Mendenhall Glacier... What is your thoughts?

Cruise in sept would like see Mendenhall Glacier any suggestions on how to see it? Should we book thru princess? Go out on our own? What did everyone think of the glacier? Is it a must see? Or is there something better to do in Juneau? Thanks for everyone's suggestions!!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

You can take the city bus out to the glacier around $ 2 per person each way. You are a beach bum so a glacier would be relatively the opposite of a beach.

We took a bus booked through Princess which took us to the Glacier visitors center. It had interesting exhibits, and a walkway leading out to observation points to view the glacier. I enjoyed seeing the Glacier at ground level and learning about it at the visitors center. Princess offers other more expensive options, such as a helicopter flight over it, but DH and I both enjoyed our tour and it wasn't expensive.

If it's a clear day in Juneau, you might want to take the cable car which is in walking distance along the pier. It takes you up to the top of a mountain which has great views, but no good if it's fogged in. There are exhibits at the top which are about the native people of the area, which we found interesting.

We were there about two weeks ago.....It was OK.....you cannot get really close to it, so you are viewing it from about 1/4 - 1/2 mile away. You can take a long walk up to a waterfall which is kind of cool, but given the chance to go back, I wouldn't do it again......nor would I recommend it as a "must see" as there are better excursions available. If I could do it again, I probably would have signed my wife and I up for a float plane tour up to the Juneau ice fields instead. Just my $.02

DS and I took 90 y/o mom on a ship's excursion via bus that included a garden and trip to salmon place. She could walk some but we had her in wheelchair. She stayed at visitor center while DS and I walked down to the viewing points. We all enjoyed it but time limited at each stop.

Going again in August (DH and I) and think we may take public transportation there and hike the trail out to the glacier. I haven't done the research on this as yet but did see the trail when there the last time.

It's expensive, but there are third party companies (might even be one with the cruise line) who will fly you in a helicopter to hike the glacier.

Best excursion I've ever taken.

Take the cheap bus, don't stop at the visitors center unless you want to hit the potty before you hit the trail.

It's a lovely walk to the waterfall.

Have fun on the hike back telling people walking towards the falls that they just turned off the water for maintenance. :D

Cruise in sept would like see Mendenhall Glacier any suggestions on how to see it? Should we book thru princess? Go out on our own? What did everyone think of the glacier? Is it a must see? Or is there something better to do in Juneau? Thanks for everyone's suggestions!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

What date in September?

Susieq0102 sept 4-12

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Neverbeenhere yes I know. This is a trip for my DH who puts up with my beach obsession! Lol

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Cinegraphic how long is the walk to the waterfall and is it an easy hike? And can you see the glacier from the falls? And if we take the cheap city bus what would the stop be to get off?

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

We always go to mendenhall when we are in port unless the weather is terrible. We take the one of the buses right by the ships. It is currently $15 each way. I believe it is worth seeing.

We took a Princess excursion Had time for visitor center stop ( but not the movie) and hiked close to falls with glacier view I would definitely go back for another hike

On one trip we visited the Alaska State museum in Juneau during the rain I really, really liked that too

It's closed now

I enjoyed my time at the Mendenhall Glacier. I was on a Princess excursion that included a photography hike, led by a local photog, which ended at the glacier, then it was on to a whale-watching excursion. This was a full half-day trip.

Take the cheap bus, don't stop at the visitors center unless you want to hit the potty before you hit the trail.

It's a lovely walk to the waterfall.

Have fun on the hike back telling people walking towards the falls that they just turned off the water for maintenance. :D

When you say cheap bus are you talking about the Blue and White bus for $30 round trip or the $2 city bus? If we take the Princess excursion that combines the glacier with whale watching, will we have enough time to hike to the waterfall?

Our hiking days are behind us, but I would definitely go to Mendenhall again. We did the tour with the gardens and salmon hatchery; once was enough for those. We enjoyed the information center and the short video. There are binoculars in the information center we used to look at the mountain goats and other wildlife on the sides. We only went to the information center, but it was definitely worth goring back to. Next time I wish to schedule a whale watching tour also.

We did a private excursion thru Shore Trips that included whale watching and Mendenhall. We did have time to walk to the waterfall (about 45 minutes round trip slowly.) We saw bears and salmon near the visitor's center.

BUT if you didn't want to do the whale watching, don't pay for excursion transportation to Mendenhall. There is a city bus as well as private bus transportation at the port.

Yes, it was worth doing, and after 1/2 day of whale watching, we stopped at the visitor center for the potty.

We were there last July. Weather was fairly crappy that day.....lots of rain, but we were dressed for it.

Anyway, there are a slew of shuttle busses just after the Mt. Roberts Tram that go directly to the visitors center. The price was around $10 roundtrip. It was very easy and included a little commentary. The advantage to these shuttles is they take you closer to the visitors center than the public bus mentioned in the previous posts. Also, you can stay as long as you like and just go to the pick up spot when you're ready to go back.

