Advise needed on excursions for first time Alaska cruise with kids

[sandkps]

We just booked the NCL Pearl for 4/29-5/6/18 and I have no idea where to start as far as excursions go! I would love some help and suggestions for memorable & fun things to do for my family of 4 - DH & me plus (busy) 2 boys, ages 12 & 9 at the time of sailing.

 

What we like - Mom & Dad like historical & informative tours, kids not so much, but don't complain too much if we do a little of this. LOL We all would like to see glaciers up close, wildlife (whales & bears!), jeep/safari type tours, boat tours. Skylift in Juneau and train ride both look interesting to us. Waterfalls, etc. I don't foresee another Alaska trip in our future anytime soon, so we'd love to get as many highlights and unique to Alaska types of things in as possible.

 

What we don't like - Anything high endurance (hiking, ziplines, kayaks, river tubing, etc - I have a medical condition that really reduces my stamina, plus I'm still recovering from chemo treatments. I'm ok with leisurely walks around town and such, but nothing too steep, climbing lots of stairs, high endurance stuff). Kids don't enjoy days of just shopping & wandering the towns, although DH & I do like to do a small bit of this.

 

Moderate budget. We can't afford anything like the flightseeing trips (although those look AMAZING!!), but we're ok with a couple hundred per port. Of course, we'd like to be as economical as possible, but are ok with paying for memorable experiences for our family.

 

We are ok with either ship sponsored or private excursions.

 

Ports:

Seattle - flying in a day early. Definitely want to see the sky needle. Considering a Duck Tour.

Juneau 2:00 - 10:00pm

Skagway 7:00am - 8:00pm

(Glacier Bay cruise)

Ketchikan 6:00am - 1:30pm

Victoria 6:00pm - midnight

 

Also, this will be our first NCL cruise. Any tips, tricks, secrets, etc in regards to NCL and/or the Pearl would be fantastic as well. We are primarily Carnival cruisers, so we're excited for the opportunity to try out a new line.

 

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated! Thank you!

[JT1962]

That is very early in the year. Some of the private excursion companies and shops may not be operating yet, so you may need to stick with excursions through the ship. Some good options are:

 

Juneau - Mendenhall Glacier / Whale Watching Tour and Mt. Roberts Tram

 

Skagway - Bus / Train combo trip to Emerald Lake. Shopping and touring Skagway, if time.

 

Ketchikan - Totem Bight, See Creek Street and do some shopping.

 

I have not been to Victoria, but many seem to like the Gardens or a City Tour.

 

 

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[spudicusrex]

I did this same itinerary on the Pearl in August 2016. I traveled with my mom who also has some endurance issues as the result of chemo and she had no problems with any of the things we did. Her priorities were to take in magnificent views and spot whales. What you chose will come down to what your specific reasons for visiting Alaska are. Here's what we did:

 

Juneau - Whale watching through the ship

Skagway - White pass scenic rail excursion through the ship

Ketchikan - Cheap public bus to Totem Bight then walked around the town

Victoria - My parents did a horse drawn trolley through town; I walked from the port to the city to explore. There was very little time to do much with such a short stop.

 

As for tips for the Pearl - We had a balcony but I really enjoyed watching the scenery go by in the Spinnaker lounge. There were great views up there and it was very quiet in the mornings. I also recommend getting a thermal spa pass. It was well worth the money.

[darwinsrule]

We literally just got back Tuesday. DD are 13 and 9 so the kids ages line up well. We had Jewel booked last year but had to cancel because of health issues. Ended up rebooking on Carnival Legend for a Glacier Bay trip this year. Had the same debate. So what did we do? All these were booked through the ship but the excursions are all pretty similar.

 

Juneau - Mendenhall Glacier and Wildlife Quest. Started with whale watching. Saw whales. Sea lions. Harbour seals. Basically awesome. Transferred to Mendenhall and had an hour to explore. Not enough time but still very cool. Ended evening with dinner at Tracy's Crab Shack.

