Alaska on a low budget

[AnotherVirginCruiser]

We don't have a lot of $$ leftover after booking a cruise to Alaska. Any suggestions of "must see places" or things to do in ports? (Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan). We are a family of three and looked at the excursions and most of them are over $100 each person.:eek: Thanks!:)

[donnaw]

Go to the ports board and post this. Budget Queen is an absolute expert and has lots of great ideas. It can easily be done on a budget and you will still get the sense of how absolutely awesome it is.

[Mike2131]

We don't have a lot of $$ leftover after booking a cruise to Alaska. Any suggestions of "must see places" or things to do in ports? (Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan). We are a family of three and looked at the excursions and most of them are over $100 each person.:eek: Thanks!:)

 

Hi!

 

I agree with Donna. You want to see as much as your budget will allow. Study the ports and discuss your priorities with the family.

Alaska is a magnificent destination and Budget Queen can give you some great advice on booking independent excursions that will let you enjoy more of Alaska.

 

Have a great cruise!

[ffwife]

There is a national park headquarters in Skagway; they do free walking tours that are excellent.They also have a free film about the gold rush which was interesting. They can only accommodate so many on the walks, so get signed up right away. Taking a bus that follows the train route is a cheaper alternative and you will see much of the same thing.

[nynewfies]

I think the one thing that I loved the most was a ride on the White Pass and Yukon railroad out of Skagway. You can order a DVD from them directly which shows you what you'll see if you take the ride. It is a narrow guage railroad that takes you over chasms, past waterfalls and along gold rush paths that still show some of the detritus from the men that went up on foot. It was truy magnificent in a place where pretty much everything is awesome.

 

Most of the places that you'll visit are easy to walk around, except for Anchorage, which is really a big city.

 

Another thing you might do is go to your local library and see if they have any videos on travel and tourism. If they do, they will almost certainly have one on cruising Alaska, which will also give you an idea what there is to do and let you prioritize.

 

Good luck. You're going to love your trip.

[CaribbeanBound]

We did Alaska on a budget and experienced more in Juneau and Skagway than most anyone else on the ship. Also enjoyed Tracy's Arm Glacier and Ketchikan.

 

Here is a very detailed review of our Star Princess (sorry, Celebrity) to Alaska cruise which departed out of Seattle. It's got lots of great information on how you can thoroughly enjoy Seattle and Alaska on a low budget.

 

http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/alaska.html

 

Have a great trip!

[mjbelen]

Instead of taking the train in Skagway, we took a bus tour with Southeast tours which followed the train's path, but went furthur into the Yukon in Canada. The best parts were that we were able to stop and get out to take photos at various locations unlike the train. It was also less expensive than the train.

 

Hope this helps.

[Cruisin Rick]

First off, the ones who said search out Budget Queen on the Alaska board has given you some great advice. She knows this itinerary like nobody else and freely helps those with questions.

 

In Skagway, I recommend the national Park Service building as ffwife mentioned. They have historical pictures, artifacts history and a room for slide shows and movies telling the history of Skagway, Chillcoot and the Klondike Gold Rush. I found it facinating and....free. By the way, Skagway was also the best port for shopping. Ketchikan has more artsy stuff but the prices were better in Skagway. I wish I had known that then.

In Juneau, we did the Whale Watching tour but I believe you can take a bus to the visiter's center at Mendenhall Glacier and get some great photo ops. Again, inexpensive and it gives you a chance to get out of the shops and see some beautiful country.

I Ketchican, there's a lot to see just strolling around. Creek Street was fun and the creek was LOADED with salmon. You could walk across the creek on salmon almost. Don't forget to take the steep cable car up to the Lodge above Creek Street. Some great views from up there and you can see your ship and they also have some Totem Poles outside.

At any rate, that's just some suggestions but you'll find much more knowledgable Alaska'n help on the Alaska board.

