fourcruisers2016

We loved the Chilkoot 7.5 hour trip in 2012. My boys were 6 & 12 and had a blast. I highly recommend them. They are the company I always recommend. The Yukon is worth it.

Just booked the 7.5hr tour with Chilkoot and requested James for our driver! I wish I could quote everyone who had made the suggestions for the tour because it was the collaboration of all who helped us make that final decision!

In ISP just whale watch from the ship/shore...AMAZING!

Whale watching from the ship/shore it is ...and keeping my fingers crossed for a good show! Thank you!

Ok. Sounds like I must definitely ask for James to be our driver and do the 7.5 hour trip!

EndersFoul - Thank you for commenting about the Fjords. I was considering that excursion! Not sure if your tablemates took a boat or seaplane. Either way, I think I'd rather put that $$ toward a different flightseeing tour. Maybe a heli flight in Denali or on another glacier. I think the lumberjack show would be cute too, but I haven't convinced my husband. Thought about the deadliest catch crab fishing tour as well, but it seems a bit "touristy" and expensive for what it is. I may be wrong though, because it has very good reviews.

lucy2mb - I have heard the mosquitos can be monstrous! I hadn't thought about them being in that area though, so something to think about! I primarily had heard about them being near Wonder Lake in Denali which is one reason we opted to stop at Eielson visitor center.

Oh my gosh most amazing video ever!! Now I'm even more excited for this experience!

 

 

 

With regards to Skagway, the train is the best choice. You also learn about the gold rush history on the trains also apparently? If you're interested in hiking in the Yukon have you looked at packer expeditions? They offer a couple awesome hikes: I'm doing the Laughton glacier hike and white pass rail. It includes the train ride to the Yukon:)

I just looked at Packer Expeditions. I had not before. The Laughton glacier hike looks like it would be great. May be a bit much for my family, but maybe next time when the kids are a little older. :) Hikes are definitely on our list though. I'll look closer at the others.

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Wow, really? I was the nudge you needed? I'm honoured lol! Well I can tell you I haven't yet experienced the ice caves but from the videos I saw on YouTube I can tell you that it just may be one of the most amazing experiences of your life. And just remember, there's always the next Alaskan cruise :)

Haha! Yes, the nudge we needed....we'd been saying similar things, but still couldn't commit! Hearing someone else say what we'd been thinking and discussing between ourselves was the nudge we needed I think! We too had watched youtube videos and thought it looked amazing! Just last week someone had shared this video on FB. That's what got us to looking at the ice caves! I hadn't before realized they were so amazing! I sent the video to my husband at work and he replied "we should do the ice caves!"

https://www.facebook.com/dopetraveling/videos/1285780931541337/

If your children adapt very well, I don't think it would be too long. Hopefully, there will be a lot of wildlife on your trip. What month is your cruise? You may have said that earlier. When we went on May 11, there was a lot of snow on the mountains and the scenery was beautiful!!! Going into the Yukon, you will see Emerald Lake which was beautiful. The driver will stop several times on the way back for pictures and if wildlife is spotted. I don't think we would have enjoyed the excursion as much if we had just taken the train up and back without going into the Yukon. When you stop for lunch, there is also a museum and store. If it had been a foggy day when we went, we would not have enjoyed it as much but we had perfect weather!!!

Ok, so now I'm leaning more toward the 7.5 hr trip into the Yukon. "I don't think we would have enjoyed the excursion as much if we had just taken the train up and back without going into the Yukon" was what I needed to hear. Many have recommended the 7.5 hr trip, but I've wondered how they would have felt just taking the shorter trip. We are going in June and will be in Skagway June 19. Hopefully we'll have good weather!

Aw now I'm getting emotional over here with your philosophical thinking haha! Thank you thank you! There was another private whale watching in ISP, FISHES. But I chose glacier Wind because their tour is half an hour longer. I thought any longer time on a whale watch tour is just an added bonus :). I'm doing a land cruise tour from July 6 to the 17th. The cruise part is the 10th- 17 with norwegian sun

:) I agree...more time on the water is bonus! I think July will be a great time to go! I was a little worried June would be early for Alaska. We usually take our vaca's in July, but June is what worked out for time off this year. This is only our second cruise ever (first was Disney Fantasy Caribbean) ...hope we didn't spoil all future cruises by taking a Disney cruise first.

Hope you have a wonderful trip! Thank you for your help! Your recommendation to go for it on the ice caves was the nudge we needed! [emoji846]

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Wow! Congrats on getting the last 4 spots! I'm super excited for you guys! The same thing happened to me. In icy strait point I booked a private whale watching tour with glacier wind (only 6 people maximum boat) I got the last seat!

