Best Alaska Excursions

[HippieChick02]

I'll be on the Ruby Princess in September (10 Day R/T from San Francisco), first time in Alaska, but not first time cruising in general.

 

After some research, I booked the Whale Watching and Salmon Bake for Juneau, the Totem Bight State Park and Lumberjack show from Ketchikan and just the White Pass Scenic Railway for Skagway.

 

Nothing looks interesting in Price Rupert, so wondering what I should do there or if there is an excursion I overlooked that is really good.

 

Did I make good choices for the other stops or would anything else have been preferable? For Skagway, in particular, I debated a long time on adding the Railway plus Yukon, but found almost 5 of the 8 hours was on a bus and that didn't seem fun. I opted for just the train, but that leaves a lot of time in port. Should I leave that time to explore on my own around the pier? Or maybe book another excursion? I booked a late afternoon train as there is a Skagway in Focus Photography tour that morning that I could still do but reviews are mixed. Some say its awesome, others say its boring. Has anyone done it? Is it worth it?

[Rick&Jeannie]

We've done both the White Pass RR and the Lumberjack show.  Both are great!  You will enjoy them.  The scenery for the RR is amazing!

[Thrak]

22 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

We've done both the White Pass RR and the Lumberjack show.  Both are great!  You will enjoy them.  The scenery for the RR is amazing!

 

We've cruised Alaska several times. The first time we did the White Pass RR and it was great. On our last cruise to Alaska we gave in and booked the Lumberjack Show. We figured it would be fairly hokey and, while we weren't wrong, we did enjoy the show and were glad to have finally checked it out.

[SiliconCruiser]

Prince Rupert is not yet developed as a tourist trap.  It is a port that is used in lieu of Victoria for a PVSA stop, because of the whales in that body of water.  That being said, Prince Rupert is a great place to just go and explore on your own.  Nice people, with non-touristy attractions.  There are some van tours that are available and are reasonably priced.

[kasowell2]

Did the whale watching and salmon bake last year. It was really good. The salmon and food were really good but we wished we had done the glacier instead so we are going back in September and doing the whale watching and glacier tour

[LeeW]

Downside of booking whale watching through cruise is massive number of people on the boat.  Looks kind of like a refugee boat when you see it from outside.  Try alaskashoretours.com - around 20 people on a large enclosed jet boat.  Can be booked either with or without trip to Mendenhall Glacier. Don't remember a salmon bake option so you would need to consider which is more important, space on boat or food.

 

Never been to lumberjack show but is often available as walkup.  Check online prices versus prices through ship.  We usually just walk around town, Creek Street and up to the totem museum.  Best shopping port on cruise.  Have already done Neets Bay floatplane there (around $400pp).

 

Train is good, taken twice in seven trips.  But seats are not very comfortable.  We do Eagle Preserve rafting trip if the cruise stop is long enough.  Usually book through ship but expensive.

[Poodle Lady]

We recently went Whale Watching with Jayleen, of Jayleens Alaska. She does small group tours. Our group was 5 adults.  We called her the whale whisperer. Even though it was early in the season she found about 10 whales, including a mother/baby pair. She's very knowledgable about the sealife in Juneau and can identify them by their tail markings. Jayleens tour was one of the best excursions of our entire trip!

[Italy52]

3 minutes ago, Poodle Lady said:

We recently went Whale Watching with Jayleen, of Jayleens Alaska. She does small group tours. Our group was 5 adults.  We called her the whale whisperer. Even though it was early in the season she found about 10 whales, including a mother/baby pair. She's very knowledgable about the sealife in Juneau and can identify them by their tail markings. Jayleens tour was one of the best excursions of our entire trip!

We have gone out with Jayleen numerous times.  She is our "go to" independent vendor whenever we are going to whale watch in Juneau.

[Cali Viajera]

We booked  Liquid Alaska’s Mendenhall canoe trip. So thrilling to be on the lake with a unique perspective of the glacier🛶

[world_traveler_et]

In Juneau the Pilot's Choice tour with Temsco was excellent.  The tour lands on two separate glaciers.  We landed on the Gilkey Glacier and a top the Juneau Icefields.  This tour was early in the morning and I still had time to take the Blue/White bus to Mendanhall Glacier and walk to Nugget Falls.

 

In Skagway there are many train excursions some are round trip and others are one way with a return by bus/motorcoach.  My favorite train excursion is the Scenic Bennett Journey.   I booked independent with Chilkoot Charter and tour.  If people are hesitant of doing another train ride; especially if they were on the land tour before the cruise than I can recommend Chilkoot's  Yukon Klondike Adventure.  I took that tour in 2015.

 

[Kay S]

9 hours ago, LeeW said:

 

 

Never been to lumberjack show but is often available as walkup.  Check online prices versus prices through ship.  

I have seen it a few times. It is surprisingly fun. Not just for kids. 

[mtnesterz]

You mention a lot of time in post in Skagway after your rail excursion. Skagway has such an interesting history, it is our favorite place to walk and shop. There is a significant walk from the pier to town, if you have a mobility challenge. If your rail trip should fall through and you like history, consider the Ghosts and Goodtime Girls walking tour. Fair notice that quality of the tour is dependant on your tour guide's personality. Our guide, Shirley Worthit, wore an 1890's brothel costume and was a real character. In the lower 48, she was a college history major and has probably moved on.

Edited June 1, 2023 by mtnesterz