Which excursions are worth the price?

[titodewy]

Hello,

There are many different excursions to purchase when we get to the various ports on our HAL Alaska 7 day Glacier Discovery Cruise.

Many excursions are quite expensive so I am asking for advice and opinions on which ones are worth the money and which ones are not.

I am open to doing most everything except since I will have been on NINE hr 🙀 train ride earlier on my trip, I don't think I will want to get on another train ride as one of my excursions. I just want to try and make the best choice. Any feedback is appreciated!

 

[Alberta Quilter]

Assuming your ports are the usual Juneau, Skagway & Ketchikan, I recommend whale watching in Juneau, the train ride in Skagway, and the Bering crab fishermans tour in Ketchikan.  Some of these you can book on your own for less money so you should read up on the Alaska ports of call forum for more information.  Some also recommend a flight seeing tour. Especially if this is the only time you think you'll be going to Alaska.  I'll warn you now, though, you might get hooked like so many of us have.

 

Oh, just saw that you'll have a long train ride.  I assume that's to or from Denali.  If so, I still recommend the Skagway train; it's lovely and an engineering marvel.  It's only a three hour trip, round trip.

[titodewy]

Yes, I do want to go Whale watching. I will be there in mid May so I hope that's not to early in the season.

[CruiserBruce]

What does "worth it" mean to you? Probably a lot of different things to different people.

[titodewy]

Yeah, I probably won't know until I do it. I have not taken many"excursions" before so they seem expensive. Of course I am interested in all the $400.00 and up excursions.

[0106]

You can probably book most of your excursions independently for half the price HAL charges.  I only book HAL for excursions if the site is far away from the port or in a sketchy area. (Or to use up my HIA credit.)

[titodewy]

Right now, the only Whale watching excursion HAL has listed is Luxury at $480.00 per person.

I guess I need references for other Whale watching outfitters in Juneau.

[jakers]

In Juneau, I recommend whale watching with Alaska Travel Adventures. I have been with them for three trips now and they always do a good job. You can combine the whale watching with a trip to Mendenhall Glacier and the Salmon Bake. Harv and Marv's also does a good job.

[titodewy]

Thanks for the recommendations!

How far away are they from the cruise ship? Will I need transfer to get to their dock/marina?

[Lido deck main]

I am on a cruise in Alaska right now. In Juneau you can purchase whale watching cruise tour for $188.00 per person on the dock.  For Skagway you can purchase train tickets at the station in town, 15 minute walk for $155.00 per person, In Ketichan we took city bus $2.00 exact cash per person each way to Totem Bright State Park.  We were in Wittier and took independent 26 Glacier cruise with AAA discount was $390.00 total two people, people on ship paid $259.00 per person.  We were on exact same cruise even sitting with people who were on HAL excursion.  It is up to you, just so you know you have off ship options.

[oakridger]

5 hours ago, titodewy said:

Thanks for the recommendations!

How far away are they from the cruise ship? Will I need transfer to get to their dock/marina?

Harv and Marv whale watching picks you up at the dock.  We had a great time with them!

 

~Nanc

[Mary229]

Alaska has been very popular lately and I would book your most wanted excursions asap. Many of the tour operators watch what the cruise lines charge and match the prices so you will not always save money by going independent. Also many of the tour operators prefer to work with the cruise lines as the cruise lines have insurance to cover lost revenue.  Either way, choose early and reserve.  May will be better than June as far as availability.  

whale watching tours fill up quickly  

[0106]

You may have more luck on the Alaska Ports of Call forum or on Trip Advisor.  I agree you should book early.

 

[Hlitner]

Worth the price?  My short answer would be NONE!  While we certainly like many of the things done and places visited via excursions, we suggest that for the price you take a small group private tour or simply do it on your own?  But, we do have one exception for Alaska which is the very pricy dog sled/glacier excursions (done via helicopter).  A truly amazing experience if one gets lucky with the weather.

 

Hank

[ghstudio]

if offered on your cruise, take the helicopter tour up to the glacier and visit the dog sledding camp....including a dog sled ride.  Expensive, but worth the cost. 

[Crew News]

After many Alaska cruises, my top excursion is dogsledding in Skagway for a once in a lifetime experience.  Feeling the snow hitting my face as the dogs pull the sled was truly exciting and the photo opportunities memorable.

 

Bering Sea Crab Fishing is my favorite for Ketchikan with the true value of the excursion for me is the eagle feeding photo opportunities.  The crab fishing demos are quite educational and the stories of the TV series very interesting.

 

Juneau whale watching offers great whale spotting and photos from April thru September in my experience.  All of the vendors swarm to any whale spotting as they speak continuously via radio, so no vendor can be the "best" for spotting whales.  As I have posted before, the difference in vendors/boats is the facilities.  Larger boats have better guest amenities.

