Dog Sled Excursions in Juneau

I am trying to determine if there are meaningful differences (other than the price and availability) between the two Princess excursions “Dog Sledding on the Mendenhall Glacier”(JNU-845) and “Dog Sled Adventure by Helicopter” (JNU-840). The two excursions visit different dog camps on Mendenhall or Norris glacier. There is only one excursion offered to Norris (more $$$) and there are four excursions offered to Mendenhall on my cruise. Does anyone know if there are differences to justify the extra $$$ per person, other than perhaps maybe different tour operators. Thanks.

Have you tried the AK board? https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55

We did the dog sledding trip whilst on a Celebrity cruise and booked the Norris Glacier one as it involved a longer helicopter trip. Medenhall is quite close to where the ship's dock.

I can thoroughly recommend the experience, both the helicopter trip and the dog sledding. We debated quite a while before booking due to the cost but it was worth every penny, and we would do it again in a flash.

I don't remember the price being very much different between the two trips though!

I suggest that you book the helicopter dogsledding trip for the first port that it is offered (either Juneau or Skagway). It is the most-often canceled excursion in the Alaskan ports (due to weather).

You received the info above as to why the Norris Glacier trip is more expensive - further away.

We booked directly through Coastal helicopters in Juneau for a helicopter/dog sledding combination on Herbert Glacier. I believe we saved around $100 (maybe a little more) for two of us over the Princess price. It was a pricey excursion, but by far, the highlight of our Alaska cruise. Flight trips are, indeed, the most cancelled Alaska excursions for weather/visibility reasons. We had a beautiful, sunny day in early August, (our musher was in a t-shirt!), but were told that in July 75% of their flight trips had been cancelled.

We didn't do either of the ones you mentioned, but did do one in Skagway and it was fantastic!! We were picked up in jeeps and driven out to the camp (gorgeous scenery) where we learned all about keeping the dogs and about racing them. Then we got to play with them and take a ride on the summer sleds. At the time I owned a Siberian Husky so it was fun to see what these northern dogs can do. We also got to hold some of the puppies! :hearteyes:

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

We booked directly through Coastal helicopters in Juneau for a helicopter/dog sledding combination on Herbert Glacier. I believe we saved around $100 (maybe a little more) for two of us over the Princess price. It was a pricey excursion, but by far, the highlight of our Alaska cruise. Flight trips are, indeed, the most cancelled Alaska excursions for weather/visibility reasons. We had a beautiful, sunny day in early August, (our musher was in a t-shirt!), but were told that in July 75% of their flight trips had been cancelled.

I have also used Coastal Helicopters to book a helicopter and dog sled excursion directly (we were on a Royal Caribbean ship.) Our weather was NOT stellar, as it was cold with icy rain. However, we still were able to do the excursion and even land on the glacier. Even with the terrible weather, it was a wonderful excursion and I highly recommend it. I was traveling with my adult son and he still raves about the experience! They did provide rain protection gear, too!

https://www.coastalhelicopters.com/tours/

Enjoy your cruise.