Suggestions for Alaska

[LeeLee62]

Hello All...

Let me introduce myself... I'm Lee and my partner is Howard. I am a Western Australian, born and bred and Howard originally comes from Yorkshire in England, but has been in Aus for over 25 years, so I call him my Aussie who talks funny

We are busy working on our travel bucket lists and next year we have decided that it is time to go to Alaska. It will be a once in a life time trip as there are still so many other places on my "Need to go to" list"

 

We have cruised with Princess in the past, one cruise through Indonesia and another to Papua New Guinea. We really enjoyed our cruises and decided to go with Princess in Alaska. We have booked an Off the Beaten Path NB7 Cruise Tour starting in Anchorage on 15 May next year, on Coral Princess. I did heaps of research before booking and I think this will provide us with a great experience, and I think the Coral will be a perfect fit for us, having previously loved the smaller ship (Dawn Princess) when we did our other cruises.

 

Coming from Western Australia is a huge trip (both in distance and $$), and I don't sleep (at all) on planes so after a bit of research we have decided to fly via Hong Kong, with a 2 day stop over on the way to Alaska and 1 day on the way home. We also stop over in Vancouver for 1 night on the way to Anchorage.

 

This being the only time we are likely to get to Alaska we want to do and see sooo much... I have never seen snow, so I guess that will change ... things that are high on our list are to see bears, whales and Orca... would love to walk on a glacier... learn a bit about the native culture and also the gold rush era... would like to do either helicopter or float plane fight-seeing... while I would really love to do the glacier with dog sledding I don't think this is within our budget unfortunately...

 

This is where I am going to need some help/suggestions....

1. We get in to Anchorage 2 days before our cruise tour starts and I am looking for some recommendations to things to do and see while we are there...

2. Looking for suggestions on the best places to do and see the things on our list above...

We will have a full day and a half free at Copper River Princess Lodge

Little to no free time in Fairbanks or Denali as tours are included, plan on extending the tour in Denali to the longer one if available.

We are also at McKinley Princess Lodge but only for half a day so not sure what we could fit in there...

Our cruise ports are Skagway (7am - 8.30pm), Juneau (6.30am - 5pm) and Ketchikan (10am - 6pm)

3. We will also have 2 days in Vancouver at the end of our cruise before flying home, so suggestions for what to do there would be great as well.

 

Thanks in advance for any help you can give us

[luvteaching]

Hi Lee,

 

Anchorage: There are several tours that go to glaciers including one that does 26 glaciers and another to the wildlife conservation center and Portage Glacier.

 

Skagway: Check with Chilkoot Tours for the train to Bennett Lake. You get time at the Canadian National Park that is the end of the Chilkoot Trail. There is still plenty of time to wander around Skagway. It's train up to Carcross and bus back. With Chilkoot you are on a small bus with about 24 others and it was cheaper than the Princess Tour!

 

Juneau: Everyone says this is a great spot for whale watching and many suggest Harv and Marv. I haven't done them but a lot of people have. If the weather is nice go up on the tram. The Alaska State Museum has a great native culture exhibit.

 

Ketchikan: There are two totem parks you can go to. This is also the best port to get all the requisite souvenirs to take back to the house sitter, dog sitter, etc. - t-shirts, ulu knives, magnets, and so on.

 

Vancouver: Stanley Park is a must do as well as Granville Island, Gastown, and the Capalino Suspension bridge.

 

Karen

[LoriPhil]

Another vote for Chilkoot Tours in Skagway - even though it's a long tour (lunch included at the Caribou Crossing location, which includes a summer dog sledding camp and petting zoo) lots of time to enjoy the town as well since you have a long day in port.

 

 

If you're on the active side, we loved the snorkel tour in Ketchakan (booked through Princess). Very different experience that warm-water snorkeling and they provide nice thick wet suits/hoodies etc so you're reasonably warm and buoyant. After the snorkeling, we walked through Creek Street whcih has lots of touristy shops but they're located along a very historic area. Soho Coho near the end of Creek Street (or beginning, depending on your direction) is locally owned gallery with fun items we didn't see elsewhere - we stop there every time!

