Ketchikan suggestions?

Hi!

We’re a family of 4 with kids ages 7&10 going on an Alaskan cruise this summer (July 2018). Our ports of Call are Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, and Seward. So far I’ve booked excursions in Juneau (a whale watching tour and Mendenhall glacier information center drop off) and Skagway (bus and rail tour). I’m not seeing much in Ketchikan though. We’re not a Deadliest Catch or fishing type of group and I hesitate to take the kids on a 5 hour sightseeing cruise to Misty Falls. We won’t do a seaplane excursion here. So, I’m thinking of just walking around town and taking a shuttle bus to the Alaskan village. Anything else must see here we can do (besides lumber jack demonstration)?

Would cruising the bay and islands here be see very different wildlife than other ports? I’m considering an excursion that takes a boat out to an island and has a rainforest hike, but the cost is just as much as Misty Falls! I’m not sure if it’s worth it, especially since we’ll be whale watching in Juneau.

Thanks!

Spousal Unit and I loved our visit to Totem Bight Park and the Lunch Creek Trail with Wild Wolf Tours. Tracy is friendly, informative, and great with kids, both in terms of tour guidance and activities. We were in a small group with a family of three, including a son around the age of your young ones, and he was having a blast with the scavenger hunt worksheet she gave him with plants and such to look out for.

http://www.visit-ketchikan.com

There is plenty to see and do. :) The boat tour, in Ketchikan is skimpy for wildlife viewing. Far superior is to get on a Kenai Fjord boat tour- something I never miss. :)

I suggest a loop walking tour, with taking the Fox Lodge funicular up, take a look out the back at the totems. turn left and walk down the Married Man's trail. turn right and end on on Park. If there during a salmon run, take a look at the fish ladder. But at the skateboard park, turn right and walk the path to Totem Heritage Museum- stop in if of interest, continue through the park and turn right down Deermount. walk down the hill to the end.

You'll walk a few blocks to Creek Street, stop in at Dolly's House if of interest? Note the shower curtain. :)

You've made a loop.

I'm a big advocate of Totem Bight. small admission fee and easy to get there by city bus, $2 each way. Bus leaves from corner of Front and Dock St. near dock 2. Signage noted. direction toward the tunnel, once per hour, 25 after. Do this first in your port day, allow 3 hours. Pick up a guide sheet, or print one out and bring it with you, do this, if you are there before it opens. http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/units/totembgh.htm

Enjoy your port time. If you want some great halibut consider Alava's on the side of the tunnel.

The kids might enjoy the rainforest sanctuary - walk through the woods, pet a reindeer, see eagles up close, totem pole carving.

http://www.alaskarainforest.com/

Thank you for all the advice!

 

Enjoy your port time. If you want some great halibut consider Alava's on the side of the tunnel.

I discovered Alava's a couple of years ago, a hidden gem :)

Never been (yet!), so not first-hand advice, but here's what we're doing.

I'm snorkling (KTN790A if booked through Princess) in the morning (snorkling in a Alaska gets me bragging rights, right?) and ziplining/canopy tour in the afternoon (KTN405C).

My bride of 35 years is taking a small boat up the George Inlet waterway, to a crab estuary, where she gets to pull crab pots and then partake of a crab bake (KTN650A).

It's a win-win for us; she doesn't like the adventurous stuff, I can take or leave sea food.

We did the Alaska Canopy Adventures zipline at Ketchikan. Great fun! I'd never ziplined before and wasn't liking the idea too good (though it was *MY* idea!) but by the time we finished I could have immediately gone through it again.

Yes, snorkeling in Alaska does get you bragging rights :) Alas snorkeling and zip lining are a pre-kids, empty nest, or will have to wait until the kids are in their mid to late teens type of activity. Also, the kids won’t eat shellfish (grrr).

One day though!!!

PS for now the little ones don’t want us off the ship while they are on the ship. On the upside telling the 7 year old we’ll leave him on the ship will get him off the ship to do excursions.

Never been (yet!), so not first-hand advice, but here's what we're doing.

 

My bride of 35 years is taking a small boat up the George Inlet waterway, to a crab estuary, where she gets to pull crab pots and then partake of a crab bake (KTN650A).

 

It's a win-win for us; she doesn't like the adventurous stuff, I can take or leave sea food.

