OK, I'll start a new post . . . and, I did do a search first but the last one appeared to be in May 02. Surely some of you expert Fodorites went to Alaska last summer and can share some up-to-date info.<BR><BR>I know I want to do a helicopter ride w/landing on a glacier . . . which one, which port? How much does it cost? Can I book this on my own for less?<BR><BR>I also would like to go whale watching. The couple we are cruising with said we'd probably see plenty of whales from the ship and we wouldn't need to take a special excursion, is this correct? Anyone sailed with Captain Larry?<BR><BR>We are scheduled on the Island Princess for July 26 (Vancouver-Seward) . . . that's just 2 weeks away from the inaugural sailing . . . keeping my fingers crossed that we don't get cancelled.<BR><BR>Thanks in advance,<BR>Sandy ([email protected])

Hi Sandy, I didn't get to Alaska last year but have been before (3 times). <BR><BR>Can't recommend a helicopter tour but if you can afford it, it's a must. I went with the ship's tour for several float plane tours and really enjoyed them.<BR><BR>I did my whale watching tour in Juneau (also thru the ship) and saw many whales. I have never seen a whale from the ship (must not be in the right place at the right time) but we had a momma and baby whale entertain us for about 30 minutes. I have heard that Captain Larry is a great tour.<BR><BR>I usually do ship's tours as I travel alone but any of the ports in Alaska can be done on your own. The helicopter and plane tours usually fill up fast. You should be able to search on the web and find alot of tour operators.<BR><BR>Good luck and have a great time.<BR><BR>Jana

I heard jet skiing and parasailing are popular.

We did Capt Larry (with Awesome Orca) and was very pleased with our tour. The pricing was the same as the ship but we had a very nice boat with under 20 people on it. There was Capt Larry (who was wonderful) and a naturalist on board - it felt very personal to be able to ask them questions about everything going on and what we were seeing.. Capt Larry definitely knew where to go to see the whales and the other boats were always calling him asking him if we were having any luck. I highly recommend booking with him. Their office is very easy to find when you get off the cruise ship and they take you in nice vans to the boat.<BR><BR>We saw a dozen whales on our excursion. I didn't see many from the cruise ship (always in the wrong place at the wrong time).<BR><BR>If you have further questions - let me know.

Sandy,<BR>There are two different helicopter glacier tours. The less expensive one is just that, a flight to the lower elevation of the glacier, about 15 minutes of walking around the glacier, and a flight back, for about $150 +/- few. The more expensive one, which I would recommend, is a flight to very high elevation, trekking the glacier for about 2 hours with special equipment and a flight back for about $300 +/- few. <BR>The one variable for all these trips is weather. Alaska weather is very unpredictable, so the trips could look ok in the morning and could be cancelled by the time you get to the heliport.<BR>The best place for the glacier trips is Juneau. The glacier trekking excursion is done by the GREAT folks at www.northstartrekking.com.<BR>Enjoy your cruise!