Norwegian Pearl - Excursion help please!

We are stopping in 4 ports on our 7 nights cruise. We have booked whale watching in Juneau through Norwegian. We would like to do the rest of the port excursions by ourselves.

If you have explored the ports of Ketchikan, Victoria Island and Skagway by yourself, please share your experience. The ship is stopping for 6 hrs in Ketchikan and Victoria but is staying for over 12 hours in Skagway.

If you toured by yourself, what transportation did you use and what all did you see? Recommendation for any tour services that you used apart from Norwegian is highly appreciated. We have our 2 boys with us (11 and 16) who are happy to do almost anything as long as they can go for a vacation!

Thanks in advance!

We are stopping in 4 ports on our 7 nights cruise. We have booked whale watching in Juneau through Norwegian. We would like to do the rest of the port excursions by ourselves.

If you have explored the ports of Ketchikan, Victoria Island and Skagway by yourself, please share your experience. The ship is stopping for 6 hrs in Ketchikan and Victoria but is staying for over 12 hours in Skagway.

If you toured by yourself, what transportation did you use and what all did you see? Recommendation for any tour services that you used apart from Norwegian is highly appreciated. We have our 2 boys with us (11 and 16) who are happy to do almost anything as long as they can go for a vacation!

Thanks in advance!

You might also want to post in the "Alaska" Port of Call sub-forum.

There may be people who have sailed on different cruiselines who have some suggestions/feedback about excursions as well.

Enjoy!

I was on the Pearl 4 years ago. In Skagway I booked the railway and tour through an outside company. I don't remember the name but could look it up. We enjoyed it. The guide even made a special stop on the way back so my daughter who's lived in Fl her whole life could touch snow for the first time.

In Ketchikan our plan was to take the public bus to the totem park. When the bus came it was full and the driver wouldn't let any more passengers on. Next bus was in an hour I think, which wouldn't leave enough time. We ended up walking around town and going to a restaurant up the hill for breakfast. My daughter still says that was her favorite day. We booked the lumberjack show through the ship. It was fun.

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In Victoria we took a walking ghost tour with an outside company. The shop ran a shuttle back and forth from the port to town.

Forgot to say, my daughter was 12 at the time.

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You might also want to post in the "Alaska" Port of Call sub-forum.

 

There may be people who have sailed on different cruiselines who have some suggestions/feedback about excursions as well.

 

Enjoy!

Great idea. Actually, if you scroll through those posts, you may see many comments already. Also, if you post again, putting ALASKA in the title would help, since the Pearl sails to many other ports of course.

I was on the Pearl last summer. My boys were 12 and 15 at the time, so fairly close in age to your kids. In Juneau: we bookeed the Whale Watching and Photo Safari through NCL--it's run by a private tour company called Gastineau Guiding--expensive, but a fabulous whale watching experience (small boat, photography help/instruction for everyone ranging from iPhones to fancy DSLRs). The tour also took us to Mendenhall for a short nature hike and view of the glacier. I would very much recommend it. In Skagway, we booked a half-day trip with Chilkoot Charters: van up the Klondike highway to Fraser, White Pass Railway down. This was the perfect length trip with teens--a lot of peopel recommend the longer trip up further into the Yukon territory, but as much as mine loved the trip, by the last 20 minutes or so, they were ready to be done. Chilkoot Charters has a great reputation and super reviews. They meet you close to where you disembark from the ship, so super easy. Our afternoon activity was supposed to be a helicopter ride with glacier landing. We booked directly through Temsco to save some money. Unfortunately, the trip was cancelled due to low cloud cover. This, apparently, is not unusual. They refunded are money without any issue. In Ketchikan, we went ziplining with Alaska Canopy Adventures. Some other members of our group went on the rainforest hike, and we shared a van to the same "base camp." Sadly for them, we were the ones who saw bears from the zip course--they did not see anything too out-of-the ordinary. Afterward, we had a little time (about an hour and a half total) to explore Creek Street. Another idea for Ketchikan that I thought seriously about was taking a float plane tour of the Misty Fjords through a company called Island Wings. The company has only one pilot--Michelle--who has flown for a few decades. I was really tempted, but I figured we would be flightseeing by helicopter in Skagway, so we opted for the ziplining. In Victoria, we made no plans--just had dinner in town (at a tapas restaurant--it was quite good), and walked around the inner harbour and watched the sun set. Hope my experience and these ideas are helpful. Despite the helicopter tour that didn't work out, we had a fabulous time.

