Ziplining in Ketchikan

[Petronillus]

DW and I are on the Zaandam for the first sailing of the 2009 cruise season. In another thread I got good input that convinces me that ziplining is a great experience and that May 13 is not too early to brave the elements in Ketchikan. I am now wondering about the time. We are in Ketchikan for a very short time, from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Another thread has advised that one should be back on board at least half an hour and preferably a full hour before scheduled sailaway. So, that leaves us with maybe 7:30 to noon or 12:30. Two ziplining excursions are on offer; both are said to be 3½ hours long. So, that brings me to two questions:
(1) If we do go ziplining, will we run out of time to see or do other things in Ketchikan that we'll regret missing? (This is our first time in Alaska.)
(2) Am I correct in believing that, given the tight timeframe, we should book the zipline excursion through HAL and not with an independent operator?

[Sleepladypalmdesert]

Book through HAL...due to the tight timeframe. You will still have time to see town. You will get a much better view of the area...bear, salmon, birds...from up there than schlepping around town. You won't be sorry.

[wines60]

Don't know much about ziplining. Can anyone enlighten me? I'm terribly afraid of heights; should I worry? Any restrictions: age, height, weight??

[Sleepladypalmdesert]

There are definately weight restrictions...I think 230 or 250...can't remember which. In Ketchikan they did not weigh us. In Hawaii, they brought out the scale and we all weighed in....I thought it was hilarious...we were all such pigs on the ship that we were all about 5 pounds higher than we admitted to. I am not sure about age and I don't think height matters. Just read the restrictions in the description of the excursion.

It is a thrill ride for sure. You are strapped on a line that is stretched over the rainforest canopy. Then glide through the trees. There are some rickety bridges over very high places. A little scary, but to me, it was safe. We loved it and will do it whenever the opportunity presents itself.

[wojo385a]

Petronillus, my daughter and I were in Ketchican 3 years ago and wanted to do something "different" this time around and decided upon the zipline tour. However, we too are only in port from 7 -1 and I was concerned about the timing. I sent an email to the tour company and "Karen" responded quickly regarding my concerns.

They have three reservation times available beginning with 8:30 am. She assures me this will allow us enough time to complete the tour and return to the ship prior to our need to board.

I booked us for the 8:30 slot on the Bear Creek tour with her directly. I am hopefully assuming that since this excursion is offered by HAL as well that we will not miss boarding the ship in time.

[mtnmusic]

DW and I are on the Zaandam for the first sailing of the 2009 cruise season. In another thread I got good input that convinces me that ziplining is a great experience and that May 13 is not too early to brave the elements in Ketchikan. I am now wondering about the time. We are in Ketchikan for a very short time, from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Another thread has advised that one should be back on board at least half an hour and preferably a full hour before scheduled sailaway. So, that leaves us with maybe 7:30 to noon or 12:30. Two ziplining excursions are on offer; both are said to be 3½ hours long. So, that brings me to two questions:
(1) If we do go ziplining, will we run out of time to see or do other things in Ketchikan that we'll regret missing? (This is our first time in Alaska.)
(2) Am I correct in believing that, given the tight timeframe, we should book the zipline excursion through HAL and not with an independent operator?
We booked the Ketchikan Zipline through HAL while on the Amsterdam and it was our Alaska highlight. We saw bears crossing the stream under us while we were on a swinging bridge. There is no walking between zips except over swinging bridges and my wife who is in her 60's with heart issues had no problems whatsoever. Later we tried the Zipline in Hawaii and it was pretty boring compared to the Ketchikan Rain Forest. My only regret about our cruise was that we spent too mush time in Juneau and not enough in Ketchikan for obvious reasons. All the cruise lines own interests in the jewelry stores (Diamonds International, etc.) and they want you to spend money there. Incidentally, we walked the streets of Juneau looking for a good place for lunch and out of the 6 restaurants we discovered 4 were Mexican and 1 was a homeless kitchen. We did get some decent Salmon at the 6th!

[wander]

Message about the wrong port. Sorry.

[wander]

duplicate post

[Sleepladypalmdesert]

Absolutely agree about too much time in Juneau as compared to Ketchikan. I would flip flop those two times. We did the salmon bake in Juneau that was really good. Others ate in the pub that you see just as you enter the town. They said that the food was good there.

[fridayeyes]

I have to quit reading/posting before coffee. I thought this title said "Ziplining in the kitchen."

I was thinking "Wow, that's an odd place to zipline. Sounds kinda RCCL to me."