First time Alaska cruiser needs help planning excursions

[amzgirl]

I just booked my first, hopefully not my last, Alaska cruise.  June 30-July 7 on the Anthem of the Seas.  Yes I know it does not go to Glacier Bay. There are three of us (my 26 year old son has autism and always travels with us) and we are flying from Florida so the cruise and airfare alone is quite pricey.  The excursions are also quite pricey (yes I know why, not complaining just stating a fact) and I am trying to figure out the best ways to spend our time in port.

 

We will be in Stitka, Skagway, Juneau, and Victoria.

 

We love walks (but not strenuous hikes) food, a bit of history, mountains, fjords, and nature.  Shopping (aside from some souveniers) is not our thing.  My son is happy wherever he goes. I can swing one pricey excursion from the cruise line, but not three or four.

 

I would LOVE your best ideas on what to do at those ports. I am just starting planning.

 

This community is so amazing and a blessing to have.  Thanks in advance.

 

Alice

[Birdwatch]

I am taking my first Alaska cruise next year so I can't comment on the Alaska ports but I have visited Victoria. It is lovely. Buchart Gardens are definitely worth a visit. Whale watching was really a treat. I'll be interested to follow this thread! 

[peety3]

Step 1: check the timing of your Victoria stop. You may find that it's so short that you're either going to walk the downtown or skip the port altogether.

 

Step 2: rule out the flying excursions. Last I checked, these were priced almost down to the "dollars per minute of flying time" and nothing else about the tour had any bearing on the price except maybe a meal. While these can be epic, they're expensive for their time so better to defer those to a future cruise if/when you decide one of those is worthy enough to bounce to the top of your list.

 

Step 3: not to oversummarize, but you could say that Skagway is all about the train and Juneau is mostly about the whale watches. The train in Skagway comes in two high-level forms: out and back by train, OR one way by train, the other way by some other means of transportation. What that means of transportation is can depend on the tour. You could find tours that are train out and bike back, many are train one way and bus the other, and some incorporate some bonus stops if not activities (canoeing, kayaking, a suspension bridge to walk across, food/meals, etc.). The whale watches in Juneau come in a variety of flavors but usually there's at least SOMETHING packaged with the whale watching, whether it be a meal, a hike, something to do with Mendenhall glacier, etc.

 

YMMV, but what usually works well for me is to go to the cruise line's excursion page for a particular city. I right-click on each excursion offered and "open in new tab". I then flip my way through the tabs and sort the tabs with most desirable to the left and least desirable to the right (and then closing the tab of the absolute least desirables, etc.). You can drag the tabs around to sort as you wish; I usually go from left to right and just decide "is this excursion something I'd rather do more than the 1/2/3/4 excursions to the left of this one?" If so, I drag that tab to the left by whatever number I decided (I usually default to 4) and then go to the next excursion to the right of where that one was. It's tedious but a reasonable way to work a process of elimination.

[amzgirl]

8 hours ago, peety3 said:

 

Step 3: not to oversummarize, but you could say that Skagway is all about the train and Juneau is mostly about the whale watches. The train in Skagway comes in two high-level forms: out and back by train, OR one way by train, the other way by some other means of transportation. What that means of transportation is can depend on the tour. You could find tours that are train out and bike back, many are train one way and bus the other, and some incorporate some bonus stops if not activities (canoeing, kayaking, a suspension bridge to walk across, food/meals, etc.). The whale watches in Juneau come in a variety of flavors but usually there's at least SOMETHING packaged with the whale watching, whether it be a meal, a hike, something to do with Mendenhall glacier, etc.

 

YMMV, but what usually works well for me is to go to the cruise line's excursion page for a particular city. I right-click on each excursion offered and "open in new tab". I then flip my way through the tabs and sort the tabs with most desirable to the left and least desirable to the right (and then closing the tab of the absolute least desirables, etc.). You can drag the tabs around to sort as you wish; I usually go from left to right and just decide "is this excursion something I'd rather do more than the 1/2/3/4 excursions to the left of this one?" If so, I drag that tab to the left by whatever number I decided (I usually default to 4) and then go to the next excursion to the right of where that one was. It's tedious but a reasonable way to work a process of elimination.

Thanks for this advice. Anything flying is out for sure.  I am thinking of a combo boat to wildlife/Mendenhall glacier for Juneau.  For Skagway I am actually thinking of skipping the train and doing a bus/trolley White Pass summit instead, I like the idea of stopping at the various scenic overlooks on the way, and the destination is the same.

Victoria is 5-10PM which is more time than lots of other itineraries I have seen.  It's really a shame Canada gets the short end of the stick.