Thank you...and congrats to you for getting the last seat on whale watching tour! We didn't book that trip, but it's received great reviews! Maybe our next Alaska trip (I hope there's another)! Sometimes things work out the way they are supposed to! I think those seats were meant for us (as well as your last seat on the whale watching tour)! When is your trip? We are on the Millennium in June, with 6 days on land prior to cruise (self guided).

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I called and spoke with ABAK and while they cannot guarantee access to the ice caves, they felt very positive. There are some ice caves on the verge of collapsing; however, there is another one currently forming. There were 4 spots left (there are 4 of us) so we decided to splurge and book it! We're super excited! :)

tnn0413 - thank you so much for the heads up on the whale watching tour. I'm not planning a tour for just that reason and your comments make me feel better about that decision. I'm hoping we see whales from the ship or during our Kenai Fjords NP tour with Major Marine in Seward (the day before our cruise sets sail).

Taking the WP train up and biking back down would be amazing! I get a bit nervous though with the kids...are there steep cliffs?

The 7.5 hour tour seems amazing, but again I'm concerned that it will be a very long day for the kids especially considering we will have just taken a 6.5 hour trip visiting Mendenhall glacier the day before. I spoke with the tour company and they said there would be no charge for me to upgrade from the 3.5 to the 7.5 as long as space is available. It would have to be a call ahead to make the change. I'm booking the 3.5 hr so we at least have something and then will give it some more thought, research, and maybe get some more feedback from some who have done this tour (especially those with kids).

Not sure what we'll do in Ketchikan, but I've read that it's the best place to souvenir shop and you can have your items shipped to home for a flat rate at one of the stores with a coupon (not sure where to get the coupon, but will research). So Maybe Ketchikan will be a leisure day unless someone has other suggestions.

Now, if I could decide on a heli tour or a fishing charter I think we'll be set. Not sure where to do those. We do have time in Seward that we could do one of those (1/2 trip) prior to boarding the ship.

Wow, so much to do in Alaska! Exciting trip, but I will be so glad when I have everything booked/planned and I can focus on packing! I guess this is what happens when we're a family who confirms last minute that we are going...but somehow it seems to always work out. Couldn't do it without help from fellow cruisers though! :)

I think either tour will be great. They both have great reviews. The Channel Island Kayak sounds nice too! It's a tough decision for us because we have a BOGO for a glacier view kayak with another company (Alaska Travel Adventures). We'd miss the ice caves though. Trying to decide if it's worth the extra cost once I factor in the BOGO savings (almost $1K difference total for the four of us). Plus ice cave entrance isn't guaranteed. We just don't want to regret the possibility of missing out on the ice caves.

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Actually it's With Above and Beyond Alaska. Although I've looked at and considered the Liquid Alaska tour as well.

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Hey fourcruisers,

 

 

 

The 5 hour ice caves excursion in Juneau you planned. Is it the Mendenhall ice cave adventure tour with liquid Alaska tours?

Yes, that's the one!

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Thanks all for the suggestions!

lucy2mb - Helpful to know that the 7.5 hr tour didn't seem too long! You mentioned your young adult children loved it. So do you think it's not too long of a tour for a 12 & 13 year old? I know that's a hard question since all children are different, but overall my children adapt very well. Is the landscape really that much different once you pass into the Yukon territory? We are spending 6 days on land (self guided) prior to cruise. We plan to stop at the Iditarod headquarters, mostly to appease my daughter. So, going further into the Yukon would be more for the Yukon scenery and not so much for the sled dogs since we'll have that option prior to cruise (not that my daughter won/'t enjoy petting the sled dogs again :) )

martincath - once again, thank you for such helpful info! Either SkyTrain or taxi minivan it is! So good to have options the day of without requiring pre-arrangements. We can make the decision that morning depending on actual time we disembark and how we feel. Sitting at home before vacation it sounds exciting to add in a point of interest or two along the way to the airport. However, it's likely in reality that after nearly two weeks of vacation we will be exhausted and just happy to get to the airport and on our way home...leaving Vancouver for another visit when we can truly appreciate the city. :)

shadesofgrey - Good to know! Thank you!

We are cruising in June. Our ports are Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway, & ISP. We are spending a week between Fairbanks and Seward the week before our cruise so we have time to do a few things then. We are doing the Major Marine Kenai Fjords NP 6.5 hr cruise the day before we sail away. We've thought about doing a flightseeing tour of Denali w/glacier landing (by plane), but was advised by a friend that doing a glacier tour w/landing by helicopter would be better. So we've been looking at some of those at the ports.

