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Sep cruise/Juneau - dog sledding vs. Mendenhall ice cave trek

Sep cruise/Juneau - dog sledding vs. Mendenhall ice cave trek

Old Aug 6th, 2016, 05:16 AM
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Sep cruise/Juneau - dog sledding vs. Mendenhall ice cave trek

Hi everyone - my boyfriend and I (we are in our 30s and in decent shape) booked a cruise to Alaska with Holland America for early September. It's our first time in Alaska and our first cruise so we're excited but also overwhelmed by the shore excursion options. Your help is much appreciated, as always!

Specifically, what should we do in Juneau? Of the choices, the Mendenhall ice caves trek (the one that allows you to go "into" or "under" the glacier and see the sunlight through translucent ice) looks pretty damn cool. The dog sled mush camp also looks like a blast because we love dogs. However, it looks like it's not on snow. There's a third choice, which is the most expensive and that is the helicopter ride to the glacier + dog sledding on snow. Trying to avoid breaking the bank but if you tell me, this is a no-brainer, then we will shell out the cashola

What do you recommend? Would it be possible to maybe combine the ice caves trek and the non-snow dog sledding? Any advice would be great.
ali_fafa is offline  
Old Aug 6th, 2016, 02:39 PM
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You should check out the boards on cruisecritic to look at excursions - check the ports area for Juneau. I have done the helicopter and dog sledding. Pricey, oh yes, but I loved it. We went about 6 years ago.

Originally I booked with the ship but at the last minute, this excursion to Mendenhall glacier was cancelled due to weather. Luckily, I had done my homework on cruisecritic and knew that this happened frequently, but that there were other glaciers with identical activities that could be booked independently in town. The Mendenhall glacier is the closest and more subject to weather issues.

I had my DH and DS and his friend with us. DH was relieved that it was cancelled, but the boys were extremely disappointed. I did not tell them that there was still a chance, but we went into town. In town there were several kiosks (I knew these helicopter companies were reputable because I checked them out ahead of time). I saw helicopters flying towards the glacier and asked about it at the kiosks. Turns out the glaciers they went to were 5 minutes farther away by helicopter (longer ride!!) and were actually partially sunny on that afternoon. I signed the 3 of us up for about $125 less per person. We waited about 20 minutes, a shuttle picked us up and took us to the helicopters. We had a magical excursion, flew over our ship, in sunshine, saw the incredible glacier from the air, and then, with 3 other helicopters, we simultaneously landed on top of a glacier with dogs barking like crazy and rushing up to greet us. It was an incredible experience. The dogs love to run and they associate a helicopter landing with being able to run with the sled. We learned a lot about the dogs and got to go out on the sled, both sitting and standing on it. It was amazing and I would highly recommend it.
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