Jump to content

Torn over Ketchikan activities!


Lammy23
 Share

Recommended Posts

We will be in Ketchikan on 9/18/14 on the Golden Princess from 7AM-12:30PM.

 

We are torn over that to do here.

 

1) Bering Sea Crab Fishermen's Tour - I see this comes highly rated. However, my concerns with this are that it will take up basically our entire time in Ketchikan. Also, it is being sold as an excursion through Princess. How many people does this tour take? I fear it will be jam packed and, therefore, unenjoyable.

 

2.) Flightseeing tour of Misty Fjords with Michelle at Island Wings. This will only take 2.5 hours and also comes highly recommended. Is MF and a sea plane worth it for $239/pp? Includes a 30 minute stop within MFNM.

 

3.) Creek Street is something I really want to see, for whatever reason. A walking tour (on our own) is also something that is interesting to us. We are much more of a do-it-yourself excursion type of couple.

 

For those who have been and experienced any of these, what do you think? I wish we had more time in that town to explore.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We will be in Ketchikan on 9/18/14 on the Golden Princess from 7AM-12:30PM.

 

We are torn over that to do here.

 

1) Bering Sea Crab Fishermen's Tour - I see this comes highly rated. However, my concerns with this are that it will take up basically our entire time in Ketchikan. Also, it is being sold as an excursion through Princess. How many people does this tour take? I fear it will be jam packed and, therefore, unenjoyable.

 

2.) Flightseeing tour of Misty Fjords with Michelle at Island Wings. This will only take 2.5 hours and also comes highly recommended. Is MF and a sea plane worth it for $239/pp? Includes a 30 minute stop within MFNM.

 

3.) Creek Street is something I really want to see, for whatever reason. A walking tour (on our own) is also something that is interesting to us. We are much more of a do-it-yourself excursion type of couple.

 

For those who have been and experienced any of these, what do you think? I wish we had more time in that town to explore.

We did the Bering Sea Crab tour (AMAZING)..we booked (ourself directly with their website) for the first tour of the day and were back approx 11:30am...We were also one of the first onboard easily arriving before the ship booked excursions and had our choice of seats.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My folks don't like crowds, yet they loved the Bering Sea Crab Fisherman tour. It's a ~120-foot-long boat, so it's going to have some room on it.

 

To some degree, you should decide what you like. I've never done BSCFtour, but I perceive it as "show & tell" - the show is going to be "the same" day after day, and you get to watch it. I perceive Misty Fjords as more natural and "we get to choose what to look at", so that's the kind of thing I'd pick. Of course, YMMV. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Our family of 4 privately book a Misty Fjords trout fishing trip. The waders, rods, reels, fishing lures and face netting mask were all provided.

 

Our pilot flew us near the eye of the needle, over a lake the spilled over granite walls to see stunning scenery. He even try to show us a bear and her club that often visited a mouth of a stream that teemed with 100s pinks.

 

We caught and released trout in a lake with waterfalls at every turn. When it was time to try another spot our pilot taxied us across the lake while standing outside the plane on the pontoons! We caught fish a each location. When it was time to try another spot we talked our pilot into return us to the stream when the pinks were pool up. It was a thrill catching 4 to 7 lb fish on 2 lb fishing line.

 

For the flight back to Ketchikan our pilot roll coasted the plane to the delight of our 13 and 15 year old sons. Our youngest son was sitting in the co-pilot chair and under the watchful eyes of our pilot was given the controls of the plane. As we approach Ketchikan the sound of Louie Armstrong "What a Wonder World" play through our earphones. It was one the best shore excursion of our lives.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm one of the few who wasn't crazy about the plane ride in Ketchikan. The 30 minute stop was boring and we were swarmed by bugs. YUCK! (The scenery was beautiful, but mostly just green mountains over and over again.)

 

My friend really like the Bering Sea tour.

 

I really love just roaming around Ketchikan, so I'm gonna vote for that. It's a cute little town with lots of fun shops.

 

Good luck deciding.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We will be in Ketchikan on 9/18/14 on the Golden Princess from 7AM-12:30PM.

 

We are torn over that to do here.

 

1) Bering Sea Crab Fishermen's Tour - I see this comes highly rated. However, my concerns with this are that it will take up basically our entire time in Ketchikan. Also, it is being sold as an excursion through Princess. How many people does this tour take? I fear it will be jam packed and, therefore, unenjoyable.

The time frame is what it is, so you have to prioritize. It is sold on all the lines, and is one of the more popular excursions. It is also available direct, but I think the price difference was not that great. I don't know the official capacity, but the boat is well laid out and everyone can see and participate. Being a boat, it's capacity is much more regulated than many land venues, so you will not be "jampacked"

2.) Flightseeing tour of Misty Fjords with Michelle at Island Wings. This will only take 2.5 hours and also comes highly recommended. Is MF and a sea plane worth it for $239/pp? Includes a 30 minute stop within MFNM.

