Excursions in Juneau and Skagway

[desiray]

Hey guys,

 

We are about to leave for our Alaskan cruise and we are looking over the excursions in our papers. There is an excursion in Juneau that is the whale watching, Mendenahll Glacier and Orca Point Lodge (salmon dinner) all in one package, does anyone know if this is worth it? I'm trying to figure out if it would be better to book a whale watching tour through an independent boat, rather than the cruise line boats.

 

Also, in Skagway, is the White Pass Scenic Railway trip worth it? We have the option of a 3 1/2 hour trip or a 2 1/2 hour trip that includes a Summit toast and a personal attendant to provide commentaries. Has anyone done either of these?

 

We will be stopping at Juneau, Skagway, and Prince Rupert. If anyone has any suggestions on things to do please respond. This is our first time in Alaska and we are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary.

 

thanks!

pcbcruiser

[gg3]

What a great place to celebrate your anniversary......Awesome Alaska. We have taken three cruises to Alaska and have done two ship excursions, the rest independents.......primarily because you seem to get more bang for your buck with the locals, more up close and personal scenic viewing, fewer folks on the plane, boats, etc. and you are helping the local Alaskan economy. We have taken whale watch trips with Orca enterprises (Capt. Larry), as well as with Harv and Marv, both Juneau independents and found both to be very good. H & M only take 6 passengers in smaller boats, so you tend to get a bit more personal attention. In Skagway, the railroad is a superb choice......from a historical standpoint and beautiful scenic viewing. I would opt for that, and book it thru your ship, then spend some time in town going thru their excellent museum, or going on a free tour of the town with the Park Rangers.

Enjoy your trip.......you will want to return. gg

[LonghornKJK]

I have only been on an Orca independent whale-watching cruise but I will share our experience. When we got to the whales, we saw a larger boat, mostly likely a cruise excursion. Yes, we had only a few passengers but in a smaller boat, the ride was bumpy and noisy. There was a captain and a narrator on board but unless they stopped, we couldn't hear what either was saying. It is against the law to follow whales to get closer. While I don't blame Orca because it is a matter of luck, the cruise excursion boat was right next to the whales, which were jumping all over the place, while we were probably 100 yards away. The excursion boat also slowly rotated so that everyone would have a better chance of seeing the whales. Our captain tried to anticipate where the whales would surface but it didn't work out.

 

I've read many glowing reviews of Orca and do not doubt them but our trip was disappointing, especially considering that we waited 45 minutes to leave the office, waited another 15 minutes for the narrator to meet the boat at the dock (and he offered no apology for being late,) took a noisy and bumpy ride to the place where whales were expected, and then didn't end up seeing anything to take a photo of except a few sea lions sleeping on a buoy. If we go again, we'll try the ship's excursion. In some ways, I think a bigger boat would be more comfortable.

[LonghornKJK]

Oh, about Skagway. We rented a car (do it far in advance because they do run out of cars) and drove to the Yukon, often following the same route as the train. We had a great time. But everything I've read about the train says that it is definitely worth it! You can't go wrong either way. We enjoyed being able to stop whenever we wanted and going all the way to Emerald Lake. It is amazingly beautiful country!

[Mary loves to travel]

we were in Skagway in May and had a great day! it was our longest port stop.

 

First a quick look at town, then we hiked up to Lower Dewey Lake. Very nice hike, the edges of the lake were still frozen, and scenic views along the trail. we had a great time.

 

then, back into town for a beer at Red Onion Saloon - cute! a stop at the gold rush museum -- very interesting, and lunch (can't remember where, it was ok).

 

we had the early afternoon train, 3 1/2 hours. thought it would be nice, it was fantastic. we were in the last car, and spent most of the ride up standing out on the platform, for incredible views. This turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip. Well worth it!

the 2 1/2 hour trip is the last run of the day, leaving around 4:30 pm. it's shorter because, due to fewer trains, you don't have to wait as long at the top for the "turnaround". likely a very nice option, allowing you to fit more into your day.

 

we did another quick tour of town after the train, then back to the ship to relax & have dinner.

