marlib1951

We are going on a Princess cruise June 15 - 22. We stop at Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. What are your suggestions of shore excursions? We are thinking of doing the train trip in Skagway and perhaps the whale watching in Juneau. Also, we are going to Denali, Homer and Seward (not with the cruise line). Would Homer or Seward be better for the whale watching tour or is Juneau better? Do you have other suggestions for any of these places?

NewPlaces

No whale watching from Homer in 2009. This was the best ever whale watching tour we took. Try Harv and Marv in Juneau. They are great and you always see whales. In Seward you may see whales but I don't know whether they have any cruise that guarantees whales. You are not stopping in Petersburg but for those who are thinking about whale watching from there we saw plenty of whales but didn't care about a guy who took us on a long day trip.
In Ketchikan I highly recommend Totem Bight and a very easy but wonderful hike around Ward Lake. I never visited Skagway but I know some people like to take a train to Carcross and then a bus back. We enjoy our visit to Carcross and the smallest desert. Some visitors we met at the visitor center in Carcross loved their tour with Dave. I never took a tour with him so this is not based on my own exprience. Here is his website if you want to see what he offers http://www.dyeadavetours.com/tours.htm
In Seward go to Exit Glacier. In Homer take a bear watching tour. In Denali get on the shuttle to the park. Don't go all the way to Wonder Lake in June or you'll be eaten alive by mosquitos. There is much more to do in each of the places you listed. I'm only giving you some ideas.

marlib1951

Thanks for the help, NewPlaces!

mscloyd

We were on a Northbound Princess cruise in 2004. In Ketchikan we did the Misty Fjord floatplane. I really wanted to kayak, but was too afraid of the rain & freezing to death. The floatplane was nice (and dry). We purchased a "Toursaver" coupon book and got a 2/1 deal. In Junea we went on a whale watching boat/helicopter flight with glacier landing combo trip (Used another Toursaver Coupon). It was fabulous. The glacier landing was a highlight. We also went to Mendenhall Glacier on our own. We still had time to do a little shopping and stop at the famous bar (can't remember the name) for a drink. In Skagway, we took the train in the morning and then got back on the ship for lunch and then rented a car in the afternoon and drove to Emerald Lake (well, almost... we actually turned around too soon). The train was OK and I don't regret it, but we LOVED being on our own. We even saw bears on the side of the road. It is such a quiet and beautiful drive that you hardly saw any other cars. The scenery was really something. We still were able to spend a little time browsing the cute town.

When the shipped docked in Whittier, we rented a car and drove to Seward. A very easy 1 1/2 hour drive. We booked the 3 PM Kenai Fjords National Parks boat tour. This was absolutely THE highlight of our entire 2 week trip! We saw whales, sea lions, seals, porpoise, eagles, puffins, and the Captain even spotted bears on shore a couple of times and got us up close enough to get some photos. You also get up close to some glaciers. It was about 5-6 hours long, but still daylight. (Warning: It does get a little rough in a couple of spots so take some sea sickness medicine ahead of time) This trip is NOT to be missed! It is different from the whale watching trip. One the whale watching boat, you basically drive around trying to find whales and might possibly see some other things. This one just goes wherever there is something to see and you might see whales. We spent the night in Seward.

The next morning, we drove from Seward to Denali. Yes, many will tell you that it's too long of a drive and you will miss too much, but we enjoyed it and it was the only way we could do everything we wanted in 4 days. It was a very easy drive and you won't get lost. It took about 8-9 hours. We stopped in Anchorage to grab some lunch and picked up a few supplies at Wal-Mart. We also stopped a few places en route. We stayed overnight near Denali at a nice little B&B away from the crowds!

The next day we went on an 8-hour Denali bus tour, which was also a highlight of our entire trip. Yes, it is a long day, but it didn't seem like 8 hours on a school bus. Stayed again overnight in Denali. We went to a dinner/show that night, but that was the one thing I think we would have skipped f we had it to do over.

The next day we drove to Talkeetna for a summit flight and some shopping. We used our Toursaver book again for a 2/1. The summit flight was another highlight. Then we continued on to Anchorage and stayed overnight before our a.m. flight the next day.

Do I wish we had more time? Absolutely. But, given the time we did have, I do not regret one thing. I hope this helps a little.

BudgetQueen

With a whale priority, book a tour out of Juneau, where 100% of the trips have humpback sightings. My averages of many trips of Kenai Fjords is only about 50% for whale sightings, and the time is far more limited since these are route trips.

marlib1951

Thanks BudgetQueen, I have read some of your other posts about Alaska. You are a treasure! MsCloyd, your trip report was interesting, Thanks.

I realize this will be a lot of driving but I think it is doable. So, much of our trip will be sightseeing and that's okay we like road trips. Anyway, we arrive at Whittier at like 1:00 pm and I don't know what time we get off the ship. Does anyone know? Anyway, we will immediately head for Anchorage and rent a car. (By the way, how do we get to Anchorage?) Having rented the car, we head to Denali. Should we rent the car from the airport or another place in Anchorage? Is the airport out of our way? Is there another rental place more convenient? or cheaper?

marlib1951

We have rooms for Healy, the Totem Inn. Is it okay? Do we need to make reservations for Denali, the bus or shuttle tour? What do you suggest we do in Denali? We only have the one day and that evening we will go back to Talkeetna and spend the night there. Then it is on to Seward and spend one night there, the Breeze Inn. Then to Homer and spend one night there, Land's End. The last time we were in Seward we went on some cruise and had a salmon lunch at some cove. I don't remember the name of the cruise or the cove. It was a nice day. The last two nights we will spend in Anchorage and I am not sure of what we will do in Anchorage. Anyway, any comments, concerns, suggestions, or critiques are welcome.

BudgetQueen

You really may want to rethink this, you are in a rush at Denali Park, Seward and Homer. In my opinion, Homer is never a 1 night stop, always two. It's at least 4 hours from Anchorage. I would suggest you pick one or the other location, so to be able to see and doing something. It makes no sense to me, to spend at least 5 hours driving to Seward- with only brief stops, then leaving the next day for a 3-4 hour trip. Finally another 4+++ hours back to Anchorage???

A better, although more costly routing suggestion is to rent a one way Avis car from Whittier, then get out the 9am tunnel and go direct to Seward. Will arrive around 11am. overnight. Leave next late afternoon for Talkeetna. Be sure to allow for a grocery stop by Wasilla.

Two nights at Denali Park with shuttle bus reservations necessary. Then you can either add two nights at Homer from Seward, and skip your time in Anchorage. It's really a secondary area compare to all the others.

Anyway, I would never have 2 nights in Anchorage at the expense of the visited areas of your routing.
There are better itineraries in my opinion.

You probably did the Fox Lodge salmon bake trip with a Kenai Fjords boat tour??

BudgetQueen

If you go with the Whittier Anchorage transfer, the buses start leaving around 7am, then every hour.