The visitor's center was nice, not fantastic. It has some nice exhibits, a movie (didn't see it) and rest rooms.

There's more than one walk (well marked). One gets you much closer to the glacier and waterfall. It's about a mile, if my memory serves me today. ;) It's not particularly rough but probably not great for folks with mobility issues.

I thought it was worth it. It's not the most spectacular thing you can do in Juneau, but certainly less expensive. I don't see any great benefit for doing this one with Princess unless you're combining it with something else.

One last point. This was our second Alaska cruise. Our first time to Juneau we did a private whale watching tour (fantastic....with Harv and Marv) and a glacier helicopter landing (probably the best excursion we took that trip....with Coastal Helicopters). My point being, we enjoyed Mendenhall Glacier but it doesn't compare to some of the other options.

We were there last July. Weather was fairly crappy that day.....lots of rain, but we were dressed for it.

 

Anyway, there are a slew of shuttle busses just after the Mt. Roberts Tram that go directly to the visitors center. The price was around $10 roundtrip. It was very easy and included a little commentary. The advantage to these shuttles is they take you closer to the visitors center than the public bus mentioned in the previous posts. Also, you can stay as long as you like and just go to the pick up spot when you're ready to go back.

 

The visitor's center was nice, not fantastic. It has some nice exhibits, a movie (didn't see it) and rest rooms.

 

There's more than one walk (well marked). One gets you much closer to the glacier and waterfall. It's about a mile, if my memory serves me today. ;) It's not particularly rough but probably not great for folks with mobility issues.

 

I thought it was worth it. It's not the most spectacular thing you can do in Juneau, but certainly less expensive. I don't see any great benefit for doing this one with Princess unless you're combining it with something else.

 

One last point. This was our second Alaska cruise. Our first time to Juneau we did a private whale watching tour (fantastic....with Harv and Marv) and a glacier helicopter landing (probably the best excursion we took that trip....with Coastal Helicopters). My point being, we enjoyed Mendenhall Glacier but it doesn't compare to some of the other options.

Totally agree--the whale watching was the highlight of our day. The glacier was a nice "add on." And the whale watching was fantastic!

We will be visiting it next week. Like the prior poster, we are coupling it with a whale watching trip with Harv & Marv. When they stop for a photo opp on the way back we will stay for a hike & to explore in more detail. We will then take the shuttle for $15pp return ($30 RT) to port. I also read there may now be a fee for the visitor center area but not sure on the effective date. You can also post on the Alaska port of call site but I think you got good info here.

We were there last July. ...

 

Anyway, there are a slew of shuttle busses just after the Mt. Roberts Tram that go directly to the visitors center. The price was around $10 roundtrip. It was very easy and included a little commentary. The advantage to these shuttles is they take you closer to the visitors center than the public bus mentioned in the previous posts. Also, you can stay as long as you like and just go to the pick up spot when you're ready to go back.

Is the $10 round trip shuttle different than the $30 round trip Glacier Shuttle that leaves every $30 minutes? or is this the same thing and the price just went up since last July? $60 for a couple seems like a lot for a shuttle.

Thanks!

We were booked to take a helicopter up over the glacier but the weather was against us. We ended up taking the bus up to the visitor centre and back. Bit of a let down to be honest. We did enjoy the Red Dog Saloon in town though.

Is the $10 round trip shuttle different than the $30 round trip Glacier Shuttle that leaves every $30 minutes? or is this the same thing and the price just went up since last July? $60 for a couple seems like a lot for a shuttle.

 

Thanks!

Good question as I was thinking the same thing. We were there only a couple years ago and took the "Blue Bus" and pretty sure it was only $8pp one way. I can see it going up $2 but $30 RT, just for a ride to the glacier and back seems over the top.

The tours in Alaska have always been a bit pricey but if one is thinking of it as a bucket list item and only going there once in their lifetime, it is worth the helicopter ride to the glacier and getting out and walking on it. The views are breathtaking, as well.

We always take the Harv and Marv whale watching tours because they are small boats with about 8-10 people max. Sometimes, and depending on the time of your tour, they will drop you off at the Mendenhall glacier (if time allows) for you to check it out on your own. They will tell you when the last bus goes back to town so you will need to heed the bus schedule.

Juneau tends to be a long day port so generally more than one excursion is possible. On a clear day the tram up the mountain can be a price-wise reasonable excursion as well. If you're fit, you can hike it, too. :D

It's expensive, but there are third party companies (might even be one with the cruise line) who will fly you in a helicopter to hike the glacier.

 

Best excursion I've ever taken.

We did this back in 2012, would highly highly recemmend this; was an excursion of a life time. If you can afford it, then book it. We did it through Princess.