ideas for Juneau excursions

[sweetsly]

Any suggestions for Juneau excursions? So far, we have decided on the Mendenhall Glacier Explorer tour and also purchasing tix for the Mount Robert Tramway but we don't leave port until 9 Pm so we would like to do something else also

[NancyIL]

What does the Mendenhall Glacier Explorer tour include? You can take a shuttle to Mendenhall Glacier from near where the ship docks for $12/pp roundtrip: http://www.mightygreattrips.com/se_alaska_shore_excursions.htm

[sweetsly]

thanks for the reply and the great website! The Mendenhall Glacier Explorer tour offered by Princess is $36pp and includes roundtrip transportation and some kind of tour of downtown Juneau-the $12 fare sounds like a better way to go unless downtown Juneau is really interesting:)

[NancyIL]

thanks for the reply and the great website! The Mendenhall Glacier Explorer tour offered by Princess is $36pp and includes roundtrip transportation and some kind of tour of downtown Juneau-the $12 fare sounds like a better way to go unless downtown Juneau is really interesting:)

 

You'll notice that Mighty Great Trips does a 2.5-hour tour of downtown as well as the outlying area, spending about 45 minutes at Mendenhall Glacier - for $25/pp. Or - you could take the $12 shuttle and walk around downtown, cuz it's pretty close to where the ships dock.

[F19810]

I would not get tickets for the tram ahead of time. If it is cloudy or raining, you may not want to go on it. It is easy to get tickets once you are in Juneau.

Judy

[F19810]

I would not get tickets for the tram ahead of time. If it is cloudy or raining, you may not want to go on it. It is easy to get tickets once you are in Juneau.

Judy

[sweetsly]

thanks for the advice Judy-we were wondering if you we could wait to get tickets

[Budget Queen]

For clairfication, MGT offers a great Mendenhall TOUR. Drive by narration of the downtown area, a stop at Mendenhall Glacier enough for a short walk to Photo trail, stop at Chapel on the Lake, and a drive on to Douglas Island with a photo stop of your ship. They also run the shuttle to Mendenhall which is transportation only.

[Travel Lover]

I have a question... While in Juneau I am wanting to see Mendenhal Glacier as well as Whale watching. NCL - Pearl has an excursion that does both. If anyone has done this tour do you get enough time at the glacier to take pictures and look for a little while or does it mainly just drive by it and say there it is?

I am wondering if I should do this combined tour or if I should just do whale watching and then the glacier on our own?

We do not get to port until 2 so I was thinking it may be better to just do this combined tour.

Thanks

[Budget Queen]

It is a short stop, less than an hour with the combo cruisetour. If you want more time and freedom, consider Orca Enterprises' 3:30pm tour with a drop off at Mendenhall after- verify in advance if it is available your day of arrival. Then you just take a $6 shuttle back downtown when ready.

 

You do not want to separate these two, especially with a late arrival, you will add an hour in shuttle time if you don't combo book.

[NancyIL]

It is a short stop, less than an hour with the combo cruisetour. If you want more time and freedom, consider Orca Enterprises' 3:30pm tour with a drop off at Mendenhall after- verify in advance if it is available your day of arrival. Then you just take a $6 shuttle back downtown when ready.

 

You do not want to separate these two, especially with a late arrival, you will add an hour in shuttle time if you don't combo book.

 

Will the shuttles still be running from Mendenhall after a 3.5-hour whale watch at 3:30?

[curiousl8y]

For clairfication, MGT offers a great Mendenhall TOUR. Drive by narration of the downtown area, a stop at Mendenhall Glacier enough for a short walk to Photo trail, stop at Chapel on the Lake, and a drive on to Douglas Island with a photo stop of your ship. They also run the shuttle to Mendenhall which is transportation only.

 

Is there another shuttle option besides MGT? Our experience with MGT was not great.

