Inside Passage - Alaska
 

Hi---I'm a first-timer to Alaska. What are some "don't miss this one" excursions that you would recommend? Not being familiar with the area, they're all sounding alike in my literature from the cruise company. I'll be on the Carnival Spirit in August. Thanks!

My daughter and I are also on the Spirit 8/20/03. We are wondering if you will be on this sailing. This is also our first time to Alaska and we are wondering also about excursions.

eyeq---(like the screen name) :) :)
We'll be on the Spirit from the 6th to the 13th-----so guess we'll miss each other! Anyway----got a response to this question on the US forum. Someone said to take the White Pass Train ride out of Skagway. Hopefully we'll get some more responses!

http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/O...mp;f=268097554

The above site is the most active and informative Alaska cruise site that I've found......check it out, all of your answers will be there.

THANK YOU CHARLIE!!!!!!!!

You're welcome Colette......have a great trip to my favorite place, I'm jealous.

My most favorite of all Alaska touring is a glacier helicopter landing- having done it 6 times. :) I've done and seen plenty and certainly have my favorites, but most important- look over your shore excursion list and narrow down your interests. They post ideas based on those.

We completed a Celebrity Summit cruise last week. We would recommend taking a helicopter ride and landing on a glacier as well. We went northbound and saved the excursion for our last stop Valdez, so we would save the best for last and because the other excursions in Valdez didn't sound so special.
We also did a raft trip to see bald eagles. The ride was exhilarating, but actually we say plenty of bald eagles at other times during the trip.
We also liked the excursion that first stopped at Mendehall Glacier and then took up to a motorized catamarin to go wildlife watching. We mainly saw whales.

Colette,
I took the Alaska cruise in May on the Norwegian Sun. Great trip. Take the White Pass Railroad trip out of Skagway. The scenery is beautiful. I didn't do any of the Heli-tours to the glaciers, but heard they are wonderful and many of the people on our ship went on them. Also, I really enjoyed the whale watching trip out of Juneau. We saw alot of whales and they were actually jumping out of the water for us. The tour operator said that was very unusual. Have a great trip. You'll love it no matter what you do.