1st Time Going on a Cruise

Good day everyone :)

My family and I will be sailing to Alaska from Seattle on Norwegian Bliss this coming June.

This turns out to be more overwhelming than I thought.

I need shore excursion suggestions please..

The ports we are visiting are:

Ketchikan

Juneau

Skagway

Victoria BC

Our family consists of 2 seniors, few 40 year olds, two 17-year old and 1 6 year old. It's quite a big range.

Our main interests are dog sledding (not via helicopter), bus rides, scenic routes, train rides, and of course alaskan king crab feast.

So my questions are:

Is it better and cheaper to purchase the shore excursions in advance via Norwegian's website or Alaskan cruise websites, or purchase them on site?

We are probably not going to be hiking or walking too much due to the seniors.

Budget is $300 max per person.

If I left anything out, please let me know.....and I will be happy to add any informations.

Thank you in advance.

Shore excursions in AK tend to be pricier than those, say in the Caribbean. Read the board. There are lots of recommended vendors but you at $300 pp you might have to make some hard choices.

We did the Yukon bus/train tour in Skagway and absolutely loved it. It's an all day trip so would advise booking through the cruise line instead of independently because the ship might leave without you. That is one downside of booking independently.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Forums mobile app

Is that $300 per person per port or for the whole cruise?

In Skagway, they have a tour you can book that includes three of you suggestions: Bus ride one way, dogcart, and train back down. That would eat up most of your $300 budget, though, which is why I ask if it's per port or in total. I have not done this tour, so I am not recommending a particular vendor per board rules; hopefully someone else will chime in with that.

We did the Yukon bus/train tour in Skagway and absolutely loved it. It's an all day trip so would advise booking through the cruise line instead of independently because the ship might leave without you. That is one downside of booking independently.

 

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Forums mobile app

I'd book that independently with Chilikoot Charters:

https://chilkootcharters.com/

or with Dyea Dave.

They have a great record for getting everyone back on time. You will be on a small bus holding a max of 18 to 20 people instead of at a big tour bus. That means less loading and unloading time at the stops and more time for you to enjoy the scenery and take pictures without a crowd of others.

$300 max per person for the entire cruise?

Whale watching will run over $100pp, crab feast, over $100pp, snorkeling over $100pp, Dyea Dave & Train is over $100pp.

I think you are going to have a difficult time balancing this out.

Looking at the excursions the ship is offering us on the Jewel most things are costing over $200pp. A more realistic thing might be $300 per port and that way when it costs less it feels good instead of hurts.

Good day everyone :)

 

My family and I will be sailing to Alaska from Seattle on Norwegian Bliss this coming June.

 

This turns out to be more overwhelming than I thought.

 

I need shore excursion suggestions please..

 

The ports we are visiting are:

 

Ketchikan

Juneau

Skagway

Victoria BC

 

Our family consists of 2 seniors, few 40 year olds, two 17-year old and 1 6 year old. It's quite a big range.

 

Our main interests are dog sledding (not via helicopter), bus rides, scenic routes, train rides, and of course alaskan king crab feast.

 

So my questions are:

 

Is it better and cheaper to purchase the shore excursions in advance via Norwegian's website or Alaskan cruise websites, or purchase them on site?

 

We are probably not going to be hiking or walking too much due to the seniors.

 

Budget is $300 max per person.

 

If I left anything out, please let me know.....and I will be happy to add any informations.

 

Thank you in advance.

The seniors should get an America the Beautiful Senior Pass. That will let them into Federal recreation areas and National Parks for free and, in some cases, it also allows others with them in for free. In Ketchican, it covered entry to the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center - a small museum that will orient you to the area you will be seeing on your cruise. My pass covered getting all of our group of 4 in (in our case, the others had the pass but weren't carrying it because they didn't realize there was something in town where it applied).

If as suggested in the earlier post, you take the Yukon rail and bus tour in Skagway, that will take most of your budget. The Chilikoot Charters tour includes admission to pet the puppies at a sled dog musher camp or there is a version of their tour that includes a dogcart ride.

For Ketchican, you could take a cab to Totem Bight State Park to see the totems. Walking around town including Creek Street and visiting the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center is also worthwhile. There is a free shuttle bus around town if you want to go farther than some want to walk.