 

Skagway - Would have loved to do train. We didn't think the girls would enjoy the train so we did the Gold Panning, Gold Rush Sled Dogs and 40 Below. Came home with about $10 each in gold. Not rich but cool souvenir. Did a bunch of shopping. Saw the salmon running.

 

Ketchikan - Rainforest Wildlife Sanctuary, Eagles, and Totems. Mile long hike through the rainforest. Saw Eagles. Bear. And much to the excitement of my 13 year old daughter banana slugs.

 

Victoria - did a walk to downtown. Stopped for ice cream at Fisherman's wharf. Took some selfies. Unfortunately we got in late so options were limited.

 

Honestly it was a blast. Already trying to sort out what we will do different next time.

 

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[Dcoy]

We just returned from the Pearl cruise. we are two retired adults with no children on the trip but did do tours that would be good with kids. We booked through the ship.

 

Juneau - we did the gold mining tour. Went 300 feet into the mine and learned all about the process. Then panned for gold. Kids on the tour received their own souvenir mining helmet and certificate. There was also free coffee, tea or hot coco. The kids on the trip seemed to like it. FYI, the plane and helicopter tours were cancelled due to rain and fog.

 

Skagway -We did the Gold Panning, Gold Rush Sled Dogs and 40 Below. The kids on the tour loved the dogs. You got to pet the big dogs and hold the puppies. FYI the people who booked the train tours only saw fog when they went up the mountain.

 

Ketchikan - We did the Wilderness & Crabfeast tour. No kids were on this as it was a little expensive and kids don't normally care for crab.

 

Victoria - due to a death on the ship in Ketchikan, the ship got into port 2 hours late, we stayed on the ship. We heard most of the town was closed by the time we docked.

 

As I said, we didn't have children with us but seemed the ones that were on our tours seemed to like them.

Don

[Northern Aurora]

sandkps: Your kids may be too old for this idea -- but in Skagway the National Park Service operates a number of buildings as museums, and one of the old saloons (there were a number of saloons in Skagway during the height of the Klondike gold rush) now houses their Junior Ranger program. Great venue for those with young children. The Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park has two units -- one in Seattle and the other in Skagway. Check their website for more information (http://www.nps.gov/klgo).

[lundnak]

My boys were 11 and 12.

We rented a car and did Mendenhall and Eagle beach. Very inexpensive and laid back.

Skagway we did Chilkoot tours with the bus up and train back.

Ketchikan we did snorkeling. It may be more endurance than you have but my boys enjoyed it.

The boys liked everything.

[sandkps]

My boys were 11 and 12.

We rented a car and did Mendenhall and Eagle beach. Very inexpensive and laid back.

Skagway we did Chilkoot tours with the bus up and train back.

Ketchikan we did snorkeling. It may be more endurance than you have but my boys enjoyed it.

The boys liked everything.

 

Snorkeling in Alaska?! I didn't realize that was even an option! :o

[geomancer]

Moderate budget. We can't afford anything like the flightseeing trips (although those look AMAZING!!), but we're ok with a couple hundred per port. Of course, we'd like to be as economical as possible, but are ok with paying for memorable experiences for our family.

 

Unless you mean 'couple hundred' per person .... then you may find things lacking. For example in Skagway the train ride would cost you near $400 for the lowest priced option. Whale watching in Juneau almost $500, Victoria has it a little less at $400.

 

If you mean couple hundred in total, you'll be limited to things like city/bus tours.

 

Juneau - The Mount Roberts tram will cost you $100 alone. The glacier and hatchery would be $175. Just the glacier would be $150. Gold panning about $250. Salmon bake about $170. Some of these can be combined for a lower price than individually, but will push you over $300 total still.

 

Skagway - Can take a bus up the Klondike Highway for $150, passports are required. Can add seeing sled dogs to that for $230 total. City tour is about $160. Salmon bake and gold panning $230.

 

Victoria - The gardens get a lot of talk, but don't know how interesting it would be to kids, expensive at $220. Horse drawn tour $170. Bug zoo, miniature world, and highlights tour $250. Just a highlights tour (longer than the other one) $240.

