Mendenhall Glacier excursion

[canole1983]

Has anyone been on the Mendenhall Glacier/Salmon Bake shore excursion in Juneau? If so what would you rate your experience on a scale of 1 to 5? Thanks y'all.

[Love my butler]

I would give it a solid 'overpriced' rating.  Take the bus for 2 bucks and get some exercise.

[_Mr.G_]

We did not book the NCL tour. Once in Juneau port there are several local tour guides direct in front of the ship. We deceided there for a combo tour: Whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier. We were very satisfied with that service, saw whales and had enough time for the glacier.

[canole1983]

11 minutes ago, _Mr.G_ said:

We did not book the NCL tour. Once in Juneau port there are several local tour guides direct in front of the ship. We deceided there for a combo tour: Whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier. We were very satisfied with that service, saw whales and had enough time for the glacier.

If you don't mind me asking how much did you pay and how long was the excursion?

[_Mr.G_]

33 minutes ago, canole1983 said:

If you don't mind me asking how much did you pay and how long was the excursion?

 

It was about 100 USD + Tax per person, 3hrs Whale Watching, 1 hrs Mendenhall Glacier plus time needed for shuttle transfers.

[ddlb]

8 hours ago, Love my butler said:

I would give it a solid 'overpriced' rating.  Take the bus for 2 bucks and get some exercise.

Absolutely agree!  We are seniors in our 70’s and did the walk there and back from bus stop just fine. Plus if you have a Federal golden age passport there is no admission fee. Do the tram too. Worth $35 and if you have the $50 excursion perk it’s only net $20 for 2!

[Pduaime]

It's been several years since we did the Mendanhall and salmon bake excursion on Holland America so hopefully my memories are correct. I assume NCL's excursion would be similar.  I think it was about a 1 mile walk from the visitor center to the best viewing area at the base of the glacier.   We're pretty fast walkers, so we got there pretty quickly, but I wish we would have been able to spend more time there.  It is so amazing.   The whale watching and salmon bake was also very nice.  Saw whales more close up than on some of my Hawaii excursions.  Again, if I remember correctly, the salmon bake was on an island after the whale watch.  After dinner it was a very nice area to hang out.   Very peaceful.    FYI - the salmon is not "baked".  It was grilled over a wood fire, so it has a smoky taste.  Not uncommon when cooking for a group, the fish was a bit overdone for my taste, but not extremely.   If you want yours a bit more to the rare side, like my husband does, you might be able to ask the chef directly.   They offered coffee and maybe lemonade, but I think they also had a small cash bar.  On a scale of 1-5, it was a 5.

 

Also echo doing the tram up the mountain.  Fabulous !!  There are  many trails at the top to wander around overlooking the town and ships.   We had booked the afternoon trip to the glacier, so we spent the morning up there.   Juneau was by far our favorite port of the entire cruise. 

[Budget Queen]

Ok some off track answers. 😀😀.  A “tour” of Mendenhall is a mistake in some cases.   Fixed time time is a negative.  Especially if you want to do the popular Nugget Falls Trail.   I also suggest just looking at your weather and booking the Gold Creek Salmon Bake as walk up.   It’s covered but outside.    

 

There are. Shuttle buses to both from the tram parking lot.    The public bus mentioned- leaves from the transportation center.  Drop off is 1.5 miles away from the Mendenhall Visitor Center.  Taking the public bus I suggest adding the Trail of Time.  😀.  (I was there 3 times this summer- just excellent).  

[don't-use-real-name]

2 years ago took a combo Mendenhall - Mt. Roberts NCL package tour.

Bus took us through Juneau and out to the glacier.

Had time to walk the trail to Nugget falls taking random pictures from various points.

Returned to take more pictures from in front of the Visitor Center.

Went inside to see a short movie presentation - and WAIT FOR IT - - -

Could not finish 'Sorry folks our tour bus has called gotta leave' !

Just not enough time to do everything completely.

On the return to do Mt. Roberts you would be on your own to timely return to your ship.

Fortunately we were not at the AJ dock and after the Mt. Roberts tram trip we went on board

to our ship (NCL SUN) docked right next to the tram.

