Alaska 2023 independent shore excursions

[rwhistler92]

We are trying to plan our 2023 Alaska cruise
We will be stopping at Icy Stait, Sitka, Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan
Do you have a favorite independent shore excursion operators?
I am looking for something outside of Disney to consider.
Thanks

 

[shosh1530]

We'll be making our first cruise this summer but have looking at both Alaska Shore Tours and Alaska Shore Excursions. I've seen both seen both recommended on here and in other groups.

 

[Disneyfam854]

Highly recommend Alaska Shore Tours and Chilkoot Charters.

 

[ScooterScott44]

Just sharing that Icy Strait Point is really a privately owned cruise/tourist destination. There you will likely need to book through the ship. The other ports you will have some options.

 

[AgentMama]

Just sharing that Icy Strait Point is really a privately owned cruise/tourist destination. There you will likely need to book through the ship. The other ports you will have some options.

We booked independently when we were in port at ISP.

 

[KGmomoftwins]

Rum runners charter in Juneau and wild wolf tours in Ketchikan. Both great and you can read more about them in my TR.

 

[DisneyConvert]

We were VERY happy with our Frontier Excursions mini-bus tour from Skagway - we saw all of the sights on the way to/from Carcross, YT and the price was MUCH less expensive than Disney or the choo-choo were.
Also, I took a salmon-fishing boat trip out of Ketchikan, and it was more than I could have "Fantasy-ized." Other DCL passengers on the same trip were nice, and yes, we saw whales.

 

[justafigment27]

We booked whale watching with Glacier Wind Charters in Icy Strait Point in 2019. I would absolutely recommend it if whale watching (humpback whales) is something your interested in doing. ISP is great for whale watching because of it’s location. We saw whales, sea otters and other wildlife. They are small boats with few passengers, so you’re not struggling for a viewing spot.

It’s a family business run by residents of Alaska. Dad and son each take a boat out and Mom drives the van and does the bookings, etc. It’s very well run and very professional. Boats and van were immaculate and everything was very well communicated.

The scenery was spectacular and it was probably my favorite excursion in Alaska.

 

[ScooterScott44]

edited

 

[auntlynne]

 

[LeslieLou]

Are you open to doing your own thing without a tour operator? We did this in Alaska last summer and had a great time and I felt we saved money also.

Skagway- we rented a car and drove the Yukon highway to emerald lake and back following the free guide you can find online and stopping wherever we wished. This was our favorite day. Passport needed. Scenery breathtaking and varied. We also went to the abandoned prospector town Dyea
Juneau - took a Lyft to Mendenhall glacier and made a connection with the driver so we just contacted him over the rest of the day. Stopped at Salmon ladder and fishery then Went to an abandoned gold mine on Douglas island/ate lunch local. The Treadwell property was really cool.
Ketchikan- least favorite port. Would prob take an excursion out of Ketchikan if I did it again. Town very touristy. We took public transport to the totem pole state park which was neat but short.
We didn’t stop at your other locations.
I would do Alaska again in a heartbeat. We loved the land portion of our visit even more than the boat.
Hope you have great travels.

 

[Pens Fan]

A few we have used in the past and highly recommend:

Skagway https://www.skagwayprivatetours.com/ for private tours into the Yukon. Unless you're just into trains you'll see so much more and have more flexibility going on a private tour in a car or van.

Ketchikan - https://www.islandwings.com/ for flight seeing / bear watching tours - They go places the cruise tours often don't and you will have a much smaller group

Juneau - https://www.rumrunnercharters.net/ - great company offering private whale watching and fishing tours

Our first Alaskan cruise we did mostly ship tours. They were fun, but don't hold a candle to booking private tours independently which we did on our second cruise.

 

[belle032]

We booked through Alaska Tales in Juneau for a Mendenhall Glacier/whale watching combo. Highly recommend.

Rented our own Jeep in Skagway through DIY Jeep Tours. Very nice vehicle, included a binder of helpful information and a picnic lunch. We sailed during COVID so we were unable to get into Canada, but we made it to the Welcome to Alaska sign. Plan on doing this again when we go back to Alaska this August.

