DH does not want to take any tours that involve getting on a bus. Is it possible to get to and from the glacier in a taxi? Would renting a car be worth it (we're doing that in Skagway)? What else could we do with a taxi/car once we have one? We're looking to maximize comfort as opposed to saving money if that helps. Any suggestions to help me make him happy on our first cruise would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks!

 

Gigi

[KAYEF]

I always rent a car in Juneau...........then we can be at the glacier, Cabin on the Lake, wherever..............as long as we want............there are other places to visit/go and a cab can get expensive.

Try Juneau Car Co.................used to be Rean A Wreck, but a new man bought the company............

[merprincess]

We are on the Aug. 10 to 17th cruise, one week before you. We rented a car from Juneau Car Rental for a quite reasonable $57.00. However, my concern is that we have to tender into port, and since we are not elite, it may take us awhile to get into port. (Some people have reported as much as 2 hours!)

 

We have to pick up the car at 101 Mill St. which is a ways from where we are tendered, and then have to return the car by 8PM. We are planning to get in line for tendering quite early to increase our chances of getting into Juneau as early as possible.

 

We plan to go to Mendenhall, plus whatever other sites we can fit in. There are 3 other large ships in port at the same time as the Infinity, within a similar timeframe, give or take an hour or so. Therefore, it could be a congested mess in Juneau. Or, here's hoping, not!

[LMZinSC]

I would also suggest renting a car. There is plenty to do in Juneau if you have a vehicle. The Shrine of St.Theresa is very nice. We were there in May and really enjoyed driving ourselves around. Even if it was SNOWING!

[teacherman]

We just did this 3 weeks ago. I have written a review for Celebrity Century that describes what we did. We rented from National. They have an office about 1 mile from dock, but a shuttle came and got us and returned us to the ship. If you are AARP, try getting a price through their web site and also the National site. Take the lower price. Easy to do and we had a great day.

[dabear]

There is a public bus (blue line) that takes you from the port to the park entrance for I recall $14pp round trip. It's not a tour but very convenient. We did it last JUne.

[Cruise_More_Often]

There is a public bus (blue line) that takes you from the port to the park entrance for I recall $14pp round trip. It's not a tour but very convenient. We did it last JUne.

This is definitely not like a big tour bus. There are many of these waiting right where your ship docks. You get on one, it leaves the port, drives straight to Mendenhall with no stops and lets you off right there. It picks you up at the same place and drops you off right at your ship. It is cheap, it is really convenient.

 

You don't have to make any reservations, you don't have to worry about how soon you have to leave the ship, you don't have to wait for a van to pick you up, go to the rental car facility, wait in line, rent the car, worry about parking at the Glacier, then fill the car with gas and return it to the facility, and wait for a return van to the ship.

 

There are plenty of things to do right by the port. Walk through Juneau's downtown. It's really cute. Visit the State Capitol building and take a tour (they were even open for tours on the Sunday we were there). Right next to the port is the Mt. Roberts tram. Take the tram to the top and enjoy the fabulous view. spend some time walking around the trails and visiting Raven Eagle Gifts (part museum and gallery). Come back down whenever you want.

[Budget Queen]

Find out what else may be of interest to you in Juneau, take a look at their travel guide http://www.traveljuneau.com and head to your library for some Alaska books.

 

Frankly 20 minutes on a bus, to transfer you is hardly woth making an issue out of perhaps?

[Brentngigi]

Find out what else may be of interest to you in Juneau, take a look at their travel guide http://www.traveljuneau.com and head to your library for some Alaska books.

 

Frankly 20 minutes on a bus, to transfer you is hardly woth making an issue out of perhaps?

 

Agreed Budget Queen. This is his first cruise, and he is nervous about enjoying it so I'm not pushing things. Personally, I'm fine with a 20 minute bus ride, but if he would rather rent a car, that's okay with me too.

 

Thanks to all who replied. I think we'll go with a rental, and I'll stop at the library and check out a travel guide.

[pepsigirl64]

:D In May we were in Alaska for the 7th time, and we rented a car in Juneau. It was great, we went to the Glacier, the Alaskan Beer Brewery, Walmart, across the Bridge (which was awesome to see Juneau from the other side). When we got off our HAL ship we were the only ship there, by the time we were done with our road trip there were 5 ships in port. I am going back in September and will rent a car again.