 

 

 

Hope you enjoy your trip - it's worth that long flight!

[moki'smommy]

We've done Alaska twice, so have had a little experience with excursions.

Juneau--small group whale watching. There are many reputable companies. It is often paired with a trip to Mendenhall Glacier which is a great place to see salmon, bear, waterfall, etc. Very good excursion. On our most recent trip we did a sea plane to Taku lodge--seeing glaciers from the air was great. The food and exploration time at the lodge was nice. The only wildlife we saw were bears. After lunch there was a guided hike available to a waterfall area. If I had to decide on only one option, it would be the whale watching/Mendenhall combination. We booked thru shoretrips.com.

 

Skagway--Kroeshel (spelled wrong) Animal Center was one of the top 5 excursions ever (and we've done 40 cruises!). The place is a sanctuary for animals that can't be in the wild for various reasons, but have been well conditioned to be around humans and are often featured in films and such. This is the most "up close and personal" you'll ever get with this sort of animal. In addition, the enclosures are designed to allow excellent photography and Steve will offer suggestions as to how to film best. It is a pain to get there--bus to ferry, ferry to Haines, bus from Haines to the center--but worth it! We also saw wildlife from the bus along the way--eagles, etc. We had done the train up/vehicle down on our previous trip. Sorry, the animals beat everything.

 

Ketchikan--we did Totem Bight state park on our own the first time. There is no reason to pay the cost of the cruise ship excursion. There is a public bus, admission to the part is free, and there are volunteer guides who won't even take a tip! If you don't want a human guide, there are maps of the area with lots of information. There is plenty of time to see the city as well during most stops. This time we did a nature/wildlife area. We saw 2 bears and lots of trees. It was OK because this was our first trip, but in retrospect, I'd have skipped this excursion. They didn't have anything that we didn't see at other stops.

 

So, my top picks--whale watching in Juneau combined with Mendenhall Glacier (best for wildlife in a natural setting)

Kroeshel Animal Center in Skagway

Totem Bight in Ketchikan

[azbirdmom]

Sounds like you've done your homework! We have cruised Alaska the past 4 years with 2 Denali Explorer cruisetours.

 

For the past two years in Skagway we've booked tours with Dyea Dave. You'll go all the way to Emerald Lake with lots of scenic vistas and stops for photo opportunities. They try to avoid stopping at places that are loaded with tour buses like the place in Carcross for lunch and instead will go to other local places there. You can opt to ride a sled with wheels pulled by dogs training for the Iditarod (extra cost for this part but petting the puppies is included in the total tour cost). Excellent tour with a smaller group and great bargain for what you get to do.

 

Definitely upgrade to the longer Tundra Wilderness or Kantishna tour at Denali and book it quickly as they will sell out. If the Princess option sells out, you can get a refund from Princess for the included Natural History tour and book on your own.

 

At the McKinley Lodge you should have time for a tour given the extended hours of daylight. But if it's a nice day just hanging out on the deck and staring at the mountain (if she is out) is wonderful. It's remote and 45 minutes to an hour from Talkeetna which is worth the visit. It's a quirky little town on which the TV show Northern Exposure was based (not sure if it was shown down under). Princess has shuttles to go there for a charge, or it's included if you book a tour with them (many depart from Talkeetna). Here's the Princess lodge website which provides a lot of info on the lodges: https://www.princesslodges.com/

[HomelessBear]

In Vancouver, if you want to see Bears, visit Grouse Mountain and see the orphaned bears (gorgeous) and also do the Capilano Suspension Bridge nearby.

We also did a whale watching trip from just outside Vancouver - once on a RIB (brilliant fun) and once on a ‘normal’ whale watching boat, boat from the same company but can’t remember the name sorry. They picked us up in a mini van near our hotel so very convenient.

Vancouver also has Stanley Park and the Totem Poles to see.

Have a fantastic trip and cruise.