 

Skagway Dogsledding

 

 

Ketchikan Crab Fishing

 

 

 

 

Juneau Whale Watching

 

 

[Crew News]

15 hours ago, titodewy said:

Thanks for the recommendations!

How far away are they from the cruise ship? Will I need transfer to get to their dock/marina?

Juneau whale watching is about 25 minutes from the dock. 

 

Ketchikan crab fishing is about a 10 minute walk from the downtown dock. 

 

Skagway has several berths that may be closer to the helicopter landing area than others.  If berthed near the cliff (farthest away), dogsledding picks up at the pier (shuttle bus from the ship to the end of the pier) and about 10 minute drive to the helicopter landing area.

[FOPMan]

16 hours ago, Lido deck main said:

I am on a cruise in Alaska right now. In Juneau you can purchase whale watching cruise tour for $188.00 per person on the dock.  For Skagway you can purchase train tickets at the station in town, 15 minute walk for $155.00 per person, In Ketichan we took city bus $2.00 exact cash per person each way to Totem Bright State Park.  We were in Wittier and took independent 26 Glacier cruise with AAA discount was $390.00 total two people, people on ship paid $259.00 per person.  We were on exact same cruise even sitting with people who were on HAL excursion.  It is up to you, just so you know you have off ship options.

The Whittier cruise was likely operated by Captain Phillips. It is definitely good for the money. They can also provide transportation to/from Anchorage- my mother was aboard several weeks ago, including northbound bus service.

[FLAlaska]

In Skagway, my favorite is always renting a car and driving up to Emerald Lake.(mostly you are driving alongside the train) You can follow Murrays Guide (you can find it on google). Love being able to that at our own pace and stopping when we wished

[titodewy]

On 7/22/2024 at 11:16 PM, Lido deck main said:

I am on a cruise in Alaska right now. In Juneau you can purchase whale watching cruise tour for $188.00 per person on the dock.  For Skagway you can purchase train tickets at the station in town, 15 minute walk for $155.00 per person, In Ketichan we took city bus $2.00 exact cash per person each way to Totem Bright State Park.  We were in Wittier and took independent 26 Glacier cruise with AAA discount was $390.00 total two people, people on ship paid $259.00 per person.  We were on exact same cruise even sitting with people who were on HAL excursion.  It is up to you, just so you know you have off ship options.

Thanks lots of good info!

[titodewy]

On 7/22/2024 at 11:16 PM, Lido deck main said:

I am on a cruise in Alaska right now. In Juneau you can purchase whale watching cruise tour for $188.00 per person on the dock.  For Skagway you can purchase train tickets at the station in town, 15 minute walk for $155.00 per person, In Ketichan we took city bus $2.00 exact cash per person each way to Totem Bright State Park.  We were in Wittier and took independent 26 Glacier cruise with AAA discount was $390.00 total two people, people on ship paid $259.00 per person.  We were on exact same cruise even sitting with people who were on HAL excursion.  It is up to you, just so you know you have off ship options.

Can you get on the city bus near Creek St? Do you know how often it's runs to Totem Bright? Did you have to wait long to get the return bus?

[zqvol]

2 hours ago, titodewy said:

Can you get on the city bus near Creek St? Do you know how often it's runs to Totem Bright? Did you have to wait long to get the return bus?

Did you look at the City of Ketchikan website?

[peety3]

Juneau we always recommend any of the whale watches by Gastineau Guiding. Their boats are IMHO the best out there for whale watching and pictures, but our favorite is their "photo safari". This one is on their smallest boat (14 pax) which has an open area at the bow that you can use when the boat is stopped; the other tours are on their 20 pax boats which also have a stern platform. All of their boats have large panel windows that the crew can swing up and out of the way so the whole window opening becomes open air for easier viewing and better pictures.

Ketchikan we now recommend the crab fishermen's tour. The passengers get to watch the crew demonstrate lots of fishing techniques, and they have pots placed specifically to catch and show various creatures.

Skagway we tend to rotate what we do, as there's always the train but there's also a fast ferry to/from Haines which opens up more options.

[wolfie11]

On 7/22/2024 at 6:24 PM, jakers said:

In Juneau, I recommend whale watching with Alaska Travel Adventures. I have been with them for three trips now and they always do a good job. You can combine the whale watching with a trip to Mendenhall Glacier and the Salmon Bake. Harv and Marv's also does a good job.

ATA doesn’t do whale watches.  They’re a shore excursion broker.  Highly rated in Juneau are Jayleen and Harv and Marv.

[titodewy]

12 hours ago, zqvol said:

Did you look at the City of Ketchikan website?

Not yet, good suggestion!