Alaska-vegan

Thanks for the suggestion with the guaranteed turtle sightings. That looks promising! I see that they run out of the Emerald beach area. Any ideas if there taxis from where the Disney Fantasy docks over to Emerald Beach?

Hello! We are headed on an Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Disney Fantasy with a stop in St. Thomas on June 5 (7:45-3:45). I believe the Icon of the Seas is also in port that day (arriving at 7 am) so I'm a bit worried that many areas/excursions will be super crowded. Any recommendations for excursions/on your own adventures for a family of three (two adults in our 50s, one 12 year old boy, all moderately fit) that might be less crowded? We are likely doing a day sail/snorkel out of Tortola the day before (private booking not through cruise ship). I'm curious if the snorkeling in St. Thomas is similar/better (this will be our first time). I had been considering the "Discover Scuba" excursion (Shipwreck Cove) through our cruise ship, but it requires age 14 and up. I'm assuming we could do this through a local outfit with a 12 year old (I believe PADI only requires age 10 and up). Is it worth it? If we did this, we'd probably try a Discover Scuba class at home in a pool first just to make sure the kid would be game for it. As an alternative I was also looking at some of the 3 hour kayak/hike/snorkel trips - either Cas Cay mangrove area (could book through cruise ship or on our own) or St. John starting from Honeymoon beach (not through cruise ship). Has anyone done these and have recommendations? Will the "hike" part be too miserable in the summer heat? We enjoyed kayaking on our Alaska cruise, but the kid would not be up for a full day kayak adventure. I know we could also ferry/taxi to a beach area and snorkel on our own. Recommendations? Not necessarily looking for crowded loungers/bar vibe. I suppose in my ideal world we would have stunning views, lonely beaches, cool sea creatures (would love to see a sea turtle!) and of course make it back to the ship on time.

We are back from our Alaska cruise and I will say that I wish we had gotten a SIM card for Vancouver and Alaska. Both my husband and my phone carriers did not work in either place. We were able to get Wifi in most of Vancouver, but not most of Stanley Park where we spent a lot of time. It was more of pain not having anything in Alaska because booked all of our excursions third party and twice needed to get in touch with the tour companies about last minute cancellations and time changes. We ended up spending $50 on the ship's Wifi, which is more than a SIM card would have been and once had to borrow a phone from a bus driver in Juneau to confirm our helicopter tour was cancelled (looking at the sky at least gave us some clues). So if I ever go again, I'll either get a temporary SIM card or a different carrier with better coverage.

We saw a pod of orcas on a recent excursion in Ketchikan. It was a kayaking trip out to Orca Cove, but we didn't see the whales while kayaking, rather on the fast boat back to the port area afterwards and they came very close to our boat. The company did say they've been lucking out with tours seeing them more frequently the past few weeks (from kayaks and/or the fast boat), but it isn't something they advertised or promoted (or certainly didn't guarantee). We saw the same pod of orcas later as our ship was seeing Ketchikan, so keep your eyes peeled if you are in the area. We felt super lucky to see them, but I'd guess your best bet would be a whale watching tour out of Juneau.

We did the revised "Dyea Hike and Float" last week through Skagway Float Tours. The "hike" was more of a nature walk through forested areas on flat ground. We still enjoyed it a lot. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the plants and trees in the area and we got to learn about the Klondike gold rush as we walked. The river float afterwards was quite beautiful and peaceful. If you are looking for more of a strenuous or longer hike, I'd book something different or add it on to your plans. We did a slightly more moderate, but short hike from the Skagway port area to Yakutania Point and Smuggler's cove after our excursion. I'm glad we did the Dyea part though before the float. It was nice to just walk around and learn about the area and the rafting part may have felt too short.

I'm another Mint mobile user, so in the same boat. Was also thinking to purchase a pre-paid SIM card. Would the AT&T ones work in both Alaska and Vancouver?

We got the same news about our excursion last night. I'm debating canceling or switching to just the float tour and trying to add something else. I was really liking the idea of the more strenuous hike that went directly to the where the rafts load in. For those of you familiar with the area, is the Dyea townsite mostly in the trees? Besides being flat, is the scenery, flora, etc. pretty similar?