Recommendations for Alaska cruise excursions
 

We are planning an Alaskan cruise on Carnival, Anchorage to Vancouver, in August/September 2009, which we have done before by ourselves, but this time will be traveling with friends. I am trying to decide on excursions and would like to take a flight trip to see bears and Misty Fjords in Ketchikan, a flight trip to walk on a glacier in Juneau and a train trip in Skagway. We plan to spend 2 days with one overnight in Seward before the cruise as well. From previous experience, we can book ship excursions or on our own. Any suggestions for the ones we're considering?

My wife and I thought the train trip in Skagway was worth the time and cost. We just flew over the glaciers and that wasn't worth it.

We really enjoyed the train from Anchorage to Seward, if that is an option for you. It is considered the most scenic. Flight trip to see the bears would be over the glacier walk on my list, but, I am sure both would be fantastic experience. We did a helicopter/dog sled/glacier landing in Girdwood that was really great. Girdwood is on your route from anchorage to seward. Kenai Fjord is good in Seward, although, you might get enough of that on you cruise ship. Kayaking in Seward is fun. Exit Glacier hike near Seward is good, but take bear spray.

If you plan on flightseeing I'd definitely book with the ship as there was a horrible accident last year for cruisers on Princess cruise lines. The plane was not booked through the cruise line and all the people traveling passed away. There was more than one fatal flightseeing accident last year I think.

I can share what we did....

In Ketchikan we did the nature forrest walk two times (once with Princess and one w/ HAL) and both times we saw numerous eagles and a bear or two (or three there was a momma with her cubs) they feed at the river you walk by.

If you have time to see Mendenhall Glacier (I believe that's the glacier you're walking on) there is also a very good chance you'll find bear feeding there also, we came w/in 20 feet of 2 bears, scared our pants off but we'll never forget the beauty of the animals. There is a river at the rear of the parking lot.

We keep meaning to do the train trip, everyone brags about it. Instead we took a boat tour and saw otters and flourescent jellyfish, deer, and yet more bears. We also did the haunted brothel tour. And then we took a tour to Haines, you may pass whales along the way and Haines is so scenic. I'm pretty sure the boat tour was from Haines. Another time we went eagle watching and to photo op spots.

You picked the perfect time to go. Less crowds, the bears are still there, and the sales are huge for the end of the season. Have a great trip:)

Ps, I just wanted to add that there is a website called cruisefools.com. It is a smaller cruise community but most of the travelers are long time Carnival veterans. You may want to ask about your excursions there, they are a friendly group. Anyone is welcome.

We were on a different cruise line, but we LOVED the helicopter flight to walk on a glacier (Juneau). It was our favorite excursion. Also enjoyed whale watching (Juneau) and sea kayaking in Ketchikan (not booked through the ship - just walked up to a place right off the boat and booked it on the spot). In Skagway we rented a car and got to see much of the same scenery as the train trip (much cheaper). Hope this helps.

We did this trip last August. Decided to "go for it" as far as side excursions go, as we probably will never be back in Alaska.

Juneau: Capt. Larry/Orca Enterprises whalewatching. He is kind of a local celeb, we got to see lots of whales and otters.

Ketchican: Coastal Helicopter glacier flightseeing. Absolutely amazing to land and walk on a glacier. The scenery is breathtaking.

We also did the Skagway Rail trip. Very pretty scenery, but would not do a whole day trip again.

Bear watching in Anan Creek, tour with Island Wings Air. You are literally in the bears habitat, but felt safe with Park Rangers there.

Hope you enjoy!. We did all these trips on our own,not thru Princess. All these folks were easy to work with over the internet.

Thank you everyone for your great suggestions and advice! The train from Anchorage to Seward sounds promising spirobulldog. Love the Girdwood idea. I'm surprised about the bears everyone mentions. We were there at the end of May previously and didn't see any. I'm looking forward to it. You've all given me great info. Question for mcheryl. Did you see both glaciers and Anan Creek in Ketchikan? I agree about the train trip. We took it to Denali and back the last time and we wouldn't do it round trip again either. But there are some shorter ones offered, which would leave time to see the town which is neat. I'll look at that website travelinwifey, thank you. Will get back to you all, and will do a trip report this time.

princess: the glacier was out of Juneau. I worked out great working with Orca Enterprises. We met them for the whale watching (easy walk from the dock), then they transported us to the airport for the helicopter. Look forward to your TR

We thought the train trip in Skagway was too long and too monotonous. I would have enjoyed spending more time hanging around town instead.

In Juneau we picked up this turquoise-colored bus right by the ship terminal that drove us to the Mendenhal Glacier for $6.00/roundtrip (this was in 2001, so it may be more by now) instead of the $100 Princess excursion. We had a great time and stopped in Red Dog Saloon for a cold beer prior to reboarding the cruise ship.

