Alaska dog sledding excursions

My husband and I have talked about doing a land and sea cruise through Princess and I’d like to do a dog sledding excursion. Anyone have advice? Was it worth it? Did you go through Princess or outside of the cruise line?

We did all our excursions in Alaska privately. It honestly saved a lot of money, which appears to hold true today as well. We are booked on a cruise to a different part of the world, but I this past weekend I looked up some excursions. In one case, using a company we've used before and totally trust, the excursion thru Princess is $48, thru a private tour operator it is $30. This is an excursion that we've done before, so I could be reasonably sure I was comparing "apples to apples." It is the first time I could get a good estimate of what the markup thru Princess is and what the difference is. With Princess, the bus would be right at the terminal; with the private company, we'd have to walk across the street to their office.

In Alaska, we really splurged on excursions. It was well worth it! If there is something that interests you, DO IT.

Short answer--YES! We booked through Princess. It was our first cruise so I didn't even think to look anywhere else; however, we have discovered that we prefer to book through the cruise lines anyways so I would do the same again. I know that's not everybody's cup of tea.

We booked the helicopter flight to the dog sled camp on top of a glacier in Juneau. It was expensive but SPECTACULAR. If I remember correctly, there were only a couple of other people that booked this excursion so it really felt special. We got to pet all the dogs and take pictures. Then we were paired up w/ a dog sled and driver and got to drive the sled around the glacier. We rotated who got to drive and who sat in the sled.

It was such a cool life experience, one of my most memorable experiences ever. And the helicopter flight itself was breathtaking, as they did a scenic glacier flight on the way back from dog sled camp. I had never flown on a helicopter before and I was scared but it was just phenomenal. If we ever go back to Alaska I would do it again in a heartbeat!

My husband and I did the same tour as no1racefan1 through Princess. We loved it. It was expensive, but something we will never forget. It is my all-time favorite excursion. Whether you book through Princess or privately, just do it!

Thank you for your opinions. Sounds like we need to save our pennies for that one. It sounds like an amazing excursion.

Truly was a fantastic experience.

For a cheaper excursion, you can skip the glacier sled ride and go to the dog breeding camps. We did that in Skagway (I think there is an identical one in Juneau also). They bring you to the camp in the hills. You go on a cart ride with a couple other people. I think we had 6 or 8 dogs pulling us. After that you get to see and handle the puppies. As a dog lover, we enjoyed it very much. We had done it through Princess....I think at the time there was only a $5 difference to book it on your own.

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My husband and I did the same tour as no1racefan1 through Princess. We loved it. It was expensive, but something we will never forget. It is my all-time favorite excursion. Whether you book through Princess or privately, just do it!

Agreed- we did the same one on the Mendenhall Glacier and it’s one of our favorite memories.

For a cheaper excursion, you can skip the glacier sled ride and go to the dog breeding camps. We did that in Skagway (I think there is an identical one in Juneau also). They bring you to the camp in the hills. You go on a cart ride with a couple other people. I think we had 6 or 8 dogs pulling us. After that you get to see and handle the puppies. As a dog lover, we enjoyed it very much. We had done it through Princess....I think at the time there was only a $5 difference to book it on your own.

 

 

 

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We are going to be doing the Dog Sled Camp in Juneau in June 2018 when we go on the Grand. We are really looking forward to it. Thanks for the pictures.

DW and I have done many cruises (stopped counting after 100) all over the world and rarely take any cruise line excursion (we prefer to do our own thing or book a private tour). But one wonderful exception was many years ago when we spent a lot of money to take the cruise line helicopter/dog sled excursion from Juneau. We did this because a trusted friend assured us it was the best tour money he had ever spent. and....having done that tour we totally agree. Fantastic is an understatement. However, one very important facet to that tour is that you must have decent weather (or they will cancel the tour). Flying up to the dog sled camp was amazing and then we landed high up on the glacier where they had moved the camp during the warm summer months. The dogs were the best of the best (many were in constant training for the Iditerod ) . We all took turns driving a duel sled (they hooked-up two dog sleds that were pulled by a full team of dogs) and also got to ride in the sled (while others drove). The dogs were simply amazing and essentially world-class athletes. All the dogs wanted to do was run run run. But once we were finished (we drove several miles) the dogs would quickly lay down and go to sleep (they are also smart). These dogs are also very lovable animals and seem to love people as much as they love to run.

Hank

For a cheaper excursion, you can skip the glacier sled ride and go to the dog breeding camps. We did that in Skagway (I think there is an identical one in Juneau also). They bring you to the camp in the hills. You go on a cart ride with a couple other people. I think we had 6 or 8 dogs pulling us. After that you get to see and handle the puppies. As a dog lover, we enjoyed it very much. We had done it through Princess....I think at the time there was only a $5 difference to book it on your own.

 

 

 

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We did the same excursion and had a great time! (y)

We did the same excursion and had a great time! (y)

There is a big difference between the land or summer vehicle and the snow sled.

There is a big difference between the land or summer vehicle and the snow sled.

What is that supposed to mean kolada?

I think what is being said is that there is a huge difference to being on a glacier (with hundreds of feet of ice under your feet) and driving a real dog sled....versus being in some faux tourist summer camp/tourist attraction where a few dogs pull a cart (with wheels) around a short track. The excursion we took (many years ago) to a glacier near Juneau was the actual summer training camp of many of the Ididterod dogs (these are arguably the best sled dogs in the world). The tourist dollars (from the tours) help with the cost of maintaining the camp. The summer we visited they had actually recently moved the camp a few miles up the glacier to find thicker ice and colder temps. The only way to get to this kind of summer camp is via helicopter.

Hank

this is from last July on Emerald in Juneau. Enjoy the pics scroll halfway down the page for pics

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2600331&page=2

I think what is being said is that there is a huge difference to being on a glacier (with hundreds of feet of ice under your feet) and driving a real dog sled....versus being in some faux tourist summer camp/tourist attraction where a few dogs pull a cart (with wheels) around a short track. The excursion we took (many years ago) to a glacier near Juneau was the actual summer training camp of many of the Ididterod dogs (these are arguably the best sled dogs in the world). The tourist dollars (from the tours) help with the cost of maintaining the camp. The summer we visited they had actually recently moved the camp a few miles up the glacier to find thicker ice and colder temps. The only way to get to this kind of summer camp is via helicopter.

 

Hank

All I did was respond to the poster that went on the mushers tour and enjoyed it. I said we did the same excursion had a great time also.

I see no need for snarkyness.

My husband and I have talked about doing a land and sea cruise through Princess and I’d like to do a dog sledding excursion. Anyone have advice? Was it worth it? Did you go through Princess or outside of the cruise line?

I did it with Chilkoot tours as part of the trip to emerald lake last year. It was at caribou crossing. Since Alaska cruises are during the summer no snow so they go on a trail. I enjoyed it. They also had several puppies to play with.

Hank is correct, The dog sledding tour on Mendenhall Glacier is the summer training camp for the ididterod sled dogs. That is the one I sent a link to our pictures in the above thread. It was a great tour, it was worth the money and the grandkids had such a great time