Favorite Excursion

[puli]

Small boat cruise into Resurrection Bay and Kenai Fjords out of Seward.

9 hours and hardly a minute went by we didn't see something awesome.

The Captains of all those boats keep in touch so if one boat spots great

wildlife, they let everyone know. BUT, they are VERY protective of that

wildlife, and make certain we don't in any significant way interfere with

their lives. The Ailiak [sp?] Glacier calved like crazy.

 

The only danger was that we would 'tap out' on awe from overabundance

of sights to see.

 

If you go, take the longest one you can.

 

Would you mind saying which cruise line and which cruise you took to get to the Kenai Fjords.

[dhk 4537]

So many to pick from. Mine would have to be whale watching in Icy Straits. An Orca rubbed right along the bow aboard our FISHES tour.

My wife's close second had to be kayaking in Ketchekan. 2 bald eagles sharing a salmon treat as we turned a bend around Pennock Island.

 

Hoping for more this summer!

[Havin'fun]

I want to play!! But it is oh so difficult to pick just one. The Denali tour has to be it as it was absolutely spectacular. I really struggled with doing the longer or the shorter tour. I ended up with the longer tour and never regretted a minute of it. So many animals and the scenery was breathtaking.

[daniTS]

Hard to pick one! I would probably say the lumberjack show since I thought it was pretty unique to Alaska, a good value for money, and entertaining both times we've done it. Tight call with river rafting in Juneau, though!

 

My Grandpa (and many travel companion's) favourite was the White Pass and Yukon Railway in Skagway. It's certainly a beautiful trip!

[generichandle]

Would you mind saying which cruise line and which cruise you took to get to the Kenai Fjords.

 

Puli;

 

Our trip to Seward was in a several day long tour BEFORE we joined a cruise

ship [Coral Princess] from Whittier, which BTW is a neat little train ride from

Anchorage. We designed it ourselves and rented a car. The car trip from

Anchorage to Seward is also spectacular, with countless possibilities for

sightseeing. Of course, the small boat cruise was the climax. There are several

companies that do those. Get one that has a lot of boats, because those

boats are in contact, and the Captain will be going to a lot of places because

he is told what is there at the moment. It was exciting to try to guess what

is next to see.

 

Puli, if you love nature, Alaska is a 'can't fail'. Just look and you will see

much that you will remember. I loved the Kenai cruise, but there are

certainly countless other possibilities also worth your attention.

[Budget Queen]

There are several

companies that do those. Get one that has a lot of boats, because those

boats are in contact, and the Captain will be going to a lot of places because

he is told what is there at the moment. It was exciting to try to guess what

is next to see.

 

.

 

The two major vendors are Major Marine and Kenai Fjords tours. These are ROUTE trips, and those "lot" of boats go to different, fixed areas. These particular tours, do not have a lot of leeway. The wildlife information gotten, is also many times, from private fishing.

[dhk 4537]

Great Radiance photos CMO.

Spent a little time on her on a Northbound cruise.

Thanks

[Cruise_More_Often]

Great Radiance photos CMO.

Spent a little time on her on a Northbound cruise.

Thanks

Thank you! That was a fabulous cruise/land tour. Reflecting on my earlier statement about the flightseeing with Island Wings being my favorite, I realize that so many of the things we did on that Radiance cruise are also among my favorites -- the Coastal Classic train to Seward, the Puffin Encounter at the Sea Life Aquarium, the Major Marine Kenai Fjords cruise, the whales excursion in Icy Strait Point with Misty Bay Lodge, seeing Hubbard Glacier (which I liked as much as Glacier Bay), were all things that I could say were favorites. How can one choose just ONE favorite?

 

We're doing a land tour next summer, so I'm really enjoying reading this thread to learn about everyone else's favorites.

[douner]

My plan is to take helicopter ride in Juneau or Ketchikan. Is it worth it?

[dhk 4537]

I know what you mean. So much to take in. After seeing your post I started pouring over all the Alaska photos and really brought back the memories.

I noticed that you had listed the NCL Spirit in your list of cruises.

