Your best HAL Alaskan cruise excursion

[kiwicruiser55]

Looking forward to hearing what you enjoyed and perhaps I can make a decision on which excursions to do on our upcoming trip in July. :)

[PathfinderEss]

Taking a helicopter ride up to a glaicer, landing on it, and walking around on it. Awesome.

Edited March 28, 2015 by PathfinderEss

[Crew News]

Ketchikan - Crab Fishing on the Aleutian Ballad (TV's Deadliest Catch ship) and photographing all of those eagles swooping down to eat the fish tossed over the side.

[Stateroom_Sailor]

Best: Alaska Zipline Adventure in Juneau, total blast!

 

Worst: Yukon Shuttle in Skagway, went to the "Welcome to the Yukon" sign before turning back. We saw a lake, snow runoff, and lots of fog. :eek:

[eclue]

Ketchikan - Crab Fishing on the Aleutian Ballad (TV's Deadliest Catch ship) and photographing all of those eagles swooping down to eat the fish tossed over the side.

 

Ditto....this is a great excursion and we saw a lot of whales also !!!

eclue:rolleyes:

[Spunky946]

Ketchikan - Crab Fishing on the Aleutian Ballad (TV's Deadliest Catch ship) and photographing all of those eagles swooping down to eat the fish tossed over the side.

 

 

 

Ditto. It was awesome. They were entertaining and we saw lots of cool wildlife.

[IRL_Joanie]

I actually have 2 Alaskan Excursions that I rate as my favorites and cannot seem to bring 1 higher than the other.....

 

Bering Sea Crab Fisherman's Tour, Ketchikan on board the FV Aleutian Ballad (Deadliest Catch Season 2 on Discovery Channel) You can read some of the Cruise Critic Reviews here http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/shore-excursions/excursion/300/ and to read and see more of the tour you can visit their home page here: http://alaskacrabtour.com/

 

And in Juneau the Whale Watching Excursion. We have only gone on the excursion through HAL and I believe the name of the company is Allen Marine. I know that many of the highly respected and long standing CC members highly recommend Harve and Marve, but I cannot vouch for them myself.

 

EDITED: Had to remove the attachments because CC is messing up and not showing attachments.

 

The 2nd best excursion is also in Juneau and is so hard to miss that even vision impaired me was able to find it easily:D Mt Roberts Tram!!! I am scared to death of heights, but the beauty of the scenery on this tram ride is just so breathtakingly beautiful that you do not evven realize just how high you are:)

 

Joanie

Edited March 29, 2015 by IRL_Joanie

[kiwicruiser55]

Hi all, well the helicopter ride I have done a similar trip to Mt.Cook in NZ, which was awesome. Thanks, PathfinderEss.

The Deadliest catch trip sounded scary as I thought it would be big seas but have read about it on HAL and sounds okay with calm waters!! So have that on my list. Would love to see whales close up too!

[Lizzie68]

White pass & Yukon railway. Amazing.

[RuthC]

Any (and all) of the flight-seeing excursions. The one to Taku Glacier Lodge, for a salmon bake, was especially good because we flew very low, and took a different route back. The scenery was gorgeous. The meal was pretty good, too. ;) The bear in the tree---right by the grill---waiting for his serving of salmon was cute, too.

 

You can also go flight-seeing out of Skagway, and Anchorage, if your cruise goes to either port.

[jaspersmycat]

If you like to take photos, nothing beats the Photographic Safari in Juneau. I learned a lot about my camera as well as getting great photos of whales, bald eagles, and other wildlife.

[Ricktan]

I really want to do the helicopter/Mendenhall Glacier/Dog sledding excursion in Juneau. And in Ketchikan, they have a fish camp excursion where you fish and then go to the camp and the cook your fish (rated very highly by Food & Wine for the meal). These are on my "wish" list for 2016...... Anyone done either of these?

 

Tanya

[pmjnh]

Juneau: Harve and Marve Whale Watch

 

Ketchikan: we hired a local cab driver to give us a tour off the beaten track..$60 for about 3 hours for 4 of us..amazing..she took us to a place where the salmon were jumping and about a dozen bald eagles were fishing..awesome

 

Skagway: rented a car and drove to Emerald Lake in the Yukon. Bears on the side of the road and amazing scenery. It pretty much parallel the railway which sadly was in the clouds the entire day at a higher elevation. We had friends on the train and they saw nothing. That is always a risk with a mountainous train ride.