We very much enjoyed an organized "nature walk" offered through Princess, and stayed away from any bus excursions.

Anna Roz

Just got back from out fourth trip to Alaska.
If you can fit them in, I would take a couple side trips that you haven't mentioned -- a glacier cruise out of Whittier, the Bearing Sea Crab Fisherman tour out of Ketchikan and a whale watch with Harv and Marv out of Juneau.
I have to agree with Anna_Roz about the Skagway train ride, and much preferred both the Glacier Point Wilderness Safari and the Chilkoot Trail Hike and Float, but to each his own.
The train from Anchorage to Seward is really nice.

This is a question for Schnitzel.. is the Chilkoot Float and Hike Trip offered by another company outside of the ship's excursions. Would like to try a private company if possible. thank you

I'm sorry, I don't know if it is offered independently, as we booked that one with Princess. However, this looks a lot like our trip:

http://www.southeasttours.com/chilko...tour_info.html

travelin - tell me about the haunted brothel tour!

We are almost set on an Alaska cruise next year - with Norwegian. I'm not thrilled about this cruise line, but it does have a good itinerary out of Seattle.

Am I the only person underwhelmed with the idea of the Mendelthal glacier thing? We walked on a glacier in the Canadian Rockies, and it was very interesting, but not the highlight of our trip. Everyone seems to love this excursion, and I guess it's just different strokes for different folks.

karens - my daughter was not thrilled with the glacier thing either. She is 18 and had done glacier hiking in Scandinavia, so I guess standing on one for 15 minutes did not compare.

Thanks again for all of the helpful information and opinions.

We're now considering taking the train from Anchorage to Whittier or Seward and renting a car from there. We would explore on the way to Seward...Girdwood, Exit Glacier, and spend the night. The following day we would take the boat ride in Seward and spend the second night in Whittier, hopefully. The ship leaves the next day.

One scenic rail trip is enough, so we could do the Chilkoot Trail Hike & Float (great suggestion Schnitzel)in Skagway instead of the train ride. Then we'd have some time to see the town before the ship leaves at 4:30.

I'm also going to add whale-watching in Juneau in addition to or instead of the glacier excursion. There is so much to do in Juneau. The last time we took that bus to Mendenhall and walked around the trail, then the took the tram ride up to Mt. Roberts and hiked up there. We'd want to do that again, and there's only so much time.

I'll keep you all posted.

There is nothing in Whittier, literally. It's sole reason to exist is as a cruiseport. Private residences are not allowed - all residents live in an ugly apartment building complex that includes a small school, clinic, store. So spend the pre-cruise night someplace else - I am not even sure if there is a hotel in Whittier!

I have to agree with gail. Whittier is gloomy at best. Here's what we did -- spent the night in Anchorage and took the early shuttle the next morning to Whittier where we caught the six hour PWS cruise through Esther Passage out to Suprise Glacier. It was fabulous.

Thanks for the info, Gail. We did this cruise in 2005 and that's also the way I remember Whittier. Last time we went in and out of Anchorage and had to be ready to take the bus to the airport at 8 am, yet didn't get on the ship until 4pm. Lots of time wasted when you're on vacation. Now we find that there's a hotel in Whittier http://www.innatwhittier.com/, $115/nt this year, plus we can rent a car from there. Also, per Schnitzel, there is a glacier cruise we could take from Whittier. Even so, it's not that far from Seward and we could stay there too. Take care and thanks again.

We did Princess cruise last month. We could drop our luggage at Princess transfer site any time after 9 AM and then got booked for a 3 PM bus to Whittier. Gave us a little time in Anchorage and the bus ride was actually quite pleasant - driver gave us a bit of natural history and we stopped for a couple of photo ops. The tunnel to Whittier is one lane and there is a schedule every hour which way traffic is allowed to flow.

Had no idea there was a hotel or scenic cruise from Whittier, so that may change things.

Hi Karens, sorry I didn't see your post sooner, we were out of town. The brothel tour is definitely worth it, it runs like every 60-90 mins so there's no need to book through the cruise line. You visit the Red Onion Saloon/former brothel that is just a short walk away into town from the boat dock.

Here's a few saloon photos:

http://ghostscreams.com/photo_player_flash9.html

Anyhoo you walk upstairs to the brothel section and hear the ghost stories, employees own encounters and antique bedding and dresses from the saloon's history. It was a very nice thing to do and again the visit will fit into almost any time schedule.

Regarding Mendenhall, it is definitely worth it, it's massive. But the best part is that you may end up within a few feet of bear salmon spawning. We didn't walk on the glacier, just visited it combined with another tour.

Regarding NCL, I think those are the better ships in their fleet that cruise Alaska.

We just returned from a 7 day HAL Alaska cruise. I agree that Harv and Marv's whale watching out of Juneau is the best.