First Post and our First Cruise.

[spotfish]

My Wife and I were invited to go along with another couple on their anniversary cruise, having never done one we said yes. We will be going June 20th on the NCL Jewel, have booked a mid ship Balcony room and have these excursions booked, Ketchikan; Bering sea crab tour, Juneau; City and Mendenhall Glacier tour kind of short but gives more time to look around town, then at 1:15 we are taking the Tracy Arm Fjord & Glacier Explorer out ahead of the cruise ship loading onto the ship at the Glacier 5 hours later, Skagway; White pass railroad (4 hour trip) will give us about 5 hours in town to do whatever, Since we live close to Seattle we have nothing planned for Victoria (been many times). I must say this is a great site for info as I have found everything I was wondering about just by searching, also everyone seems very willing to answer questions. I'm looking forward to reading new posts from others leading up to ours.

[judynorth]

It looks like you have great plans for your first cruise. You should enjoy all the excursions that you have picked and will see and experience lots of the best in Alaska. If you are anything like we are, you will fall in love with AK. We are going on our 5th AK cruise to celebrate our 50th anniversary. If we lived in Seattle I'd be tempted to go every year!

[Budget Queen]

You don't mention how you booked your Mendenhall tour, but if the ship tour- I highly recommend an alternative- of using MGT for their TOUR option.

 

This is different from the shuttle service. But, with the tours, you only get about 45 minutes at Mendenhall. However- if the last portion of the tour- where they already did all the drive by commentary in Juneau, you can exit the tour at Mendenhall and get the shuttle transportation back for $10pp. Especially with all there is to see and do at Mendenhall, some people want more time there. The visitor center, does have a few exhibits and a movie, and if wanting to walk the Nugget Falls trail- you need an hour.

 

Alaska travel books have good walking tour descriptions and the dock visitor center has maps and information. It is an advantage to have some details known in advance.

[spotfish]

We booked the Mendenhall through Costco travel and their description and MGT's are the same (2.5 hrs 40-45 min. at Glacier), so I'm wondering if that's who they use. I was just looking on Amazon for guides, is there one that's better than another? Thank you

[rotchill]

Congratulations on booking your 1st Alaska cruise. We also booked our 1st Alaska cruise a couple of weeks ago for July 3rd on Celebrity Solstice. This sight is a great source of information.

[Budget Queen]

We booked the Mendenhall through Costco travel and their description and MGT's are the same (2.5 hrs 40-45 min. at Glacier), so I'm wondering if that's who they use. I was just looking on Amazon for guides, is there one that's better than another? Thank you

 

It is likely MGT is the vendor.

 

For others, I never recommend using any booking agents for Alaska tours. The vendors are important and should be a significant reason for booking independent. I have, over many years, seen a lot of screw ups booking in this matter, it is always superior to not involve any middle men. :)

 

The drawback with this particular tour, is the time at Mendenhall, with frequent comments about it not being enough. It is pretty easy to duplicate a city tour and Mendenhall glacier splitting it up, as an example.

[hollon]

Not to change your plans in Juneau but whale watching with Harv and Marv or Orca Enterprise are good and also w/ Northstar trekking, the helicopter/hike the glaciers is easy and such a sight to see, you can google them to see (if you're interested)