nicolino

Hey thanks for the great info. Goin on a Cruise in july 2013 stopping at 3 ports in Alaska. Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka. we enjoy seeing all the sites. The main cities and towns. the churches, the food, We like to see how people live. In Alaska we would like to do Dog Sledding, the rain forest, museums, Whale watching, glaciers etc. Been told that the city buses and shuttles are all in walkable distance from the Cruise ship and a lot of the must see places in all 3 ports can be done on your own? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

emalloy

Certainly Juneau can be done on your own. There are city busses that will take you to Mendenhall Glacier very near the docks. There is a nice state museum there too.

nicolino

thanks emalloy. would you recommend a helicopter tour over the glaciers or whale watching?

GrammaKel

We went on nearly the exact same cruise!
I know some will disagree with me, but we booked our excursions from the cruise line. I was so afraid of 'missing the boat' if the tour went long or had issues....it was worth it to me to pay the premium cost. My Sis and I went on a (bus)glacier tour while the men went whale watching. We all had a marvelous time! We also went to the Hanging Gardens and the lumberjack show. (Obviously we are not as adventurous as you are...LOL)
All 3 of your stops are very walkable to see the city itself.
And don't worry, there will be PLENTY of folks trying to get you to take their transportation/tours in Juneau and Ketchikan. Sitka not so much.
Can you see much of the icebergs from the helicopter? We had more luck seeing "calving" while we were on the ship in the glacier field...forget what it's called.
Next time I want to on a bear-watching tour, and see the whales too.
You are going to have SO MUCH fun!!

nicolino

thanks grammakel. spo excited about it. did research on the helicopter tours they are very expensive and since we are going through the tracy arm it seems as you stated we will see the glaciers more by cruise ship. we are thinking of doing a morning tour in each port and then once done walk into each town and see the sites and meet the people etc. we are def going to do dog sledding and then take the city bus on our own to the mendenhall glacier where for a nominal fee we can go onto the trails down to the shore areas and hopefull see bears etc. seems there is a water falls to access also. any idea's please let me know open to any and all advice

sunbum1944

I also booked all the excursions ( except Mendenhall) from the cruise ship. Easier to have everything arranged and not have to stand in line to see what was offered and if there was availability.

We did take the bus to Mendenhall which was easy.

We did a salmon bake/whale watch day which was great. We got to see the whales "bubble net" feeding which was incredible. YouTube "bubble net feeding "- it is amazing- visualize 8 whales all surfacing at the same time with their mouths wide open.

We did an excursion in every port.
I found it disappointing that every port had high end international jewelers who were so aggressive, If you even stop and look in the window, they will be there offering you deals and pushing you to buy. Not what I came to Alaska for.

nicolino

thanks sunburn what excursions did you do in ketchikan and sitka. im looking at the dog sledding in juneau. thing is some people said there is no snow in july and the sleds are on wheels. i did hear that the salmon bake/whale watch day was a great trip. hard to make decisions so many people have so many different feelings about everything. so far its dog sledding and the salmon bake/ whales in juneau and a city tour in ketchikan. I was told if the waters are rough Sitka is a no go since we would go in with tenders. Also told it is a very small port and area and pretty much everything is walkable

sunbum1944

Did not go to Sitka.
Its all kind of confusing to me now what we did where - but I think we did the whale watch/Salmon bake in Juneau and and float plane trip in Ketchican.

I am sure the dog sled will be on wheels and does not sound quite the same as a real sled through the snow- I think I would pass on that. We did go to a place where they raise and train sled dogs which I thought was interesting- but that was in Denali area.

nicolino

what would be the best option for excursions in the three cities of juneau, sitka and ketchikan. the must see's or the do not miss's? we would just like to get the best of the 3 cities while we are in each port. some say go off the ship and do it on your own some say use the ship excursions etc. HELP