 

 

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[WisCruiser2]

It looks like you are doing the tour we did this past May/June (and had over a dozen Aussies with us on the land tour!). There were a couple of long bus days, but we knew that going in, and were glad we got to Copper River.

We enjoyed the Copper Country Discovery Tour at the Copper River Lodge, as it wasn't a full day so we could relax some too.

If you are going in mid-May, the longer Denali tour may not even be available if the roads are not yet open that far into the park, so be prepared. We did the Natural History Tour and saw moose, a grizzly, and caribou. Your tour may also include a stop at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center for close-up viewing of a variety of animals, even if they are not in the "wild."

The included tours in Fairbanks are "touristy" but also fun and interesting (IMHO). We did not do an excursion at the McKinley lodge and were lucky the day we arrived to have the mountain "out."

 

I would recommend NOT getting the meal plan for the Land portion, especially as in Fairbanks and at Denali there are other options for meals besides the lodge. But other people liked having it all taken care of as far as meals.

We were also on the Coral, it's now my favortite Princess ship! We did whale watching with Harv & Marv's in Juneau and that was a definite highlight of the cruise!

I've just been putting together a photo book of our trip, and wishing I was planning on going again next year...

[Colo Cruiser]

Gret to meet you!

Check out the roll call for your cruise.

Lots of info there too. :D

[OR_Cowboy_1952]

Vancouver is a very international city with many things to see and do. Translink, the local public transit system is great. Consider a visitors pass, for a break and to see the residential parts of the city ride skytrain. Commercial Avenue has a lot of eclectic restaurants.

 

Downtown is pretty basic. Gastown is interesting but a lot of tourist shops. Stanley Park is a must with it’s natural Pacific Northwest flora a walk along the sea wall is a great way to see views of the city and the hills above North and West Vancouver. The Aquarium is OK and gives you some sense of Pacific NW sea life. Between Stanley Park and downtown is the west end. Robson Street is a nice storefront shopping area, Davie Street is the LGBTQ neighborhood. Yaletown has some nice local pubs and eateries. False Creek separates downtown/west end/Stanley Park/ from residential Vancouver. The False Creek Ferries are a fun way to explore the area including the Science center on the east end and Granville Island under the Granville Bridge (Granville Street). It has a fantastic public market with great food and lots of galleries and shops.

 

I would definitely consider a trip out to the University of British Columbia and the Museum of Anthropology. The Museum has an outstanding collection of northwest art and artifacts. You also get great views of English Bay, the north shore and the Salish Sea.

 

If you do go to Grouse Mountain and or Capilano Canyon, take the Sea Bus across Burrard Inlet to North Vancouver (It leaves right next to Canada Place).

 

And you haven’t even started to explore the Fraser Valley, Fort Langley, Harrison Holt Springs, Steveston, etc.

 

 

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[ShipsandDipper]

Hello All...

This being the only time we are likely to get to Alaska we want to do and see sooo much... I have never seen snow, so I guess that will change ... things that are high on our list are to see bears, whales and Orca... would love to walk on a glacier... learn a bit about the native culture and also the gold rush era... would like to do either helicopter or float plane fight-seeing... while I would really love to do the glacier with dog sledding I don't think this is within our budget unfortunately...

 

For humpbacks and orca, your best bet is probably a whale-watching tour in Juneau. We've done it three times, seeing humpbacks each time and orca once. You can also take a whale-watching tour from Vancouver, though I believe it takes quite a while to get to the orca areas (it's an easier tour from Victoria).

 

For native culture, we enjoyed the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage. We were lucky enough to be there on a day with a significant celebration (the dedication of a whale skeleton). We even had the chance to try whale blubber!

 

Skagway is the place to learn about the gold rush, as that's where miners landed before heading inland. There's a National Historic Site visitor's center in town, and the train gives you a view of the route.

 

You can do a flight-seeing tour from Ketchikan to Misty Fjords National Monument. We used Mountain Air and were very happy with Randy. He seems to be loosely associated with Michelle of Island Wings, who lots of people on CC recommend.