Good idea on organizing the excursions, I will try that.

Thank you for your helpful advice!

[peety3]

3 hours ago, amzgirl said:

Thanks for this advice. Anything flying is out for sure.  I am thinking of a combo boat to wildlife/Mendenhall glacier for Juneau.  For Skagway I am actually thinking of skipping the train and doing a bus/trolley White Pass summit instead, I like the idea of stopping at the various scenic overlooks on the way, and the destination is the same.

Victoria is 5-10PM which is more time than lots of other itineraries I have seen.  It's really a shame Canada gets the short end of the stick.

Good idea on organizing the excursions, I will try that.

Thank you for your helpful advice!

Canada gets the short end of the stick because it's only there to meet regulations. Cruises that visit US ports have to do one of three things:

1) They can be round-trip from a US port, but must touch a foreign country (same reason almost all Hawaii cruises touch Ensanada Mexico).

2) They can be one-way to/from another country (hence Vancouver to Alaska or vice versa).

3) They can pick up passengers at one US port and drop them off at another US port as long as they visit a distant foreign port; Canada does not qualify as distant.

[Ferry_Watcher]

With your itinerary, and your limited excursion budget, I think I would consider a train excursion with Chilkoot Charters.  They offer a few different options.  I have personally done 'train up, bus down' as well as train up, suspension bridge visit, bus down'.  These two tours were 3.5 hours and 4.5 hours respectively.  It looks like they also offer a  7.5 hour Yukon Rail & Bus Excursion that includes lunch.

 

I like Chilkoot tours because they use a small shuttle bus, and (at least for both our trips) the Chilkoot passengers had their own rail car, so lots of space, and basically everyone could sit on the left side of the train for the better view.  Passengers are also allowed to stand on the platforms between the train cars.  At one point, I was standing out there (May '24) and we went thru a brief snow squall - so cool.

 

You will need a passport for these train rides (required) since you will be entering Canada while onboard.  Again, I would highly recommend Chilkoot.

 

https://chilkootcharters.com/

[curry767]

10 hours ago, amzgirl said:

I like the idea of stopping at the various scenic overlooks on the way, and the destination is the same.

Another option in Skagway is to rent a car and do it yourself. Compare the rental price against the cost of 3 excursions and see if the differential is acceptable. 
 

My preference is the rental car because I’m in control and can get away from the crowds 

[aussielozzie18]

  We spent a week in Victoria before our cruise and loved it.  We (me & my two young adult children) enjoyed walking around the water’s edge to Fisherman’s Wharf for an early dinner on a warm evening. That’s something you could do in your short time frame there.

 

Skagway - we all enjoyed our self drive from Skagway up to Emerald Lake stopping at all the scenic viewpoints, the suspension bridge, Carcross desert along the way.  
 

Sitka - we booked a small group private tour that took us to scenic lookouts as well as the Raptor Centre & the Bear Fortress - we all enjoyed it a lot.

 

Junea - lots and lots of things to do there.  Have fun researching.

[zqvol]

On 8/21/2024 at 6:05 PM, curry767 said:

Another option in Skagway is to rent a car and do it yourself. Compare the rental price against the cost of 3 excursions and see if the differential is acceptable. 
 

My preference is the rental car because I’m in control and can get away from the crowds 

I would never rent a car for Skagway. The driver misses so much of the scenery. It is just not worth it. 

[curry767]

6 hours ago, zqvol said:

I would never rent a car for Skagway. The driver misses so much of the scenery. It is just not worth it. 

I respectfully disagree. Having done this myself, as the driver, it is one of the best excursions I have done in my three cruises to Alaska. I did not find the drive challenging at all and there wasn't much traffic. I don't believe I had read one bad review from anyone that has rented a car, quite the opposite. An example of where the car wins is a wildlife sighting, the train ain't stopping for that and the bus will be on a schedule it has to meet.

Personally I am all for getting away from the masses and doing it myself (see the other threads on overcrowding). Whilst I have no personal experience on the train and note that a lot of people love it, I would prefer to stay away from one if not the most popular tours in Skagway.

Each to their own, but for me, give me a rental car any day.

[SeeUsCruise]

We've been to Skagway, Juneau and Victoria (sorry, haven't been to Sitka).

 

In Skagway, we did the train out and back. We booked this through the ship. It was incredible. We spent most of our time standing outside the train car but also enjoyed being able to go back inside and relax in our seats. It's a few hours and what you see going up is what you see going back...our kids appreciated being able to go back to our seats and lounge off and on. 

