v_sapi

We are doing a 7 day cruise and three day land tour in Early July. The cruise ports of call are in Ketchikan, Icy Straight Point, Juneau, Skagway, finishing up in Seaward. From there we are going on a bus/rail trio to Talkeetna, Denali, and finish in Fairbanks.

The cruise offers many activities, all of which seem rather expensive and a bit cheesy.
Was hoping to get some suggestions for activities and recommendations for specific guides/operators that we can book directly in the ports of call.

We are a pretty active family 2 adults in early 40's, two teenage boys and a seven year old girl. My wife;s parents are also traveling with us, and some activities they might do with us, others, perhaps they will volunteer to babysit my daughter, during some activities that she is too young to do.

We would definitely like to do some salmon fishing, ATVs, kayaking, and something perhaps off the beaten path. Unless its MUST do, we were planning on skipping flightseeing. But generally speaking we are open minded.

Any suggestions are appreciated, as well as advice on which place is best suited for which activity.

michele_d

Hi v_sapi,
You will love Alaska. We've been twice and seriously thought about moving there after our last trip.

Please keep in mind that if you book your own tours exclusive from the cruise line that if there is any kind of delay on your tour and your return to the ship late, it will have sailed without you, whereas if you are on a cruise ship sanctioned activity the ship will wait for you or else they will transport to the ship to continue your cruise.

Your cruise will be ending in SEWARD, not Seaward (although it is on the sea!) Have a fabulous time.

Michele

Orlando_Vic

From a previous post of mine regarding Ketchikan:

You can walk a very short distance to the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show http://www.lumberjackshows.com/alaska/index.html and buy your ticket there or online. The show takes about 90 minutes and is good entertainment.

It's also fun just to walk over to Creek Street and browse in the shops. For a spectacular view, take the tram up to the WestCoast Cape Fox Lodge and have lunch.

If you might be interested in a 4-hour or 6-hour charter fishing trip, Ketchikan Charter Boats, Inc. http://www.ketchikancharterboats.com does a good job and they will work with you if you are a cruise passenger (i.e. picking you up, having the fish processed and shipped home, etc.). BTW, they do give other discounts not listed on their web site if you will call them and just ask [e.g. military (active & retired), Alaska Airlines employees and perhaps others]

If you are really thrifty, you can take a city bus (blue line route) to Saxman to see the Totem Pole Park. No charge to see the totem poles on your own. <http://borough.ketchikan.ak.us/works/bus_info.htm>
This is about as inexpensive as it gets.

There is a real abundance of information on these inside passage ports. Just type in the name of the port into the "Search the Forums" box and see what others have written, often very recently.


_______________________________________________
Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

EnricoIV

It may be cheesy, and not to everyone's taste, but we all loved the tour to Liarsville. It's a recreated gold camp, with entertainment, opportunity to pan gold, etc. We've done just the tour, and gone for a salmon lunch. It was a great time for our whole family.

bigtyke

We did the Indian/totem pole show in Ketchikan and liked it alot. They asked for someone from the audience and my 14 year old son went up to join in the dance.

In Skagway (once upon a time it was spelled Skaguay) we loved the train trip

moosey

I believe we did the same exact itinerary last year! We tend to skip the cruise-organized outings, partly because of the markup, but also because we hate waiting around for everyone else and like to be in control of our own schedules just a little bit!

In Ketchikan we saw the totem poles, walked around town, visited a salmon hatchery -- which was surprisingly interesting (we just happened upon it, and it was inexepensive and the money went to conservation). We thought the lumberjack show sounded too long for our short attention spans, and was too expensive to go and leave early.

In Juneau, we actually took a city bus to the Mendenhall glacier (it was really easy) and hiked the trails on our own for several hours. Paths are well marked and it is rather hilly, so a decent workout (but my 7 year old had no problem with it). Leaving the park, there were tour buses right there (not city buses) and we got on one. I think we could have booked one of them (instead of the city bus) right in port and taken that both ways -- city bus requires a bit more of a walk to get to the glacier, as it doesn't drop you off right there (but there were a ton of people going whom we followed). I don't think the tour company bus cost more so would recommend that if you can find it!

There was absolutely nothing to do in Icy Strait Point - so I recommend whatever outing the ship has to offer! We explored the town on foot (at least we got to see "real" non-touristy Alaska) then spent the rest of the day on the boat. Two people at our dinner table did the kayak outing and said they saw great wildlife. you don't go far from shore, but I guess you don't need to!

Loved the railroad in Skagway. You can book it on your own online to save money and a lot of waiting around. We also just walked around the old town (which is pretty small). We had lunch at the Red Onion (I think that is what it was called? former bordello?) - that was kind of fun.

We finished in Seward and did not do the land tour. We did a tour at Seavey's Ididaride dog sled tours. What we liked about this was that it was a real working summer camp for the sled dogs -- to keep them in condition all year long, the dogs pull you in these golf-cart-like contraptions. We learned about the race, the dogs, what they wear, etc. My family is VERY into dogs so it was by far my son's and my favorite part of the trip! We just called them from somewhere in Seward (we had walked around town and had lunch over by the aquarium, which was also pretty nice) and they came and picked us up. We bought our tickets there.

If you have a day of cruising by Hubbard Glacier - this was also much more impressive than I expected. take warm clothes and bring/buy an insulated mug for coffee/cocoa and get up early to enjoy it!