 

 

You may consider doing self guided tours. Skagway has a nice national forest service visitor center, and they have maps for various nearby hikes. Some may be pretty level hikes that are not too tiring. Can also rent a car and drive the highway yourself (need a passport), just take turns driving so you each can get a chance to look out the windows and enjoy the views.

In Juneau you can rent a car for less than $100 (I have one reserved for $66 from Avis) and drive to various places like the glacier.

Victoria doesn't seem to have a whole lot outside of shopping, but you could look at the bug zoo or miniature world on their own if its something your kids would find interesting (but they may be a bit old for that).

 

I haven't looked at private options much at places like Trip Advisor, but seems like quite a few of them charge 'cruise ship prices' so you may not find anything at significant savings.

[mapleleaves]

There are hundreds of options available at each port, varying from free to $500+ pp. ie Ketchikan is a lovely harbor town with an interesting history; the visitor booths provide free maps for self guided walking tours, or for $2 you ride the town bus to Totem Bight to enjoy the totems and the waterfront/rainforest location about 10 miles away. For a family of 4 the cheapest option is often a rental car. This is especially true in Juneau where you can drive out to Mendenhall Glacier and then to the coast. As well as Skagway where you can drive to Emerald Lake and Yukon. (be sure to have passports)

 

Keep in mind that you're too early in the season for salmon runs and bear viewing tours. OTOH you're early enough to catch bears waking up from their hibernation and anxious to graze on whatever they can find.

 

NCL will have hundreds of excursions for you to review. If something appeals , let us know and we can suggest private vendors who may do it cheaper or with a smaller group.

 

Also, there are lots of past trip reports posted in STICKYs near the top of the page. They will provide first-hand information on sights and activities, tours and DIY. The first line of a report usually indicates if there were kids involved.

 

Most towns/ports have a web site which they use to support tourism and local vendors. Many of those sites have a Visitor Guide to download. ie http://www.experienceketchikan.com/ and http://visit-ketchikan.com/en/About-Ketchikan/Free-Guide

I made a long list of web sites that people can use for resources. Probably several pages back now. But here it is:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2347988&highlight=resources

 

Have fun with your research and planning!

[kpd21880]

Hi there! We traveled this summer with our son, here's what he loved:

 

Juneau: we had a heli tour booked, but due to fog, it was cancelled and we had to make a port-day adjustment. We did the Mendenhall Canoe trip through Alaska Travel Adventures and it ended up being our favorite family activity of the whole two week trip. I know you are not up for high endurance activities, but this is NOT one of those! They are 20 person Tlinget canoes (each person does get a paddle, but it's the guide in the back that does the majority of the rowing!). If some of your family is up for rowing, great. If you're not, no problem. About half of the people in our canoe assisted. The great thing was, you get right up to the face of Mendenhall glacier and right up to Nugget Falls. It was spectacular. In the afternoon, we visited the Salmon Hatchery.

 

Skagway: we rented a car through Green Jeeps for the day and drove out to Emerald Lake and back with stops at Carcross Desert and the Yukon Suspension Bridge. The scenery was breathtaking. For us, the car rental was a cost savings over the train and we had a relaxing day. Our son watched videos on his ipad :)

 

Ketchikan: we did the Deadliest Catch crab fishing tour. Hands down our son's favorite day. Super informative, fun and interactive. We booked this ourselves through the vendor and saved about $20pp, compared to booking through the cruise line.

 

Hope that helps!

[lundnak]

Snorkel Alaska was great and it was about $120 per person which wasn't bad for the day. My boys loved being able to go to school and talk about Alaskan snorkeling.

[Tamarakjack]

Bearing Sea crab boat in Ketchikan. Book it yourself online because it sells out quickly.

[VennDiagram]

Snorkel Alaska was great and it was about $120 per person which wasn't bad for the day. My boys loved being able to go to school and talk about Alaskan snorkeling.

 

A friend of mine did this and continues to rave about it. She'd do it again and again :)