We are a family of four w/ two children 12&13. Can do moderate excursions. Our first trip to Alaska. Things we are interested in are wildlife (hope to see a lot in Denali NP prior to cruise), Glaciers, scenic views, hiking, kayaking, fishing, etc. (moderate, but not extremely strenuous). Budget is flexible, but I am a bit frugal. Although I don't mind splurging a bit when it's worth it (just don't want to be wasteful on expensive excursions if it's not exciting enough). I personally enjoy simple things too, like walking around unique quaint towns. We also collect NP stamps for our passport books and the kids collect jr. ranger badges. So we wouldn't want to miss any opportunity for those.

Juneau - There's so much to do we are struggling with our choices. Would love to visit the ice caves and this excursion is at the top of our list, but would hate to miss out on other things (not to mention it's expensive considering its a paddle and hike excursion...not heli / flight etc). It's a 5hr excursion. We've also looked at the heli w/glacier landing in Juneau. In port 9a-9p

Skagway - We've narrowed it down to doing the White Pass train rail/bus excursion with Chilkoot tours, but can't decide between the 3.5 hr or the 7.5 hr into the Yukon territory. Concerned this would be a bit much of the same thing and we would miss other things in Skagway like the Jr. Ranger activity center (not sure if it will be exciting enough for older kids) and maybe some hiking etc. In port 7a-8:30p

Ketchikan - Haven't really narrowed anything down here. The town itself looks interesting. In port 9a-6p

ISP - Again haven't narrowed anything down here either. Not sure if we are interested in the zip rider. Maybe a fishing trip? Would also be interested in a tour of Glacier NP if that's available from here, but I've had a hard time finding such an excursion (I'd seen a post of someone mentioning the availability, but no mention of who conducted the tour). In port 6:30a-3p

Any help/suggestions would be appreciated!

martincath thank you! Very helpful info!

xlxo Thank you as well for very helpful info! Was thinking the SkyTrain was the way to go, but I didn't realize 2/3 was underground.

So if we opt for a taxi minivan do those tend to be available at the cruise terminals, or should I call ahead for one? A private car/limo would be an option, but I've seen some not so favorable reviews on the ones I've researched. I'll need to do more research if I go that route. Not having to pre-arrange for a car would allow us to get breakfast on the ship and disembark at our leisure without worrying about a car waiting at a specific time since there's no rush to get to the airport before 10am. One more question..if we use a cc for our transport, should we still make sure we have Canadian currency for tips or is US currency accepted (without being frowned upon)?

Thank you all for your help!!

Lots of helpful info here. I appreciate it! So with all the luggage the SkyTrain is a possibility provided we can handle all our luggage? I wasn't sure if it would be frowned upon to take that much luggage on the SkyTrain. Our kids are 12 & 13, so yes, they could each handle their personal bags and possibly a larger suitcase (on wheels) if necessary. We are planning on 3 large suitcases as we will be spending 1 week on land and 1 week on cruise in Alaska (need room for additional shoes & any souvenirs). It sounds like a minivan cab or private limo may be our next best option for 4 people with luggage. Thanks also for the tips on cc for the cab as well as the SkyTrain only taking Canadian currency (I'll need to find out where to exchange as this is new to us).

When I asked about a possible tour I may should have worded it differently. I knew we wouldn't have time for an actual "tour", but was thinking of the possibility of a private car taking an alternate route to the airport that would allow us to see some of the city landmarks or interesting points. We'll just plan to visit Vancouver another date. Someone mentioned the fact that we didn't allow time in our bonus port. I agree...but that was intentional. I could have flown out on Saturday morning, but specifically chose this same day flight because we fly to our home town. Saturday our only option would be to fly into a city that is 1hr 45 min drive from our home town. Could have been done, but we wouldn't have arrived until 10:30pm eastern time and still would have had the drive home. That would only allow Sunday to regroup from a long busy 2 week vacation and to adjust to eastern time before my husband would return to work at 6am Monday morning for a 12 hr work day and 24 hr on-call day. He said he would be fine, but the protective wife who is grateful for his hard work to provide for us wanted to be sure he has the time to rest before returning to work. A colleague of my husbands told him we may regret it as Vancouver is a very "cool" city. We'll plan to return some day :)

Flight is same day Friday, June 23. We are on Celebrity with the time for Vancouver listed as 7:00am. Our flight is at 1:05 pm. We've never flown outside of the US. I expected we should be at the airport early, but wasn't sure how early or how long disembarkation and transfer may take (this is only our 2nd cruise ever and our 1st with Celebrity). We are flying into Alaska and boarding our cruise there, so this will be our first experience in an airport outside of the US.

We will disembark Celebrity cruise June 23 (arrives 7am). We have a 1:05pm flight back to the US. We are a family of 4 (2 tween children). We will have a lot of luggage (expect to have approximately 3 large suitcases and each of us will have 1-2 personal or carry on bags). What would be our best option for transfer to the airport. Also would we have time for a quick city tour or a stop somewhere along the way? It would be great if we could find a tour with a drop off at the airport.