Alaska on Spirit, Valdez tour

[fredkelk]

I will be on the Spirit June 14-21, 2023 as part of the Southbound Authentic Alaska cruise tour. In Valdez, our first stop, I will be going on Glacier and Icebergs canoe tour. I would like to also tour the town and area but there is a time conflict with the NCL excursion tour. Can anyone recommend a tour or best way to see the area? I return from the canoe tour at 1pm and ship departs at 7pm. 

[bonvoyagie]

This is a hard question to answer as Valdez has just recently become a port call for NCL and the Spirit. You might try TripAdvsor to see what else might be available.

[fredkelk]

Thank you. I've done some internet searches but have not checked TripAdvisor

[ebay33]

Valdez is very walkable. You can visit the entire town on foot.  You won't need a tour to see the town.

[fredkelk]

Thank you @ebay33. I'll plan on doing a walking tour.

[mapleleaves]

Most towns have a Visitor Information site to encourage tourism and support local vendors.  And the site usually includes a downloadable Visitor Guide, maps, town history, etc.

But yes, it's a very small town. I was there with a rental RV and loved our time at the harbor.  Sadly we had terrible weather so the kayak trip was cancelled. On the plus side we drove out to the Point and watched bears catching salmon.  Valdez is of my favorite locations in Alaska.

 

Home | Discover Valdez (valdezalaska.org)

Free Visitors Guide | Discover Valdez (valdezalaska.org)

[fredkelk]

@mapleleaves Thank you for the links. I should have thought of that because it is usually the first place i go when traveling in my RV. I have been wanting to drive to Alaska for the summer but decided at my age and health a cruise tour is the best way to go right now.

[mapleleaves]

Alaska really lends itself well to RV'g.

Other than our stay in Denali, it was nice to travel around with no reservations. We could stay longer at areas that interested us or move on, if they didn't.  It's pretty expensive though ..... we were a party of 3 seniors which made it very affordable.

If RV'g isn't an option, consider renting a car and stay at hotels. You really have to do your research to figure out where you want to stay and for how long, but what a trip!

And an easier option is a bus or train or bus/train tour with this company.

Alaska Tour & Travel | Vacations, Hotels, Tours, Cruises & Railroad Trips (alaskatravel.com)

 

[fredkelk]

@mapleleaves I had an RV trip to Alaska scheduled for 2020 but of course that was cancelled. I still hope to do that sometime.  This trip will at least give me a good start on visiting Alaska. It is a cruise tour, starting in Fairbanks then Denali, Talkeetna, Kenai peninsula including Homer and Homer Spit before boarding the cruise ship in Seward. I love RVing to the point where several years ago, I sold the house and have enjoyed living in the motorhome.

[mapleleaves]

That was my plan too !  Hoped to spend a full week at Denali.  But with the Park Road closed, I'm not as interested in the trip now.

Your cruisetour sounds great. Enjoy !  And going earlier in the season should ensure some good weather. Enjoy !

[applequeen]

Did you find any options for Valdez. My group is considering a bus tour with this group https://www.valdezkeystonetours.com/ . There isn’t a lot of info available about them but the few reviews I have found are positive. It seems to cover a lot of things for a reasonable ( compared to ship options) price.

[fredkelk]

That looks like a good tour. Thank you for the info. My canoe tour starts at 11 for 2-3 hours so I would not be able to do that tour.

[aheisl]

On 4/23/2023 at 9:45 AM, fredkelk said:

That looks like a good tour. Thank you for the info. My canoe tour starts at 11 for 2-3 hours so I would not be able to do that tour.

Is your canoe tour through NCL or an independent company?

[fredkelk]

It is an independent tour.   Alaska Guide Tours

The tour is 2 hours. They pickup and return to ship. which adds another 30 minutes to total time of excursion. The guides do the paddling. $200 including transport. 

 

[SightCRR]

Recent posts about Valdez said that the ship docks in an industrial area that does not allow people to walk off the ship without ship tour or paid ticket to downtown. My advise would be to make sure to check with your tour operator. sightcrr 

[clavichord]

Any link / reference to the post(s) you mentioned? Just wanted to check as I booked something. Thanks.

 

2 hours ago, SightCRR said:

Recent posts about Valdez said that the ship docks in an industrial area that does not allow people to walk off the ship without ship tour or paid ticket to downtown. My advise would be to make sure to check with your tour operator. sightcrr 

 

[SightCRR]

fyi from the Alaska port board searched on Valdez. The HAL site has a nice review on Valdez w/ photos. Live Explorer would be the search. Live from Nieuw Amsterdam 14-Day Alaska Explorer - Page 7 - Holland America Line - Cruise Critic Community Page 4-7. 

 

Edited May 30, 2023 by SightCRR

[JohnChiang]

I’m on the Spirit in Valdez now.

Shuttles to town are free. Passengers are not allowed to walk the 3.5 miles to Valdez from the Container Port. Lots of space on the shuttle and no long lines.

[SightCRR]

That is good news. Valdez tower cam 6/1/23

Edited June 2, 2023 by SightCRR

[bhegs]

We are going on a 14 day land/sea cruise on 7/20 on the Spirit (land portion first). Does anyone know what hotels we will be staying at?

[littlelulu01]

We were recently on the Spirit. Our atv tour through ncl was canceled. We didn’t get a chance to reschedule anything but will say the town is easily walkable. They have a Safeway grocery store and a free shuttle from ship to town.  Tourism doesn’t seem to have taken off in the town just yet. I saw what I needed to of Valdez pretty quickly on foot and got back to the ship for a Starbucks onboard, sat outside and enjoyed watching bald eagles flying around, hot tubbed and got some warm sunshine while the ship was docked.