Didn't book anything at ISP, but heard the whale watching was amazing. It's a very nice, small port. Easy to walk around, can take the gondola, do a little shopping, etc. I believe ziplining was a big thing.

Ketchikan - my husband had a fishing charter booked through Baranof Fishing, but unfortunately, it was cancelled due to weather. He wants to try again this year, but I'd also like to book the Bering Sea Crab excursion. Looks like you can book direct and save quite a bit of money that way.

Would like to find a 3rd party dog sledding excursion for this trip!

 

[tidefan]

www.tntours98.com

We've used them twice and had a fantastic time each trip!

 

[TestingH2O]

Rum Runner charters in Juneau.

Beyond Skagway in Skagway.

 

[sadiecatie]

Are you open to doing your own thing without a tour operator? We did this in Alaska last summer and had a great time and I felt we saved money also.

Skagway- we rented a car and drove the Yukon highway to emerald lake and back following the free guide you can find online and stopping wherever we wished. This was our favorite day. Passport needed. Scenery breathtaking and varied. We also went to the abandoned prospector town Dyea
Juneau - took a Lyft to Mendenhall glacier and made a connection with the driver so we just contacted him over the rest of the day. Stopped at Salmon ladder and fishery then Went to an abandoned gold mine on Douglas island/ate lunch local. The Treadwell property was really cool.
Ketchikan- least favorite port. Would prob take an excursion out of Ketchikan if I did it again. Town very touristy. We took public transport to the totem pole state park which was neat but short.
We didn’t stop at your other locations.
I would do Alaska again in a heartbeat. We loved the land portion of our visit even more than the boat.
Hope you have great travels.

out of curiosity, how long do you think is necessary to check out Mendenhall Glacier? I’ve been looking at booking a combo tour that does Mendenhall plus whale watching, but all the combos I’m seeing only give you 45 minutes at the glacier - that just sounds very short to me. Was it fairly easy to use a rideshare to get there and back if we decide to try doing the glacier on our own before or after a whale watching tour?

 

[LeslieLou]

out of curiosity, how long do you think is necessary to check out Mendenhall Glacier? I’ve been looking at booking a combo tour that does Mendenhall plus whale watching, but all the combos I’m seeing only give you 45 minutes at the glacier - that just sounds very short to me. Was it fairly easy to use a rideshare to get there and back if we decide to try doing the glacier on our own before or after a whale watching tour?

There’s an easy hike out to a waterfall and viewpoint which I’d recommend. We were probably there an hour and a half in total.
Ride share was totally easy - there’s no Uber only Lyft from what I remember.
There’s little service at the glacier. The Lyft driver gave me their direct cell and we texted for pickup and I venmod for every trip after the first.
I thought it was easy to handle and would do it again

 

[Carohs]

My favorite day was Juneau. We did a tour that included mendehall glacier, a salmon hatchery, and Glacier Gardens. The stop at the gardens was first and the guide did an amazing job educating about the rainforest. It was my favorite part of the day and I'm the kinda girl that finds natural scenery boring.
We did about an hour at mendehall glacier which was enough time to go to the falls and back. We also checked out the visitors center but only spent 10 minutes there before heading back to the bus.

 

[holula]

out of curiosity, how long do you think is necessary to check out Mendenhall Glacier? I’ve been looking at booking a combo tour that does Mendenhall plus whale watching, but all the combos I’m seeing only give you 45 minutes at the glacier - that just sounds very short to me. Was it fairly easy to use a rideshare to get there and back if we decide to try doing the glacier on our own before or after a whale watching tour?

I was wondering this too as I felt 45 minutes wasn’t enough. Alaska Shore Tours has a combo where they run multiple shuttles back to the ship so if you want to stay longer you can.

 

[sadiecatie]

I was wondering this too as I felt 45 minutes wasn’t enough. Alaska Shore Tours has a combo where they run multiple shuttles back to the ship so if you want to stay longer you can.

I don’t know if this is what I found last night, but I did find a company that does flexible visits to Mendenhall as part of their tour - I think this will be the ideal for us. That way we can take our time at the glacier (I wonder whether 45 is even enough to hike out to Nugget Falls and back!) and not worry about arranging transport independently.