Just Back from Alaska on the NCL Pearl

[bhamcruzer]

We are booked on the Pearl for next month and I've yet to book an excursion - would love to know if anyone went, or knows of someone who may have gone, on the following - what I've narrowed down that I think we may like doing...

 

Will probably go through NCL to book - first timers and don't want to get stuck anywhere.

 

In Skagway, Toast of the Goldrush (hubby doesn't want to do the 8hr train - is the 3hr good enough? This one is 5 hours)

 

In Victoria Butchard Gadrens & Victoria Highlights

In Juneau Mendenhall Glacier & Salmon Bake

 

Not sure about Ketchikan yet. Thought about Best of Ketchikan by Land & Sea, Misty Fjords & Wilderness Explorer, Ket. by Horse-Drawn Trolley

 

Do you do an excursion in every port???

 

Hubby says wait to book, not sure if that's a good idea. For sure the Mendenhall Glacier, not sure if it's worth it for the salmon bake, or how good it is - anyone??

 

We are not cruise people at all and this will be a very new experience for us. We are use to traveling on our own schedule, never on a specific time frame. I want to make sure that I chose the best excursions for us and for the money we are going to spend on them. Plus, it's hubby's 55th birthday and the excursions are on my dime!

 

We would love to walk the cities - we love to go and see the local areas but again, not sure what there is to see - we don't really like tourist traps. Any places you suggest that are in the towns that should be seen. Someone told us about The Red Dog Saloon??? Open to any and all suggestions!!!!

 

THANKS FOR ANY OPIONS AND/OR SUGGESTIONS!!!:)

 

The Gardens are definitely worth the trip from what people said on my cruise. I believe they said that you can get a cab ride to the Gardens for $40 each way. Both times that I have been to Victoria, I have just walked around the city and have enjoyed it very much both times.

 

In Skagway, the 3 hour train ride is good enough if you are only interested in riding the train and the railway. The scenery on just the train ride is definitely worth seeing. The 8-hour excursion allows you to see much more, obviously. The scenery you see on the bus ride to Emerald Lake is totally different than the scenery you see on the train.

 

In regards as to when to book, I would book any excursions you are interested in right now. As long as you cancel within 48 hours of your excursion, you won't be charged. On my Pearl cruise, many excursions were sold out by the time you got on the ship.

 

And yes, the Red Dog Saloon is worth going into for a little bit. Just walking around the towns is a fun thing to do in all the ports. The "tourist traps" will be obvious to you as you walk around. In Victoria, go to the Provincial Capitol and see the lights come on at night.

[Eldemila]

Maybe I'm missing it, but I've tried to see if the Skagway trip is RT on the train, or a combo - I'd prefer, if it's the same train ride RT to do the combo. I really don't care about the wine and chocolate, gawd knows I don't need it, but what they had on this trip was being able to go over the suspension bridge.

 

If the Mendenhall Glaciers are that easy to get to, I can forego the salmon bake - it's $79 for each of us. If you take the shuttles is it easy to go up and back or do you have a long wait? Salmon bake sounds fun, do they have any places you can book or just go to on your own that are easy to get to? If so, any better than others?

 

Sounds like the 3hr train trip would be sufficient in Skagway - anything else off the beaten path anyone can suggest?

 

The Butchart Gardens and Victoria Highlights excursion sounds good - $89pp - if you take a taxi, easy to get one from the ship and is there a fee to get in the gardens once you're there?

 

I'd like to do it right, but then again, don't want to overspend on something I don't need to if I can find another way.

 

On a different note - our reservations are still showing GTY - we are booked in a BE cabin, for which there are only 4 on the ship - any ideas why they aren't giving us a cabin # yet, or is this possibly a good sign there may be an upgrade in our future????

 

Thanks for all your input - you have me rethinking my picks.:confused:

 

Oh, any places that are a MUST-GO TO when it comes to regional places - like, I heard there's a donut place in Seattle that have the best donuts in around (Top Pot???) Not that I'm a big donut lover, but if they are THAT good, I'd like to try them - where I live, it's Dunkin and Krispy and that's it! If there's a place that has something only made in that area, or in Alaska, would love to know about it.