That beautiful little ship is what really captured our fancy for Alaska.

 

I wanted to ask you about your flight seeing tour out of Ketchikan. I wanted to take that trip to the Misty Fiords this year but my wife is a bit leery with the water landing and small plane thing. Any words of inspiration that I can share with her to influence her choice of excursions? I'd hate to drag her kicking and screaming onto the plane or worse yet make it a solo flight...

 

Thanks again,

[Cruise_More_Often]

I felt very safe with Michelle. Show your wife Michelle's website (islandwings.com), where she talks about her plane and her experience.

[RaiderCruiser]

For me it was the helicopter ride with glacier landing and dog sledding, simply magnificent. For my wife this was second and float plane to Misty Fjords was her favorite.

 

It really pains me not to be able to list the train and Emerald Lake, but I will follow your rules.

[Italy52]

I have several favorite excursions:

 

Bear watching at Anan Creek with Island Wings (Ketchikan)

Tracy Arm glacier excursion with Adventure Bound (Juneau)

Whale watching with Harv & Marv (Juneau)

Whale watching with F.I.S.H.E.S. (Icy Strait)

Whale watching with Glacier Wind (Icy Strait)

Kenai Fjords National Parks tour with Kenai Fjords Tours (Seward)

Prince William Sound Glacier tour with Major Marine (Whittier)

Alaska Railroad (Anchorage to Seward)

[olesiabr]

Is it worth taking a small boat tour BOTH from Seward and Whittier? Are there significant differences?

Thanks!

 

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

[irismike]

Is the Best of Skaway a private tour or Princess tour. thanks.

[chipmaster]

What was your favorite excursion on your Alaska Cruise or Cruise/Land tour?

Please list only one excursion, and which port it was in. You can list two excursions, if your travel companion had a different favorite than yours. You can add one least favorite, if you'd like.

 

My favorite was whale watching in Juneau....Marv and Harv

 

Hands down for all of my family: Helicopter/dog-sledding

[dhk 4537]

Magnificent pictures Italy!

Awesome shots of whales breeching and glaciers calving.

I saw that you listed the Tracy Arm cruise out of Juneau as one of your favorites as well as the Island Wings trip. If you could only take one what would you pick?

We're cruising in June and have kicked around either the Tracy Arm or misty Fjords float plane excursion.

Thanks, dk

[Italy52]

Magnificent pictures Italy!

Awesome shots of whales breeching and glaciers calving.

I saw that you listed the Tracy Arm cruise out of Juneau as one of your favorites as well as the Island Wings trip. If you could only take one what would you pick?

We're cruising in June and have kicked around either the Tracy Arm or misty Fjords float plane excursion.

Thanks, dk

 

Thank you for your kind words about my pictures. Recommending for others is not an easy thing as everyone has different tastes. Make sure you research as much as you can before you make your choices --- don't just take one person's opinion --- pick the excursion you feel most comfortable doing.

 

I'm afraid I can only answer part of your question as we did not take the Misty Fjords float plane with Island Wings; we did the Anan Creek Bear excursion. However, we did do a boat trip to Misty Fjords and found that trip to be just "so-so." For us, the scenery from the boat was very similar to what we see while cruising in Alaska and not worth the expense. Again, just our opinion; others might think differently.

 

The excursion to Tracy Arm with Adventure Bound was magical, but long. The scenery grew more beautiful as time went on. Seeing the incredible icebergs in the water with various shapes, sizes and colors was wonderful. With that being said, I think if we ever do the Tracy Arm excursion again (which hopefully we will), we would look for a cruise line that offers the excursion through them so we can off-load right off the ship and onto the vendor's boat (Allen Marine) --- I believe this option offers a shorter route cutting out some of the transit time where perhaps some of the scenery is not as exciting.

 

With that being said, for us, I would probably pick the Tracy Arm excursion off-loading from a ship.

 

Not sure if I was of much help --- good luck with your planning.

[dhk 4537]

Thank you.

I appreciate your thoughts and comments.:)

[Budget Queen]

Is it worth taking a small boat tour BOTH from Seward and Whittier? Are there significant differences?