Advise your bride to avoid the appetizers and devote her appetite to the all-you-can-eat crab.

Before:

After:

My kids loved the Lumberjack show. Was cheesy and corny enough for them (hubby and I were not as impressed....). They were 8 and 10 at the time. We just walked around town, visited the science center and went to the show. Every other port we had excursions (dog sledding, whale watching) so it was nice to take it easy and eat some fudge!

My kids also did not eat seafood.... it was a challenge finding places/excursions--no salmon bakes for us. Hang in there--both kids now love seafood and sushi!

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FWIW, GenX, i looked up the specifics.

The minimum weight for snorkeling is 80 pounds.

The minimum weight for zipping is 90 lbs (min. height 60 inches)

So, yeah, you're probably SOL.

Hi!

We’re a family of 4 with kids ages 7&10 going on an Alaskan cruise this summer (July 2018). Our ports of Call are Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, and Seward. So far I’ve booked excursions in Juneau (a whale watching tour and Mendenhall glacier information center drop off) and Skagway (bus and rail tour). I’m not seeing much in Ketchikan though. We’re not a Deadliest Catch or fishing type of group and I hesitate to take the kids on a 5 hour sightseeing cruise to Misty Falls. We won’t do a seaplane excursion here. So, I’m thinking of just walking around town and taking a shuttle bus to the Alaskan village. Anything else must see here we can do (besides lumber jack demonstration)?

 

Would cruising the bay and islands here be see very different wildlife than other ports? I’m considering an excursion that takes a boat out to an island and has a rainforest hike, but the cost is just as much as Misty Falls! I’m not sure if it’s worth it, especially since we’ll be whale watching in Juneau.

 

Thanks!

Your kids will probably like the lumberjack show. My 10 year old grandaughter did. It is totally cheesy but a lot of fun. Sometimes all of us need a bit of cheese in their lives.

DON

Here is a link to my review....hope it gives you some ideas. https://zest4travel.wordpress.com/2017/02/23/fun-in-ketchikan/

Ketchikan Rainforests, Parks and Trails Questions

I visited Ketchikan once before and enjoyed the downtown area. When we return, our objective for the day is to see the Rainforest and beautiful scenery.

I have a few questions about some activities I have seen for Ketchikan: The Rainforest Island Adventure, the Rainforest Sanctuary tours, Totem and Potlach Parks + Rainbird Trail. The Shore Excursions Reviews page merges both of the Rainforest excursions on the page and opinions are mixed.

We were considering the Island Adventure, but after readingsome reviews, see that it takes 30 minutes to get to the raft, 30 minutes to get to the Island and only 30 minutes to 1 hour walking the trail. Most people enjoyed it, but there were also a number that said if it was raining, it might not be the best excursion due to getting very cold in the rain. If anyone has experiences to share, I would love to read your honest opinion.

While I was on the reviews page, I also read about the Rainforest Sanctuary and a number of reviewers stated they could have gone independently and saved money. Would you recommend the Sanctuary tour? Is this the area where there’s salmon in the creek and you might see bears fishing? For those who have done both tours, which one was the best one?

I am also exploring perhaps taking the local bus out to Totem Bight State Park and Potlach Park---I have heard there is a lot to see and the trails are lovely---and then later in the day walk the Rainbird Trail. What are your opinions on these activities?

THANKS in advance!!!

www.visit-ketchikan.com

 

There is plenty to see and do. :) The boat tour, in Ketchikan is skimpy for wildlife viewing. Far superior is to get on a Kenai Fjord boat tour- something I never miss. :)

 

I suggest a loop walking tour, with taking the Fox Lodge funicular up, take a look out the back at the totems. turn left and walk down the Married Man's trail. turn right and end on on Park. If there during a salmon run, take a look at the fish ladder. But at the skateboard park, turn right and walk the path to Totem Heritage Museum- stop in if of interest, continue through the park and turn right down Deermount. walk down the hill to the end.

 

You'll walk a few blocks to Creek Street, stop in at Dolly's House if of interest? Note the shower curtain. :)

 

You've made a loop.

 

 

I'm a big advocate of Totem Bight. small admission fee and easy to get there by city bus, $2 each way. Bus leaves from corner of Front and Dock St. near dock 2. Signage noted. direction toward the tunnel, once per hour, 25 after. Do this first in your port day, allow 3 hours. Pick up a guide sheet, or print one out and bring it with you, do this, if you are there before it opens. http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/units/totembgh.htm

 

Enjoy your port time. If you want some great halibut consider Alava's on the side of the tunnel.

