Advice please for Juneau excursions? Too many to choose.

We Are on the Holland America cruise set to sail on June 25th 2017. We have been informed our 'wait list' tours have been removed. Our original plan was:

Juneau- glacier sea kayaking

Sitka- Sea Otter and Wildlife quest

Ketchikan- Magnificent Misty Fjords by Floatplane

Figured this would give us the land, sea, air experience. So now I'm starting from scratch with researching outside tours. Was looking for any recommendations for outside tour companies and/or other excursions at these ports. Figured I'd ask the experts.

In Juneau, I debated between the Taku Lodge Flight & Feast and the Paddle & Trek with Above & Beyond Alaska. (The flight won and it was great!) ABAK has a 4.5-hour glacier lake kayak tour: http://beyondak.com/trips/glacier-lake-paddle/

Our Sitka wildlife cruise was cancelled die to weather, but I would've gone with Gallant Adventures: http://gallantadventures.com/. On a previous visit to Sitka, I went on a wildlife cruise with Capt. Davey on the Esther G: https://www.puffinsandwhales.com/

Our Misty Fjords flight was with Michelle of Island Wings: http://www.islandwings.com/

We always take ginger pills on vacations/cruises. They do a wonderful job of preventing motion sickness for us. And there are no side affects.

Ginger lozenges, Chimes ginger chews, Gravol, and scopolamine patches will be in my luggage

Ginger lozenges, Chimes ginger chews, Gravol, and scopolamine patches will be in my luggage

I guess you will be covered, but we just take the ginger pills from vitamin stores. I think they have more potency than the lozenges and chews. But, it looks like you have covered all bases.:D

Hi everyone - we are booked on HAL Eurodam to Alaska on 6/24/17 and can't wait! I am a bit overwhelmed about excursion choices in Juneau and am wondering if there are recommendations you might have. Can you tell me which ones you've done and whether you would recommend it? I think I need to narrow it down to glaciers vs whale watching vs wildlife (eagles, bears, etc.) because I'm not sure there's one excursion that does it all. I think glaciers are the top of my list but it might be that I get my fill of them on the Glacier Bay day and I should do whale watching (or something else) while in Juneau.

 

 

 

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide!!

I would suggest you hire Harv and Marv for whale watching in Juneau. They are amazing and we had a great time!

http://www.harvandmarvs.com/

They are more personalized and less expensive than the ship tours.

In Juneau, I debated between the Taku Lodge Flight & Feast and the Paddle & Trek with Above & Beyond Alaska. (The flight won and it was great!) ABAK has a 4.5-hour glacier lake kayak tour: http://beyondak.com/trips/glacier-lake-paddle/

 

 

 

Our Sitka wildlife cruise was cancelled die to weather, but I would've gone with Gallant Adventures: http://gallantadventures.com/. On a previous visit to Sitka, I went on a wildlife cruise with Capt. Davey on the Esther G: https://www.puffinsandwhales.com/

 

 

 

Our Misty Fjords flight was with Michelle of Island Wings: http://www.islandwings.com/

I agree: Island wings with Michelle (floatplane) was amazing. We did this tour last week. We just returned from Alaska.

We always take ginger pills on vacations/cruises. They do a wonderful job of preventing motion sickness for us. And there are no side affects.

We always do ginger pills also! Agree they do wonders preventing motion sickness. Take one as soon as we wake up and are good to go for the day. Its a natural supplement and we've never experienced side effects either.

We are in port on the Sun Aug 3 from 11am to 9pm.. I hope this is enough time to do a tour with Juneau-the whale watching and Mendenhall glacier ..which starts at 12.

We are booked with weather permitting for whale watching and Temsco for dog sledding. Leave on 6/29

We did a combo Whale watching/Mendenhall glacier tour while in Juneau with Juneau Tours that also included a trolley tour of Juneau. They are rated #1 on trip advisor. We still had plenty of time for shopping and the Mt. Roberts Tramway.

We always do ginger pills also! Agree they do wonders preventing motion sickness. Take one as soon as we wake up and are good to go for the day. Its a natural supplement and we've never experienced side effects either.

I brought ginger pills with me on a recent cruise, as well as my usual Meclizine tablets. I took the ginger pills only once, and they gave me heartburn pretty quickly. I definitely wouldn't take them on an empty stomach.

