Alaska without flightseeing

[clopaw]

As I have posted elsewhere on these boards, my husband is visually impaired and he is fortunate enough to have a wonderful guide dog for the blind. Hero is an experienced cruiser with three cruises under his harness, and he is looking forward to the Panama Canal in December and Alaska next May.

 

My husband and I have discussed available tours in Alaska, and we have decided not to take any helicopter or small plane tours. What would be your choices for all land or water based excursions? We will be on Celebrity Summit, a 12 day roundtrip from San Francisco. We stop in Ketchikan, Juneau, Sitka, Icy Straits, Skagway, and Victoria. I am most interested in nonflying alternatives in Juneau and Ketchikan. They seem to be the places where people do the most flightseeing. We will probably go with Captain Larry in Juneau, but that leaves lots of time(we will be there from 11am to 10pm)

 

We are very excited about Alaska. As he gets older, my husband's vision is diminishing. He has limited vision in one eye. He wants to see as much as he can before his vision gets worse. We both enjoy the outdoors, want to see wildlife. His mobility is fine, but we can't do rugged hiking since he can't see what he's walking on very well.

 

Any advice would be appreciated. :)

[redphoenyx]

Not sure how bad his vision is, but we did the Snorkeling Adventure in Ketchikan and it was fantastic. Go first thing in the morning to catch the low tide. The sea life is so close and easy to see. The guides even bring up pieces of sealife for you to hold and touch.

 

Now you are in full wetsuits, (boots, hoods, gloves etc) and you need to be in decent physical condition (ie, no heart problems or asthma) They make you sign a consent and if you say you have those things, you can't go. I have a heartbeat irregularity, but I don't disclose it because I know what my limiations are. If I told them about that, I would not have been able to go.) The water is 65 degrees and you stay very warm in the wetsuits.

 

It's a fantasic experience and you get "bragging rights" saying you went snorkeling in Alaska!

[clopaw]

Do they have dog wetsuits and snorkel masks? :D Actually, we have left him on the ship while we did excursions. The Celebrity accommodations people dogsat on our last cruise when Hero was not allowed off the ship in Barbados and St. Kitts. We don't like to leave him for a whole day; he gets lonely since he is used to being with my husband 24/7.

 

The scariest part of your idea is me in a wetsuit...I'm not the thinnest person you've ever seen. It's an interesting idea. Thanks for suggesting it. Who did you do the excursion with and what did it cost?

[ute_fan]

Would he be able to enjoy the tram ride up Mt. Roberts in Juneau? We had planned on doing that, but it was too cloudy.

[sharybeari]

The Eagle Perserve Jet Boat excursion or the Discover the Yukon Excursion by Frontier Excursion in Skagway would be good choices.

[michaelsmom]

In Juneau, we did the whalewatching with Capt Larry as well as took one of the $10 round trip bus rides out to Mendenhall Glacier. Don't miss that. It is really beautiful. They have a nice interpretive center as well.

 

We went to the Alaska State Museum as well. You might want to check to see if they have assistive technology for visually impaired people.

 

I never left the ground and had a great time.

 

Have a great trip.

[fajitapita]

Do you like to kayak? (No experience necessary!) If so, check out Southeast Sea Kayaks. We did the Orca's Cove kayaking trip on August 6th and loved it! Small group of kayaks (3 doubles with the guide in a single) versus the cruise company's much larger groups. Here's the website: http://www.kayakketchikan.com/guidedtrips.html

[ocean.queen]

clopaw

 

We just returned and our favorite..non-flying...excursion was the Glacier Point Wilderness Safari in Skagway. It was wonderful !!! We took a FAST boat to Glacier Point...walked up the beach a short way & boarded a bus which drove us a short way to an outpost to get rubber boots & warmer outerwear. We then walked on an easy bear trail to the river. We then got in large 10 person canoes and paddled up river to a glacier. The guides were patient, helpful & very informative. I think you and your husband would love this excursion. And I don't see any reason why Hero couldn't go with you...call them and ask. Chris was our guide and he was fantastic.

[clopaw]

Thank you all for the suggestions. It is hard for me to know what my husband can and can't see....he'll see things that I wouldn't think he could and miss other things. Thanks to the wonders of computers, he has a good job for the state of Ohio. He loves to fool around on our computer at home, and is an avid reader of books on tape.

 

One question: Neither of us has ever kayaked. As I said before, I am far from petite. Do larger people fit into kayaks?

[Budget Queen]

There are "open" kayaks and doubles would probably work best?? Plenty of help given if needed and mostly for everyone. consider Southeast Kayaks out of Ketchikan. For wildlife- you need tours. I prefer the rafting in Haines vs the jet boats- again my preference only. If you have a long port day in Skagway this may be an option with a nice ferry ride to Haines? As mentioned- Glacier Point excursion always gets raves. Depending on vision-again my opinion only- nothing exceeds a glacier helicopter landing and the immense scenery and colors there.

[redphoenyx]

The wetsuits are fine! They have all sorts of sizes based on height and weight. I think you would be fine.

 

I think it was about $150.00 a person or something like that. We were on our honeymoon so we really didn't look at the prices. :rolleyes: It was in Ketchikan though. The only place it's offered. Here's their website...

http://www.snorkelalaska.com/pages/725130/index.htm

We booked it through Celebrity's Excursion website page.

 

I think there was one or two people who stayed back at the "ranch" to keep an eye on things. They probably wouldn't mind if the dog stayed there with them. Especially since the dog is friendly.

 

Your husbands vision might "improve" a little underwater too since looking through water is a natural magnification.

 

Happy travels in whatever you choose.