 

We were on a time constraint due to our whale watching tour, but we wanted to run up to Mendenhall for an hour or so. After purchasing our tickets and waiting more than an hour (that shuttle bus was NOT running every half hour), a shuttle bus finally showed up, and the driver was this really grumpy guy who got out of the bus and proceeded to yell at all the people who were lining up to get on the bus, and tell them that if there was any crowding he wouldn't drive them.

 

We sat and watched that little scenario for about 15 minutes, the bus was still nowhere near ready to leave, so we asked for our money back - the girl at the ticket booth was very sweet and apologetic - and we took a cab out to Mendenhall.

 

We were out there about an hour, and passed that shuttle bus just coming up.

 

Maybe it's different now. I'm just relating my experience.

 

Linda

[Travel Lover]

Budget Queen

I am curious too. How late do the shuttles run? If I do the Orca Enterprise at 3:30 It will be really late when we want to take the shuttle back to the town. Will that work out? I know this is dumb but I guess there is still plenty of daylight for the glacier too, right? I think according to a site I saw it sunsets that day around 9:40.

 

Do I just buy a ticket there at the glacier for the shuttle back or do I need to pre buy that on line somewhere?

 

Thank you

[CanCanCase]

I have a question... While in Juneau I am wanting to see Mendenhal Glacier as well as Whale watching. NCL - Pearl has an excursion that does both. If anyone has done this tour do you get enough time at the glacier to take pictures and look for a little while or does it mainly just drive by it and say there it is?

I am wondering if I should do this combined tour or if I should just do whale watching and then the glacier on our own?

We do not get to port until 2 so I was thinking it may be better to just do this combined tour.

Thanks

Most (but not all) whale watching tours will happily arrange a visit to the glacier either before or after. Inquire with ANY independant whale watch operator and see if they'll accomodate the combo. As BQ suggested, once you're dropped at the glacier, you can catch a shuttle or taxi back to town. If timing is tight and you don't want to wait for a shuttle on the half-hour +/-, you can always arrange a timed pickup by taxi... a bit more money if you cab, however.

 

-Case

[NancyIL]

Most (but not all) whale watching tours will happily arrange a visit to the glacier either before or after. Inquire with ANY independant whale watch operator and see if they'll accomodate the combo. As BQ suggested, once you're dropped at the glacier, you can catch a shuttle or taxi back to town. If timing is tight and you don't want to wait for a shuttle on the half-hour +/-, you can always arrange a timed pickup by taxi... a bit more money if you cab, however.

 

-Case

 

A 3:30 whale watch will end around 7 p.m., and the MGT transfer runs only until 6:30. A taxi from Mendenhall back to the ship looks like the only option at that time.

[Travel Lover]

Thanks, that is what I was thinking. I thought it was kinda late but I also thought they may run shuttles late since it stays daylight late.

I will look around.

Thank you

[Travel Lover]

Thanks, that is what I was thinking. I thought it was kinda late but I also thought they may run shuttles late since it stays daylight late.

I will look around.

Thank you

[Red Rox]

I've read some very recent posts at another website (Trip Advisor.com) that recommend using MGT because it is less expensive and just as convenient(and flexible). Unless you feel the need to have someone holding your hand and being right there for you every moment, I would skip the extraneous tour and just get the ride to the glacier. I understand there's agreat visitor center there so you can decide on what you want to do at the glacier then. That is what we plan to do anyway.

[swansonia]

Any suggestions for Juneau excursions? So far, we have decided on the Mendenhall Glacier Explorer tour and also purchasing tix for the Mount Robert Tramway but we don't leave port until 9 Pm so we would like to do something else also

Not to take away from Mendenhall glacier ideas, I would like to recommend the Taku Wilderness Lodge if your schedule permits. You get to fly to the lodge in a floatplane, have a delicious meal, and walk around the premises. There is a beautiful view of the Taku Glacier from the lodge area. There are breathtaking views on the flight there. The people that run this tour we very friendly and it was one of the highlights of my cruise.

