Need help with Alaska Cruise Inquiry

Martha A.

Earning My Ears
Joined
Mar 2, 2018
Hi ya'll!

I am scheduled to take an Alaskan Cruise on September 2nd so my reservation window is a couple of weeks away...this leads me to my inquiry;

Which Port Adventures do you recommend for Alaska? I'm looking for things under the $200 budget

Any and all information is much appreciated. Thank you so much in advance! :thanks:
 
I think if you provide a little more information, you'd get better recommendations.

Is the $200 budget per person per port?

What are you looking for - active port adventures (hiking, kayaking, etc.), something more unique to Alaska (dog sleds, crab fishing, lumberjack show). more mild activity (train, whale watching). Without knowing a little more about what you and your family generally enjoy, it's difficult to give recommendations
 
Great point. Thank you for the suggestion.

I am looking at something unique to Alaska, a more mild activity for under $200 per person per port. It is only my boyfriend and I going - two adults. I would like to do the train ride (White Pass?) and visit any breweries (the boyfriend is a fan).
 


Great point. Thank you for the suggestion.

I am looking at something unique to Alaska, a more mild activity for under $200 per person per port. It is only my boyfriend and I going - two adults. I would like to do the train ride (White Pass?) and visit any breweries (the boyfriend is a fan).
Alaskan Brewing is in Juneau. I very much enjoyed their Amber. I think Skagway and Ketchikan also have breweries. Personally, with all there is in Alaska, I would be less concerned with taking a brewery tour, but wouldn't pass up a tap room after an excursion.

We didn't do it, but consider the Skagway Green Jeep tour. It is on my list should we return. We did the train the first time, but did not book with the cruiseline. We went to the station instead.
 
We loved the Wilderness Exploration and Crab Feast in Ketchikan. The boat ride was fun and informational. We saw crabs, seals and eagles. Then ate a LOT of crab. We also booked the White Pass train/bus (bus up, train down), but the tracks were closed due to a rock slide, so it became a bus up, bus down thing, which was fantastic... they stopped at several very scenic places along the route for us to take pictures. We saw several bears on that trip.
 
I'll confirm with @jlynch924 Wilderness Exploration and Crab Feast (KE31) in Ketchikan. Great boat tour and education about crabs. All you can eat crab legs - as in waddle out the door all you can eat. It was $169 pp Sept 2018. Icy Strait Point doesn't have much to offer, but we enjoyed Alaska's Wildest Kitchen (IS13). The two ladies that run the operation are LONG time residents of Alaska and know everything about the fishing industry. Very salty, down to earth people. They demonstrate everything from cleaning the fish to cooking it. Oh, the varieties of samples were fantastic and they printed out the easy step by step method of preparing each dish. Again Sept 2018 $87. Enjoy your cruise.
 


I will be on the same cruise!

I know you mentioned the railway as one of your excursions in Skagway, and that was my plan, too, until I found the Yukon Discovery Tour through Frontier Excursions. $115/person for a full day experience. I couldn’t pass it up. (I can’t link it since I’m too new here. Sorry).

I’ve heard great things about the Alaskan Brewing Company but won’t make it out there as I’m planning on ziplining and seeing the glacier in Juneau.
 
In Ketchikan in 2011we did the snorkeling excursion, which at the time only cost 106$ per person. It was a very unique experience and we had a great time!

Aby
 
In Juneau, you can take a free 5-minute shuttle bus from the port to the town's tourist hub. Once there, you can easily buy round-trip bus transfers to Mendenhall Glacier. They'll drop you off there, you can explore at your leisure, then go back to the bus stop for your return trip. This is a better way to do Mendenhall than a formal excursion, because you'll control your time there.

There is also a lift you can take to the top of Mount Roberts in Juneau. At the top there are great views, and walking trails on the mountain with even more great views.

Tracy's King Crab Shack in Juneau is s must-do lunch location, btw.

In Skagway, we independently booked a glassblowing excursion with Jewell Gardens for about $100pp (it costs double to book via DCL). That was very nice, their gardens were also nice to see, and their restaurant is a nice place to have lunch. We chose to walk back to the ship, and stopped at the Gold Rush graveyard and Lower Reid Falls. Both were nice experiences and free.
 
