Alaska Travel Forum

We will be taking a cruise from Seattle Washington to Alaska, visiting these ports; Ketchican, Sitka, Juneau and Victoria Canada. I would really appreciate some help on the tours to take. I don't like to take the excursions from the ship...too expensive. We usually do our own; however, I would like any suggestions you might have. Everyone says to make sure we take the helicopter or float plane to the glacier. Any recommendations?

In Ketchican we walked, took the tram up to the top of the mountain and walked back down the back side going to the salmon hattery. It was great fun. There is a lumberjack show in town, and easy walk from the cruise peir.

Heliocopters are magical, if you have not ridden one, you should. Some of the helicopter tours land on the glacier, the float planes can't do that. The float plane take off and landing is amazingly smooth. We had scheduled a heliocopter tour that was to land on the glacier and it was cancelled because of fog on the glaciers and a float plane tour was offered as a substitute (at about $100 per person less money.) We took the float plane tour and were very happy. Either was you want to fly, you can see the glaciers and the ice fields from the air in a way you could never see them from the ground or water.

Enjoy!

David

Agree with Oiknow, the helicopter tour is GREAT, I did take it and it was wonderful to land and walk on the glacier, not to mention the flight itself. A bit scary to fly among all those mountains, but really wonderful.

In Juneau you should go see the Mendenhall glacier. Very beautiful. In Ketchikan you can see totems or you can take a kayaking tour, I did that and it was fun and you also get to see a lot of nature. Victoria is beautiful itself and maybe you can take one of those double decker red buses to see a bit around (it isn't a big place), and of course the butchart gardens are gorgeous, hopefully you have time to visit them. Good luck.

Thanks so much for the tips!

Book the helo tour off the ship. It ranks as one of the top five things I have ever done in my life. You can take your chance booking off the ship, but we did that an almost did not get to go. The helo's are limited and the ships book up almost all of them. We thought we could get one on our own (we too don't do ship tours), but found the offices closed with "all booked" signs in the window.

We lucked out when a shop keeper heard my buddy and I talking about how much trouble we were going to be in with the wives if we did not get a helo tour. The shop keeper told us to come back in an hour and he would see what he could do for us.

Good for us he found a tour company at the airport (not in town) that had seats and would come pick us up in town. We saved about $80 per couple, but I am but sure it was worth the trouble.

What ever you do take the helo tour to the top of the glacier and do the longer tour not the shorter one like we did.

You might want to book on line or via telephone directly with a company before you go. We have a friend in Sikta who runs a fishing boat and he won't do business with the ships as they tack on 20% to his normal price.

I tell everybody I know who goes to take the helo tour and if they don't like it I will pay them back for the cost; haven't paid anybody yet.

Hi - we've done the inside passage twice and you will have a great time. This is what we've done:

Ketchikan - we went with Island Wings on a floatplane twice (www.islandwings.com/) - once to Anan Creek to see the bears (too early for your cruise) and once to Misty Fjords. Top notch company, beautiful scenery!

Juneau - we went with Orca Enterprises twice for whalewatching (www.orcaenterprises.com/) - saw plenty of whales both times. Also went up Mt. Roberts Tramway - across from where you will dock. Just did a Pilot's Choice 2 glacier landing with Temsco Helicopters (www.temscoair.com/) - not to be missed!!

In Sitka - we did alot of walking on our own. Went to the Raptor Center - really loved it and Sitka National Park (totem trail). Had great lunch of king crabs and halibut at Westmark hotel. Make sure to stop in St. Michael's Church.

This past trip was my first time to Victoria and I loved it. It is such a beautiful place! We took the hop on/off bus from the pier and got off at Craigdarroch Castle, got off in town at the Empress Hotel and walked around as far as Chinatown. Then went to Fisherman's Wharf - lots of cute houseboats, floatplanes landing, fed the sea lions, and had lunch at Barb's. Definitely one of the highlights for me!

I would book early as the excursions fill up very quickly. All of the companies have pick up points - and they were all very professional. Seeing Alaska from the air gives you a completely different perspective - you realize how huge and spectacular it is. Happy Cruising!! (Wish I was going again!!)