Booking floatplane, flight tours or a Dog Sledding at port

[Cruise Wander]

We are traveling with another couple from Florida and basically just book our cruise and airline for Alaska cruise within the last week. We are sailing in the first week of July.

 

Obviously, we haven't had a lot of time to explore excursions and some the "best or favorite" excursions offered by cruise line are already sold out.

 

So in Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan, are we able to exit the ship and find a quality flight tour , dog sledding tour, land on a glacier offered by independent vendors? At they located at the docks like in the Caribbean?

 

Thanks

[Budget Queen]

You aren't going to be likely to get a last minute glacier dog sled tour. There may be a single seat, about all you can expect. there are only 3 vendors in Juneau- if a priority- then contact them now. Be mindful of your entire port time, and try to make good use of your time. A few recent posts- clear to me, they didn't do this, and would have been better off scheduling more smartly.

 

 

There usually is walk up space for Misty Fiords flight seeing in Ketchikan. Of course, you would want to be off your ship shortly after clearing and making your reservations immediately after. For this plan- you can't be pick on who your vendor is, and again, plan as ideal as possible- to make good use of your entire port time.

[sh2738]

We are traveling with another couple from Florida and basically just book our cruise and airline for Alaska cruise within the last week. We are sailing in the first week of July.

 

Obviously, we haven't had a lot of time to explore excursions and some the "best or favorite" excursions offered by cruise line are already sold out.

 

So in Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan, are we able to exit the ship and find a quality flight tour , dog sledding tour, land on a glacier offered by independent vendors? At they located at the docks like in the Caribbean?

 

Thanks

 

 

I would be wary of doing a flight seeing tour especially if you are talking about doing one in Ketchikan for misty fjord concerning the tragedy that happened yesterday with the tour from HAL where 9 people died on one. If you still want to do one I would be very careful about choosing a company and check what the weather conditions are going to be before booking one. I would personally never do one, I value my life more, but it is a small risk that had only occurred a few times. Just be very careful when picking a company. Do a lot of research, not just on the company but also on the pilot as well. Make sure that you get someone who has a lot of flight time in Alaska and not one of the seasonal Alaska flyers.

 

Be careful and have a great cruise. I am leaving next week for mine.

[xlxo]

If you still want to do one I would be very careful about choosing a company and check what the weather conditions are going to be before booking one.

Because of the incident... Misty availability will not be an issue in the short term. As accidents are rare... it's hard to find anything negative about flightseeing options.

[stacyh270]

From what I understand, the accident was caused by engine failure and not weather conditions so even favorable weather conditions cannot guarantee anything.

 

That being said, there are no guarantees in life :(

 

Honestly, with this recent tragedy, flightseeing there is probably going to be safer now than in the longterm because companies are most likely going to be doing a lot more mechanical checkups.

 

I had really wanted to do the floatplane tour and we've decided not to. The decision is not based on fear of something happening, but more based upon the fact that the entire time, we'd have this accident on our mind and it would definitely take a lot of joy out of the adventure.

[mapleleaves]

 

So in Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan, are we able to exit the ship and find a quality flight tour , dog sledding tour, land on a glacier offered by independent vendors?

 

 

key word being "quality". You might luck out and find a great vendor, BUT, you might get a dufus with a boat that breaks down an hour from shore.

Most people research ahead of time to select a vendor who will provide the kind of experience they want ... ie small boat or large boat, 3 hrs vs 2 hrs, specific location, etc. Even reserving thru the cruiseline doesn't ensure you will get a 'quality' experience.

 

You still have a couple of weeks to research. There are about 65-70 trip reports from last summer in a STICKY near the top of the page Read thru a few to get first-hand recommendations then call and see who has availability.

 

Good luck!