One thing about the Alaska cruise is that excursions and shopping is very expensive. With good planning, you can have a great time and keep costs somewhat down. Keep in mind that you may never go back so don't discount an excursion if you really want to see it. The few dollars can be made up easier than going back to Alaska.

have a great trip!

[babylene]

In Skagway, we rented a car. I think it was Avis and we arranged for it before the cruise. It was a very inexpensive way to do the White Pass with two kids. The drive is magnificent. Then, we continued on to the Yukon. When, in my wildest dreams, did I imagine myself visiting the "true north"??? There is a village called Carcross...if you want to call it a village. The girl at the border recommended lunch at a "restaurant" which was someone's kitchen!!! It was fun. Finally, we drove to Emerald Lake...which is that very colour. We returned the car by 2:30 -3:00 and walked around Skagway.

 

Very important....we saw BEARS, while we were driving in both directions! So much excitement! We have it all on video!

 

In Juneau, we took a taxi to the Glacier. Then the driver drove us to Perseverence Trail...a narrow trail along a gully (I don't know how young your child is). Across the gully were mountains....and we witnessed an avalanche. That was also an adventure! There is a nice little museum in the town of Juneau.

 

In Ketchikan...man, it poured. The highlight was running into each and every store...just to get out of the rain. In one, they handed out free fudge!!! We tendered and when we returned, our ship was in port. The weather was so bad that the Infinity came to get us!!!!

 

Have fun. It will be a great family adventure.

[babylene]

Sorry about the "perseverance"

[trcori]

we too don't have much of a budget left beyond the cost of the cruise. We are going on our second Alaska cruise this summer -- on the first one, we rented a car in each port. In Juneau, we drove to Mendenhall Glacier among other places; in Skagway, we did the Yukon drive mentioned by a previous poster (turned around at Carcross; didn't see Emerald Lake, but we will THIS time!); in Ketchikan, we visited several state parks including the one with the totem poles and another one where a short walk took us to a stream with numerous jumping salmon. We have lived in the NW more than a decade and NEVER saw salmon quite like that! Our cruise this August is going to the same three ports -- this time we probably will not rent a car in Juneau since (as someone had warned us) you have to take a taxi to the airport to get one. I have looked at some of the private excursions but for example the most often-mentioned whale trip is a hundred bucks a head and I don't care if the whales climb into the boat and come sit next to me to chat, I am **not** paying that much. (Of course I might be jaded because we do live here in the NW and have seen whales many times before.) Best advice, read and research before you go to find the hidden gems to look for!

 

TR

Mercury AK 8/26/05

****

Millennium EC 12/04, Mercury CA-MX 4/04, Infinity AK 8/03, Century WC 3/03, Century EC 9/02

[mjbelen]

If any of you are going to be in Anchorage, the least expensive place to purchase souveniors is Walmart. They have a very large selection of items which were much less expensive than we found for the same items in port.

 

Joan

[geoherb]

We went to Alaska on a budget in 2003. I tried hard to get it to keep it to less than $2,000 per person--including flight, cruise, tips, rental car in Seattle (where we spent three nights with relatives before our cruise), meals, and excursions.

 

Our total for excursions was a little more than $500 for the two of us. We took the shuttle bus to the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau. After that, we toured the capitol and the Alaska State Museum and did a little shopping. Total was $30 for the two of us. From Skagway, we took the ferry over to Haines to go kayaking at Chilkoot Lake. I arranged to do this through an independent company. I'm glad we did. We went farther and each had a kayak and just one guide for the two of us. There were excursions from the cruise ships at the lake at the same time. They had seven or eight kayaks per guide and two or three passengers per kayak. We paid less than the ships charge, even after a nice tip for our guide and lunch at the Bamboo Room. We even saw whales on the ferry ride. (Total was around $300.) In Ketchikan, we did the snorkeling excursion through Princess. It's the only port we booked our excursion through the cruise line--primarily because of the limited time we were there, but also because it's one of the few reasonably priced ones (around $90 pp) that interested us.

