I've read over so many of your posts and I'm just thoroughly confused as to what to book for our Sept. Holland America Cruise RT from Vancouver with stops in Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway.
First things first, let me put this out there. I am a chicken... so, I am really worried about the helicopter thing, plus, to be silly, I don't like the idea of having to get on a scale in front of others. However, from all the reading, I understand this is the best way to see Alaska...
In Juneau, I really wanted to do the best of Juneau with the Mendenhall Glacier Visit, whale watching and salmon bake. However, if we were to choose a helicopter tour of the glacier over this tour, would there still be a way to do whale watching and/or the salmon bake??
In Ketchikan, I really have no idea what we should choose. By the way, my husband is a little more adventurous than I am...
In Skagway, I know I want to do the White Pass RR. Is it best to do this alone or combine it with a best of tour where here we could maybe do the salmon bake that we may miss being able to do in Juneau? I've read conflicting reports of taking the RR roundtrip or one way. In the "best of" tour, it is one way. Is that sufficient? Also, what is the Summit Club?
I'm not against booking things independently if needed, but we will be going in Sept., so I know the port time is shorter. I'd just like to see and do as much as possible... and thanks to Budget Queen, I'm going to try not to skimp on the excursions.
Thank you for any help/suggestions!!!

Sounds as if you are taking the same cruise as we did just a month ago. I do recommend whale watching AND the helicopter glacier landing. Contact Capt Larry at Ocra Enterprises http://www.orcaenterprises.com/ and he will set up both for you, making sure you have time to do both by transporting you between heliport and boat.

I can't help with your fear of flying except to tell you I did a safety check on Coastal Helicopters and found they have never had a fatal accident. Also, I was dreading the scale thing but when you get on it the only person that see's your weight is the person weighing you. I think they know how vain we women are. The helicopter was the highlight of our trip. Have fun!!

That Whale watching/helicopter glacier landing is out of Juneau

For clairfication, CD's report on Coastal Helicopter is not accurate. They did have a fatal crash a few years ago. I have flown with them 3 times without any concern. Also 3 trips with with ERA and TEMSCO combined.

A glacier helicopter trip is my top recommended tour. Just excellent!!

It depends how much port time you have- but you can pick up the Gold Creek Salmon Bake at the dock, using the loop bus. Or consider Twisted Fish, or my favorite Thane Ore House for salmon.

A nice combo with the White Pass RR are the bus trips one way, if you have a desire to get into the Yukon. Chilkoot Charters offers a small shuttle bus/rail combo that has great guides.

Thanks for setting the record straight BudgetQueen. I was not aware of that.

ughhh I think I would have liked to believe there were no accidents...Is there any other excursions that can give you the feel of the glacier without the actual helicopter? For some reason I'm not as worried about a floatplane.

http://www.beyondak.com/glaciertrekking.html