[suefalls]

Ditto Taku Lodge Wonderful floatplane ride over glaciers, beautiful secluded lodge right next to glacier, great food, great hosts

[Paintguru]

Right now we are thinking about doing the kayaking in Juneau. Not sure yet though.

[nextelcup]

Regarding MGT: Here is the response I received when I e-mailed them and asked some questions regarding our June 15 visit...

 

"You may purchase your one way ticket from the driver of the Glacier Express at the Glacier. The cost is $6.00 per person, the last bus back from the Glacier is usually at 5:00 or 5:30pm."

[ipoder]

This is a query for Can Can Case or anyone familiar with the Juneau Mendenhall Glacier trails. Is there any danger of meeting a bear while hiking on one of the longer trails in early August? Also, what is the best way for a group of four to get to the park? Lots of time in port. Thinking of a rental car but if it is raining would probably not want to do the long hike so maybe rental car wouldn't be best way to go. If we reserve a car we would be obligated to rent it.

Thanks to anyone who can help,

Ipoder

p.s. Any thoughts on which is best for zip line excursion? Juneau or Ketchikan?

[ipoder]

This is a query for Can Can Case or anyone familiar with the Juneau Mendenhall Glacier trails. Is there any danger of meeting a bear while hiking on one of the longer trails in early August? Also, what is the best way for a group of four to get to the park? Lots of time in port. Thinking of a rental car but if it is raining would probably not want to do the long hike so maybe rental car wouldn't be best way to go. If we reserve a car we would be obligated to rent it.

Thanks to anyone who can help,

Ipoder

p.s. Any thoughts on which is best for zip line excursion? Juneau or Ketchikan?

[CanCanCase]

This is a query for Can Can Case or anyone familiar with the Juneau Mendenhall Glacier trails. Is there any danger of meeting a bear while hiking on one of the longer trails in early August? Also, what is the best way for a group of four to get to the park? Lots of time in port. Thinking of a rental car but if it is raining would probably not want to do the long hike so maybe rental car wouldn't be best way to go. If we reserve a car we would be obligated to rent it.

Thanks to anyone who can help,

Ipoder

p.s. Any thoughts on which is best for zip line excursion? Juneau or Ketchikan?

 

The bear "threat" at Mendenhall is one I've never taken too seriously... until this year. I guess I'm just accustomed to making a lot of noise when I hike anyway... comes naturally, so unless I'm actually looking for bears, I rarely see them or have any sort of encounter. This past year, however, I noticed quite an increase in the Park Ranger activity at the Mendenhall Visitor Center. I asked one of them what was up, and they casually mentioned they had a bit of a bear problem this year, so they were "manning" the trails to keep 1 or 2 pesky bears warded off.

 

You can check at the Visitor Center and ask how the trails have been lately, and if the Rangers think there is much activity. Even if not, don't enjoy the peace and quiet too much while you're hiking. Make noise. Some folks carry a large "jingle bell" on their pack when hiking alone. I've always had my kids with me, and wow...can my 6 year old daughter talk!

 

As far as your paragraph about getting there goes... If you want to tour around on your own, a rental car is a great way to go. DO NOT visit Alaska in the summertime and plan based on good weather, with contingency plans "in case it rains." IT WILL RAIN. Plan for it and count on it. (If it doesn't rain while you visit, consider it a pleasant surprise!) If the hike and visit at Mendenhall is your only point of interest away from downtown, it would be less expensive to take the shuttles ($6 each way times 4 folks is $48 round trip.) For about $60 you can charter a taxi for an hour as well... Most drivers will happily split up your hour... 30 minutes out, with a nice narrative and 30 minutes back with another good narrative and some lunch/dinner suggestions. Many of the cabbies here will only recommend the places where they've been given the biggest bar tab, but it's always good to gather all the local knowledge and info you can.

 

I'll leave the zip line question for someone else. I'm biased toward the Juneau zip tour, but a friend of mine drives the shuttle boat for those tours, and my opinion doesn't really have much to do with the "user experience" you'll get...

 

-Case