[FreesiaE]

It is possible to do Alaska excursions cheaply! Basically we decided that out of the three ports, we would do one "big" one, meaning at most about $100. We opted to do whale watching with Capt. Larry in Juneau for this one. In Skagway, we hiked on our own, to Lower Dewey Lake, and attended a Salmon Bake run by the line for $50 per person. We had signed up for a cheaper one, but times were switched giving us little other option. In Ketchikan, we did the Lumberjack show for I think $18 per person, and did Dolly's House on our own for $5 per person. For us this was living outrageously! Great memories could even be done cheaper that what we did. I cannot imagine plunking down $300-$500 on float planes, and the like. Stick to you budget and you can have a great experience!

[Vistadeck]

We live in Seattle and take advantage of the nearby ships for Alaska trips each year pretty much. Each of the towns are beautiful and nice stops, also nice walking ports. Lots in walking distance or nearby to do. In Skagway there is a free walking tour of the town with nice narration, just stop by the ranger station for times. Also there's a nice hike to a lake from a trailhead at town. In Juneau, city transit nearby will take you out to Mendenhall Glacier, once again the rangers give a nice, free walking tour through the trails there. In Ketchican, we like to just walk the town and go to Creek Street for some shops, my favourite is Ray Troll's store .. http://www.trollart.com - great place for some modern, artistic souveniers - love the t-shirts and posters there.

 

That's about the least expensive way I know to enjoy an Alaska trip, and have a great time.

 

Tina Johnson

"Vistadeck"

I have pics and reviews of Alaska on my site at http://www.recordlady.com

[AnotherVirginCruiser]

Thank you for all your advice and suggestions! All of you sound so happy with your choices even if you didn't/couldn't pay the $100+ for excursions! We would love to see all the wildlife- and as one post said- just being there is to see truly AWESOME sights.:) Please post more if you remember- I'll keep checking. THANK YOU AGAIN!:D

 

trcori: The whale watching comment was HILARIOUS! LOL- still picturing the whale in the boat! :p

[rhoeffner]

We went to Alaska last year in June. We sprung for some pricey things, while taking the VERY cheap route on others.

 

I have to say - the one port we loved the most, remember the most, and was the least expensive was renting a car in Skagway.

 

We walked into town from the pier and headed to the Ranger building. We got a free guide for the drive (a little newspaper telling about each landmark you will pass). Then we headed over to Avis to rent the car for $70 - Opps...we don't carry credit cards - only a debit card that they wouldn't take - which was our good fortune! The really nice lady at Avis called over to some little shop in town that rents cars on the side and he had several. We rented a great little car for next to nothing - I think it was $30 for the whole day. Drove up stopping where and when WE wanted. We only drove so far as Emerald Lake. We stopped at a little convenience store on the way back down and purchased a ton of postcards, all for $1!!! We also got a few munchies and a drink and drove back to town. Turned the car in and had plenty of time to walk the town before treking back to the ship.

 

I would say the day cost us right at $50 total for 2 people. This day and port is my best memory from my Alaskan cruise. I wished we had spent less in the other ports. We fished for salmon in Juneau which is a joke! The guys that took us out in their boat couldn't have been nicer, but we really didn't fish. For each passenger, the head guy put a line in the water. We drew cards to see who's line was who's. If your line hooked a fish then you caught one! You sorta got to reel it in, but the tour operators really took over and did most of the work. The boat was really nice, so I left 'my' line in the water and sat inside the boat and did some sightseeing from the middle of a lake!!! At about $200 a piece - now that's an expensive excursion! ;-) For that price I think a whale should have jumped in the boat and chatted with me AND offered to have his picture made with me! ;-) Hubby nor I either one caught a salmon. We also fished at Icey Stait and again caught nothing - thank goodness that excursion was comped!

