tammyps

We are doing the inside passage on Princess on July 20; Ketchikan, Juneau & Skagway. Princess excursions are pricey. How do I find and book independent tours that will coordinate with ship schedule. We are a family of 4 interested in kayaking, hiking, whale watching and glacial viewing. We plan to do White Pass for sure. We like to get off the beaten path. Helicopter and floatplane trips with cost us over $1000.00. Is is worth it? Any ideas?

Dreps

If you were doing Denali also, I would definitely suggest looking at the Toursaver Coupon Book at http://www.toursaver.com/index.php/alaska-deals/. We used it during our pre-cruise (Flight over McKinley from Talkeetna and River excursion in Talkeetna) and also for a flightseeing in Ketchikan with SE Aviation, but I no longer see it on the list. Just bear in mind that excursions are very pricey in Alaska even on your own. In Juneau, we arranged a combination Whale Watching and Glacier Landing with Orca Enterprises and Coastal Helicopters, which they will coordinate, but it is expensive. The White Pass rail was great (though we had smoke to contend with because the unusual heat in 2004 caused major wildfires). Someone else can chime in on kayaking excursions, though I did see one listed in the coupon book in Ketchikan. It only takes one or two excursions to make the book a moneysaver.

hawnmom

Seeing Misty Fjords by floatplane in Ketchikan was a wonderful experience for us last month. You will not regret it! We cruised on Holland America's Oosterdam and booked our excursion on their website. I am sure Princess does the same. Our price was $771.90 for two adults, but well worth it.

katybird

We loved our floatplane flight and were so glad we did it. There is nothing like the Misty Fjords from the air. Our pilot landed on a lake and we were able to get out and walk around.We plan to do it again in Aug.
We were not all that impressed with the whale watch. We went with Orca Enterprises and they were fine but we didn't see very many whales.
In Juneau you can go to Mendenhall glacier via the shuttle bus [$7.00 each way] and we found that very enjoyable.
Have a great cruise!

kaudrey

If you want to get off the beaten path a bit and want cheap things to do - go hiking - it's free!

For trails in Ketchikan:

http://www.ketchikanalaska.com/ketch...ing_trails.htm

Also in Ketchikan, this company comes highly recommended for kayaking:

http://www.kayakketchikan.com/

In Skagway, hike around Dewey Lake. I can't find my link, but you can get a map at the Visitors Center there.

In Juneau, we are using Harv and Marv for whale watching ($122 a person). You can also take the bus to Mendenhall Glacier ($14 each way) and hike there, or hike up Mount Roberts and save the $24 fee to take the tram...

We are not doing the floatplanes because two of my party don't like little planes...

mscarls

If you do some Googling, you won't have trouble finding independent tours, and they rely on cruisers and schedule them accordingly. However, remember that the ship will wait for one of its excursions that is running late but not for an independent operator, so don't cut it too close.
There are other cruise web sites with a lot of information about cruise ports and excursions.

FainaAgain

We did not pre-reserve in Juneau.

There was a shuttle bus at the dock dropping people off at the Mt Roberts Tram for $3.

At the tram there is a small plaza with tables selling all tours, and tour buses picking people up.

gail

We just returned from same cruise. At each port there are all sorts of booths and vendors selling tours similar to those listed by Princess. Some cost more than sold by Princess, some less, but most were just about the same. Advantage of booking on own is you can decide at last minute, look at weather. Disadvantage is, as mentioned above, if there is any sort of glitch in schedule, cruise ship will leave without you - so if you book on your own I would leave plenty of time. Two of our Princess excursions ran late getting back to ship and I was glad I did not need to worry about swimming to catch up to ship.

Hiking - at every port there was some sort of park service or ranger office with free trail maps - DH and son did a day hike in Skagway.

We did a Princess helicopter glacier walk-around out of Juneau - expensive but worth it and it was sold out several weeks prior to cruise date.

I suggest you do make some sort of plans, if not reservations, for all ports - there is little to do right in each stop without further transportation away from pier unless you want to shop for diamonds.