Dog sledding/helicopter tour operators in Juneau recommendations. Please

I heard this was a bucket list thing to do but I am a very nervous flyer. I did not care for the floatplane last time we were in Alaska but heard a helicopter does not feel as scary.

My original thought was perhaps I should book through the cruise line ( Celebrity) but saw mixed reviews, than I was thinking of shore group excursions or viator but it just dawned on m that they probably all use th same companies?

Someone recommended Alaska ice field expeditions but I had not heard of them, any recommendations or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Wendy

I found the helicopter ride and ice field landing quite smooth in AK. I wasn't interested in dog sledding so I can't comment on that portion of the tour. We really loved walking on the glacier. There's no one else around. It's a wonderful experience and the flight was smooth. Not a long flight either.

We used Coastal.

We did the helicopter/dog sledding in May 2013 and absolutely loved it. We also used Coastal Helicopters.

I was a bit nervous about going on a helicopter as well. I had a death grip on the seat as we took off, but the scenery became so amazing so quickly that I forgot about being scared. It was a very smooth ride. We used ERA.

I heard this was a bucket list thing to do but I am a very nervous flyer. I did not care for the floatplane last time we were in Alaska but heard a helicopter does not feel as scary.

 

My original thought was perhaps I should book through the cruise line ( Celebrity) but saw mixed reviews, than I was thinking of shore group excursions or viator but it just dawned on m that they probably all use th same companies?

 

Someone recommended Alaska ice field expeditions but I had not heard of them, any recommendations or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Wendy

Flying, clearly is NOT for everyone. I've flown with some people, who never should have stepped foot on the aircraft.

YES, a booking agent is just going to use the same vendor's that are available. which is only 3 that do the glacier dog sledding, ERA, TEMSCO, Coastal. I have flown with all 3, they all are well established well run companies- equally excellent tours. the first 2 are cruise contractors.

I fly all the time, several times per visit. It is what I prefer and greatly enjoy. You need to ask yourself some hard questions. :) Take a look at several youtube's that show the movement. They aren't all "smooth".

We are doing this on Memorial Day. I am booking it independently instead of through the cruiseline. The difference is about $70/person. Not certain why we are using, one of the the three mentioned though.

Budget Queen is right on the money. All of the companies are good, two are used by the cruise ships, Coastal is not connected to the cruise ships....My dogs have been on the Herbert Glacier and I know the people that run that company and they are good people...There are options if you don't care to fly. You can go on one of the ground operations that Icefield Excursions operate, and you can be in a wheeled cart. It gives you an approximation of the power that these dogs have, and they all have puppies to pet....All glaciers operations are subject to weather...and weather in Juneau can be very tricky and unpredictable. All of them use helicopters.

We did the helicopter dog sledding excursion through Carnival in 2014 and it was with TEMSCO. It was fabulous. I had never been in a helicopter before and the flight was perfectly smooth with a great landing. Other than the noise it didn't even feel like you were flying. It was a little strange to take off going backward but I thought it was lots of fun. I love flying so I didn't expect it to bother me at all. I personally would recommend this excursion to anyone considering it. I would do it again in a heartbeat. We will be doing Alaska again June 2017 but will probably do excursions we haven't done before. For our first Alaska cruise I wanted to do all of our excursions through the cruise line since I didn't know what to expect but this time I may look at other options as well.