 

When we debarked we went on a 10 day road trip with a rented vehicle. The best excursion of all was a flight seeing tour over Mt McKinley on a crystal clear day out of Talkeetna!

Edited March 29, 2015 by pmjnh

[kiwicruiser55]

Thank you all for the recommendations, I am enjoying reading about all the various options.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have loved several excursions.

Whale watching and wild life boat excursions are among our favorites.

[rwams]

Ketchikan - Crab Fishing on the Aleutian Ballad (TV's Deadliest Catch ship) and photographing all of those eagles swooping down to eat the fish tossed over the side.

 

Ditto that! Was really surpised and enjoyed it very informative. I had to quit taking pictures and put the camera on record setting for all of the eagles.

[TiogaCruiser]

Another vote for Northstar Trekking helicopter and hike in Juneau (if you do not have mobility issues). The flight is awesome ( and I hate flight). They take you to a zone on the glacier where you can see creeks and streams and moulons in the ice. The water is " tidy bowl blue".

[VermeulT]

If you like to take photos, nothing beats the Photographic Safari in Juneau. I learned a lot about my camera as well as getting great photos of whales, bald eagles, and other wildlife.

 

Great to hear... I'm signed up for this one in August.

[Ky Colonel]

Looking forward to hearing what you enjoyed and perhaps I can make a decision on which excursions to do on our upcoming trip in July. :)

 

If you are going out of or returning to Vancouver and you want to see lots and lots of whales (mostly orcas), I highly recommend taking the "Wild Whales Vancouver" whale-watching excursion in Vancouver either before or after your cruise. We took our granddaughters (11 and 13) on it before our cruise last June, and all of us loved the experience. My DW and I had taken the Juneau whale watching excursions on our previous Alaska cruises, but none of them compared favorably to the "Wild Whales Vancouver" excursion - it is absolutely the best! In fact if you have the time, I suggest that you extend your stay in Vancouver and enjoy some of Vancouver's amazing attractions, including Grouse Mountain, Granville Island, Stanley Park, etc., etc., etc. Good luck and smooth sailing,

 

Rod

[shrimp56]

White pass & Yukon railway. Amazing.

I second this vote. We did the round trip which gave us time in Skagway.

 

My other favorite is the Misty Fjords flight seeing. Unfortunately the second time we had planned to go Ketchikan's "liquid sunshine" cancelled the flight.

[Ky Colonel]

I second this vote. We did the round trip which gave us time in Skagway.

 

My other favorite is the Misty Fjords flight seeing. Unfortunately the second time we had planned to go Ketchikan's "liquid sunshine" cancelled the flight.

 

... for the Alaska excursions, I agree ... and would add the Mt Robrts Tram in Juneau ...

 

Rod

[CowPrincess]

Looking forward to hearing what you enjoyed and perhaps I can make a decision on which excursions to do on our upcoming trip in July. :)

 

It is a toss up for me between the Sitka Otter Quest or the Juneau Whale Watching if you just want feedback about shore excursions. For my DH, no question the best time he had was a walk to the Gold Rush Cemetery in Skagway. Gave him a "slice of life" look at Alaska, we met some people and their dog and chatted, overheard ordinary everyday conversations, saw how people live, heard how people live.

 

My favorite place to visit in Alaska is the Totem Heritage Center in Ketchikan. (Not a shorex) The walk there and back can take you through residential areas, along the waterfront, and past benches where you can sit and chat with locals. And the Center itself is (for me) one of the most serene and beautiful and fascinating places I've ever been.

[summer slope]

Didn't read back, but the Haines Eagle Preserve. Riding the river in a flat bottom boat in awe of the amount of Eagles we saw.

[lazey1]

Thank you for starting this thread. We are going on the 14 day cruise in June and are quite interested in all the replys. Really surprised at all the good comments about the Crab Fishing out of Ketchikan as this is one that would not catch our fancy by the description.

[RetiredMustang]

"Sea Otter & Wildlife Quest" in Sitka. Lots of whales and otters, eagles, seals, etc.

 

Dave