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i am considering taking the marine ferry from prince rupert, b.c. through to skagway. only want to spend about 5-8 nights along the way. which places would you recommend stopping at and for how long to relax, enjoy the community and do some sightseeing. kitchikan, petersburg, sitka, juneu, haines, skagway.
which places should i rent a car in?
any feedback on the marine ferry system and their boats would be apprecaited.

Kelly

I just recently got back from an Alaskan cruise. Juneau is the place to see wildlife. I went on a catamaran with a company called Wildlife Quest, I think. The crew was great, and we saw bald eagles, seals, and so many humpback whales! It was fabulous. In Skagway, the White Pass railroad trip is a must. Beautiful scenery going up and down the mountain. Ketchiken had a Totem Pole Park, though not much to see. The towns are small, I don't have answers to your other questions. Hope this helps!

Donna F

We went on the Columbia from Bellingham to Skagway. Since our final destination was the Anchorage area we brought a car with us and didn't spend any time in the other ports. We spent two nights in Skagway which is probably sufficient. You don't need a car there, everything is in walking distance. The railroad was interesting. We reserved more than a month in advance and could only get the last run of the day thanks to all the cruise ships that stop there. Get the Milepost magazine. Do some reading ahead of time. I picked up Klondike Women while we were in Seattle to get an idea of what it was like when people were streaming into Skagway to hike up the Chilkoot pass for Yukon gold. The ferry food is okay. The Columbia is the biggest boat and offers both a dining room and a cafeteria. The cabins were small but sufficient. The new bathrooms were great. We had a 4 person room which meant bunks which meant you didn't have a place to sit. Friends had recommended bring bag chairs since deck chairs would be hard to find. We used them in the cabin! A speaker from the US Forest service did about 6 short lectures a day. They were great. The scenery was great. Our friends said they prefered sleeping on deck in a tent but it look too windy to me. The lounge chairs in the solarium looked to be filled by people who opted not to book a cabin. Since we were on the first trip north after the Columbia was renovated there was an unusually low number of passengers, 200-300 on a boat that usually carries 600 and has a capacity for 900. Keep in mind that the ferry system starts taking reservations in early December and cabins go quickly. We were told we could visit Haines from Skagway by taking a water taxi. I chose Skagway as the end of the line for us because the reservations agent said the drive out of town was beautiful. Make sure to bring binnoculars and reading material. The panhandle of Alaska has a lot of rain. You won't see any calving glaciers unless you go further north.

John

AMHS currently runs two vessels on the Prince Rupert line, the Taku and Kennicott. The Taku is one of the older ships in the fleet, the Kennicott the newest. In summer the Kennicott is used, I believe, for the cross-sound service from Juneau et al to Seward, so not sure if they substitute another boat on the PR run.

On your itinerary, you'll probably get the most "bang" out of staying in Juneau and Skagway, if you combine the latter with the train/bus ride to Whitehorse. Sitka is very pleasant for a day, ditto Ketchikan. Petersburg and Wrangell are good for a stroll while the ferry's at the dock, not more IMO.

Donna's advise is good - if you want a cabin start planning now because they sell out and, while romantic, sleeping on the deck or in the lounge is not my idea of a comfortable ride. Too many guitars and "Kumbyah" moments. (Cynicism comes with great age, I guess.)

How are you getting to PR and what happens after Skagway? Are you retracing your steps? Be advised that air service between northern BC, the Yukon and Alaska is miserable because of the lack of traffic.

Sue

I found the ferries to be quite dirty! Anyone else think so?

Patrick

After the better part of this past July in Alaska we took about eight days via the ferries from Haines to Bellingham. We couldn't arrange the schedule to get off in Ketchikan en route to Prince Rupert unless we wanted to stay three days and then take the next ferry, so we opted instead to just stay in Ketchikan one night and then take the ferry all the way to Bellingham -- and we were glad we did. We spent a night in Haines, which really doesn't offer much except the eagle sanctuary but we had already seen thousands of eagles everywhere else. You can also do a very inexpensive and short separate day trip from Skagway to Haines if you really want to go there -- those trips also combine a visit to the Chilkoot center for native dancing and maybe a salmon bake. We stayed two nights in Skagway and were glad we had our car. In addition to the railway trip, we enjoyed driving over to the old settlement and walking through things there -- although it was not a "must see" activity. There is the most to do in Juneau and I would consider doing the Tracy Arm fjord cruise from there if it is your only chance to really see the glaciers up close. We dropped that as it poured rain the entire three days we were in Juneau. Our ferry did not go to Sitka (we were on the first southbound trip of the redone Columbia)and I would think that would merit an overnight stay possibly. Ketchikan is quaint and picturesque (certainly touristy) and also warrants a single overnight stay. We stopped in Petersburg and I'm not sure why you'd want to make an overnight stop there, given your limited time. So to summarize, if I were you, I'd think about spending one night in Ketchikan, one in Sitka, 2 in Juneau, and 2 or even 3 (if you wanted to day trip it over to Haines) in Skagway. Of course, the ferry schedule dictates how long you can stay in any of these ports and when it's possible to catch another ferry. You need to get the schedule as soon as it is published (usually in January, I think). We booked our cabins and tickets the first week they accepted reservations.