Have fun - you will love it!

spirobulldog

I know you said no flightseeing, but that is really the only way to see a lot of Alaska. There is nothing like landing in a float plane and doing a days worth of fishing in some remote spot. There are very very few roads in Alaska, and this is often the only way to get around.

cd

I also know you said no flightseeing, but I just want to share that our helicopter flight onto a glacier was the highlight of our entire trip. The scenery is awesome and to walk on a glacier is beyond anything we had ever done. We did that in Juneau with Coastal Helicopters if you're at all interested. We also loved our flight into the wilderness and landing on a lake in Ketchikan. Alaska is a beautiful state!

bakerstreet

We took a trip last simmer that sounds very similar to your trip. We spent a lot on excursions and I'd rate them as follows:

Overall best/most unique/"stays-with-me-a-year-later" experience: The helicopter landing on a glacier. There's nothing like standing right over that blue ice.

Flight over and around the mountain -- Denali/Mt. McKinley (have to wear a mask) - fascinating to see the mountain up close without having to climb it.

Zipline at Icy Straight Point -- fun! Great views. Teen son still wears the T-shirt.

Salmon fishing -- the boys especially liked it, and we're still enjoying the salmon we had smoked and shipped. Once the salmon is hooked and brought in, the captain brings it aboard with a net, then takes an axe and....made quite an impression on the boys!

Whale-watching cruise -- fun to be out on the lake and did see some whales - if you don't see any whales don't know how good this would be, though. You can see the same lake views doing salmon fishing.

Husky puppies/dogsled operation tour -- we did the Jeff King version. The girls especially liked this one -- who doesn't like holding puppies? Learning about the Itidarod was interesting.

The guys played night golf and enjoyed the concept of playing at 11 p.m.

Cheesy/so-so/wouldn't do again:

Lumberjack show (not horrible, and good for the grandparents, but, well, cheesy.)

Riverboat Discovery Tour and visit to a mock settlement - gag.

Have a great trip!

SledDogAction

If you see Iditarod dogs, here's what you should know: for the dogs, the Iditarod is a bottomless pit of suffering. Six dogs died in the 2009 Iditarod, including two dogs on Dr. Lou Packer's team who froze to death in the brutally cold winds. What happens to the dogs during the race includes death, paralysis, frostbite (where it hurts the most!), bleeding ulcers, bloody diarrhea, lung damage, pneumonia, ruptured discs, viral diseases, broken bones, torn muscles and tendons and sprains. At least 142 dogs have died in the Iditarod.

During training runs, Iditarod dogs have been killed by moose, snowmachines, and various motor vehicles, including a semi tractor and an ATV. They have died from drowning, heart attacks and being strangled in harnesses. Dogs have also been injured while training. They have been gashed, quilled by porcupines, bitten in dog fights, and had broken bones, and torn muscles and tendons. Most dog deaths and injuries during training aren't even reported.

Iditarod dog kennels are puppy mills. Mushers breed large numbers of dogs and routinely kill unwanted ones, including puppies. Many dogs who are permanently disabled in the Iditarod, or who are unwanted for any reason, including those who have outlived their usefulness, are killed with a shot to the head, dragged, drowned or clubbed to death. "Dogs are clubbed with baseball bats and if they don't pull are dragged to death in harnesses......" wrote former Iditarod dog handler Mike Cranford in an article for Alaska's Bush Blade Newspaper.

Dog beatings and whippings are common. During the 2007 Iditarod, eyewitnesses reported that musher Ramy Brooks kicked, punched and beat his dogs with a ski pole and a chain. Jim Welch says in his book Speed Mushing Manual, "Nagging a dog team is cruel and ineffective...A training device such as a whip is not cruel at all but is effective." "It is a common training device in use among dog mushers..."

Jon Saraceno wrote in his March 3, 2000 column in USA Today, "He [Colonel Tom Classen] confirmed dog beatings and far worse. Like starving dogs to maintain their most advantageous racing weight. Skinning them to make mittens.. Or dragging them to their death."

During the race, veterinarians do not give the dogs physical exams at every checkpoint. Mushers speed through many checkpoints, so the dogs get the briefest visual checks, if that. Instead of pulling sick dogs from the race, veterinarians frequently give them massive doses of antibiotics to keep them running. The Iditarod's chief veterinarian, Stu Nelson, is an employee of the Iditarod Trail Committee. They are the ones who sign his paycheck. So, do you expect that he's going to say anything negative about the Iditarod?

The Iditarod, with all the evils associated with it, has become a synonym for exploitation. The race imposes torture no dog should be forced to endure.

Margery Glickman
Director
Sled Dog Action Coalition, http://www.helpsleddogs.org

ronko

Two years ago I took my 10 year old grandson to Alaska and said we would go on various forms of transportation -- which we did - cruise ship - airplane - bus - helicopter - ATV - train - jet boat - dog sled - so that was our theme - we did animal watching - whales - caribou - elk - bears - etc. etc. it was a great trip -- but like a previous person mentioned you really need to fly - helicopter or plane - see the glaciers - the terrain - Mt. McKinley - etc. Did salmon fishing - saw two bears up the river and of course caught a number of fish to ship home. Alaska is just such an awesome place - you can capture it all -- you will certainly want to go back many times. Have Fun!!!