Alaska tours/which ones are the BEST? Sapphire August 21, 2008

[PittsburghTerri]

Help! I've been looking over the various tours in port and the list is overwhelming. Do any of you have some suggestions for us (60 and 66)-looking for interesting things to see and do? We're doing the land tour first but am interested in Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan.....thank you!

[LoriPhil]

In Juneau we booked with Captain Larry for a 3 or 4 hour whale watching tour which was wonderful (it's Orca Enterprises I think - second floor of the building at the end of the dock across from the aerial tramway but they'll know over on the Alaska Boards if you do a search or post the question). DH loved the helicopter tour in Skagway that landed on the glacier and gave everyone an opportunity to walk around. He booked this through Princess and although it was a bit pricey it a real highlight for him. Personally, I thought Skagway was wonderful and probably my favorite port with a very strong focus on the history of the region. We just walked around town and wandered up Creek Street in Ketchikan, but spotted a "duck" tour (driving around in one of those amphibious vehicles) that looked like fun.

 

Whatever you choose, you'll probably find yourselves thinking about another trip north because there is so much to enjoy.

[Julia’s Journey’s]

We also did the whale watch with Captain Larry from Orca, was wonderful and we saw a lot. We did the floatplane in Ketchikan with Island wings to go see the bears catching salmon which was amazing, we went to Mendenhall Glacier which was great to see and used the shuttle to get there. In skagway we rented a car and drove to Emerald lake with stops along the way.

Lots of info on the port of calls.

Enjoy Alaska it is an amazing trip.

[PittsburghTerri]

Thank you so much! I am going to compile all this info and make some decisions soon .

[PittsburghTerri]

Julia,

Thanks for all the info.....I will check into the ports of call and see what other people liked, also. Is the whale watching on a little boat? I'm afraid of getting seasick.......

[LoriPhil]

The Juneau boat is small-ish (will hold around 30-40 people maybe). Open back area where you can be out taking pictures, and a roof-top available for watching as well. Interior has benches on either side of a central isle - big windows. I spent the entire trip on the open back-deck. Cool views of the Mendenhall Glacier from from the back area for a portion of the trip.

 

I'm very prone to motionsickness and took a precautionary bonine - no problem at all. DH isn't crazy about motion either, but didn't take anything and was fine.

[AlaskaBound0507]

Help! I've been looking over the various tours in port and the list is overwhelming. Do any of you have some suggestions for us (60 and 66)-looking for interesting things to see and do? We're doing the land tour first but am interested in Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan.....thank you!

We just got back from our first Alaskan cruise (Diamond Princess) & it was one of the best vacations of our life! These are the tours we took: Skagway - Klondike Scenic Highlights which included the train ride, a scenic motorcoach ride & visit to Jewell Gardens which included lunch. The scenery was magnificent throughout the excursion. There are other train excursions - we just wanted to cover as much ground as we could and still allow time for walking around Skagway. During the bus ride which included the Yukon Suspension Bridge, we had a bear cross the highway in front of us! Jewell Gardens gave us lunch in their tea room - smoked salmon quiche, tomato soup, salad & applesauce cake - all delicious and made from their gardens. After lunch, there was a tour of the gardens which were just starting to come into bloom. In Juneau, we took the Whale Watching & Wildlife Quest - we saw a lot of eagles, seals and towards the end of the trip, some whales. The weather that day was cloudy & overcast but we still enjoyed the trip. The boat was a large high speed catamaran with 2 enclosed decks & 2 open decks. There was also a snack bar & restrooms on board. We booked that through Princess as well. In Ketchikan, we did the Rainforest Wildlife Sanctuary - it was a nice walk through the rainforest & the guide was a local kid that was very knowledgeable but we liked that one the least of the excursions that we did. All of the excursions we booked through Princess, just didn't want to take the chance of missing the ship for any unforeseen problems. The weather was great. We would have liked to spend 2 days in Glacier Bay - it was that beautiful. I hope you have a wonderful trip, I know we did. We are in our early 50's for what that's worth. Have a great time!