[dannyr]

 

We have cruised with Princess in the past, one cruise through Indonesia and another to Papua New Guinea. We really enjoyed our cruises and decided to go with Princess in Alaska. We have booked an Off the Beaten Path NB7 Cruise Tour starting in Anchorage on 15 May next year, on Coral Princess. I did heaps of research before booking and I think this will provide us with a great experience, and I think the Coral will be a perfect fit for us, having previously loved the smaller ship (Dawn Princess) when we did our other cruises.

 

I've cruised Alaska on the Island Princess, but if that's anything to go by you'll have a wonderful time.

 

 

Coming from Western Australia is a huge trip (both in distance and $$), and I don't sleep (at all) on planes so after a bit of research we have decided to fly via Hong Kong, with a 2 day stop over on the way to Alaska and 1 day on the way home. We also stop over in Vancouver for 1 night on the way to Anchorage.

 

Good idea! From Brisbane, whenever I've gone to Canada I've always gone that way too (via Taipei or Tokyo) and find it a lot less taxing on the soul.

 

 

... things that are high on our list are to see bears, whales and Orca... would love to walk on a glacier... learn a bit about the native culture and also the gold rush era... would like to do either helicopter or float plane fight-seeing...

....

2. Looking for suggestions on the best places to do and see the things on our list above...

 

 

 

I know that you've only got two days in Vancouver at the end of your trip, but if you can ever get to the Royal BC Museum on Victoria Island (BC), it's worth the visit. It is probably one of the best museums I've been to anywhere in the world.

 

 

3. We will also have 2 days in Vancouver at the end of our cruise before flying home, so suggestions for what to do there would be great as well.

 

I spent quite a bit of time in Vancouver a few years back when my SIL and BIL were living over there. I'm very much a fan of Granville Island, but if you've been to the Queen Vic Markets in Melbourne you probably won't get much out of it. It's same same but different!

 

One of my favourite places to go while I'm over there is Bowen Island. To put it into your perspective, it's the Rottnest Island of Vancouver. It's an island in the harbour that's used by BC Residents as a weekend spot. It's got shops, a lot of wildlife, and it's peaceful and lovely.

 

You get there by an easy ferry ride from the city, and is worth the trip.

[geocruiser]

Hi, I still have a little info on some of the ports.

Here are some places in Ketchikan that we went too.

 

http://tourketchikan.com/listing/ton...orical-museum/

 

http://www.visit-ketchikan.com/en/Th...and-Historical

 

Creek Street

http://www.experienceketchikan.com/c...ketchikan.html

Dolly's House (Famous Brothel)

http://creekstreetketchikan.com/dollys-house/

 

 

funicular (cable railway

http://youralaskacruise.com/reviews/...ular-1320.html

http://www.explorenorth.com/alaska/i...ular-1168.html

 

I also read some books about the gold rush before my trip. The books made these town come alive for me.

Klondike Fever by Pierre Berton (good read about what the gold rush was about and how hard it was for the people who went after the gold)

 

Good Time Girls of the Alaska-Yukon Gold Rush: Secret History of the Far North

By lael Morgan

 

Gold Rush Women

by Claire Rudolf Murphy.

 

 

The Park dept. gives a free walking tour.

 

SKAGWAY MUSEUM

http://www.skagway.org/museum

 

https://www.nps.gov/klgo/index.htm

 

Red Onion Brothel

http://redonion1898.com/brothel-museum-tours/

 

Jewell Gardens

http://www.jewellgardens.com/

 

Walking Tour

 

http://www.alaska.org/guide/skagway-...tour-non-audio

 

Soapy smith

 

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-h...skagway-alaska

Juneau

http://mountrobertstramway.com/

[LeeLee62]

Thanks everyone for your great recommendations... the hard bit now will be to choose which ones to do...

[moki'smommy]

Some things can be combined. For instance, in Juneau you can do the Taku lodge sea plane, and after that opt to be dropped at the McRoberts Tram entrance rather than taken back to the ship...from there it is an easy walk to the ship. On the other hand, I've opt for Whale watching + Mendenhall glacier on your first trip!