If you are interested in booking the Bearing Sea Crab Fisherman's Tour in Ketchikan through DCL I would encourage you to book it right when your booking window because on our cruise it was one of the first things to sell out (on the day my booking window opened).
In Skagway we independently booked a tour through Chilkoot Charters that includes the railway and a visit to a dog camp.
In Juneau we independently booked a whale watching tour through Jayleen's Alaska which is a smaller boat. She has really good reviews on another site.
 
I would like to do the train ride (White Pass?) and visit any breweries (the boyfriend is a fan).
You can book that directly online and save $ and still be on the same train in the same car as those who booked through DCL. I did that and was very happy.

I believe there were breweries in Skagway. There is a type of beer that is made there called Spruce tip ale, which is kind of "the beer" to try when visiting there. https://skagwaybrewing.com/alaska-brewed-beer/spruce-tip-ale/

You can find lots of info for port adventures by googling each port and what there is to do there. If you cross reference to what DCL is offering, you'll get a good idea of what you'd enjoy doing and then how to get the best deals. Alaska is a very expensive cruise to take. It seems like all the activities are expensive, but if you do things that you love to do, you'll be very happy to spend the money. Many of the independent shore excursion company tours sell out weeks or months in advance. They are selling to everyone, not just those on the Disney Cruise, so book early. Make sure you read the policies about cancellation, etc. Most will guarantee to get you back to the ship on time or will offer to pay your travel expenses if they fail - which they never have failed.
 
4FD56BED-56AF-437E-B09A-E4EC911323E1.jpeg We kayaked in Ketchikan-amazing. Hubby also found the town’s first brewery and had lunch there while kids and I headed back to the ship.
 
We and kids/gkids had a great time on various excursions...don't think you can go wrong with any of them. Loved the Alaska cruise and would do it again. While in Juneau we were sitting on our verandah waiting for the Wonder to shove off when a hummingbird, of all things, flew up above the rail, took a look at us for a second or two then flew off. The ship was quite a ways from the shore and I don't think there were any flowers aboard for him/her to check out. Only thing I can think of is that the bird was looking for a nip of the drink of the day to fuel his flight. I have not ruled out that it was Tinkerbell, either.
On one of our excursions, as we left the dock in a small boat for a scientific adventure, a bald eagle swooped down in front of our boat and snagged a fish out of the water, flew up to the top of a dock post and prepared for lunch. Just as a friend of his landed next to him, he dropped the fish into the drink. Both birds looked down and I am sure thought about what could have been. It happened too fast for me to grab my camera. Cruise on...
 
We did the Mendenhall Glacier hike - amazing. Absolutely amazing. Did the Skagway White Pass train... the bus ride to the train was gorgeous, stops to get out and take pictures etc. Then the train. There was no food at all, anywhere, for snacks (wish we had been warned) and then... my husband and both kids fell asleep. I was trapped under my sleeping daughter and couldn't even take pictures! we refer to it as the most expensive nap ever. I loved walking Creek Street in Ketchikan (free) too.
 
I know it's not an excursion, but we rented a car in Juneau (Juneau Rentals - pickup right off the pier) for $97. Was a great way to get around Juneau at our own pace, see the offbeat areas (Eagle Bay St. part, Shrine of St. Therese) while beating the crowds to Mendenhall
 
If you are interested in booking the Bearing Sea Crab Fisherman's Tour in Ketchikan through DCL I would encourage you to book it right when your booking window because on our cruise it was one of the first things to sell out (on the day my booking window opened).
In Skagway we independently booked a tour through Chilkoot Charters that includes the railway and a visit to a dog camp.
In Juneau we independently booked a whale watching tour through Jayleen's Alaska which is a smaller boat. She has really good reviews on another site.

I would actually recommend that you book the Bering Sea Crab Fisherman's tour directly if you can (http://alaskacrabtour.com). There's only one ship that does it. However, they usually have limited number of spots that can be booked outside of the cruise, so it may sell out. The only hitch would be if you want to have crab dinner with the crew, in which case, that's only available through Disney.
 
I would actually recommend that you book the Bering Sea Crab Fisherman's tour directly if you can (http://alaskacrabtour.com). There's only one ship that does it. However, they usually have limited number of spots that can be booked outside of the cruise, so it may sell out. The only hitch would be if you want to have crab dinner with the crew, in which case, that's only available through Disney.
I second booking this direct - my daughter is 11 so as Disney pricing goes she would count as an adult but directly they include kids up to age 12 - saved me $105!!
 

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