tracy arm or explore Juneau

[Disneyworld]

We are doing b2b cruises in July on the Spirit. We are in port 9 am to 11 pm Northbound, we are doing Above and Beyond hike and trek to glacier so that will take up most of the day.(getting back around 5, I think we will be too tired to do much sightseeing this day.) On the Southbound in port from 7 am until 11 pm. we are scheduled for Tracy Arm/Sawyer Glacier which will also take up most of the day.(9am until around 7 pm) This means that we won't have the time to explore Juneau hardly at all. DH really wants to do the hike and trekking, so our own possible cancellation would be Tracy Arm, which would be best to do?:confused:

[Budget Queen]

Tracy Arm would be my pick.

[vbmom87]

Tracy Arm would be my pick.

 

I second this vote!!!!

[Stuart Suss]

The Tracy Arm Fjord and Sawyer Glacier tour offered by Adventure Bound Alaska may be the best value among Alaska excursions. It will be a long day. You will spend 10 hours on the boat, but the four hour journey to Sawyer Glacier will pass quickly. There are reference books so that you can read up on the natural history. The staff is friendly and well informed. The narration is excellent.

 

The captain, Steve, will stop and turn around whenever a bear, whale or other creature is spotted. You approach much closer (a few hundred feet) to the glaciers with a small boat then you can on a large cruise ship. When we passed a waterfall, the boat was navigated right up alongside the cliffs so that the waterfall was landing on the bow of the ship. Everyone ran out on deck with their water bottles to catch and drink the glacier water.

 

They let you bring food and beverages on board, or you can buy from the ship. There are interior and exterior viewing locations in case the weather is not opportune. if you must, take a nap on the four hour ride back to Juneau, or bring some reading material.

 

Apparently they run two separate voyages during peak season, one operated by Steve and one operated by "our skipper." You may wish to contact Winona of Adventure Bound Alaska to determine if you will be on the boat with Steve. The total cost, including sales tax, was $152.25 in May of 2009.

[Acemac]

Go to Tracy Arm, you won't regret it. You can always come back here to shop and explore

[Mizwoodym]

I think it depends on what you are going there for. Tracy Arm is a wonderful day of nature, ice chunks, etc. We were there last week and it was the highlight of our trip. Juneau is a good stop to shop and do city touring. the state capital building is in town... so if you want a natural day its tracy, if you want tos hop and see stores then do juneau. they even have a mckinley burger at mcdonalds there..haha.

[Coral]

Tracy Arm!

[Chat Noir]

Tracy Arm.

We've been once with Adventure Bound in 2005, and again on Star Princess just last week, and a couple of cruises where we just hung out around Juneau. Tracy Arm would be our pick, no question! :)

[DizzyDallasDi]

I am currently on the Zuiderdam (whaaa -- it's my last night :() and we cruised Tracy Arm before docking in Juneau at 2:00. We didn't leave until 10:00 so I got a double dosage of beauty and fun that day. :D I would highly recommend seeing Tracy Arm. It is one of the more beautiful places on earth.

 

Diane

[Disneyworld]

DH was convinced we should cancel Tracy Arm to "do" Juneau, you have all convinced me, we will keep Tracy Arm and DH will just have to "deal" with it;) Actually, I am the one who has done all the research for our July cruise and DH is just going by my suggestions!!:)

[bimmermom]

IMHO, you made the correct decision. We just came back from touring Tracy Arm with Capt Steve aboard the Adventure Bound last week. It was an unforgettable lifetime experience! Not only was the scenery spectacular, Sawyer Glacier was calving and we saw lots of bears and whales as well.

 

We did make it back to Juneau in time for a quick beer at the Red Dog Saloon and a ride up the Mt. Roberts Tram for the view before our sailaway at 11 pm.

 

I'll be posting pics and review soon as I get settled back at home.

 

:)

[tee_harbor]

I live here and I'm not sure what 'doing' Juneau would mean. It's not as though we have the Louvre and Eiffel Tower here. Oh, we do, it's Tracy Arm!

 

Truly, tourists, if they don't do something like the helicopter up to the glaciers, go out to Mendenhall glacier to wander around, maybe do something like ziplining, and do the tee shirt shop gantlet.

 

Unless you two are Native art/Gold mining history enthusiasts and missing the museums would be a big hole in your life experience, I can't think of anything that compares to Tracy Arm. I make every guest go out there.

[DougH]

Another vote for Tracy Arm with Adventure Bound. This is a spectacular place from a small boat, much different experience than from the cruise ship. So few cruiseship schedules allow this all day tour, if you schedule fits by all means book Adventure Bound. You won't regret it.

[*source*]

We are booked on this excursion ~ can someone recommend what is the best footwear please?

[frugaltravel]

Be sure to confirm, reconfirm and re-reconfirm your reservations with Adventure Bound and insist on having them mail your boarding pass(es) in advance to your home. They lost my reservation at least twice last year!

[dustyroad]

We are booked on this excursion ~ can someone recommend what is the best footwear please?

 

can you please give me the cost of this tour. it sounds perfect for some of our group. thanks

[Disneyworld]

can you please give me the cost of this tour. it sounds perfect for some of our group. thanks

It cost us 280.20 plus 4.20 tax for a total of 284.20 for the two of us.

You need to make sure your ship stays in port long enough since it is a 10 hr. tour. Many cruise ship passengers can not do this since it requires a long port stay. We are on the Carnival Spirit and we arrive at 7 am and don't leave until 11:00 pm.

[Coral]

We are booked on this excursion ~ can someone recommend what is the best footwear please?

 

I wore tennis shoes. There is a chance the shoes can get wet due to waterfalls or rain.

[dfitz]

Tracy Arm is my vote too, beautiful scenery throughout Alaska.

 

We just got home today after our 1 wk Alaska cruise ... the town part of Juneau where the ships come into port had 5 ships docked the day we were there, imagine about 10,000 extra people in town all at the same time, very crowded and all the same types of tourist, trinket stores as the other ports.

 

Luckily, we'd booked a heli excursion which was great. With the little bit of time we had left, we found a cab driver who had grown up in Junea, and for $55/hour he drove us to some very beautiful park areas, as well as a quick town tour, out to Mendenhall, and across the bridge ... his van holds 7 people and he gave me his direct cell so I could share w/ others. It was nice to be able to personalize our drive and have him stop whenever and for as long as we wanted (for pics, short walks). One of the places he took us to was the trailhead to hike up to the point the tram takes you.

[dfitz]

Shoes, we all have Merrell Gortex trail shoes ... very comfie, waterproof, great for Alaska as well as at home :)

 

My pair are Merrell Siren Sport, took about 1-2 days to break in to fit my foot perfectly, and cost about $100. The gortex is great for rain, puddles, streams, etc.

[dustyroad]

It cost us 280.20 plus 4.20 tax for a total of 284.20 for the two of us.

You need to make sure your ship stays in port long enough since it is a 10 hr. tour. Many cruise ship passengers can not do this since it requires a long port stay. We are on the Carnival Spirit and we arrive at 7 am and don't leave until 11:00 pm.

 

thanks for letting me know the cost. it sounds like a great tour.

[rjm1cc]

You can shop at any port. Depending where you dock you will have most of the stores within 5 minutes of ship.