[mevs904]

You’ve gotten some great responses here so I’ll try to keep mine short. We did a whale watch with Harv & Marv in Juneau and saw several humpbacks and a couple of pods of orcas. We were in a small boat that only took 8 passengers and it was wonderful. We would definitely book them again in the future. After the boat trip we took the option of being dropped off at Mendenhall Glacier. While there we saw a mother bear and three cubs.

At Denali Lodge we opted to pay extra for the longer Denali tour and we’re glad we did. The only animal that we didn’t see was a wolf. There were several grizzly bears.

We took the ship’s excursion on the train in Skagway. It was fine, but next time we’d like to do the Chilkoot tour.

We loved Vancouver, especially the Capilano Suspension Bridge and surrounding forest. Many good restaurants in Vancouver.

We sailed on the Coral and loved her so much that we booked her for our Panama Canal cruise last March. Mark Harris was the naturalist on the ship and he was excellent.

Whoops! I was supposed to be brief. One more suggestion...before our cruise tour I read James Michener’s Alaska and thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s fiction and long, but is full of well researched information about Alaska’s geography, history, and wildlife. It made the trip come alive for me.

Good luck with your planning and have a great time!

[lindasuej]

Hello All...

Let me introduce myself... I'm Lee and my partner is Howard. I am a Western Australian, born and bred and Howard originally comes from Yorkshire in England, but has been in Aus for over 25 years, so I call him my Aussie who talks funny

We are busy working on our travel bucket lists and next year we have decided that it is time to go to Alaska. It will be a once in a life time trip as there are still so many other places on my "Need to go to" list"

 

We have cruised with Princess in the past, one cruise through Indonesia and another to Papua New Guinea. We really enjoyed our cruises and decided to go with Princess in Alaska. We have booked an Off the Beaten Path NB7 Cruise Tour starting in Anchorage on 15 May next year, on Coral Princess. I did heaps of research before booking and I think this will provide us with a great experience, and I think the Coral will be a perfect fit for us, having previously loved the smaller ship (Dawn Princess) when we did our other cruises.

 

Coming from Western Australia is a huge trip (both in distance and $$), and I don't sleep (at all) on planes so after a bit of research we have decided to fly via Hong Kong, with a 2 day stop over on the way to Alaska and 1 day on the way home. We also stop over in Vancouver for 1 night on the way to Anchorage.

 

This being the only time we are likely to get to Alaska we want to do and see sooo much... I have never seen snow, so I guess that will change ... things that are high on our list are to see bears, whales and Orca... would love to walk on a glacier... learn a bit about the native culture and also the gold rush era... would like to do either helicopter or float plane fight-seeing... while I would really love to do the glacier with dog sledding I don't think this is within our budget unfortunately...

 

This is where I am going to need some help/suggestions....

1. We get in to Anchorage 2 days before our cruise tour starts and I am looking for some recommendations to things to do and see while we are there...

2. Looking for suggestions on the best places to do and see the things on our list above...

We will have a full day and a half free at Copper River Princess Lodge

Little to no free time in Fairbanks or Denali as tours are included, plan on extending the tour in Denali to the longer one if available.

We are also at McKinley Princess Lodge but only for half a day so not sure what we could fit in there...

Our cruise ports are Skagway (7am - 8.30pm), Juneau (6.30am - 5pm) and Ketchikan (10am - 6pm)

3. We will also have 2 days in Vancouver at the end of our cruise before flying home, so suggestions for what to do there would be great as well.

 

Thanks in advance for any help you can give us

 

 

You said tours were included at Denali. Ours was also. It was the 4 hour tour. If you have the time there update it to the 8 hour tour. If we had done the 4 hour we would have only seen a moose. By doing the 8 hour we saw grizzly bear and cub, caribou. I think we saw every animal except a wolf. Now there is no guarantee you will see what we saw it is definately worth taking the chance. Also the scenerary got better and better the further in.

All in all the scenerary is absolutely magnificent. It was a trip of a lifetime for us.

Linda and Tom Indiana.