 

THANKS EVERYONE!!!:D

[Toyz711]

the train that does the the round-trips are not the same as the ones that does the combos. each cruise line has it's own round-trip train. it parked next to your ship. if you book through the cruise line, you just walk over and get on (they pick up your ticket later). the train goes up, stops..you do NOT get off...other trains pass you...then you turn over seat over, the people on the right move to the left..train goes down. all the views are on 1 side of the train, the people who had the views going up, move to let others get the view going down. you can move around, give go out to the platform.

the trains, with the combo tours, continue further on. while the round-trips are very popular and have great views. the combo tours have views the round-trip doesn't.

http://www.chilkootcharters.com/

i counted over 5 trains passing us as we waited to go down the hill. many, many choices of trips.

[Eldemila]

Any suggestions between the 3 excursions they offer? Didn't see any pricing so emailed them for info.

 

Thanks for the website - I've seen it mentioned but figured I'd go through the ship, I didn't want to be left behind if some unforeseen catastrophy happend:eek: But then, when I read elsewhere that those who book with the ship and those who book off the ship are on the same trains/buses, they won't leave any of us behind if we're all together.

 

Any suggestions on the better times to go, or is it the luck of the draw and in hoping there's no fog???

 

THANKS!

[Toyz711]

to me it's a " don't worry about it, it's all good" thing. just pick the tour that takes you were you want. won't worry about the suspension bridge, here's a tourist trap only. many go with the puppies (sled dogs), emerald lake gets rave reviews. but then it's all good!

in foreign countries i worry about getting left behind. but in alaska, the vendors know their stuff and the timing to get you back to the ship.

[Costafox]

 

Skagway- Ultimate Yukon and Whitepass Adventure- Another awesome excursion, and one which I highly recommend! You ride a bus from Skagway to Emerald Lake, then you drive back to Fraser, BC and take the train back to Skagway. Here's the itenerary:

 

1. Bus ride with scenic stops to Caribou Crossing, Yukon Territory, where you eat a barbecue chicken lunch (possibly the best BBQ chicken I've ever had). There's a museum a taxidermist has created with polar bears, grizzly bears, a wooly mammoth, and other animals. You can also pan for gold ($10/person), take an ATV ride ($30/person) or take a ride on a cart pulled by sled dogs ($30/person) at this location. It's a nice stop after riding the bus for a couple of hours.

 

2. Next you travel ride the bus to Emerald Lake where you stop for picture taking.

 

3. Next you ride to Carcross, Yukon Territory where you have about 30 mins to walk around. It was a neat little town. We got our passports stamped at the post office there and had some ice cream.

 

4. Next you go back to Fraser, BC (Fraser is the Canadian Customs Office) where you pick up the White Pass Railroad for the 27 mile trip back to Skagway.

 

It is an 8 hour tour, but if you want to see scenery this is the way to do it. It is absolutely beautiful on both the bus and the train. We still had a couple of hours to walk around and shop in Skagway.

 

 

Hi BhamCruzer

 

Have been looking at a similar trip to do in Skagway- please can you tell me which tour company you used?

Glad you had a great time - we can't wait for our trip next year.

Many thanks

 

Gill

[bhamcruzer]

We just booked our excursion through Norwegian. Basically the same excursion is done by maybe 4 or 5 operators. Some are on large buses, and some are on smaller buses or vans. We were on a Gray Lines of Alaska Bus.

[bhamcruzer]

Any suggestions between the 3 excursions they offer? Didn't see any pricing so emailed them for info.

 

Thanks for the website - I've seen it mentioned but figured I'd go through the ship, I didn't want to be left behind if some unforeseen catastrophy happend:eek: But then, when I read elsewhere that those who book with the ship and those who book off the ship are on the same trains/buses, they won't leave any of us behind if we're all together.

 

Any suggestions on the better times to go, or is it the luck of the draw and in hoping there's no fog???

 

THANKS!

 

In Skagway, if you do only the train trip, try and leave later. If you pick another shorter excursion, leave later to allow time for the fog to burn off. If you do the 8hr tour like I did, you will leave in the morning no matter what, and the fog will burn off sometime during that 8 hours.