Alaska-- possible to do 2 port adventures in one day?

[Mom-2-2Princesses]

We are planning on Alaska in 2017, and there are 2 port adventures in Skagway that we are interested in (the musher's camp, which is 3-3.5 hours, and the Gold Rush Trail Camp and Salmon Bake, which is 2.5-3 hours). Is it possible to do both, and has anyone tried it? Any idea what time(s) of day these port adventures depart the ship?

Thanks!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We are planning on Alaska in 2017, and there are 2 port adventures in Skagway that we are interested in (the musher's camp, which is 3-3.5 hours, and the Gold Rush Trail Camp and Salon Bake, which is 2.5-3 hours). Is it possible to do both, and has anyone tried it? Any idea what time(s) of day these port adventures depart the ship?

Thanks!

If you mean through DCL, the answer at this time would be - maybe. DCL does require a specific amount of time between excursions in order to book two. I believe you must have at least 2 hours between them.

Actual departure times can vary from cruise to cruise, so no way really of knowing what they will be in 2017.

 

[Mom-2-2Princesses]

Thank you. I did mean through DCL, but I guess I had not really considered a non-DCL option. I don't know where I would start to find an independent excursion? Assuming we did want to book through DCL, how can I find out the current departure times for the various excursions? I know they may not be same come next year, but it might give be a ballpark sense of potential timing.

 

[laceltris3]

We did two excursions in Juneau, the dog sled summer camp and the float plane over the Juneau ice field. I think there had to be at least an hour and a half between them. I am guessing, but I think it would be hard to swing both, but good luck. And make sure to login ASAP so you have the best selection for times.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Thank you. I did mean through DCL, but I guess I had not really considered a non-DCL option. I don't know where I would start to find an independent excursion? Assuming we did want to book through DCL, how can I find out the current departure times for the various excursions? I know they may not be same come next year, but it might give be a ballpark sense of potential timing.

I don't think there's any way you can see the current excursion times, since you're not on one of the cruises. Maybe someone who's on one of the Alaska cruises can look up the info for you.

You can look at the Alaska excursions and see how long they are, without a reservation, but not exact departure times.

 

[Mom-2-2Princesses]

This is very helpful; thank you! I think we need a plan A (do both through DCL!), plan B (do one through DCL and one independent?), and plan C (negotiate and compromise and settle on a single excursion that we are all happy with). We need to find a way to see whales, huskies AND pan for gold on this trip somehow!

 

[jdb in AZ]

The port towns in Alaska usually have little kiosks right at the dock where you can purchase shore excursions, often cheaper than what the ship charges for the same excursion. I would go with Plan B -- schedule a DCL excursion for early morning, and if you have time when you get back to the dock, sign up for an independent tour. But do keep in mind the "all aboard" time. If you get back late from an independent tour, the ship will not wait for you.

 

[RayvenBliss]

If you mean through DCL, the answer at this time would be - maybe. DCL does require a specific amount of time between excursions in order to book two. I believe you must have at least 2 hours between them.

Actual departure times can vary from cruise to cruise, so no way really of knowing what they will be in 2017.

Wow, that's a long time between excursions. I do understand the reasoning though.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Wow, that's a long time between excursions. I do understand the reasoning though.

I'm not sure it's 2 hours, but I know it's more than 1 hour.

 

[sc426]

Having been on an Alaskan cruise last year (2015), I can tell you that it very hard to schedule two excursions, either with DCL or not, in the span of the same day. You have plenty of time for one. But your timing will be very tight for the second one. If you book through DCL, it is extremely hard. If you book through and independent company, it might be a little easier. But not much.

 

[The Grays]

It depends on what you want to do. Our first top DD is doing the horseback riding. And then 2 hours to our helicopter musher event

 

[WendyDarling]

We're going in June and have 2 booked through Alaskan Excursions on the same day. We received a per person discount for doing two excursions through them. We'll head out to the dog camp, then while we're out there we'll do the ziplining before driving us back.

I found them and our Ketchikan excursion through Trip Advisor recommendations.

 

[DLgeeks]

We are going in June this year and will be doing something similar in Skagway - we are doing the Liarsville Campfire breakfast (so the kids can do some gold panning) which runs from 7:00-9:00 am and then are doing the Musher's camp excursion leaving at 12 - it will be a long day, but it was the only way to fit everything in! Doing both through DCL. Looking at our time slots for this year (they may obviously be different next year) the Musher's camp excursion has multiple start times available of 8:15, 11:15, 12:15, 1:15, 2:15 & 2:45, the Gold Rush Salmon Bake has a start time of 8:45, so theoretically you could probably squeeze both in.

 

[Mom-2-2Princesses]

Oh gosh! This is SO helpful! Knowing that there are such a wide variety of start times for the Musher's Camp is reassuring.

I love the idea of the Campfire Breakfast. I didn't see that on the current list, but even if they don't offer it for our sailing, it sounds like we will be able to find a similar activity that will fit.

Thank you again!!

 

[DLgeeks]

No worries, I was going through the same process a few months ago - it's really hard to find any timing information in advance!

 

[ChristineNJ]

We did the Musher's Camp in Skagway in the morning and made it back in time to have lunch and then head over for the helicopter trip up to the Glacier. Both trips were through Disney.

 

[clten]

Skagway was the one port that we were able to arrange 2 Port Adventures through DCL on the same day. We did the morning train and then the late afternoon Musher's Camp. We had plenty of time to grab lunch in between. (We went back to the ship but since the train ended up right in town, we could have done some shopping or grabbed a bite there before having to meet up for the second excursion (we met on the pier so if we had stayed downtown, we only would have walked back to the pier, not gone though the process of getting back on board).