Misty Fjord shore excursion on Solstice

Has anyone taken the Misty Fjord shore excursion offered by Celebrity in Ketchikan? Will be on the Solstice next month. Will appreciate any opinions. Thanks.

Has anyone taken the Misty Fjord shore excursion offered by Celebrity in Ketchikan? Will be on the Solstice next month. Will appreciate any opinions. Thanks.

Assuming you are talking about the catamaran tour.

My wife and I did. Best excursion we’ve ever taken. The tour guide was great and this can be a big difference between wonderful and disappointing.

We got up close to the glacier and saw some wonderful wildlife, including a period where whales were breeching all around us.

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Assuming you are talking about the catamaran tour.

 

My wife and I did. Best excursion we’ve ever taken. The tour guide was great and this can be a big difference between wonderful and disappointing.

 

We got up close to the glacier and saw some wonderful wildlife, including a period where whales were breeching all around us.

 

 

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Thank you SetU2. Celebrity site does not describe the vessel as a catamaran. It is described as "one of the fastest and more luxurious sightseeing vessels in Alaska" However, I am aware catamaran refers to the structure of the boat, so I guess it is possible. It is good to know you really liked it so much. This will be our first time in Alaska.

We were on a large boat into the Misty Fjords, via an NCL excursion. I would imagine that Celebrity's shoorex would use the same company (unless you do the small catamaran as described below- although I do not recall any glaciers along our boat trip).

For the amount charged I was very disappointed in our experience. Lots of people onboard. Pretty scenery though.

Also best excursion we have ever taken. It is indeed a catamaran type vehicle and we left the Solstice near the glacier. The boat took us closer to the Glacier and as we headed back we went up a passage which took us to another part of the glacier the Solstice could not get to because of its size. Along the way we saw loads of wildlife including lots of whales. We went end of August so our access to the area was not impeded by the ice and the whales were starting their migration. As I said, best excursion for us ever on many, many cruises.

Recently returned from an Alaska trip aboard Infinity and--from your comments--think that you may be referring to Celebrity Tour #KE62 "Misty Fjords & Wilderness Explorer"... If I'm correct, following is a link to the website for the tour operator that Celebrity used for the excursion...

http://allenmarinetours.com/

I did the tour on 1 June--and despite teeming rains in Ketchikan [under the circumstances, it was helpful that the tour boat used a dock immediately adjacent to the one at which Infinity was ported]--thoroughly enjoyed it... Misty Fjord was beautiful despite the weather, the scenery along the way was memorable, and though not expected, we did--as a bonus--come upon a breaching whale and spent some time following it...

While in Juneau a day earlier [with perfect weather], I did Celebrity Tour #JU40 "Mendenhall Glacier, Whale Watching & Wildlife Quest"... The visit to Mendenhall Glacier was by bus but the much longer whale watching/wildlife quest portion of that excursion was also provided by Allen Marine... We had great whale watching success [five whales, each with multiple breaches] and did indeed see lots of other wildlife [primarily sea lions, seals and eagles; often from very close perspective]…

In my opinion [and they get very strong reviews otherwise], Allen Marine does a very nice job...

Keep in mind that Celebrity doesn't have it's own tour boats, so the experience you will get is the same as with any cruise line because you will be sharing with them.

That being said, I just took this excursion a couple of days ago and it was awesome! Of course , expect rain and fog back in there because that is after all how it got it's name. :)

After we got back out of the fjord we were greeted with bright sunshine.....as luck would have it. :)

I'm a little confused because I could have swore that the Fjords excursion was the day in Juneau, I'll have to check my dailies.

I'm a little confused because I could have swore that the Fjords excursion was the day in Juneau, I'll have to check my dailies.

Anything is possible but I don't think so, Don.. According to the guide aboard Wilderness Explorer, Misty Fjord is located about thirty miles from Ketchikan... And the Daily indicated that we sailed 286 nautical miles [surely not in a straight line] from Juneau to Ketchikan...

When I did Misty Fjord via float plane in 2011, that tour was also out of Ketchikan...

We were on a large boat into the Misty Fjords, via an NCL excursion. I would imagine that Celebrity's shoorex would use the same company (unless you do the small catamaran as described below- although I do not recall any glaciers along our boat trip).

 

For the amount charged I was very disappointed in our experience. Lots of people onboard. Pretty scenery though.

Excursion participation can vary widely from day to day and trip to trip...