 

We bit the bullet and paid $$ for the Snow Crab Adventure in Ketchikan. Can't remember exactly - I think about $75/ea. A bit pricey but WAY well worth it if there is one port you plan to splurge on. You go out on a party barge type boat to a Crab sanctuary where the Crab baskets are pulled up so you can see how they are caught. All these are thrown back because it is a no fishing area - and the tour operators are using it to take a census of the number and kind of crab in the area. We also saw lots and lots of wildlife. Then you go back to the restaurant and have a FRESH Snow crab lunch. We were all stuffed like little pigs when we left!

 

Again - my favorite was Skagway at $50 for the day!!! I think with some planning you can go cheaply and have a better time than if you spent big $$.

 

Have a great cruise!

[jsaadat]

Rented a car from Avis in Scagway........ drove into the Yukon. ITS WAS THE BEST TIME OF OUR ENTIRE CRUISE. In Junue we also rented a car from the airport and drove to Mendenhall Glacierand also the shrine chapel and a Salmon hatehery. Also a great day. Ketchekan was a short day and we just walked around and visited some of the stores.

 

If you want any pictures drom me an email. Jsaadat@msn.com

[AnotherVirginCruiser]

Thanks again for the great ideas! :)

 

rhoeffner: What is the Snow Crab adventure in Ketchikan you speak of for $75- I can only find one through Celebrity that is $135 for adults/$85 for children. We LOVE crab and I would love to splurge-:p but having a 2 year old along for a $85 trip isn't a good splurge! Did you book on your own?

[rhoeffner]

Sorry to be so long getting back to you - have not had a chance to visit the boards for a bit.

 

I see they have gone up significantly, or I can't remember very well. I asked hubby and he doesn't remember it being that expensive either - but it might have been. So...ewwww, I'm not sure if it is worth $139! It was well worth the $75 I thought I paid...LOL

 

The crab is absolutely the best I have ever had - if you do decide to splurge, do the second one of the day. We did the first tour and got only 2 crabs each. We later talked to some that did the second tour and they ate crabs until they were all gone, one guy said he ate 4 whole ones. I would have been sick, but I think hubby and I could have split one more!!!! We didn't eat any of the extra stuff (a small corn cob and some new potatoes - I think) - so we had plenty of room for JUST CRAB!

 

Gee....this is a hard one. It's a great and interesting trip - but at $140 I'm not sure we would have booked it. I really do think it has gone up since last year. I know things are expensive in Alaska - but we planned on going to Alaska only once. I splurged on most everything - darn near emptying the travel savings account doing this trip! I don't see us ever going again though, you only live once! hahahaha

[rhoeffner]

Oh yes...we booked off the ship. I couldn't find anything like this on my own and we definitely wanted to eat crab while we were in Alaska.

[AnotherVirginCruiser]

Thanks for getting back to me! I actually asked someone from Ketchikan and he said they are the only outfit in town that provides that kind of excursion- so I will wait and see once we are there. We are goin in a party of 14 - 10 adults and all but 1 doesn't LOVE crab- she can stay with the kids! :p

[newmexicoNita]

Instead of taking the train in Skagway, we took a bus tour with Southeast tours which followed the train's path, but went furthur into the Yukon in Canada. The best parts were that we were able to stop and get out to take photos at various locations unlike the train. It was also less expensive than the train.

 

Hope this helps.

That is the same tour we took about 6 years ago or it sounds like the same. We not only went into the Yukon territory our driver told us the history of Skagway and the people. I think we paid about $30.00 per person. To this day it is amoung our favorite excursions. That is saying something for someone who has cruised 16 times. We too watched our pennies. yes, it was a bit higher than some cruises, but we didn't shop as much as in the Caribbean; saved some money there, we did alot of walking around. The biggest splurge was DH went Salmon fishing. Of course no one caught a thing but he did have fun. NMNita

[parson02]

My aunt and I bought a walking tour book of all the ports (on overstock.com) and just enjoyed ourselfs walking around and reading the back stories to everything. The only excursion we did was the duck tour in Ketchican and we visited the eagle sanctuary in Sitka.

 

We had a wonderful time and spent very little money.