Please help with selecting alaska shore excursions (princess coral)

First thing first ... you should tell them you want to be close to each other now. It may already be too late.

Now onto shore excursions ... it is laways cheaper to book outside the cruise line. The trick is if you are experienced, you know what to look for and ask for and who is reputable. If this is your first trip, unless you plan to do a lot of home work, I'll say pay the extras and get it done and over with.

With a party of six or more and if you are interested in simple things, book a limo with a guide maybe the cheapest way to go. With all that said, a caution: buyers beware. You should know about all the pluses and minues on going off on your own versus bookinh through the cruise line.

Without knowing your likes and dislikes, how much $$ you want to spend and what physical activity levels, I can only make generic suggestions.

Keichikan: Guard Island/bald egale/Totem combo; Misty Fjord
Juneau: whale watching/Mendenahll Glacier
Skagway: Whitepass Yukon Railway

I know not everyone is going to agree with the suggestion but it is a starting point for a discussion.

Good luck! You'll enjoy the trip.

You need to do your homework, look over a shore excursion list and NARROW down your interests. Then repost. Don't bother with "group" travel, split up depending on tour priorities.

It is NOT always cheaper to book direct and many Alaska independent tours do not have significant savings. What you do get is more personal tours, smaller groups and sometimes more time. It is simple to book direct.

I always recommend having plans and reservations in place before you go. Time is short in port, and it's up to you how you want to spend it. If it's figuring out what you want to do, once there, then that's your "plan".

I lived in Juneau for several years. Mendenhall glacier is a must. It's on the other end of town, about 13 miles from the cruise terminal. It has great trails and a nice visitor's center. You can get there by tour bus, taxi or even a public bus but it will take more than an hour and a bus transfer.
When you get off the ship, you'll see several booths that sell various tours. I do not know their prices but probably cheaper than from the cruise ship.
Another must do thing is a Mount Roberts cable tram that is right by the cruise dock.
Whale cruises are also a must thing to do if you have not done any.
Keep in mind- Southeast Alaska has more rainy days than you can count. Chances that you'll have sunshine are pretty slim. So make sure to have a windbreaker and an umbrella.

Juneau: Whale Watching.

Harv and Marvs offers a small boat experience that is fantastic....and they include a stop at Mendenhall glacier on the way out or back.....http://www.harvandmarvs.com/

Budget Queen is 100% correct. There is not a significant savings. The difference is a small group outing on a small boat (6 passengers max) with personalized service vs a large tour group on a large boat.

Definitely book ahead. Harv and Marvs and other well-reviewed excursions fill quickly...

Depending on what you like to do when in port, note that all 3 towns are very accessible to the dock area and are easily walked. That said, I (again) agree very much with Eschew's choices of tours. As an added note, I can't recommend the Misty Fjords flyover and set/down, despite the cost. If you book for the earliest tour, you might miss the rains, which when we went (early July) came in mid-day or later. Also highly recommend the White Pass railroad. We did the Yukon extension and also enjoyed it, though I'm not sure it's worth the extra money.

Hi SDGLenn, I am glad that someone agrees with me
We too did the Yukon extension. We did enjoyed it but we also questioned the value and time spent. Probably could be better spent elsewhere like the Graden.
I am curious, why did you say you can't recommend Misty Fjord?
Is it mainly the cost?

The best part about Alaska are the excursions. Take a good look at them and decide what appeals to you the most or what turns you on the most. As for specific we did the Mendenhall chopeer tour and the White Pass RR and had no second thoughts at all. In Ketchican we took a small boat for the Totem Park and to cruise the waterways for nature views and really liked it. We had a stop at a former salmon canning factory. Could have skipped that

Correction to my June 29 note: HUGE MISTAKE -
What I meant to say is, I can't recommend that tour ENOUGH!

Sorry!

Great! I thought I read it wrong. It's expensive but is money well spent. Recommend book on own and took longer time (up to 3 plus hours) as oppose to the ship's short 90 minutes flight time. Highlight of the trip, even on a return visit.

Budget Queen as well as the folks on CruiseCritics.com were helpful to us. We self booked all excursions. It was not easy, took lots of research, but that is the reward I get from planning travel. We did Captain Larry whale watching in Juneau and saw lots of them, plus otters and seals. We did Glacier Helicopter trip in Juneau and were blown away,landing on a glacier. Did Bear Watching in Anan, transported by a plane. Words cannot describe being in a blind watching brown bears fishing for salmon in the stream just below you (and knowing there is a guide with a rifle watching over you). Again, recommend Cruise Critics for their input. Good choice with Coral Princess. Check out Sooners Bar , become a martini regular. Glacier bay is magninicent.

Forgot to mention the Skagway Mountain railroad trip. We did the whole day, next time would do half day or rent a car and go as far as the spirit moved us. It was a long hot day in a bus, and maybe a rented car would have been a better choice.

I took this same cruise last year and used the following companies for my excursions:

Ketchikan - Misty Fjord tour with Island Wings - 2 hour flight tour. I thought it was very good. Rest of the time in port, I spent walking around on a self-guided tour. This tour was booked individually, not through cruise.

Juneau - Whale Watching Tour with Orca Enterprises (Capt. Larry). The guides were good and we saw approximately 15 whales. After the tour, they dropped me off at Mendenhall Glacier where I got to walk around and tour the glacier on my own pace and then took the shuttle back to the cruise ship. This tour was also booked individually, not through the cruise line.

Skagway - White Pass & Yukon Railroad - This was the only part of the tour that I booked through the cruise line. After the train ride, I had booked an individual biking tour with the Sockeye Cycle Company to ride down the Klondike Trail. It was fun but apparently not too many people do this tour since it was myself, one other person and the guide.

We rented a car from Avis in Skagway and drove to Diea and then on over White Pass into the Yukon and had lunch in Carcross. Highly suggest this trip, we rented a Toyota Camery for the four of us at just $129.00 for the day. We still had plenty of time to wander around Skagway before departing on the Veendam, Holland America, that evening.
In Juneau, take the tram to the top of the mtn for $27.00 PP. The view is great but refrain from eating in the restrauant as it's very overpriced and the food was ho hum at best. Capt Larry's whale tours, Orca Enterprises, are the best in Alaska. Their found upstairs in the building just across the street from the tram and the cruise ship docks.
In Ketchikan, check out Creek Street, no tour needed, and look at visiting the totem park, Potlach Park, on Totem Bright Road ,also reachable by foot.
Also in Ketchikan is the very popular Bering Sea Crab Fishermen's Tour. Experience has taught me to book this one through the cruise line. There are too many reasons to list here but just do yourself a favor and use the agent on the cruiseline.
In Juneau, it's the Glacier tours that really attract the people and justly so. Silly Sara's, Governors House was a bust as all you do is drive by.
We will be headed back southbound on the Coral Princess in Sept. and looking forward to seeing some more of this great area of our state.