Pearl to Alaska July 11

[cpa62]

Hi everyone,
Although we are veteran cruisers, we have not been to Alaska before and would appreciate help selecting the the best excursions (whether through the cruise line or not) in Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchican. We have no physical limitations (64 & 58), and neither do our sons (34 & 31).

[InternetAgeTraveler]

Check out the Alaska boards, there are a lot of things to do.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55

In order to make suggestions, its best to give some ideas of what you would like to do. The best way to do this is to check out the excursions offers by the ship to see what you would like.

popular ones that come up a lot
Juneau - whale watch, helicopter to glacier fields, sight seeing
Skagway - train or drive to Yukon
Ketchikan - varies
Victoria - Butchart Gardens

Also, there are several recent Pearl reviews (including one I did) on this forum.

[garycarla]

Yes, check out the Alaska Boards.

And, check out the ROLL CALL for your cruise.

[ParrothdJH]

Hi everyone,
Although we are veteran cruisers, we have not been to Alaska before and would appreciate help selecting the the best excursions (whether through the cruise line or not) in Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchican. We have no physical limitations (64 & 58), and neither do our sons (34 & 31).
Will be on the same sailing. Did the Pearl to the Caribbean in Jan. After quite a bit of research, we booked the Whale watching trip in Juneau with Harv and Marvs. About the same price as ships excursion but their boats only carry 6, unlike the large boats the ship uses. Ketchican we booked the Misty Fjords flightseeing trip with Dolly Varden tours. A little cheaper than through the ship and better time selection. Sgagway, the white Pass RR excursion booked through the ship. Good luck and happy cruising

[mrudman]

We will also be on that same cruise, :)

Have never been to Alaska, so take our excursion choice for what it's worth, but this is what we chose:

Juneau - Mendenhall glacier and wildlife quest (whale watching)
Skagway - Yukon Expedition and White Pass Railway
Ketchikan - Best of Ketchikan by land & sea
Victoria - Not booking one, plan to just do our own walk-about tour.

[GORDONCHICK]

I can whole-heartedly endorse Harv & Marv's for whale watching in Juneau! They love what they do so very much and because it's very intimate, it feels more like you're out on a friend's boat rather than an excursion with a huge crowd jostling for viewing. Their shuttle driver (FIL to Jay) also took us to Mendenhall Glacier for no extra charge after our whale watching tour.

We also love the White Pass RR through Chilkoot Tours - again, their motor coach was much smaller (ours only held 20 but there were 10 of us) compared to the ships' excursions, and the driver would pull over if anyone yelled they wanted to take a pictures. And when those huge tour buses pulled over to where we'd stopped, we'd hop on our coach and off we went!

I wanted to do the Duck tour in Ketchikan but my husband took over on that port (he felt he'd lost complete control, and that's another issue). I hear the Duck tours are great fun and we WILL do that the next time we're there. And the great thing is that they are relatively inexpensive compared to many excursions.

[Hikini]

You chose a great ship and a great itinerary for your first cruise to AK. And yes, I said FIRST for a reason! :D

Enjoy!
Hikini

[mjroseville]

We're also on the same sailing. The excursion we're most excited about is the Crab Fisherman tour in Ketchikan. If you like Deadliest Catch, this is a tour of one of the ships used in Season 2 and it gets rave reviews on NCL's site.

[captpatty]

I did the gold digging thing, the float plane, and the train excursion. We also did the helicopter to the glacier and the dog run. the excursions cost more than the cruise. My husband loved all of it. the glacier helicopter was great. The float plane was scary. I'd never do it again it lands in 20 feet of water and they let you go out on the pontoons.. no thanks..
great pics of wildlife..train thing was fun...
have fun..:)

[razz29]

I was on the May 1st sailing. We did the Mendenhal Glacier & Wildlife Quest in Juneau. This excursion was the highlight of our trip. Here is a link to some photo's from this trip.

http://community.webshots.com/user/razz29

[mrudman]

I was on the May 1st sailing. We did the Mendenhal Glacier & Wildlife Quest in Juneau. This excursion was the highlight of our trip. Here is a link to some photo's from this trip.

http://community.webshots.com/user/razz29

Great pictures! Thanks for sharing! I'll be on that excursion in exactly 31 days... I cannot wait!

[mjroseville]

I was on the May 1st sailing. We did the Mendenhal Glacier & Wildlife Quest in Juneau. This excursion was the highlight of our trip. Here is a link to some photo's from this trip.

http://community.webshots.com/user/razz29

Great! We're booked on that excursion in a few weeks.

[InternetAgeTraveler]

I posted a full review of the Pearl (with pictures) that you might find useful.

Here's a teaser...

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4050/4664744238_cc43f7ac08.jpg