Glacier Bay/Mendenhall Glacier ???????

We are trying to put the finishing touches on our Alaskan cruise for late June of this year.

Our ship WILL BE going through Glacier Bay.

We will probably do a whale watching tour while in Juneau....but we are wondering if it would be a waste of our time to include Mendenhall. Should we add another activity instead of Mendenhall--especially since we will be seeing glacier ice as we go through Glacier Bay?

If you looking for variety of experience and have time for an activity you like the look of, I would say do it. As Juneau was before our GB day we went to Mendenhall after our whale watch tour. It was by no means a waste of time and did not cost much but you get a better view of glaciers, esp. Margerie glacier from the ship in GB. At Mendenhall you have a nice walk and can stand close enough to Nugget Falls on the beach to feel the spray, and there is a visitor centre too (which we didn't have time for). I don't regret what we did but with hindsight would have at least investigated other options, although as our hours were 2-10 pm there may not have been many of them :) All the best, Tony

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JMHO but you won't be wasting your time - we had done the whale watch/Mendenhall Glacier combo tour followed by Glacier Bay and both were awesome! Hiking to Nugget Falls at Mendenhall was one of my wife's highlights of the cruise.

If you looking for variety of experience and have time for an activity you like the look of, I would say do it. As Juneau was before our GB day we went to Mendenhall after our whale watch tour. It was by no means a waste of time and did not cost much but you get a better view of glaciers, esp. Margerie glacier from the ship in GB. At Mendenhall you have a nice walk and can stand close enough to Nugget Falls on the beach to feel the spray, and there is a visitor centre too (which we didn't have time for). I don't regret what we did but with hindsight would have at least investigated other options, although as our hours were 2-10 pm there may not have been many of them :) All the best, Tony

 

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Oh my goodness! Fabulous video, Tony!!

If you looking for variety of experience and have time for an activity you like the look of, I would say do it. As Juneau was before our GB day we went to Mendenhall after our whale watch tour. It was by no means a waste of time and did not cost much but you get a better view of glaciers, esp. Margerie glacier from the ship in GB. At Mendenhall you have a nice walk and can stand close enough to Nugget Falls on the beach to feel the spray, and there is a visitor centre too (which we didn't have time for). I don't regret what we did but with hindsight would have at least investigated other options, although as our hours were 2-10 pm there may not have been many of them :) All the best, Tony

 

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Thanks ever so much for this post. I would truly hate to miss seeing this in person.

I have read some of the reviews on some of the ship's excursions. One excursion combines whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier. But the complaint was that there was not enough quality time to do the glacier. Nugget Falls looks absolutely AMAZING on that video.

Thanks ever so much for this post. I would truly hate to miss seeing this in person.

 

I have read some of the reviews on some of the ship's excursions. One excursion combines whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier. But the complaint was that there was not enough quality time to do the glacier. Nugget Falls looks absolutely AMAZING on that video.

Thanks for your kind words (and to Gloria too). From memory (but correct to 15 minutes :)) we docked at 1 pm and caught the 1.5 mile shuttle to Juneau town. There is room for one cruise ship in the town but it wasn't ours that day. So we were in town by 2 pm and booked a whale watch/Mendenhall combo with one of the vendors there ($125 pp in 2014).

At 2.30 they took us by minibus to Auke Bay so we would have been on the boat at 3 pm and spent 90 minutes on the water, which was fine, we saw lots of whales (video below). We were then taken to Mendenhall (I would say we were there by 4.50 pm) and told that the return bus trip to Juneau town was leaving at 6.15 pm, so had just under an hour and a half at the glacier area.

From the drop off point in the car park to Nugget Falls is just under a mile walk, so doing that at a leisurely pace with a detour to the Photo Point will take 25 minutes at the most, 45 minutes there and back. Even if you spend 10 minutes on the beach looking at the waterfall you can do it all in under an hour so have a few minutes to look at the salmon running if the season is right. Had we had 2 hours we may have gone into the Visitor Centre but what we had was enough, as it was cool and damp. From Mendenhall - Juneau town took about 30 minutes so we were back by 6.45 pm, and rather than wait for a shuttle ($3, every 15 mins I think) I walked back to the ship. All the best, Tony

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Many thanks! Your videos are quite inspiring!

IMO, Mendenhall looks quite lame when compared to Glacier Bay. I think it's ok to skip it.

Is an hour enough time at the park to do the hike to Nugget Falls and see the informative video? The Whale watch and Mendenhall combos on the ship only give us an hour there.

IMO, Mendenhall looks quite lame when compared to Glacier Bay. I think it's ok to skip it.

Have you been to both?

Is an hour enough time at the park to do the hike to Nugget Falls and see the informative video? The Whale watch and Mendenhall combos on the ship only give us an hour there.

No, this is a combo I never recommend. Are you adverse to just booking separately? In my opinion, from the moment you get to Mendenhall you will be occupied, looking at your watch. Sorry a poor choice to consider. I also highly recommend the excellent Trail of Time, which has informative kiosks and a historic based walk.

The above trip report is also skewed, whale watches, normally are never 45 minutes, and frankly hardly doable. It can be that amount of time just to get back and forth to Shelter Island. So, I would no use that timeline for any planning. an hour is needed for Nugget Falls, at least, don't even consider shorter, unless you are going to marathon it, with a constant watch on the time. NOT a good plan when there are far more favorable options, that are simple to arrange.

Have you been to both?

I agree with BQ - it’s well worth going to both as they are totally different experiences. Walking as close as you dare to Nugget Falls alone is worth going to Mendenhall....

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I am going with a group to AK this May. They had the same question. My advise to them is since they will see many other glaciers on the cruise, I suggest they do the Mt. Roberts Tram when in Juneau in addition to their whale watching. I enjoyed Mendenhall but I feel like the Tram was wonderful. If we weren't going to see so many other glaciers on our trip, then Mendenhall would be necessary. The only thing you will miss if you don't go to Mendenall is the hike to the waterfall.

 

I disagree, it is far from the "only" highlight at Mendenhall. There are numerous opportunities to include and enjoy, there.

Budget Queen,

My in-laws were booked through RC for the whale watch/Mendehall excursion to take place in early August. She just received notification that the excursion was cancelled. Can you recommend a private company(s)? Normally I do all of the arrangements but I am not going on this particular cruise so I haven't spent any time researching.

Thanks,

Sheal