Disney: Best of Juneau Tour - Mendenhall Glacier

[CanuckonaBoat]

I was advised on the Alaska board - to also post here.

 

I am considering the Best of Juneau Tour with Disney:

 

Catamaran for wildlife viewing; salmon lunch; and then stop at Mendenall Glacier. The stop at the glacier is only 45min-1 hour. I want to have time to hike to Nugget falls with two kids. So I want to stay longer to enjoy the area.

 

I do not want to return to the ship with the Disney Tour bus/group. I want to take either a taxi or the bus back to the port.

 

Is it possible to leave the Disney Tour at Mendenhall and go on my own?

 

Can I get a one-way ticket back on one of the blue busses?

[moki'smommy]

I don't know the answers to your questions about leaving the tour group or what time the tour group gets you back to the ship in relation to the ship's departure.

 

Have you looked for a company that might better fit your needs? We used shoretrips.com for our Alaska excursions and ALL were excellent. Much smaller groups than the DCL and other cruise line groups. Obviously the group size can't be promised in advance.

 

Our Juneau tour was whale watching, something else, and then Mendenhall glacier. The entire thing was an all day activity. We were dropped off at the ship about 45 minutes before "all aboard."

 

One of my criticisms of tours thru DCL that have included lunch is that they spend WAY too much time on lunch when I'd rather be able to do more tour stuff. I don't know if this is universal of if I've just picked the wrong tours with them, but I'd rather do a quickie lunch or "lunch on your own" than a sit down 2 hour affair!

Edited March 26, 2016 by moki'smommy

[CanuckonaBoat]

thanks! I have looked for other companies. One does Mendenhall Glacier add-on but only for 45 minutes.

[Shmoo here]

I was advised on the Alaska board - to also post here.

 

I am considering the Best of Juneau Tour with Disney:

 

Catamaran for wildlife viewing; salmon lunch; and then stop at Mendenall Glacier. The stop at the glacier is only 45min-1 hour. I want to have time to hike to Nugget falls with two kids. So I want to stay longer to enjoy the area.

 

I do not want to return to the ship with the Disney Tour bus/group. I want to take either a taxi or the bus back to the port.

 

Is it possible to leave the Disney Tour at Mendenhall and go on my own?

 

Can I get a one-way ticket back on one of the blue busses?

While it may be different (excursions are not DCL, but contracted by DCL to an already existing tour operator) for your tour, our experience with excursions on DCL was that we were free to leave the excursion at any time, but it was on us to get back to the ship. Just let your tour guide know you want to do it, so they don't waste time waiting/looking for you.

 

Don't know about the bus question, is there a website for them (or phone number) that you can ask?

[tinybiny]

Depending on how long your port day is, you may just want to book a catamaran tour with another company and do the white bus to and from the glacier on your own. I believe the buses come every 30 minutes or so.

 

I did a combo tour with Disney in the past. It had whale watching, salmon bake and Mendenhall glacier. The time at the glacier was way too short and the time at the salmon bake was way too long. The salmon bake was not worth attending and everything, including the food was covered in gnats and mosquitos.

[moki'smommy]

 

I did a combo tour with Disney in the past. It had whale watching, salmon bake and Mendenhall glacier. The time at the glacier was way too short and the time at the salmon bake was way too long. The salmon bake was not worth attending and everything, including the food was covered in gnats and mosquitos.

 

THIS is too typical of DCL excursions. We did an excursion that included an amazing museum (The Memorial) in France, lunch, and the Normandy beaches. We were rushed thru the museum (could have easily spent 4 hours or more there), and then had a 2 1/2 hour lunch. The lunch was good, but I didn't want or need a fancy lunch that took forever! I would much have preferred a sandwich/box lunch/whatever and had another hour or 90 minutes at the museum.

[c-cruise]

It's more of a short walk than a real hike of any consequence from the Mendenhall visitors center to Nugget Falls. You could certainly do it in the 45-60 minutes you have allowed.

[moki'smommy]

It's more of a short walk than a real hike of any consequence from the Mendenhall visitors center to Nugget Falls. You could certainly do it in the 45-60 minutes you have allowed.

 

Yes, you could do the hike to Nugget Falls if that is all you wanted to do...but if you wanted to take the other trails to where we saw the salmon and the bear with cubs or see the visitors center, an hour won't allow you to do all of it.

[CanuckonaBoat]

thanks everyone.

 

Good to know that about the salmon bake.

 

i'll continue to think about it.. don't want to be rushed at glacier or having to worry about missing boat. Sigh.