When we were in Ketchikan on the Norwegian Pearl in 2014 with a 9-year-old and 11-year-old, we hiked the Rainbird Trail. It was raining, so we donned ponchos and walked through the streets to the trailhead near the public library, then walked on a beautiful hiking trail for about 30 minutes. Then we walked back in time to catch the 11:00 a.m. lumberjack show. The hiking trail was very serene, and a nice contrast to touristy Ketchikan. We also stopped at Ketchikandies and picked up some chocolate-dipped Oreos. A nice morning.

These are wonderful information! Thanks so much to each and every one of you. We might rent a car and drive in Skagway - it's been highly recommended by a lot of cruisers. I just need to convince my husband that there's enough time to drive to Emerald Lake and back! I'll do some more research but most probably will hike and look around in Ketchikan.

Hoping to post a travelogue once I am back :)

In Juneau we booked whale watching with Alaska Shore Excursions who in turn used Dolhin Jet Boat tours and it was great. Small boat (maybe 20 pax) with 2 whale experts to explain things. Saw at least 9 whales and a couple of sea otters. Cost was $110 each. Highly recommend you check them out and cancel your NCL tour. In Skagway we did the train up to Fraser and small van-like tour bus back down. Also used Chilkoot and our tour guide was marvelous! Made stops on the way down for photo ops and even saw a bear cub foraging by the road. The railroad ride is awesome....if you don't like heights sit on the inside of the car! Cost was $129 each (not sure about youth fare.) Both tours were much more expensive through NCL. Have a great time!

We used Chilkoot in Skagway too. I highly recommend them.

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In Skagway we booked through Chillkoot and did the train to the Yukon and in Ketchikan we booked the Aleutian Ballard Deadliest Catch Crab Boat Tour directly with the AB. In Victoria we took a walk on our own. I have a trip report with the link below in my signature if you want to read more. The excursions should start on page 3 or there abouts.

Hello!! Was just on the Pearl last week. We booked all of our excursions through alaskashoretours.com and got a discount for booking multiple tours. They will even talk to you on the phone to help you figure out what works best for your group:)

This is what my husband and did....we are 41, and 44 years old. My husband is more adventurous than me, but nothing we did was crazy...lol

Juneau- Whale watching and trip to Mendenhall Glacier. LOVED the whale watching tour. We saw so many humpback whales up close and they were lunge feeding the day we were there which was so exciting to see. Boat was small with less than 25 people on it so it wasn't crowded. We then took a bus to the Glacier visitor center and the Glacier. Since you don't get into Juneau until 2 pm, you will have little time at the visitor center and just a little bit of time to see the Glacier and take pics. But its gorgeous and worth it. The last bus left at 7. We had till 830 to get on the boat, so we then went to Tracy's to try the Giant Crab legs. They were pricey.... $22 a leg. But...worth it. So sweet and delicious dipped in butter. We also got some crabcakes and some beers before heading to the boat. Great day!

Skagway- most people take the train. But my husband didn't want to sit on a train for 6 hours. So, we went zip lining at Grizzly zip lining. SO MUCH FUN! I was SO scared to go ( and we went with another Cruise Critic member Quilting Cruiser) but it was SO beautiful up there in the Alaskan rainforest zip lining from tree to tree. Even the bus ride up was fun! After that we went to the brewing company for a flight of beers and went souvenir shopping in town.

Glacier bay- no excursion obviously....but get up EARLY for this day. You don't want to miss a thing or the narration by the Rangers. This was truly beautiful and we felt so blessed to be able to see this amazing wonder.

Ketchikan- we went kayaking in the bay. So much fun too. It was just us and another couple and our tour guide. So really, an intimate experience. We got to see all of the jellies in the water up close, and even hold the moon jellies that don't sting. We also touched some pretty big sea stars. It was peaceful and really an amazing way to end our last port in Alaska.

Victoria- We walked around a bit and saw the city. And then we hopped a cab to Buchart gardens> This proved to be a less expensive way to go for us. It was $40 each way for the cab, and a $32 entrance fee. Most packages we saw were $99. Butchart gardens was beautiful and quite peaceful.

Good luck and enjoy!! We are definitely going back to Alaska!!!!