Most of the Seattle round trips have only a short evening stop in Victoria so just walk around town a bit or stay on the ship.

Juneau is a good spot to take a whale watch. Another option would be to rent a car (or possibly 2 cars if you can't get a van that holds all of you). You can visit Mendenhall Glacier and other spots outside town. Another thing that's nice if the weather allows a clear view, is taking the Mount Robert's Tramway. (That's $34 each except the 6 year old is $17.)

To stay within budget, you might splurge in Skagway to cover 3 of your priorities with the Yukon Rail and Bus tour. Do a cheap DIY in Ketchican and rent a car (or 2 cars) in Juneau.

If you can stretch your budget to a bit more, add a whale watch in Juneau.

Sorry for the confusion.

The $300 budget is per person, per activity. So for example, in Ketchikan, I would be willing to spend up to $300 per person for any 1 activity. If I choose 2 activities, then I would be willing to spend $600.

Thank you..

Is that $300 per person per port or for the whole cruise?

 

 

 

 

In Skagway, they have a tour you can book that includes three of you suggestions: Bus ride one way, dogcart, and train back down. That would eat up most of your $300 budget, though, which is why I ask if it's per port or in total. I have not done this tour, so I am not recommending a particular vendor per board rules; hopefully someone else will chime in with that.

Wow, thanks for the detailed advice. The senior pass tip is especially nice for my parents.

Greatly appreciated, thank you.

The seniors should get an America the Beautiful Senior Pass. That will let them into Federal recreation areas and National Parks for free and, in some cases, it also allows others with them in for free. In Ketchican, it covered entry to the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center - a small museum that will orient you to the area you will be seeing on your cruise. My pass covered getting all of our group of 4 in (in our case, the others had the pass but weren't carrying it because they didn't realize there was something in town where it applied).

 

If as suggested in the earlier post, you take the Yukon rail and bus tour in Skagway, that will take most of your budget. The Chilikoot Charters tour includes admission to pet the puppies at a sled dog musher camp or there is a version of their tour that includes a dogcart ride.

 

For Ketchican, you could take a cab to Totem Bight State Park to see the totems. Walking around town including Creek Street and visiting the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center is also worthwhile. There is a free shuttle bus around town if you want to go farther than some want to walk.

 

Most of the Seattle round trips have only a short evening stop in Victoria so just walk around town a bit or stay on the ship.

 

Juneau is a good spot to take a whale watch. Another option would be to rent a car (or possibly 2 cars if you can't get a van that holds all of you). You can visit Mendenhall Glacier and other spots outside town. Another thing that's nice if the weather allows a clear view, is taking the Mount Robert's Tramway. (That's $34 each except the 6 year old is $17.)

 

To stay within budget, you might splurge in Skagway to cover 3 of your priorities with the Yukon Rail and Bus tour. Do a cheap DIY in Ketchican and rent a car (or 2 cars) in Juneau.

 

If you can stretch your budget to a bit more, add a whale watch in Juneau.

Wow, thanks for the detailed advice. The senior pass tip is especially nice for my parents.

 

Greatly appreciated, thank you.

The pass was previously called Golden Age Passports - if they have that, it still works and they don't need to get the new one. I meant to put in the website:

https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/passes.htm

If you aren't doing anything flying, most everything is less than $300 per person.

In that case, for Victoria, depending on your time in port, you might be able to do an excursion to Buchart Gardens which is lovely.

King crab season is during the winter so if you go to a king crab feast, it is frozen, not fresh.

Sorry for the confusion.

 

The $300 budget is per person, per activity. So for example, in Ketchikan, I would be willing to spend up to $300 per person for any 1 activity. If I choose 2 activities, then I would be willing to spend $600.

 

Thank you..

In that case, you have budgeted plenty!

Ketchikan

Juneau

Skagway

Victoria BC

Our family consists of 2 seniors, few 40 year olds, two 17-year old and 1 6 year old. It's quite a big range.

Our main interests are dog sledding (not via helicopter), bus rides, scenic routes, train rides, and of course alaskan king crab feast.

So my questions are:

Is it better and cheaper to purchase the shore excursions in advance via Norwegian's website or Alaskan cruise websites, or purchase them on site?

