Ketchikan 'on the cheap'?

Is the Totem Heritage museum worth a look?

I booked the Duck Tour today, through the ship. There were some so-so reviews for it on the HAL site, but those seemed to be from folks who booked it not really understanding what a Duck Tour is. Someone was disappointed that they didn’t stop and get out at the different places they saw; another person thought they’d be trekking into the wilderness. We figure the tour will give us an overview of the town, and we’ll decide what looks interesting to us to go back and check out on our own during the afternoon.

I read on some of the reviews that the Duck Tour sells the quackers (duck-bill shaped noisemakers). On our last Duck Tour, in Baltimore, the quackers were included and everyone got one. I still have ours- is it okay to BYOQ (Bring Your Own Quacker), or do they frown upon that?

Certainly BYOQ!! :-) The more quackers the merrier!!!

rditton, thanks for the walking info. I need a recommendation for lunch for my 17 year old daughter and me. The rest of my family will be salmon fishing so we will have some mom and daughter time to walk around town and have a leisurely lunch. We are looking for fish, chowder, and crablegs(even if they are from frozen).

we blew our excursion budget on Harv & Marv's whale watching in Juneau plus the Chilkoot Yukon rail/bus tour to Lake Bennett in Skagway.

 

So my question is: does anyone have recommendations for how to spend our port day in Ketchikan without an excursion or, at best, with an inexpensive excursion or tour? A related question would be how enjoyable would it be to simply spend the day onboard ship while in port?

Juneau is such a playground that I had the same strategy on my trip last week: Blow the budget in Juneau and do Ketchikan on the cheap. I was very happy with this decision!!!

I came prepared with indoor and outdoor options in case of heavy rain. Indoor options included the SE Alaska Discovery Center (which was closed for the Memorial Day holiday), Fish Hatchery (also closed--not for the holiday but until further notice), Totem Heritage Center ($5), Tongass Historical Museum ($3), and Visitor Center. Outdoor options included Totem Bight & Potlach (never got there b/c I was too mesmerized by other things!), hiking trails, funicular, and walking around town.

It turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous sunny day so I walked instead of using the bus (to burn some of those calories from the buffet!), visiting the waterfront, Totem Heritage Center, Tongass Historical Museum, Ketchikan Creek (the fish ladder was cool), the city park, and a mom and pop operation called Blasphemous Bill's that was a real hoot. I would have done more on my list but I was having too much fun and don't like to hurry through exhibits. It was a spectacular day and exceeded my expectations!

I would NOT stay on the ship and miss out on Ketchikan. You're on the ship enough as it is and the only way to get to Ketchikan is by air or sea, so you should "SEA" it! (heehee) ;)

Is the Totem Heritage museum worth a look?

It depends on what you like. If you're okay with hanging around cruiseline-built stores or seeing shmaltzy tourist trap stuff, you may not like it.

If you like science, history, documentary films, authenticity, and being around locals, you will probably enjoy it a great deal. I LOVED it and found it well worth $5. :) It was my favorite stop in Ketchikan.

We decided to blow our budget in Juneau and then decided to go a little beyond in Ketchikan by renting a motorcycle for 3 hours and getting around that way. I figured my DH would be missing riding and it would be a nice surprise for him. I'm glad there's a lot of things to see and places to go that are on the cheap so we can not miss anything. :)

rditton, thanks for the walking info. I need a recommendation for lunch for my 17 year old daughter and me. The rest of my family will be salmon fishing so we will have some mom and daughter time to walk around town and have a leisurely lunch. We are looking for fish, chowder, and crablegs(even if they are from frozen).

There are many options but my 'favorite' spot is at Annabelle's, located right across the street from the large, brown 'Tongass Trading Company' building near Berth #2. They have amazing fish meals - my favorite is called 'The Way to a Man's Heart' and is a filet of halibut topped with crab & a spicy cheese sauce.....it's ah-mazing! They also have an award winning smoked salmon chowder & of course, clam chowder! And the crab....both King Crab & Dungeness and yummy! They have two sides, one is a bar/pub and the other is a fancy sit-down side. You're making my mouth water, haha! And if you're a carrot cake fan, it's a definite.

Other places include the 'Crab Cracker Seafood Bar' which is located in the Salmon Landing building just beside the Lumberjack Show at Berth #1.

The Fish Pirate's Pub is located on the 2nd floor, right at Berth #2 (by the Ketchikan Visitor's Bureau building) and they have great windows to sit by where you can eat & watch the world go by down below.

The Cape Fox Lodge is located above Creek Street and is fun to take the Funicular up the hill to the restaurant, which also looks out over the city.

So many good places to choose from! :-)

Have a great time in Ketchikan - enjoy!!

Rene

a rental car from First City Rentals. For $59.95 we get a car for all day.

If you have a bigger group than just me and the missus, you can rent a minivan for $69.95. That would be pretty cheap for two or more couples.

We are going to a couple of state parks and do some hiking. One of the parks is mentioned in the RCCL shore excursions and is something like $89pp.

We'll hit up Totem Bight and other places too.

And we'll have a map to see other stuff. I've got a list of way more places than we will actually be able to go.

I hope some post the results of their cheap days in Ketchikan. I know I'm blowing the excursion wad in Skagway so I will need to save some $$ here.

Happy cruising!

What a great thread! We will be in Ketchikan on June 20th and were wondering if we should book a tour but it really sounds like a great place to explore on our own. We are only there from 6am until 12:30pm which does not sound long enough! Thanks everyone!

