Saxman Village - Ketchikan

[luvtcrz]

Hopefully this will help anyone who is deciding if they want to go on this excursion or not. I just cruised last week Aug. 30 - Sept. 6. We decided on the Saxman Village as well as the Lumberjack Show in Ketchikan. We were greatly and I emphasize greatly dissappointed with the Saxman Village. The whole 2 hour presentation was very boring, the dancers were terrible, the entertainment was poor. We could have put on a better show with a half day of preparation. My husband and I (35 and 37 years old) traveled with three other couples (ages 65 & 63, 42 & 39, and 40 & 38). We all generally grade excursions with a cup half full attitude. But, this excursion fell way short on the fun, informative or even worth while scale. We booked through our cruise line to the tune of $118 per couple, and we all wished we could have spent that money on anything other than that. Please know this before you go and do not book this excursion. We loved everthing else we did on our trip. Zipline - Juneau, Mendenhall Glacier Tour - Junea, Klondike Bicycle Tour - Skagway, Car Rental - Skagway, Lumberjack Show - Ketchikan and Double Decker Tour Bus - Victoria.

[bearbait]

You'll get flamed on here for dissing Saxman. But rest assured your not the only one that's been bored by it. I drive by it all the time and never understood the magic draw.

[agabbymama]

I think it must be who you had as a guide, I didn't book my tour to Saxman with the cruiseline. When we arrived at Ketchikan it was misty, wasn't sure we were going to do anything. Walking on the boardwalk, I saw a sled and sled dog, people were paying a couple of bucks to have their photo taken with them, with their own camera. I waited in line for that. Then as I was debating whether to return to the ship, a VW van pulled into a parking spot. There was a sign in the window, "Native Tours" for $15. I walked over and paid my money, and waited about 10 minutes for others to join us. We had 7 of us in the van, and our driver was an Innuit and she entertained us with stories of her youth, her grandmother, legends, and when we reached Saxman, she walked with us on our tour through the Great House, the carving shed (showing us the use of the tools) and introducing us to the carver, explaining things as we went. Then we walked to the totems, again with stories and legends along the way. Then we walked into the rain forest with her telling us the different flora and what to watch out for to give us a small experience of the forest. We ended up with her asking if we wanted to go to the souvenir shop, which we all did want to see the native made items. On the way back to the ship she pointed out sights in town.

 

We had a thoroughly enjoyable 2 hours with her in her little van. I don't think there is anything in town that we could have done with the low cost and information we received on our tour. So just because one tour was terrible to the OP, doesn't mean they all are.

[Budget Queen]

Ship tours to Saxman are costly, and sorry to hear, it wasn't up to your expectations.

 

I have heard some good tours independent, which are cheaper and informative, in the $25-30 range.

 

For clairfication, the dancers are not professionals.

[MercedMike]

Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our tour of Saxman Village. We have taken many many ship's tours and this was really one of the best.

 

The multimedia presentation of tribal history is very interesting. The dances at the longhouse are obviously done with a great deal of respect for tradition. The carving shed was a great close up look. All in all it was definitely time and money well spent.

 

Note that AFIAK, the private guides cannot include the dance show in their tour, at least a couple of years ago when we tried to arrange it.

 

Check out our review and pics at http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/volendam.html

 

YMMV

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[Krazy Kruizers]

We went to Saxman Village several years ago -- we loved it and were very impressed with everything -- the presentation -- the dancers.

 

Sorry you were disappointed.

[mii]

We also this past May spent time at Saxman on a ship excursion and had a dandy time. The dancers were very interesting, we also got a tour through a nature trail and it was pouring rain but still got to see the totems, the carving shed and the guide really explained the history of the totems. I am sorry you had a bad excursion.

 

Marilyn

[dustyroad]

i agree with you that it is not a good tour. when i went in 2005 and really was bored most of the time. they showed a presentation film that had horrible sound in a cold metal shed, the dancers where so--so, but i loved seeing the children joining in with all their regalia on. the carving shed was very dissapointing and we saw maybe 4 totem poles on the property. i was not impressed at all with the whole tour. i went with a independent tour co and they even made sure we had more time to spend in '' the gift shop ''' than the time allotted for the village tour. sorry, but this is not one i would recommend or do again.

[hal2008]

In Ketchikan, one can buy $2 daily unlimited pass on local bus system.

Bus runs at least hourly, some rotes every 30 min.

 

You can visit both Saxman Village and B. Park on your own.

Saxman Village is closer.

B. Park is scenic ride.

 

Bus stops right next to ship and same pass can also be used for local transport within town (if you need)

 

It is almost impossible to find an alaskan cruise schedule that does NOT stop at Ketchikan.