Ketchikan, you don't have a lot of time here, so I would look at cruise ship offerings. Potentially the best place for your crab feast. The cruise line may offer a feast out at the lodge, not really sure about what times they are open. Otherwise I would look at taking new_cruiser's advice for Kethcikan. Just PAY ATTENTION TO TIME. This is your first stop, and it leaves early, be on the boat.

Juneau is probably your best bet for whale watching but you better book soon. With a ship departure of 1:30pm you will have to make a morning trip. Whale watching would get you back on time from any good provider. If you want to go out to Mendenhall Glacier center, might be best to do a ship's tour to make it back by 1pm without issue.

Skagway, do either Chilkoot or Dyea Dave. This will get you a bus ride one direction and the train the other direction. You can work in the musher camp for the dogs here as well. Departure is not until 5:30pm so you should have plenty of time to do this with a small tour operator and not worry about getting back on time.

Vancouver, sorry, can't help here, and it is where you have the latest departure time> I do know they have a great garden here.

In general small tour operators are who we like to use. They tend to give you much more personalized service, and are a much smaller group. Cost tends to be about the same, or lower. And while tour operators will do their absolute best to get you back to the ship on time, with such short times in port for Ketchikan and Juneau you may want to stick to ship tours for anything that will leave the main area of town. Especially as you are all new to cruising.

The main thing is to have fun, and you have budgeted more than enough for everyone to have a great time.

I've done a number of cruises to Alaska and these are my favorite excursions:

Ketchikan - Deadliest Catch tour, Seaplane flight to Misty Fjords and boat return, Flight and crab feast, Forest walk and crab feast, walk around town

Juneau - Taku Glacier flight and crab feast, whale watching, Mendenhall Glacier, Mt Roberts tram

Skagway - train to Lake Bennett, rafting in Haines, Chilkoot trail hike and raft, Glacier Point Wilderness Safari

Some are more active than others (not sure how mobile your seniors are). I would definitely recommend the Deadliest Catch tour for everyone from seniors to kids as well as the Taku Glacier trip and the Glacier Point Safari.

We did Alaska last summer with Oceania. Be prepared for rain... not just a shower or too. Rained out of Island Wings in Ketchikan. In Juneau, we did Whale Watching with Captain Mike (he is worth the trip & we learned a lot), then he booked a taxi to take us to Mendenhall Glacier. We did Chilkoot Charters - bus up and train down in Skagway. Was only half day. We got dropped off across the street from the Skagway Brewing (spruce tip beer) bar/restaurant at the end of the tour and had lunch there. We used EV Tours in Victoria and had a tour designed specifically for us, included history, Butchart Gardens, historic sights with John, a first class guide & horticulturalist.

My son and niece would love the Deadliest Catch tour for sure..

Thanks to everyone for their advice...:D:D:D

I've done a number of cruises to Alaska and these are my favorite excursions:

 

Ketchikan - Deadliest Catch tour, Seaplane flight to Misty Fjords and boat return, Flight and crab feast, Forest walk and crab feast, walk around town

 

Juneau - Taku Glacier flight and crab feast, whale watching, Mendenhall Glacier, Mt Roberts tram

 

Skagway - train to Lake Bennett, rafting in Haines, Chilkoot trail hike and raft, Glacier Point Wilderness Safari

 

Some are more active than others (not sure how mobile your seniors are). I would definitely recommend the Deadliest Catch tour for everyone from seniors to kids as well as the Taku Glacier trip and the Glacier Point Safari.

Oh no, rain..

So we better bring ponchos?

Thanks

We did Alaska last summer with Oceania. Be prepared for rain... not just a shower or too. Rained out of Island Wings in Ketchikan. In Juneau, we did Whale Watching with Captain Mike (he is worth the trip & we learned a lot), then he booked a taxi to take us to Mendenhall Glacier. We did Chilkoot Charters - bus up and train down in Skagway. Was only half day. We got dropped off across the street from the Skagway Brewing (spruce tip beer) bar/restaurant at the end of the tour and had lunch there. We used EV Tours in Victoria and had a tour designed specifically for us, included history, Butchart Gardens, historic sights with John, a first class guide & horticulturalist.

