Dog sledding with helicopter landing vs. Tracy Arm Fjord boat tour in Juneau

[cruiserdiver]

Hubby and I live in Australia and have never been to Alaska. We are travelling over to meet my brother and sister-in-law from Florida on an Alaskan cruise next May. We are so excited! I need some help/suggestions on excursions. I would like to do the Tracy Arm Fjord boat tour and it looks like this can only be achieved through the Juneau port. The things that appeal to me about this excursion are that it looks as if you get closer to the glacier wall and experience seeing the floating ice as well as sea life. I am also liking the idea of experiencing one of the dog sledding excursions (the ones on snow or glacier) and the one I keep seeing is only out of Juneau. I would love any info from all of your experiences out there that can help me choose between these two adventures from Juneau. Does anyone know if Tracy Arm can be toured from another cruise port? Does anyone know or have experience/ recommend dogsledding excursions (on snow or glacier) out of any port other than Juneau. Thank you all in advance for any help with this.

[Coral]

Tracy Arm is only going to be out of Juneau.

 

Dog sledding on glacier can be done out of Skagway also.

[cruiserdiver]

13 minutes ago, Coral said:

Tracy Arm is only going to be out of Juneau.

 

Dog sledding on glacier can be done out of Skagway also.

Thank you. I will check that out. 

I just had a look and it seems the dog sledding I could find out of Skagway is on dirt paths and not snow or ice. 

Edited October 29, 2023 by cruiserdiver

[Coral]

11 minutes ago, cruiserdiver said:

Thank you. I will check that out. 

I just had a look and it seems the dog sledding I could find out of Skagway is on dirt paths and not snow or ice. 

They do land on a glacier in Skagway, though conditions can be cancelled due to weather (in any port).

[cruiserdiver]

11 minutes ago, Coral said:

They do land on a glacier in Skagway, though conditions can be cancelled due to weather (in any port).

Thank you for getting back to me. I have now found a few glacier options to check into.

[Northern Aurora]

1 hour ago, cruiserdiver said:

…..

I just had a look and it seems the dog sledding I could find out of Skagway is on dirt paths and not snow or ice. 

 Use goggle to find the Temsco helicopter tour website.  They do glacier landings to dog sled camps in both Juneau and Skagway.

[LeeW]

Some cruises will do an independent boat when they cruise Tracy Arm.  This costs similar to the one at Hubbard Glacier ($350-400US pp).  This boat departs directly from the ship.  Boat and floatplane tours also leave from Juneau.  These are cheaper.

 

Helicopter glacier landings with dog sled are usually out of Juneau.  Lots of operators and can be $500 or more.

 

Your May trip is early season, so assuming the weather cooperates you have a good chance of flying up to the glaciers.  We've been fogged out later.

 

We actually prefer to go whale watching out of Juneau.  This can also be done from Icy Straights if your ship goes there.  For Skagway we often do a float down the river at the eagle preserve (requires a long stop in Skagway since you take a ferry over to Haines).

[Sparky74]

DW & I loved our Alaskan cruise last year. We’re Aussies too. 
I had booked a helicopter flight and dog sledding on Mendenhall Glacier and it was cancelled on the day due to the weather. This was a bitter disappointment but we made the most of it and managed to pick up a whale watching trip on the dock. 
 

Here's a link to my review from that day.