Alaska May 2010 from San Diego to Vancouver

[MALLE]

We're planning our first Alaskan cruise next year. Booked it already! We'll drive to San Diego (from Tucson) for departure and fly back from Vancouver. Any tips on great, inexpensive tours in Ketchikkan, Juneau, Skagway, Sitka, Nanaimo, British Columbia. We love walking and I love (notice I didn't say WE) adventure. Also, any help on when to book flights? Don't know if we should spend a night in Vancouver and leave early next a.m. or leave later and stay in San Diego before driving home. Anyone else going on this cruise?

[scottbee]

We're planning our first Alaskan cruise next year. Booked it already! We'll drive to San Diego (from Tucson) for departure and fly back from Vancouver. Any tips on great, inexpensive tours in Ketchikkan, Juneau, Skagway, Sitka, Nanaimo, British Columbia. We love walking and I love (notice I didn't say WE) adventure. Also, any help on when to book flights? Don't know if we should spend a night in Vancouver and leave early next a.m. or leave later and stay in San Diego before driving home. Anyone else going on this cruise?

 

consider where you're flying from. It's a lot cheaper to fly to SAN from BLI/Bellingham (just south of the border) on Allegiant Air or from Seattle on Alaska than it is from Vancouver.

 

If you like walking and adventure, spend $100 and buy a handheld GPSr and look into Geocaching in those towns.

[MALLE]

How do we get to Bellingham from Vancouver. I never heard of it.:confused:

[scottbee]

How do we get to Bellingham from Vancouver. I never heard of it.:confused:

 

to BLI; Hwy 99 south out of Vancouver, which becomes I5 in the USA after you cross the border. BLI airport is exit 258 (17 miles south of the border).

 

There's a company called "Quick Shuttle" http://quickcoach.com/ that offer a shuttle to both the BLI and SEA airports from Vancouver.

 

However, check the airfare prices, sometimes YVR is expensive, sometimes it isn't....

[Putterdude]

One of the issues with flying out of BLI is that fact that you will likely need to change planes in either Seattle or Portland. The exception is Alegiant Airlines that does offer 2 to 4 times a week service (depending upon the time of year) from BLI to SAN. Otherwise if you can't find a fare from YVR then I would be on Quick Coach or Amtrak to Seattle. In the port cities of Alaska you will find that you can occupy your time just walking around. My fave excursion in the Alaskan Panhandle is the White Pass & Yukon RR to the summit...that will still leave you a good part of the day to explore historic Skagway.

[Mrs007]

Ketchikan Walking Tour

The best way to see Ketchikan is by foot, with a three-hour, 2 mile walk around the town. You can pick up a free walking tour map at the visitor bureau, a brown building on the city dock. The map includes 25 points of interest within easy walking distance of downtown area.

[Mrs007]

http://www.juneautours.org/city_glacier.html

or catch the MGT blue bus out to Mendenhall Glacier $7/pp each way, take one of the hiking trails and when back in town, stop at Tracy's King Crab Shack behind the library http://www.kingcrabshack.com/

[MALLE]

Thanks for all the tips. I'm starting to make my notebook and appreciate them all!!;) So, what's the best whale watching tour?

[Mrs007]

If I were you, I would contact Capt. Davey in Sitka http://www.puffinsandwhales.com/ and see if he thinks May would be a good viewing time for whales. If so, I would go with him hands down.

[Mrs007]

And here is a link to a rollcall for your sailing. Lots of folks joining you.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=950931