I can't remember on our last trip if we docked at 6am or 7am. I think we left at 12:30 or something crazy early too. In any respect, we were able to catch the early bus to Totem Bight and Potlatch. We "did" both parks in one hour, caught the next bus back to town and then had some time to walk around Creek Street and shop before heading back to the ship.

Out of the stops we had on both our Alaska cruises, Ketchikan was the one relaxing port day for us to DIY and walk around.

rditton, thanks for the walking info. I need a recommendation for lunch for my 17 year old daughter and me. The rest of my family will be salmon fishing so we will have some mom and daughter time to walk around town and have a leisurely lunch. We are looking for fish, chowder, and crablegs(even if they are from frozen).

Last time we were in Ketchikan we ate lunch at Annabelle's Chowder House, or something like that. It was right on the street that runs in front of all of the ships. Hubby and I each got a bowl of Clam Chowder and shared an order of Fish and Chips. Not cheap, but it was soooo good! He also got the Alaskan beer sampler which comes with about 6 different beers in 5 oz glasses. Great way to find out which beer you like most. We both like the Alaskan Amber.

I'd love to know if anyone else has any recommendations for other restaurants in town.

Just back from our cruise and we used the bus ($2 for an all day pass. At $1 each way, you have to spend that to get back anyway) and went to Saxman Totem Park. We took the bus to the Totem Heritage Center and walked back to town, going down Creek Street and doing our shopping.

How long is the bus ride? Does anyone know how much a taxi will cost to get to Totem Bight?

How long is the bus ride? Does anyone know how much a taxi will cost to get to Totem Bight?

If I recall correctly, it was about a 30 minute bus ride, maybe less. We were on an early morning bus so there weren't many people getting off at stops along the way. That may have made a difference, I'm not sure. It seems there were only 2-3 stops so not much different than a taxi. I personally think a taxi would be a waste of money. I also don't remember seeing any taxi's, but that does not mean they don't exist (especially for tourists).

Just back! I did the Saxman Village tour and Lumberjack show. We got to port a little late and then waited way too long for some people who didn't show on time for the tour so I had very little time to walk around. The Saxman Village was a waste of time. The Lumberjack show a bit kitchy for me. I ordered lunch at a restaurant right across from the Lumberjack show. After 30 minutes I still had no food and had to get a refund as it was time to reboard.

I'd prefer to have just walked around, spending more time on Creek Street and ordering lunch early so I could have enjoyed some good seafood. Several different restaurants very close to the dock served crab legs. Saw a lot of people enjoying them.

Hi guys, am looking to go to Alaska next Sept, and found this page and got lots of info on, Ketchikan, "on the cheap." Right up my alley for a low budget like mine.

Virginia

Hi guys, am looking to go to Alaska next Sept, and found this page and got lots of info on, Ketchikan, "on the cheap." Right up my alley for a low budget like mine.

 

Virginia

Ketchikan is very "walkable." If you're interested, you might like to take a look at the slide show my wife made with pictures for her website. These were taken on our "walk about" in August 2012. We rode up the hill on the Cape Fox funicular and ate lunch at Cape Fox Lodge and really enjoyed it. You will see pictures of it on the slide show.

Ketchikan ~ A Walk Around Town

Here's the Cape Fox Lodge website http://www.capefoxlodge.com/

Happy cruising. Alaska is amazing!

Ketchikan is very "walkable." If you're interested, you might like to take a look at the slide show my wife made with pictures for her website. These were taken on our "walk about" in August 2012. We rode up the hill on the Cape Fox funicular and ate lunch at Cape Fox Lodge and really enjoyed it. You will see pictures of it on the slide show.

 

Ketchikan ~ A Walk Around Town

 

Here's the Cape Fox Lodge website http://www.capefoxlodge.com/

 

Happy cruising. Alaska is amazing!

Hi Jim, haven't been to Alaska in a few yrs, and your wife's pictures have prompted me to wander around Ketchikan, am making notes of what I should see, and take photos of, which I like doing. Had lunch at the Cape Fox Lodge once and it was good. Thanks for the info.

I had the same sort of weather as Jim. It's a nice place to while away 3-4 hours poking around the shops and sights. All the best, Tony

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I also found this thread to be very informative. I knew that we didn't want to do an excursion through the cruiseline so this has given me many things to explore and think about. Thank you all so much!!! :D

Hi Jim, haven't been to Alaska in a few yrs, and your wife's pictures have prompted me to wander around Ketchikan, am making notes of what I should see, and take photos of, which I like doing. Had lunch at the Cape Fox Lodge once and it was good. Thanks for the info.

Hi!

Glad I could help. We loved out day walking around in Ketchikan. The weather was perfect that day, sunny but not too warm to enjoy it. We were lucky since Ketchikan has a reputation for receiving lots of rain. I hope the weather will be nice for you as well.

Happy cruising!

If you're just walking around the downtown area you're only seeing a very small portion of Ketchikan. If you can afford it and it's not all that expensive I'd suggest you rent a car and explore. Head out the road going north and you'll find all kinds neat stuff. Ward Lake, Totem Bight, South Point Higgins Beach, Coast Guard Beach, Knudson Cove, or go all the way to the end of the road to the Lunch Creek Trail. I never encourage people to just walk around downtown. That's mostly tourist traps that aren't even open the rest of the year.

I am planning to rent a car. I got an excellent suggestion on another thread to download the usda trail guide. It is free and has several short walks that show the beach areas or rainforest terrain. Very good maps in it also.