Alaskan excursions with teenagers

[STLATL]

i started looking into excursions for our June cruise and boy, did I get sticker shock. Can anyone recommend excursions with two teens in Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, or Victoria BC?

[RobMA]

I think that the key is thinking about what the kids may be interested in doing, for instance are they active participants or are they happy observing and taking pictures, how about seeing wildlife? You didn't mention gender/ages, but last summer I went with my three kids, daughter 15, sons 17 & 21.

In Juneau we did the zipline - fun for every one, and then in the afternoon since the weather was nice we took one of the bus services ($6pp) to Mendenhall glacier - really cool to be able to get that close to the giant waterfall and climb the rocks up beside it, and take tons of pictures while we were there. In Skagway we did the WP&Y RR because my sons and I really enjoy old trains/railroads, and the scenery is really fantastic. We had an added bonus late in the after noon watching all the trains as they were comming back from their afternoon trips and crossing through town and the ports. In Ketchican we splurged a bit and did a float plane tour of Misty Fjords (with Island Wings) which was a fun little plane ride with lots of scenery and landing in a remote lake.

We did a whale watch in Icy Strait Point which we enjoyed, but it can be boring if you are not interested in seeing whales or if the whales do not live up to your expectations by not getting close enough to the boat or by not breaching. When at Denali we did the Husky Homestead to learn about the Alaskan Huskies and the Iditarod, I booked this because my daughter just loves puppies. I must admit that we all enjoyed the puppies and hearing Jeff talk about raising and training the dogs, and his stories about the race. We also did whitewater rafting, which was just OK, nothing too exciting, it was fun, but I would probably pass on that again. There were some kayaking excursions too, which would probably be fun, but we kayak some times at home or on other vacations, so I passed on doing that in Alaska.

So I think that the best starting point is to think about everyone's interests, types of activities they enjoy, and possibly doing something that you haven't done before or can't do near home or on other vacations. Good luck making your choices.

[sherryf]

We went with my teens in 2011 when they were 12, 15 and 18. We were on a tight budget so we stuck to relatively inexpensive things rather than flightseeing and such. Luckily none of them were interested in helicopter rides anyway.

Juneau: We took the blue bus to Mendenhall Glacier. (It's $8 per person each was, $16 round trip, contrary to the above post.) We walked out to the falls. The kids had fun picking up pieces of ice from the shoreline. We also walked around town a bit and did some shopping.

Skagway: We went to the Klondike Gold Dredge. Our combo tour included gold panning, the 40 degree below zero chamber, a presentation on dog sledding, and playing with sled dog puppies. It may sound corny, but my kids had the most fun here. You can't beat this:



Ketchikan: We split up here. My husband and 15 year old went to the Lumberjack show and enjoyed it. The other kids and I went to Saxman Native Village. They enjoyed the native dance and thought the totem carver was pretty cool. My oldest thought the village was a bit "too commercial" and says he would have preferred to see native culture that was not so commercialized for the tourists. Other than that, he did like it.

Victoria: The only one of us who got off the ship was my 18 year old, who went into town with a bunch of friends he'd made on board. The rest of us worked on our packing and spent one last quiet evening on board.

[chipmaster]

Excursions come down to combo of individual interest as well as budget.

I guess I'm a get the kids experienced in what I like to do blend. For us we did fishing in Ketchikan, whale watching in Juneau and hike to the falls at mendenhall and big budget heli/dog sledding in Skagway.

[JustThinking23]

In Juneau, we are looking to Kayak on the lake in front of the Glacier. Plan to do the visitors center and trails around it too.

In Skagway, we are renting a car to drive into the Yukon on our own. Way cheaper than the railroad. I splurged and reserved the Green Jeep, since that is so much cooler for the teens.

In Ketchican, my kids really want to go Salmon fishing.