Omg I will book it through the cruise then...thanks!

We did the Yukon bus/train tour in Skagway and absolutely loved it. It's an all day trip so would advise booking through the cruise line instead of independently because the ship might leave without you. That is one downside of booking independently.

 

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Forums mobile app

Thanks Dark Jedi

In that case, you have budgeted plenty!

 

Ketchikan

Juneau

Skagway

Victoria BC

 

Our family consists of 2 seniors, few 40 year olds, two 17-year old and 1 6 year old. It's quite a big range.

 

Our main interests are dog sledding (not via helicopter), bus rides, scenic routes, train rides, and of course alaskan king crab feast.

 

So my questions are:

 

Is it better and cheaper to purchase the shore excursions in advance via Norwegian's website or Alaskan cruise websites, or purchase them on site?

 

Ketchikan, you don't have a lot of time here, so I would look at cruise ship offerings. Potentially the best place for your crab feast. The cruise line may offer a feast out at the lodge, not really sure about what times they are open. Otherwise I would look at taking new_cruiser's advice for Kethcikan. Just PAY ATTENTION TO TIME. This is your first stop, and it leaves early, be on the boat.

 

Juneau is probably your best bet for whale watching but you better book soon. With a ship departure of 1:30pm you will have to make a morning trip. Whale watching would get you back on time from any good provider. If you want to go out to Mendenhall Glacier center, might be best to do a ship's tour to make it back by 1pm without issue.

 

 

Skagway, do either Chilkoot or Dyea Dave. This will get you a bus ride one direction and the train the other direction. You can work in the musher camp for the dogs here as well. Departure is not until 5:30pm so you should have plenty of time to do this with a small tour operator and not worry about getting back on time.

 

Vancouver, sorry, can't help here, and it is where you have the latest departure time> I do know they have a great garden here.

 

 

In general small tour operators are who we like to use. They tend to give you much more personalized service, and are a much smaller group. Cost tends to be about the same, or lower. And while tour operators will do their absolute best to get you back to the ship on time, with such short times in port for Ketchikan and Juneau you may want to stick to ship tours for anything that will leave the main area of town. Especially as you are all new to cruising.

 

The main thing is to have fun, and you have budgeted more than enough for everyone to have a great time.

I will look up Chilikoot Charters..I definitely like the smaller group tours :D

I'd book that independently with Chilikoot Charters:

https://chilkootcharters.com/

or with Dyea Dave.

 

They have a great record for getting everyone back on time. You will be on a small bus holding a max of 18 to 20 people instead of at a big tour bus. That means less loading and unloading time at the stops and more time for you to enjoy the scenery and take pictures without a crowd of others.

Good day everyone :)

 

My family and I will be sailing to Alaska from Seattle on Norwegian Bliss this coming June.

 

This turns out to be more overwhelming than I thought.

 

I need shore excursion suggestions please..

 

The ports we are visiting are:

 

Ketchikan

Juneau

Skagway

Victoria BC

 

Our family consists of 2 seniors, few 40 year olds, two 17-year old and 1 6 year old. It's quite a big range.

 

Our main interests are dog sledding (not via helicopter), bus rides, scenic routes, train rides, and of course alaskan king crab feast.

 

So my questions are:

 

Is it better and cheaper to purchase the shore excursions in advance via Norwegian's website or Alaskan cruise websites, or purchase them on site?

 

We are probably not going to be hiking or walking too much due to the seniors.

 

Budget is $300 max per person.

 

If I left anything out, please let me know.....and I will be happy to add any informations.

 

Thank you in advance.

For the entire trip. Will not happen at a $300 per person budget. That is $75 per person per port.

DON

Having taken our teenagers 3 times to Alaska, I suggest you consider splitting up at some of the ports to allow your teens to do something active away from the seniors. Our teens loved kayaking in Ketchikan and the guided Mendenhall Glacier Trek in Juneau.

Don--sorry I did not clarify in my earliest post. $300 is per person per activity :)

Epixx--Yes, my son really wants to do the kayaking so bad. I will most likely have to split the group...thank you!

I agree on the Yukon bus/train combo no matter who you book through. Here are some pictures.

https://markandkarenalaska2011.shutterfly.com/pictures/81