 

In Juneau, we did the Glacier Helicopter Tour and Dog-sledding. We booked this through Alaska Shore Excursions...they have multiple offerings in each of the stops. This was very pricey, but one of those once-in-a-lifetime-you're-in-Alaska-so-you-have-to-do-it-experiences. The helicopter portion was about 15 minutes each way.

 

In Juneau, we did a whale watching tour. We booked this through the ship. This was the very last day of our cruise and we wished we would have cancelled it. We had already seen whales from the ship multiple times throughout the cruise, so there wasn't as much surprise and thrill at this point and our kids got bored after following the same whale family for over an hour. Not to be a downer and we may have thought differently if this perhaps was our first stop versus our last.

[floridafish]

Juneau - Coastal Helicopters. They take you to Herbert Glacier. Worth every penny. If you're able, take a morning flight and then grab lunch by the dock.

 

Skagway - White Pass train is a must. I used Chilkoot Charters. Van ride up to Fraser British Columbia. Bring your Passport. Train back to Skagway is about 1.5 hours. Stunning. 

 

Sitka - You need to go whale watching. I would suggest checking out Viator. There is also a beautiful rain forest just on the edge of town.

[julie3fan]

On 8/23/2024 at 7:02 AM, aussielozzie18 said:

Sitka - we booked a small group private tour that took us to scenic lookouts as well as the Raptor Centre & the Bear Fortress - we all enjoyed it a lot.

 

 

Would you happen to recall the name of the company you used?  Thanks!

 

[aussielozzie18]

22 minutes ago, julie3fan said:

 

Would you happen to recall the name of the company you used?  Thanks!

 

Hi Julie.  We used Sitka Wildlife Tours and booked their Premium Scenic Tour.

[julie3fan]

49 minutes ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Hi Julie.  We used Sitka Wildlife Tours and booked their Premium Scenic Tour.

 

Thank you very much!

[SightCRR]

Once you find a tour your think you would like search youtube for personal review and it will be there. Look for the latest ones and not the ad ones. 

[donaldsc]

On 8/23/2024 at 7:50 AM, zqvol said:

I would never rent a car for Skagway. The driver misses so much of the scenery. It is just not worth it. 

 

That totally depends upon the driver.  This driver often sees things that my passenger spouse misses and visa versa.

 

DON

[vermonter16]

We rented a car in Skagway and it was great...with the exception that the car's gas guage had dropped to empty by the time we got to the Canadian border, lol.  We hung out there until the car rental brought us another car and it was smooth sailing!  Plenty of time to do what we wanted and it was just beautiful!

 

[ABQrobin]

We just did an excursion in Ketchikan that your group would probably like... with Wild Wolf Tours.  I did a video showing it but since I get attacked every time I post a video, I won't post the link here.  It was a 3-hour tour with a 1.5 mile hike in the Tongass Forest with a guide telling you everything about all the flora and fauna, absolutely fascinating stuff.  Then you go to the Potlach Totem Park for over an hour tour explaining all the totems and info on the culture.  Small group of 12 people max, pick up at your ship.  Highly recommend it.  

 

[peety3]

6 hours ago, ABQrobin said:

We just did an excursion in Ketchikan that your group would probably like... with Wild Wolf Tours.  I did a video showing it but since I get attacked every time I post a video, I won't post the link here.  It was a 3-hour tour with a 1.5 mile hike in the Tongass Forest with a guide telling you everything about all the flora and fauna, absolutely fascinating stuff.  Then you go to the Potlach Totem Park for over an hour tour explaining all the totems and info on the culture.  Small group of 12 people max, pick up at your ship.  Highly recommend it.  

 

My two cents: feel free to post the link, as long as you've included a synopsis of your thoughts here. Let those who are curious for more details go soak them up, while allowing those who thrive on short & sweet text/pictures here on CC to remain here.

 

We've also done a custom tour with Wild Wolf Tours and enjoyed it immensely. My only "con" was that the guide wasn't interested in negotiating to extend the tour to a longer amount of time. We tried floating that idea months ahead and in person, and while she had no afternoon tour booked, she was ready to go once she dropped us off (she did drop us off at a restaurant for lunch instead of our ship, which was very helpful).

[cruzincraven]

Check out Captain Gary's Sitka Adventures.  He has a land and sea tour that you can do separately or together.  I am looking at this for my cruise next year.  The land tour hits all the highlights I want to see while there.  I am still debating on the sea tour because I have done a whale watching tour in the past.  Check out his reviews on TripAdvisor too.

https://sitkaadventures.com/

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60966-d13447169-Reviews-Cpt_Gary_s_Sitka_Adventures-Sitka_Alaska.html