accessible Alaska shore excursions

[rickfromTO]

what excursions are wheelchair- accessible ?

[Cruseforme]

Hi Rick,

  we would love to help you, but need information first.

 

1) which cruise line?

2) Which Ports?

3) what type of accessible, wheelchair, scooter, etc?

4) Do you want private tours, or cruiseline tours, and if private, how much is your budget? 

5).  What type of tours, ie, bus runs, or whale watching, etc?   

 

most cruise lines have accessible tours listed, and you can also call their special needs number to find out which ones for your cruise are appropriate.  

.   

 

[SC LTC]

On 9/26/2019 at 3:54 PM, Cruseforme said:

Hi Rick,

  we would love to help you, but need information first.

 

1) which cruise line?

2) Which Ports?

3) what type of accessible, wheelchair, scooter, etc?

4) Do you want private tours, or cruiseline tours, and if private, how much is your budget? 

5).  What type of tours, ie, bus runs, or whale watching, etc?   

 

most cruise lines have accessible tours listed, and you can also call their special needs number to find out which ones for your cruise are appropriate.  

.   

 

Same question 

1) golden princess 

2)Ketchikan 

3)Juno 

4)Skagway 

5)Sitka 

6)Victoria 

no cruise tours 

thanks for any input 

[SC LTC]

👍

[rickfromTO]

On 9/26/2019 at 6:54 PM, Cruseforme said:

Hi Rick,

  we would love to help you, but need information first.

 

1) which cruise line?

2) Which Ports?

3) what type of accessible, wheelchair, scooter, etc?

4) Do you want private tours, or cruiseline tours, and if private, how much is your budget? 

5).  What type of tours, ie, bus runs, or whale watching, etc?   

 

most cruise lines have accessible tours listed, and you can also call their special needs number to find out which ones for your cruise are appropriate.  

.   

 

I am able bodied, my wife can walk a bit with walker, but mainly in wheelchair

 

Probably Holland-America

 

probably cruiseline tours (maybe booked directly with supplier, if possible)

[TwinMamainMN]

We took our daughter to Alaska in 2018. She has CP and walks short distances with forearm crutches, but uses a wheelchair for long distances and/or in the community. For purposes of excursions, she was wheelchair bound. We sailed on RC Radiance OTS. 

 

Ketchikan - We did the Bering Sea Fisherman's Tour, which we booked independently. We walked from our ship to the tour/crab boat. They have a spot right in the front row for wheelchairs, and some seats next to them for the rest of the family. It was a fun excursion, and the crew was fantastic making sure that our daughter could see everything. Even telling us before we stopped to feed the eagles, so we could move her right next to the rail so she could see without having to look around/between people that were standing.

 

Icy Strait Point - whale watching with Glacier Wind Charters. We walked to the pick up point, transferred her to the GWC van, and put her wheelchair in the back of the van. We had her walk the few steps and transfer to get on the charter boat. They kept her WC on the van so it stayed dry while we did the excursion. A+ to them for the whole excursion from the time I called with questions until we were saying goodbye to Theresa when she dropped us off again. They went above and beyond to make sure our daughter could be on the excursion, get there safely, sit where she could see, etc. They were also really good about helping my 70-something year old mom make the transfers, etc. Not even one thing I could pretend to complain about from that excursion.

 

Juneau - we rented a minivan and drove to Mendenhall Glacier. Walked some of the path to Nugget Falls, but not all the way. It's a gravel and got difficult to push the WC after awhile. Spent time in the Visitor's Center. Nice bathrooms there too. We spent a couple of hours at Mendenhall total. Then drove to Eagle Point Beach where our daughter explored some with her crutches. We didn't walk much there or stay very long. Maybe 30 minutes. Then we drove back to Juneau and went to the DIPAC Salmon Hatchery, which was easily accessible. The day we were in Juneau, ti was cloudy, drizzly, and foggy, so we didn't et to enjoy the views/scenery as much as we would have liked, but ti was still a fun day. We wanted to go up the Mount Roberts Tram, but with the fog we wouldn't have seen anything.

 

Skagway - we booked a private van tour to Carcross, Emerald Lake and the Caribou Crossing Sled Dog Camp. My mom booked this through Viator. It was a long day, but the driver was great fun, very accommodating (bathroom trips, with the WC, and helping my daughter and mom transfer in/out of the van). The sled dog camp was really fun and we had a nice long and FAST ride on one of the dog carts. Worth every penny for that added fun. Our kids still talk about it.

 

Overall, we had MUCH better experience organizing our own excursions. The excursions available form the cruiseline were almost all NOT accessible probably because they couldn't guarantee a storage place for the WC.

 

Hope this helps!

[shel003]

I haven't been to Alaska yet but have been doing research on going there.  When I looked at the Princess ship shore excursions there were multiple wheelchair accessible excursions at each port.  Again, as I haven't gone yet, I cannot tell you how good they were etc.  I know that Holland America is a sister cruise line to Princess so they may have similar opportunities for accessible excursions.  I like the website for Princess cruises better, because before you book you can see all of the excursions offered and how many are wheelchair accessible as they are clearly marked.  That's just my preference though.  You could always contact the shore excursion office to see what options there are for accessible excursions though Holland America.

[misguy]

Here is a video with a retired Alaskan tour guide, and we talk about 5 ports, and we discuss what the accessibility is like in each of them.  You may find it helpful.

 

[TwinMamainMN]

Just an FYI - some excursions say they are accessible, and they mean if you can transfer and get on and off the bus,  but they will NOT store a wheelchair or motorized scooter under the bus. That doesn't make it accessible if you can't get where you are going and use your WC/scooter, but that's what we were told both by RCCL and some private tour places.

[travelbug11]

 

Alaska is part of the United States and is therefore very accessible.

 

I have not had any problems and have found everyone to be very helpful.

[Miki_moto]

On 3/1/2020 at 10:50 PM, travelbug11 said:

 

Alaska is part of the United States and is therefore very accessible.

 

I have not had any problems and have found everyone to be very helpful.

 

On 3/1/2020 at 10:50 PM, travelbug11 said:

 

Alaska is part of the United States and is therefore very accessible.

 

I have not had any problems and have found everyone to be very helpful.

This is true but private tours don’t necessarily have to be accessible.  It also depends on someone’s personal level of disability.  If you have a manual wheelchair or scooter and can walk a little / climb some steps, you have a better chance at scoring a tour (if your equipment fits under a bus or in a trunk) than someone who uses a rehab power wheelchair and can’t leave their chair. 
 

 

[DRS/NC]

Princess tour buses always take my walker/rollator & store it under the bus in Europe, Canada, Caribbean & Alaska.  I've seen scooters stored too.  

 

There are lots of options in Alaska & they're listed in the excursions on the Princess website.

 

Have fun!  I'm headed there again (I hope) in Sept. 2021!

[catwoman6226]

Unfortunately, our experience has been that we can book tours that say they are wheelchair accessible, etc. but then when we get on board, we're told that our scooters cannot be accomodated.  NOT saying anyone else's experience is wrong, but please do not expect that because some people have had luck with their scooters being accomodated that that is always the case - because it certainly is not.  Now that I think about it, not once have we been able to take our scooters on a Princess excursion - regardless of location - we've always had to book via a third party.