 

To top this off it was a rainy windy day - what's new it is business as usual Alaska autumn weather

 

Synopsis: Some tours do not leave you enough time to enjoy all the features of what you are visiting.

Caution not all the fine print tour description in the Shore Excursion will or can be accomplished.

 

Both the Mendenhall and Mt. Roberts are worth seeing/doing - but don't waste too much time

[canole1983]

14 hours ago, _Mr.G_ said:

 

It was about 100 USD + Tax per person, 3hrs Whale Watching, 1 hrs Mendenhall Glacier plus time needed for shuttle transfers.

Ok thank you. 🙂

[canole1983]

6 hours ago, ddlb said:

Absolutely agree!  We are seniors in our 70’s and did the walk there and back from bus stop just fine. Plus if you have a Federal golden age passport there is no admission fee. Do the tram too. Worth $35 and if you have the $50 excursion perk it’s only net $20 for 2!

Awesome thanks!!!

[canole1983]

5 hours ago, Budget Queen said:

Ok some off track answers. 😀😀.  A “tour” of Mendenhall is a mistake in some cases.   Fixed time time is a negative.  Especially if you want to do the popular Nugget Falls Trail.   I also suggest just looking at your weather and booking the Gold Creek Salmon Bake as walk up.   It’s covered but outside.    

 

There are. Shuttle buses to both from the tram parking lot.    The public bus mentioned- leaves from the transportation center.  Drop off is 1.5 miles away from the Mendenhall Visitor Center.  Taking the public bus I suggest adding the Trail of Time.  😀.  (I was there 3 times this summer- just excellent).  

thanks for the info!

[bssc]

Took the helicopter tour years ago.  We enjoyed it, landed on the glacier and go to walk around.  Give it a 4.5.

Edited September 28, 2019 by bssc

[smplybcause]

Unless it's part of a tour (or you have the shore excursion credit) I would suggest booking the tram day of. It was in the clouds all day when I was there. I couldn't even see the top of the mountain all day and someone I met that went up there said she couldn't see anything except the top of the mountain.

[4774Papa]

On 9/26/2019 at 9:40 PM, canole1983 said:

Has anyone been on the Mendenhall Glacier/Salmon Bake shore excursion in Juneau? If so what would you rate your experience on a scale of 1 to 5? Thanks y'all.

We took a private tour that included the Mendenhall Glacier and whale watching.  It was nice.

[bearette]

My group took a taxi from the port and called him when we were.ready.for.pick up. This worked out great because we were one of the first there and visited without the crowds.

[billslowsky]

5 hours ago, 4774Papa said:

We took a private tour that included the Mendenhall Glacier and whale watching.  It was nice.

Same here.  We booked a company called "Alaska Tales Whale Watching" through Alaska Shore Excursions and were very pleased.  The bus to the glacier was just a school bus; the boat we went out on was very modern.

[don't-use-real-name]

2 hours ago, billslowsky said:

Same here.  We booked a company called "Alaska Tales Whale Watching" through Alaska Shore Excursions and were very pleased.  The bus to the glacier was just a school bus; the boat we went out on was very modern.

So you went to sea a school of fish using a school bus and a modern pea green boat - no cat in the fiddle though !  LOL !

[canole1983]

Thank you everyone for responding, y'all have been very helpful. My husband and I have decided to wait until we get to Juneau to see how the weather is. Then from there we will decide what we would like to do. ☺

[billslowsky]

39 minutes ago, canole1983 said:

Thank you everyone for responding, y'all have been very helpful. My husband and I have decided to wait until we get to Juneau to see how the weather is. Then from there we will decide what we would like to do. ☺

At the dock in Juneau there are booths that string out for what seems like 100 yards with tour vendors.  Read up on which ones have better reviews ahead of time and you'll find something you want.

[don't-use-real-name]

As a side note remember if you have that $50 (per cabin) shore excursion promo to factor that in on the

cost of your selection. Do this with all port shore excursions. At Juneau the Mt. Roberts tram is almost a freebe.

Only NCL sanctioned shore excursions apply.