Which Cruise Excursions after inland tour?

[Travel_Maven]

My husband and I are doing a 5 day independent inland tour which includes Park Shuttle to Eielson in Denali, McKinley Flightseeing with Glacier Landing from Talkeetna, and Kenai Fjords 6 hr. boat tour. After the inland tour, we are boarding the Diamond Princess for a Southbound Cruise with stops in Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan. In Skagway we want to do the White Pass Railway but are not sure which tour to do (do we go all the way to Bennett Lake with little time in town?), and in Juneau we're not sure what to do. Do we do another Flightseeing tour, whale watching again, Mendenhall Glacier, or combo? Lastly, in Ketchikan, we're pretty settled on the Bearing Sea Crab Fisherman Tour but should we make time for something else other than strolling through town.

 

We would appreciate any suggestions so we can have a variety of experiences but not miss the highlights of each port. Thanks so much! :)

[BayStateguppy]

I thought the train ride was ok but wouldn't take the longer trip. I fell asleep on the way back. It does get boring after a while.

Skagway gets crowded but there was quite a bit to see. I would give it some time to explore.

 

I don't know how active you are but in Juneau we did the Canopy zip line which was a blast.

 

Check out my review w/ pics.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1026809&highlight=baystateguppy

[sparky-elpaso]

We went whale watching with Harv & Marv in Juneau - had a great time. They also take you over to Mendenhall Glacier afterwards for 20 minutes so I got some nice pics there.

 

We would have gone up the Mt. Roberts tram in Juneau but it was foggy so we didn't bother.

 

There's a very nice gold rush museum in downtown Skagway. Small but with very nice exhibits. I think Skagway was my favorite town - very nicely restored. We took the White Pass & Yukon thru RCI so it was one of the shorter trips - 3 or 4 hours, I think. Fantastic scenery.

[Budget Queen]

Choose, which is of the most interest to you??????? They all are worthwhile choices.

[Travel_Maven]

Choose, which is of the most interest to you??????? They all are worthwhile choices.

 

 

BQ, I was hoping for more specifics from you. Maybe I didn't give enough detail. We want to do a variety of things. So for example, if we go flightseeing and walking on a glacier on Mt. McKinley, do we necessarily need to walk on another glacier in Juneau, or is it a very different experience than McKinley? If we take the train from Anchorage to Seward, do we need to go all the way to Carcross on WP& Yukon, or is it really different and we would be missing something if we don't do the full trip? If we've been whale watching in Kenai and Prince William Sound, do we really need to do it again in Juneau?

 

Those are the types of questions we are asking ourselves. Just curious as to what experienced Alaska travelers think?

 

Thanks! :)

[Travel_Maven]

BQ, I was hoping for more specifics from you. Maybe I didn't give enough detail. We want to do a variety of things. So for example, if we go flightseeing and walking on a glacier on Mt. McKinley, do we necessarily need to walk on another glacier in Juneau, or is it a very different experience than McKinley? If we take the train from Anchorage to Seward, do we need to go all the way to Carcross on WP& Yukon, or is it really different and we would be missing something if we don't do the full trip? If we've been whale watching in Kenai and Prince William Sound, do we really need to do it again in Juneau?

 

Those are the types of questions we are asking ourselves. Just curious as to what experienced Alaska travelers think?

 

Thanks! :)

 

 

Are you out there Budget Queen?

[negc]

If you are asking whether the Alaska Railroad train from Anchorage to Seward is a different experience from the White Pass and Yukon train in Skagway, the answer is a definite yes. :)