We have done flight seeing several times in AK, and just did not think the costs were justified for the scenery here, my opinion of course.

 

3.) Creek Street is something I really want to see, for whatever reason. A walking tour (on our own) is also something that is interesting to us. We are much more of a do-it-yourself excursion type of couple.

This was my favorite. A unique setting and some interesting, quirky stuff in a few shops

 

For those who have been and experienced any of these, what do you think? I wish we had more time in that town to explore.

 

Just pick what interests you the most, and don't fret the other stuff. It is impossible to even scratch the surface on any given trip of such an immense state.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Excursion are so personal...

 

Kids watched a lot of crabbing on TV, never did it cross our mind to do that excursion regardless of how cool the TV looked.. but that is us.

 

No brainer that Alaska was about the scenery, for us we took a private fishing charter out of Ketchikan that was both scenic, authentic and caught some fish too.

 

Second choice for us would be flightseening...

 

But again just my 2 cents, you will have good memories with either.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We will be in Ketchikan on 9/18/14 on the Golden Princess from 7AM-12:30PM.

 

We are torn over that to do here.

 

1) Bering Sea Crab Fishermen's Tour - I see this comes highly rated. However, my concerns with this are that it will take up basically our entire time in Ketchikan. Also, it is being sold as an excursion through Princess. How many people does this tour take? I fear it will be jam packed and, therefore, unenjoyable.

 

2.) Flightseeing tour of Misty Fjords with Michelle at Island Wings. This will only take 2.5 hours and also comes highly recommended. Is MF and a sea plane worth it for $239/pp? Includes a 30 minute stop within MFNM.

 

3.) Creek Street is something I really want to see, for whatever reason. A walking tour (on our own) is also something that is interesting to us. We are much more of a do-it-yourself excursion type of couple.

 

For those who have been and experienced any of these, what do you think? I wish we had more time in that town to explore.

 

Creek St is a 30 min or less look, there is no "excursion" to it.

 

It depends on interests about flying and Misty. Me, I fly it EVERY trip. Others wouldn't ever consider spending the money. It's "worth" is something you are going to have to figure out.

 

The Crab tours are limited to certain times, if a priority, then make your plans around the entire day schedule. Make choices on the best overall use of time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

We did the float plane excursion, and yes, it is what you would call a seaplane. Coming from the flatlands of Texas, my wife and I were overwhelmed with the sights we saw. And landing on the mountain lake was icing on the cake! We were there in mid-July and didn't experience the bug problems earlier reported. If you've never done a flight like this before, you'd be in for a treat and you only live once.

 

As for Creek Street, YES! Walk it while you're there. It's easy enough to get there. They've got some cute little shops there and at one point you can even walk above a salmon ladder. When we were there, it was raining and had been raining for days. But that only added to the beauty of the place.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

The boat stops at an Indian Eagle Preserve and feeds the eagles and I mean LOTS of eagle. Bring a video camera and capture them in flight just a few yards off the boat. Some examples:

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/?page_id=529

 

Seating is arranged like bleachers so all can see. If you have ever seen "Deadliest Catch", this excursion is a must and includes crew members from the TV series.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When we did our first Alaska cruise, we used Island Wings to go to Traitor's Cove to see the bears catching salmon. Just a wonderful experience. We will be doing our second Alaska cruise in June and also had a difficult time deciding what to do with so many options. I really wanted to do the crab boat, since we love the Deadliest Catch show. But in the end I decided that I should see Misty Fjords with Island Wings. I had a tough time deciding if I would do Misty Fjords or Traitor's Cove six years ago, so now I could finally get there. I just can't pass up an opportunity to see nature at its finest. I can always do the crab tour on another Alaska cruise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Off topic!

 

Mike, you could switch to June 13th Millennium and help plan our cruise. :D

 

Well Hi Ed. I would have loved to go on a cruise with you; but we have to visit Glacier Bay and Celebrity can't do it. Sorry, maybe another time. We are pretty booked right now through March 2015; but there is a lot of cruising time after that. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I took the crab excursion in June. The boat was very comfortable (I use a mobility scooter) and the owners/employees were terrific.

 

One important thing I haven't seen mentioned is that there are several times during the presentation when they let you get up and walk around so you can get closer and hold the crabs, etc. They are also very nice to stop and pose for pictures several time during the trip.

 

I had booked this because my adult son was supposed to be on the trip but couldn't come at the last minute. Rather than cancelling it I took it by myself. I'm so glad that I did.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry for the delay, I don't get on here as much as I should. But thank you all for the replies and recommendations! After A LOT of research we decided to actually do a kayaking tour with Southeast Sea Kayaks. We'll get to see Creek Street from the water as we pass by and then do a nice long 2 hour kayak tour at Orcas Cove, very excited! All we have left is to figure out what we are going to do in Juneau, that's next on my to do list. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...