There doesn't seem to be a lot of time in any given port, really. I was actually surprised when the times were listed, as it's with Viking, and their river cruises are known for spending a lot of time in port. Guess not so for ocean cruises. Anyway, would Juneau still be the best option for a whale-watching tour? Maybe the combo?

DAY 1 Seward

DAY 2 Seward PORT DEPARTURE: 5:00 PM

DAY 3 Valdez, Alaska, United States PORT ARRIVAL: 1:00 PM PORT DEPARTURE: 7:00 PM

DAY 4 Hubbard Glacier PORT ARRIVAL: 1:00 PM PORT DEPARTURE: 5:00 PM

DAY 5 Icy Strait Point, Alaska, United States PORT ARRIVAL: 8:00 AM PORT DEPARTURE: 3:00 PM

DAY 6 Skagway, Alaska, United States PORT ARRIVAL: 8:00 AM PORT DEPARTURE: 6:00 PM

DAY 7 Juneau, Alaska, United States PORT ARRIVAL: 8:00 AM PORT DEPARTURE: 5:00 PM

DAY 8 Sitka, Alaska, United States PORT ARRIVAL: 8:00 AM PORT DEPARTURE: 4:00 PM

DAY 9 Ketchikan, Alaska, United States PORT ARRIVAL: 8:00 AM PORT DEPARTURE: 5:00 PM

DAY 10 At Sea

DAY 11 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada PORT ARRIVAL: 7:00 AM

I would do whale watching in Icy Strait Point with Glacier Wind or F.I.S.H.E.S. Both are smaller 6 passenger boats. You can also do a bear watching trip here, if time allows. That leaves Juneau open for going to Mendenhall Glacier, Mt Roberts Tram and other options.

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Thanks you! Is there another port you recommend a bear watching trip? In case there isn't time for both in ISP? It's not until July of 2019, so I have time. I don't know yet if Viking will even offer paid excursions in Alaska. I'm assuming they'll have a few, but who knows? lol

We always do ginger pills also! Agree they do wonders preventing motion sickness. Take one as soon as we wake up and are good to go for the day. Its a natural supplement and we've never experienced side effects either.

Which ginger pills?

I used the Dramamine non-drowsy naturals which have 500 mg ginger per capsule on a cruise in May. We had fairly rough seas on one night and one a day worked (the bottle says you can take up to 4 a day).

Thanks you! Is there another port you recommend a bear watching trip? In case there isn't time for both in ISP? It's not until July of 2019, so I have time. I don't know yet if Viking will even offer paid excursions in Alaska. I'm assuming they'll have a few, but who knows? lol

We did not due any specific bear excursions but did see 2 black bears on our Emerald Lake trip out of Skagway. I know there are flights to see bears from several ports. There should be threads on this website and you may check Trip Advisor also.

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The boarding times show as 7:30am and 7:45am. Did you have to make special arrangements with an 8am arrival?

That is copied from my Viking journey. The estimated port arrivals

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Now to read up on how to not get motion sickness, wish it was simply mind over matter :o

Over the counter Bonine. It works great. I take one in the morning and it's good for the day for ship, flights, train, bus, etc. I get terrible motion sickness. I've taken Bonine for years when travelling. No side effects like some other meds.

We just got back from the Pearl. We did a combination Mendenhall Glacier/Evening Whale watch tour through the ship. It was great. Good local bus driver who gave us a tour and told us a lot of history/stories. Meal for whale watch was catered--delicious! Nice surprise.

We took the shuttle downtown as soon as we got off the ship and had about 1 1//2 hours which was plenty.

Hello to all.

I ask if any of you have experience with these two excursions offered by Royal Caribbean.

Mendenhall Glacier Canoe Paddle and Trek - JUC6 http://www.royalcaribbean.com/shoreExcursions/product/detail/view.do?sourcePage=shorexByPort&ProductCode=JUC6&DestinationCode=

Helicopter Glacier Trek - JU09

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/shoreExcursions/product/detail/view.do?sourcePage=shorexByPort&ProductCode=JU09&DestinationCode=

In particular if they are provided for the difficult climbing or if both are feasible without much difficulty.

Also if you can visit the ice cave in the JUC6 excursion even internally.

Thanks in advance for any information and advice.