[lois1112]

Hi Lee,

 

Anchorage: There are several tours that go to glaciers including one that does 26 glaciers and another to the wildlife conservation center and Portage Glacier.

 

Skagway: Check with Chilkoot Tours for the train to Bennett Lake. You get time at the Canadian National Park that is the end of the Chilkoot Trail. There is still plenty of time to wander around Skagway. It's train up to Carcross and bus back. With Chilkoot you are on a small bus with about 24 others and it was cheaper than the Princess Tour!

 

Juneau: Everyone says this is a great spot for whale watching and many suggest Harv and Marv. I haven't done them but a lot of people have. If the weather is nice go up on the tram. The Alaska State Museum has a great native culture exhibit.

 

Ketchikan: There are two totem parks you can go to. This is also the best port to get all the requisite souvenirs to take back to the house sitter, dog sitter, etc. - t-shirts, ulu knives, magnets, and so on.

 

Vancouver: Stanley Park is a must do as well as Granville Island, Gastown, and the Capalino Suspension bridge.

 

Karen

 

I 100% agree with going with Chilkoot tours, I have used them twice and loved them both times. I did the trip to Emerald lake (its the longer one of the 2 trips they do) it goes up into the Canadian. They stop for lunch at the same place Princess tours does and they have a place where you can pet/ play with sled dog puppies.

 

I have done Whale watching twice in Juneau- once with Princess and once with Harv and Marv. I would highly recommend Harv and Marv. they also dropped us off at the mendenhall glacier and helped us arrange for a ride back to the ship. We saw bears at the glacier + several other types of wild life. Whales (both Orca and Humpbacks) were seen on both trips. Harv and Marvs grup size was about 8 and it was 60 on princess.

 

Ketichikan is a great port to do on your own. and as said above get your souvenirs.

 

Vancouver is one of my favorite cities- Stanley park is a must- I would take the time to see the Aquarium if you love wildlife

[mindy2]

We went on a seven day to Alaska May/18, this year. It's not really whale watching season but I suppose you may seem some. Certainly one of the best trips we have ever done and I would go again in a heartbeat. The highlight of our trip was a helicopter tour from Juneau, landing on a glacier. Coolest thing ever. We booked direct through Coastal Helicopters. Pricey, but worth every penny.

[USCcruisecrazy]

Bottom line up front: I have never been on an Alaskan Cruise. However, I lived for 4 years in Anchorage and can give you a few spots to try and things to see since you said you have like 2 days in Anchorage before your cruise starts. You will need a rental car.

 

Take a ride South/Southeast towards Whittier and pull over at the Turnagain Arm Turn Out. May is a decent time of year to see whales traveling through the Arm, but it can be hit and miss. Close by is Alyeska Lodge. It's a beautiful place to see and in May there should still be plenty of snow on the Caps. I highly recommend doing dinner at Simon and Seifert's in downtown Anchorage (it's 420 L Street)...the Halibut cheeks are to die for. If you want to see the largest collection of American Bald Eagles, take a ride over to Eagle River (half an hour East of Anchorage)...the Eagles are plentiful and the views are magnificent along the way. I also recommend Humpy's on 6th avenue for lunch. They have the best fish tacos in Alaska (and some really good cold brews).

 

Not sure where you will be traveling via roads (not that many though)...but the Talkeetna Pullout is often the best view of Mt. McKinley/Denali you will see. Views from within the park are hit and miss because of the cloud cover and the other mountains. You can not get close enough to Wonder Lake (unless you win a pass in September) so your nicest view will likely be from Talkeetna. Strange, but if you are on the second floor of the International Airport and it's a clear day, you can see the mountain to the north...it's an incredible site.

 

I hope you have a very memorable and bucket-list-filling adventure!!

Edited September 11, 2018 by USCcruisecrazy

[TracieABD]

One of the best things I have done in Alaska is the float plane out of Juneau.

In Skagway, I did a bike ride that was very memorable (for the right reasons).

I have been to Alaska on cruises 3 times and I blogged each one- the links are in my signature- I have lots of info on tour guides and private vendors.

 

Happy planning!