 

Cheers,

Mary

[wannabetravelin]

Another excursion to consider is the catamaran/canoe trip to the Davidson Glacier out of Skagway. This was apparently voted the number 2 excursion by the Princess Cruise Lines anyway. It's a long one but if you want to get up close and personal to a glacier, it's the way to do it and you even get a box lunch at the end. As fast as the glaciers are receding, I would recommend doing this sooner than later. We had an absolutely beautiful sunny day last week so that was a bonus too.

[fti]

We are about to leave for our Alaskan cruise

 

I would opt for the independent whale watching but if you are "about" to leave meaning in days, you have to call the vendors to try and secure a spot. Most are booked up for much of the rest of the season. Orca was mentioned above, Harv and Marv is often mentioned, Alaska Marine Adventure, and Captain Jack on the Scania are others that are mentioned.

 

The railroad in Skagway is supposed to be excellent.

 

John

[Webfut]

Hey guys,

 

We are about to leave for our Alaskan cruise and we are looking over the excursions in our papers. There is an excursion in Juneau that is the whale watching, Mendenahll Glacier and Orca Point Lodge (salmon dinner) all in one package, does anyone know if this is worth it? I'm trying to figure out if it would be better to book a whale watching tour through an independent boat, rather than the cruise line boats.

 

Also, in Skagway, is the White Pass Scenic Railway trip worth it? We have the option of a 3 1/2 hour trip or a 2 1/2 hour trip that includes a Summit toast and a personal attendant to provide commentaries. Has anyone done either of these?

 

We will be stopping at Juneau, Skagway, and Prince Rupert. If anyone has any suggestions on things to do please respond. This is our first time in Alaska and we are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary.

 

thanks!

pcbcruiser

 

We were in both of these ports the first week of August with Royal Caribbean. We had booked before we left the Taku Glacier Lodge flight & feast out of Juneau. Can't say enough good things about the this excursion. The flight was great..over three or four glaciers, the lodge was quaint...about one half mile from an advancing glacier, the food was amazing..the best salmon I had in Alaska, and the folks at the lodge were knowledgeable, friendly and just great people! I would highly recommend this side trip!!!:):):)

In Skagway we opted to book a mini-bus tour that took us to the top of White Pass. We booked the tour after we docked from a little shop on the main street. Again, great tour. The guide, Mac, was very informative and took us to places that the train will not get you to. Much more personable and not the huge crowds that you see at the train. :):)

If interested, check out my photos at:

 

http://swany.myphotoalbum.com

[CALMOM]

If you are just about ready to leave for your cruise you will probably have to book the Whale Watching through the cruiseline as I can probably guarantee you that Orca Enterprises and Harv & Marv are already booked. I booked with Harv & Marv almost 4 months ago.

 

You may want to book anything you are interested in now before you embark, as the popular excursions are usually already booked up.

 

Happy Anniversary and have a great time

[pianoplayerla]

Webfut,

 

Where did you see the bears?? Love your pics.

[My2Kitties]

Skagway do the White Pass Train ride...we did the Skagway Extravaganza and loved it...

[labmom]

You will find many things for Juneau and Skagway, but Prince Ruppert, there really isn't much. We did the whale watch when we got off the boat and had a great time. About 6 to 8 whales right next to the boat, one woman thought that they were going to ram the boat:eek: They didn't even care we were there. I was going to go on the 29' raft whale watch but it was already booked which was great because we got there about 4pm and by the time we got to the place where the whales were it was cold and misty. The people on the raft did have rain suites but I can't imagine that wouldn't have been warm enough for me!!

Happy cruising!

Pam

[knorrisb07]

Hey guys,

 

We are about to leave for our Alaskan cruise and we are looking over the excursions in our papers. There is an excursion in Juneau that is the whale watching, Mendenahll Glacier and Orca Point Lodge (salmon dinner) all in one package, does anyone know if this is worth it? I'm trying to figure out if it would be better to book a whale watching tour through an independent boat, rather than the cruise line boats.

 

Also, in Skagway, is the White Pass Scenic Railway trip worth it? We have the option of a 3 1/2 hour trip or a 2 1/2 hour trip that includes a Summit toast and a personal attendant to provide commentaries. Has anyone done either of these?

 

We will be stopping at Juneau, Skagway, and Prince Rupert. If anyone has any suggestions on things to do please respond. This is our first time in Alaska and we are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary.