When I did this tour on 1 June, there were four cruise ships in port at Ketchikan but only 61--I'd judge that to account for about 25% of the tour boat's guest capacity--participants... Don't know whether it was by design of not but, on my excursion to Misty Fjords, all guests were from Celebrity Infinity; the tour was not remotely close to being crowded...

Thank you all for your replies. Yes, Kport, it is the tour# KE62. Thanks for the link. Glad to know that everyone seemed to really like this excursion. We will go for it. Looking forward to this cruise, which will be our first time in Alaska.

Anything is possible but I don't think so, Don.. According to the guide aboard Wilderness Explorer, Misty Fjord is located about thirty miles from Ketchikan... And the Daily indicated that we sailed 286 nautical miles [surely not in a straight line] from Juneau to Ketchikan...

 

When I did Misty Fjord via float plane in 2011, that tour was also out of Ketchikan...

Sorry for the confusion but I checked and it was the day we went into Juneau, probably talking about two different excursions and I apologize for that in my previous description. . WE sailed the Fjord on day three and then on day four we woke up right outside the glacier on the Solstice. We then boarded the Catmaran and met the ship in Juneau early afternoon, this was when they were docked one week and not the next, that was the Catmaran excursion I was referring to. AT Ketchikan, we docked in the morning and stayed there. Again, sorry.

We have done the Allen Marine Misty Fjord cruise excursion twice and it has been excellent. Allen Marine has marine tours in a few ports in Alaska and we will always try and do them as they are a quality product. If you are not sure if the tour is being run by Allen Marine just email them and check.

We always recommend them to friends and have had good reports.

We took this tour a couple of years ago and it was a nice boat ride into the wilderness but the trip didn't have any WOW factor for us. The boat was nice and wasn't very crowded but after a while the trip just seemed long. It was a very nice day and there was plenty of opportunity to move around on the inside and outside. For us there was lots of scenery but not much wildlife. I'm not sure if it would have been as good if the weather was cloudy or rainy. Remember there's a reason they call it Misty Fjord.

This trip was the second choice for us. Originally we were scheduled to take a float plane trip but one of the float planes from tour company used by Celebrity crashed into a hill along Misty Fjord the day before we left Seattle. As you would expect all float plane trips from the company were shutdown until the investigation was completed. Timing is everything.

We took this tour a couple of years ago and it was a nice boat ride into the wilderness but the trip didn't have any WOW factor for us. The boat was nice and wasn't very crowded but after a while the trip just seemed long. It was a very nice day and there was plenty of opportunity to move around on the inside and outside. For us there was lots of scenery but not much wildlife. I'm not sure if it would have been as good if the weather was cloudy or rainy. Remember there's a reason they call it Misty Fjord.

 

This trip was the second choice for us. Originally we were scheduled to take a float plane trip but one of the float planes from tour company used by Celebrity crashed into a hill along Misty Fjord the day before we left Seattle. As you would expect all float plane trips from the company were shutdown until the investigation was completed. Timing is everything.

For us. a beautiful scenery will probably be enough to enjoy the ride. On the other hand, there is no way we will get in one of those float planes. Better a little bored with too much scenery than....well!

Another option for Misty Fjords is a seaplane excursion. We did it with Island Wings

http://www.islandwings.com/misty-fjords---glaciers-flightseeing-tours.html

and it was wonderful. This is a woman-owned company and she is also the pilot. The plane is very small but immaculately maintained (engine had been rebuilt, on schedule, shortly before our trip) and she flies this area all year long. We took off from the water in the Ketchikan harbor, flew around the scenic area, then landed in Rudyard Bay where we walked ashore and hung out for awhile taking pictures and enjoying the quiet and solitude. On the flight back Michelle pointed out bald eagles, seals, and a black bear below.

Another option for Misty Fjords is a seaplane excursion. We did it with Island Wings

http://www.islandwings.com/misty-fjords---glaciers-flightseeing-tours.html

and it was wonderful. This is a woman-owned company and she is also the pilot. The plane is very small but immaculately maintained (engine had been rebuilt, on schedule, shortly before our trip) and she flies this area all year long. We took off from the water in the Ketchikan harbor, flew around the scenic area, then landed in Rudyard Bay where we walked ashore and hung out for awhile taking pictures and enjoying the quiet and solitude. On the flight back Michelle pointed out bald eagles, seals, and a black bear below.

Agree....Michelle is great!