I like the walking tour idea and have one question: will that all be wheelchair accessible? Free from stairs? Could a wheelchair could get on the funicular?

We were there last week and did a kayak tour with Southeast Seas Kayaks and had a great time.

We didn't go to the lumberjack show, but we could hear it when we were looking through shops after the kayaking. It certainly sounded like people were having a great time.

The visitors center has a walking tour map (you'll see signs for the map). Very comprehensive. Put on your walking shoes, get the map, and have fun!

It's a splurge, but you want a fond memory of Alaska, so I would highly recommend the "Wilderness Explorer and Crab Feast". [George's Inlet Lodge].

We booked the tour thru NCL. My guess is that some of the other cruise ships carry this excursion as well.

It's wonderful. [both the tour and the food]. The description that NCL offers is very accurate.

You might check reviews out on Trip Adviser as well.

TOP-NOTCH

[i know it seems silly to pay for food when you can get your already paid-for food back at the ship.....but the ship will NEVER offer anything quite like this experience.....IT'S WORTH IT]

You could just walk around but it's actually probably the worst port of your itinerary to do that so I do recommend you book something. When I was there I just went for a walk and took the tram, not very impressive

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On our last AK cruise, we walked up to the Totem Heritage Center - did see some salmon in the creek on our walk as well (we were there in September so not too many salmon left...) We walked around the tourist part of town and ended the day enjoying a beer at a waterfront bar watching the marine traffic. Was a great day for us! We don't currently have plans for an excursion in Ketchikan on our upcoming Alaska cruise either....We might take the free downtown shuttle around to explore...

https://www.ktn-ak.us/totem-heritage-center

http://borough.ketchikan.ak.us/DocumentCenter/View/5424/Notice-of-Route-Changes-Summer-2018

Cheesy yes, but my 6 year old grandson LOVED the lumber jack show. We did that and the Saxman Totem Pole Village, which both the 6 and 4 year old loved.

Try Ketchikan outdoors! We did an awesome zodiac adventure with them!

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It's a splurge, but you want a fond memory of Alaska, so I would highly recommend the "Wilderness Explorer and Crab Feast". [George's Inlet Lodge].

 

 

 

We booked the tour thru NCL. My guess is that some of the other cruise ships carry this excursion as well.

 

 

 

It's wonderful. [both the tour and the food]. The description that NCL offers is very accurate.

 

 

 

You might check reviews out on Trip Adviser as well.

 

 

 

TOP-NOTCH

 

 

 

[i know it seems silly to pay for food when you can get your already paid-for food back at the ship.....but the ship will NEVER offer anything quite like this experience.....IT'S WORTH IT]

We booked the crab feast for 5 PM. (Independently, not through NCL). Supposedly the meal is 2 1/2 hours. Our ship departs at 9:00 PM. Will an hour and a half give us plenty of time to get back to the ship?

I know you said you aren't Deadliest Catch fans, but I'm going to plug that excursion anyway... maybe I can change your mind! We did that one last week with my 16, 14, and 10 year old girls. We all loved it! It was my 14 year old's favorite excursion of the whole trip. You really don't have to be a Deadliest Catch fan at all. The guys who run the tour are all former Bering Sea crabbers (some who were on the show, some not), and they just tell all their stories about their adventures in the dangerous, adventurous, daunting world of crabbing in the Bering Sea. Their stories are so raw, honest, and heartfelt. It did not feel like a canned, scripted tour. It felt like a bunch of fishermen buddies telling you about their adventures. It was also really hands-on which was great for the kids. We got to hold a couple different crabs and prawns. We also saw octopi and other marine life. The best part for me was getting to see the bald eagles. They pull the boat into a little inlet where bald eagles typically hunt, and then they throw out some fish. You have 30+ huge bald eagles flying all around you! I got the most amazing photos, and it felt almost like pigeons flying around a park where someone is throwing out bits of bread, but they were bald eagles with 7 foot wing spans! Amazing! I've never seen anything like it. Seriously though... I think this is a great one for kids. Read a few reviews, and give it a bit of consideration even though your first instinct is that it isn't your cup of tea.