 

thanks!

pcbcruiser

 

In skagway, we did rent a car from Avis. It is $100 for 4 of us including gas. I think it is one of the best bargain we found.

[Woodsy Al]

Another excursion to consider is the catamaran/canoe trip to the Davidson Glacier out of Skagway. This was apparently voted the number 2 excursion by the Princess Cruise Lines anyway. It's a long one but if you want to get up close and personal to a glacier, it's the way to do it and you even get a box lunch at the end. As fast as the glaciers are receding, I would recommend doing this sooner than later. We had an absolutely beautiful sunny day last week so that was a bonus too.

 

We did this excursion at the beginning of August. We did it because I wasn't sure how close to Hubbard we would be able to get (turned out to be 1/2 mile). Yes, it is long (about 5-6 hours), and relatively expensive ($250+each), but worth it. You will probably NOT be able to do the railway trip if you do this one, ours went from 8am to 1pm or so. You take a high speed catamaran back down the inlet to Glacier Point (the middle of nowhere). You get on school buses for a short trip to a camp where you don life preservers and rubber boots. Then you hike about 1/2 mile to a stream where you get into 14 passenger canoes. Then you paddle and cruise up stream to the glacier about 1/2 mile away. You get within about 100 yards of the glacier and hang out in the canoes for a while. You do not land near or on the glacier, but you are the only ones around and it is so peaceful and beautiful. Then you reverse the trip. Unless you want to hike up to Mendenhall in Juneau, this is about as close as you can get to a glacier.

[Woodsy Al]

We did this excursion on the same cruise when it stopped at Juneau. With it, you get both whale watching and the Mendenhall Glacier in one outing. They only take about 14 people, so it is a fairly small boat. The captains of all the whale watching boats all talk to each other by radio so whenever whales are spotted, they all head to the same place. Our boat trip also went to a location for Bald Eagles and the bouy with the sea lions after we saw lots of whales. The small boat was fine, everybody had a good view. Wear a patch if you get seasick.

 

Then we went to Mendenhall Glacier and hiked around a little bit. The guide knew that there was a bear in the area and we hiked down a short trail near the visitor center. We were on a suspension bridge about 15' over a creek where a mother bear and 2 cubs were fishing. Talk about luck.

 

This is a photo safari, the guide can help you with your camera, but you will not get a lot of history.

[cruiserus]

May 2006 we took the Mendenhall Glacier, whale watching, and lunch at Orca Point Lodge excursion with Celebrity. It was awesome. First we drove to Mendenhall. We had quite a bit of time to stroll about on our own, and to visit the visitor's center there. One couple even got married down on the rocky beach. The cruise was very comfortable, with a nature guide, and the scenery was gorgeous. We saw whales both coming and going. The lunch stop at Orca Point was well worth it...delicious barbequed salmon, corn on the cob, salad, rice, desert, in a beautiful setting on an island. We had a chance to walk around there a bit before the trip back.

 

In Skagway, we took the 3+ hour trip on the railway. We boarded not far from where we were docked. The scenery was phenomenal. It was a little misty when we left, then cleared. Later near the summit we had light snow. DH and I stood out of the platform between the cars almost the entire way back. I we saw 2 bears, a mountain sheep, beautiful waterfalls, rocky gorges, etc. Sit on the left if you can going up. When they change the position of the engine at the top of the summit, you switch sides, and flip the seats over and face the opposite direction from where you faced going up. We had lots of time to walk around Skagway before and after the afternoon trip.

[PDX2Cruiser]

I've done the White Pass Railway. A few things you ought to know:

 

- Yes, the views are absolutely spectacular!

 

- The train goes up and down the same track. Thus, once you get to the top, everyone will flip their seat backwards, they'll ask everyone to change sides, and you go back down exactly the way you came. The result is that on the way up you tended to see passengers aggressively taking gobs of pictures. On the way down, many of these same people go to sleep. So if you're like some people, half of your investment will go towards an expensive nap.

 

I stayed awake the whole time and loved it. I think it's worth it because you'll see views that you simply never ever see. My wife did not care for this excursion and thought it was a big disappointment. Our kids were excited and attentive on the way up and generally out of control on the way down, but if I ask them today if they liked it they all say 'yes'.