Tracy Arm small boat vs helicopter excursion

[bothluv2cruise]

We are on the Celebrity Solstice May 22nd cruise, Seattle roundtrip. I have learned a lot on these boards and booked my excursions accordingly, however I need to make a choice from 2 possible excursions in Juneau. I'd like to hear from those that have experienced either or both of the following so I can make a decision. So I originally booked the Mendenhall Glacier by Helicopter and guided walk excursion and have been very excited about it, however I just went on the Celebrity website and the Tracy Arm small boat excursion is available for purchase! So, do I stick with my original plan:

A) Pre-order room service wake up very early, sit on my aft balcony for 1-2 hours as we sail Tracy Arm, run around the ship to get other views and end up at the warm loungers with the view at Relaxation Gardens......until the helicopter excursion at 3pm? OR

B) Pre-order room service wake up very early, sit on my aft balcony for 1-2 hours as we sail Tracy Arm, get ready for the small boat excursion - leave ship at 8:30am.

It seems I could do both (timing wise) but my DH says it's too much :(

Which one would you pick and why? I would love to hear your opinions.

[Eaglecw]

I would do both. The small boat excursion up Tracy Arm is absolutely awesome. It will get you a lot further up Tracy Arm than the ship can go up. We went on that excursion last year and we are planning on going again this year. The Mendenhall Glacier by Helicopter excursion is another awesome excursion, tell your husband your going with or without him. Enjoy your trip

[Budget Queen]

Split up. I am a strong advocate of doing what YOU want to do, and not drag along uninterested people. :)

 

The Tracy Arm add on tour, is grossly superior to the cruise ship transit.

[wolfie11]

The helicopter tours in Juneau and Skagway are the tours most often cancelled because of weather. You would kick yourself if you gave up the Tracy Arm tour (beautiful in any weather) and then the helicopter flight was weathered out.

[donaldsc]

It seems I could do both (timing wise) but my DH says it's too much :(

Which one would you pick and why? I would love to hear your opinions.

 

Why do you and DH have to do the same things? You do what you want to and let him do what he wished. At the end of the day, have dinner and compare notes and photos of what each of you have seen.

 

DON

[chipmaster]

Do both if the budget permits, the time/excursion on the smaller Tracy Arm isn't taking, just looong. You do get a unique more detailed view as you only can from a smaller boat. Closer to the end glacier, ice flows permitting, close sailing to the fjord walls and touching the waterfalls.. wildlife if you are lucky. It isn't taxing, but the long run from the fjord back to port is rather uneventful and if you are on the ship you have more to do in far more comfy enviroment. IMHO if you had to skip one, it would be the Tracy Arm..

 

My experience when you take the smaller boat you get to port and meet up with the main ship not to late then if you stayed on the ship.

 

Helicopter flightseeing and landing on a glacier is an EVEN MORE UNIQUE experience, do it if you can afford, it!

[bothluv2cruise]

The helicopter tours in Juneau and Skagway are the tours most often cancelled because of weather. You would kick yourself if you gave up the Tracy Arm tour (beautiful in any weather) and then the helicopter flight was weathered out.

 

Excellent point! Yes, I would be very upset if I ended up with neither.

[bothluv2cruise]

Why do you and DH have to do the same things? You do what you want to and let him do what he wished. At the end of the day, have dinner and compare notes and photos of what each of you have seen.

 

DON

 

Hi Don, you are right we don't have to do the same things however the point is I want to do both and the DH thinks it's too much (time and money wise), so I was trying to figure out which one I would pick.:)

[bothluv2cruise]

Split up. I am a strong advocate of doing what YOU want to do, and not drag along uninterested people. :)

 

The Tracy Arm add on tour, is grossly superior to the cruise ship transit.

 

Thanks for weighing in BQ, I know you are one of the experts in the Alaska forum! I know you usually stress how good the ad on tour is, one of the reasons I was trying to see if I could get on the tour which seemed to be unavailable until today.

Edited April 19, 2015 by bothluv2cruise

[bothluv2cruise]

I would do both. The small boat excursion up Tracy Arm is absolutely awesome. It will get you a lot further up Tracy Arm than the ship can go up. We went on that excursion last year and we are planning on going again this year. The Mendenhall Glacier by Helicopter excursion is another awesome excursion, tell your husband your going with or without him. Enjoy your trip

 

You are right! That is what I told him.:)

[bothluv2cruise]

Thanks for weighing in. We were already booked on the helicopter ride and I booked and paid the add on tracy arm.....so it's both!!!

I told him if he doesn't want to do either, we can cancel his booking!! I can't wait for May 22nd!!

[Cassicruiser]

Hi Don, you are right we don't have to do the same things however the point is I want to do both and the DH thinks it's too much (time and money wise), so I was trying to figure out which one I would pick.:)

This does make sense in theory, and I see quite a few people suggesting splitting up to do things, but my husband and I travel to have experiences that we can enjoy and remember together rather than going our separate ways to do what we both want to do separately. If I really wanted to do something and he didn't, he would either do it because I wanted to (and vice versa), or we would compromise in some way. But everyone is different and you should do what you both are happy with. If I was travelling with friends that would be a little different.

[bothluv2cruise]

This does make sense in theory, and I see quite a few people suggesting splitting up to do things, but my husband and I travel to have experiences that we can enjoy and remember together rather than going our separate ways to do what we both want to do separately. If I really wanted to do something and he didn't, he would either do it because I wanted to (and vice versa), or we would compromise in some way. But everyone is different and you should do what you both are happy with. If I was travelling with friends that would be a little different.

 

I don't disagree but in this case I felt strongly about doing both excursions and did not want to compromise. ;)

We will have plenty to talk about at the end of the day after we go on both, hopefully he will thank me for my insistence!:)

[Budget Queen]

This does make sense in theory, and I see quite a few people suggesting splitting up to do things, but my husband and I travel to have experiences that we can enjoy and remember together rather than going our separate ways to do what we both want to do separately. If I really wanted to do something and he didn't, he would either do it because I wanted to (and vice versa), or we would compromise in some way. But everyone is different and you should do what you both are happy with. If I was travelling with friends that would be a little different.

 

Yes everyone is different. Splitting up is only a suggestion. I've traveled many times without my husband, and in the past we've also had split vacations (like I want to spend 3 days at the Football Hall of Fame induction :) ) I don't care about the "together" stuff. We travel "together" multiple times, way more than enough for us to also split off.

 

I do find sometimes- with the have to stick together travelers- the compromises are not anything I would consider. :) it's their choice.

[Cassicruiser]

I guess if we had many vacations together we would be happy to split up and do things that interest us separately, but we only get 1 or 2 vacations a year together so wouldn't at this stage. We do occassionally have separate vacations - me with girlfriends, and he can go camping or something with the guys (I am not the camping type :rolleyes:). Maybe one day when our vacations together are numerous, I will be champing at the bit to do separate excursions, who knows :p