Thanks!

 

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

 

I take both these tours, at every opportunity, they are very different. But "worth" means different things. Are YOU interested in either/both of these boat tours?

[Budget Queen]

 

I wanted to ask you about your flight seeing tour out of Ketchikan. I wanted to take that trip to the Misty Fiords this year but my wife is a bit leery with the water landing and small plane thing. Any words of inspiration that I can share with her to influence her choice of excursions? I'd hate to drag her kicking and screaming onto the plane or worse yet make it a solo flight...

 

Thanks again,

 

I fly just about every time I'm in Ketchikan. Flying - is NOT for everyone, and is a big mistake in some cases trying to sway someone. I've encountered several people on my flights that never should have stepped foot on the plane, I knew in the office, some were not going to do well, and they did not. Problem with this tour- there is no way out, so that can escalate the problem even further. I'm a huge advocate of just splitting up. I'm not interested in the "whys", but- is a couple hours significant being apart for fully independent individuals? Is the issue only the water landing? Their called "floats" for a reason. :)

[3Fluffies]

I fly just about every time I'm in Ketchikan. Flying - is NOT for everyone, and is a big mistake in some cases trying to sway someone. I've encountered several people on my flights that never should have stepped foot on the plane, I knew in the office, some were not going to do well, and they did not. Problem with this tour- there is no way out, so that can escalate the problem even further. I'm a huge advocate of just splitting up. I'm not interested in the "whys", but- is a couple hours significant being apart for fully independent individuals? Is the issue only the water landing? Their called "floats" for a reason. :)

 

There really is something to be said for separating when you are interested in two different activities, especially when one party is very averse to the other's chosen activity. My mother is terrified of heights, while my dad and I love sky rides, gondolas, and scenic overlooks. We've split up for different excursions over the years and arranged in advance where we'll meet back up, so she can keep her feet on the ground and enjoy herself while we still get a particular scenic activity in.

 

So if one of you is interested in the float plane but not the other, maybe one could go on it, the other picks an excursion of their own that is in the same time slot, enjoy yourselves, take pictures, then meet back up afterward with two sets of stories to tell.

[Coral]

Magnificent pictures Italy!

Awesome shots of whales breeching and glaciers calving.

I saw that you listed the Tracy Arm cruise out of Juneau as one of your favorites as well as the Island Wings trip. If you could only take one what would you pick?

We're cruising in June and have kicked around either the Tracy Arm or misty Fjords float plane excursion.

Thanks, dk

 

I am not one who enjoyed the Float Plane trip. Everyone on our flight felt sick - not sure if there was something going on (bad turbulence, etc...)... Though, I have to say, the landing was the best part. Once you have experienced a landing on water which is so smooth, it makes regular plane landings seem so bad.

[kenphy]

I am not one who enjoyed the Float Plane trip. Everyone on our flight felt sick - not sure if there was something going on (bad turbulence, etc...)... Though, I have to say, the landing was the best part. Once you have experienced a landing on water which is so smooth, it makes regular plane landings seem so bad.

 

We are doing HAL's double Denali in late July, and we are hoping you have some answers/opinions for us:

 

1. First morning in Denali, they take us on a tour. It is free, but is it fabulous?

2. Everyone suggests we take the (free) shuttle into Denali no matter what we do in the morning for the afternoon and take our tours later in the day. There is apparently a dog sledding demo at 2:00 in the park -- if we really want to know more about the dog sledding, should we still take a separate tour (Husky Homesteading) or is that enough?

3. Husband really wants to do the glacier landing flight -- early or later evening, or it it weather dependent?

4. Does anyone know if meals are included on the days we are in Denali at HAL's lodge?

 

Thanks (again)

[GMECruiser]

Ketchikan - Crab Fishing on the Aleutian Ballad of TVs "Deadliest Catch" fame. The stop to feed lots of swooping eagles was a photo bonanza and the demos for several species of crab were informative. The stories from the fishermen about filming the TV show were hilarious. Covered and heated seating were a plus,

 

 

Is there a problem with motion sickness on the deadliest catch excursion?