Recommended Alaska cruise port excursions
 

We will be sailing from Vancouver to Whittier in August, docking at Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, and Sitka. Do you have any "must see/do" suggestions for any of these ports? I am very reluctant to pay the inflated costs of the cruise ship's excursions if I can easily book some similar activities myself.

My husband and I cruised in 1995. These may not be "must see," though we enjoyed them.

In Ketchikan we went to the lodge to see the native dancing.

In Juneau we took a tour bus to the Mendenhall glacier - wish i'd skipped it. By the time we got there it was time to turn back.

In Skagway we did the railroad. Very scenic. Nice trip.
Also in Skagway there is a gold rush national monument that was basically a building with a ranger, but it had really neat information. The other half of that monument is in Seattle; we have visited it as well.

In Sitka we took a kayak toiur that was really neat- saw starfish up close. Sitka is small enough to walk around to the cute shops if you have time.


Have fun!

Did you see these?

http://tinyurl.com/manmy4

http://tinyurl.com/lfrl7n

Thanks to you both! Very helpful.

We booked our own tours when we cruised to Alaska. The only one that wasn't a good idea was the Saxman Native Village near Ketchikan. It was interesting, but basically owned by the cruise lines. We were not able to see the dance/story show nor go inside to hear the carver talk about the totem pole he was working on. If you want to go there, I'd suggest you go with the cruise line.

Otherwise, we booked our own helicopter to see the glacier (and land on it) in Juneau. We booked our own kayak trip in Sitka (and spend time in the town - interesting shops).

I loved kayaking in Sitka. It was lightly raining part of the time, but it didn't matter. The views were dramatic and the experience was very "whole body."

I decided I didn't like cruising though - not enough time in the ports for that money and time, I'd rather be exploring on my own. I'm not into the ship life, either - auctions, gambling, I don't get it. The shows were okay, I guess.

Here's a big tip. We saved money with inside cabins. Do not make that mistake. You can't even tell if it is light out without looking at the tv in the cabin, much less if you need a raincoat. Way too claustrophobic and out of touch with the outside world for me.

We also took a helicopter tour and landed on a glacier in Juneau. We booked thru Coastal Helicopters(google it if interested) which was recommended here and was the highlight of our trip. The second highlight of our trip was a Misty Fjords tour out of Ketchikan with Southeast Aviation(also recommended here)it's a seaplane landing on a beautiful, silent lake. I can recommend both but the tours are not cheap. Maybe a little cheaper then the cruise ship tours, but not cheap. Definitely worth every penny.

You need to do your homework, there are 100's of excellent tours to consider. Narrow down your interests and determine your budget, then repost. You will get more specific information.

Will do. Offhand I would say we may spring for one high-ticket excursion (2 adults and a teenager), but generally we will have to go the low-budget route with hopefully some interesting sights to still see.

I am on biz travel the next 2 weeks, but will try to keep an eye on the forums until I can jump back on with more specific questions....

Sounds like we are doing basically the same thing the end of August. We are cruising Royal Caribbean from Vancover to Seward, then doing the land tour on to Denali too. I was on line looking for recommendations of what excursions we should take so if anyone has something they would definately recommend we are searchng for recommendations. This is our first cruise.

Would love to get any suggestions on booking excusions for a cruise on NCL Seattle, Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan. Or even some hikes that are accessible from the cruise port via train or taxi?

roosta73,
Welcome to Fodors!
You will probably get better answers to <u>your</u> questions if you repost here or in the cruises forum with a new, more specific (to you) title.