Temsco vs. Coastal Helicopters

[42trvl]

Our Temsco helicopter out of Skagway held 5 people aside from the pilot - 2 in front with pilot and 3 in back. Made no difference adult or child - they assigned you places to sit after checking you in and weighing. I believe there is a certain weight (250ish?) after which they would charge you extra and put in one less person. This was a very warm summer and they did close down early, but not until the third week of August I believe, so you should be fine in late July. In fact, they had moved the camp up higher because of the warm weather.

[uktog]

We are going to Alaska next year on Infinity leaving San Francisco on 3rd September. Do I read it right in these previous posts that dog sledding at that time is unlikely to happen? - this was one DH list of preferred trips along with bear watching - do I need to remanage his expectations now!!!

 

If that is the case, how would you use each stop (Juneau, Skagway Ketchikan and Icy Straight?) For us, we will probably only do Alaska once in a lifetime and although we cannot got mad, good value is more important to us that cheapre prices

Ta

[Budget Queen]

Leaving Sept 3 probably will NOT have any glacier dog sledding trips running. You need to book a mid August trip for this. Bears- blacks probably will still be sighted via floatplanes out of Ketchikan- If you want the browns- then you are looking at much higher costs out of Juneau- IF they are still around. Look over a shore excursion list and rank choices- perhaps 3-5 in each port which are of interest to you. Then repost- there are WAY too many excellent tours to recommend otherwise.

[CEWayfarer]

Still hoping for a phone number or a website for M and M Tours.....

 

Thanks!

Christy

[MontiD]

I went to the website looking for the rates for different tours. Can anyone tell me approx. the rate for the dogsledding/flight and also the flightseeing alone? Thanks!

[Budget Queen]

It's http://www.temscoair.com There are many glacier helicopter flightseeing options with the lowest out of Juneau via Coastal at $180 this year. Glacier dog sledding was $360+ about and up.

[baseballmom]

Still hoping for a phone number or a website for M and M Tours.....

 

Thanks!

Christy

Christy -- the website is www.skagwayadventures.com. Sorry it took so long, but I haven't looked at this post for awhile.

[GLJunDr]

We took the "Heli-Mush" out of Juneau with Era this past July. The helicopter flight was just amazing and really was the highlight of the trip and the dogsledding, was really the cherry on top. For my wife and myself at least, we were more concerned with a company's safety record then their price. In Juneau, Coastal is significantly cheaper then Era, but we were much more comfortable flying with Era. With that said, I would prefer Temsco over Coastal as well. Again this is only my opinion.

 

To add to your comments...Era Helicopters "4 Glacier Adventure Tour" won Princess Cruises "Shore Excursion of the Year" award in Juneau! That alone says enough about what kind of operation they are and how well their passengers liked the tour they offer. Also, one of their pilots named "Chuck", won "Tour Guide of the Season" also awarded by Princess Cruises! You should consider Era for your choice in Juneau!

[Yukon]

To add to your comments...Era Helicopters "4 Glacier Adventure Tour" won Princess Cruises "Shore Excursion of the Year" award in Juneau! That alone says enough about what kind of operation they are and how well their passengers liked the tour they offer. Also, one of their pilots named "Chuck", won "Tour Guide of the Season" also awarded by Princess Cruises! You should consider Era for your choice in Juneau!

 

The "awards" given out by cruise lines have zero credibility. The only thing that matters to Princess in particular is profit (they offer some pretty trashy excursions), and the fact the Era is their most profitable tour makes it award-worthy. With recent safety enhancements to their fleet, Era is a top-notch company, but so are Coastal and Temsco. Welcome to CC, GrayLineJuneauDriver, but please slow down with the sales pitch.

 

Murray

[debinnh]

Baseballmom: I just went to that website and didn't see the excursion mentioned before, train up and bus back. I emailed them to ask about it, but was wondering if you signed up for it at the dock or did you pre-book online?

 

Deb

[Budget Queen]

The "awards" given out by cruise lines have zero credibility. The only thing that matters to Princess in particular is profit (they offer some pretty trashy excursions), and the fact the Era is their most profitable tour makes it award-worthy. With recent safety enhancements to their fleet, Era is a top-notch company, but so are Coastal and Temsco. Welcome to CC, GrayLineJuneauDriver, but please slow down with the sales pitch.

 

Murray

 

 

Murray- you just have an excellent way with words. :) I thought the same thing but couldn't word as great as you. There aren't going to be any awards for companies they are contracted with. :( I have flown with all 3 Juneau companies and still recommend Coastal first for the 3 great trips I had with them. :)

[baseballmom]

Baseballmom: I just went to that website and didn't see the excursion mentioned before, train up and bus back. I emailed them to ask about it, but was wondering if you signed up for it at the dock or did you pre-book online?

 

Deb

 

Hi Deb,

I booked the round-trip White Pass Railway directly through RCCL just last week. I also booked the Skagway dogsledding trip directly through TEMSCO and the Mendenhall Glacier landing also directly through TEMSCO. The deciding factor was really the times available. Based on everything I'd read and heard, TEMSCO, ERA or Coastal all sound great and their prices seemed comparable-- again, it was timing that decided it for me.

 

Laurie

[Pugdog007]

There is a combo dogsledding/glacier landing excursion offered by RCCL. Is this excursion available elsewhere? I see these listed separately everywhere. I also can't find any pricing on the Temsco website.

[baseballmom]

There is a combo dogsledding/glacier landing excursion offered by RCCL. Is this excursion available elsewhere? I see these listed separately everywhere. I also can't find any pricing on the Temsco website.

 

Pug, I believe that is the same excursion I booked through TEMSCO. I don't recall seeing pricing either, but when I called they gave me the info. We're paying $399 per person, vs. $420 through RCCL. Not a significant difference, but I was able to get a 2:15 trip, and that time was not offered by RCCL (they had booked other times with TEMSCO). We'll be on the White Pass at 8:15, back in time to relax, have lunch, change clothes, and then get over to TEMSCO. Afterwards, we'll still have lots of time to walk around the town. So, it all fell into place perfectly (now I hope that the weather holds and my tax refund comes through!:) )

 

Laurie

[Pugdog007]

OK so you're doing this in Skagway then? I was looking to do this in Juneau (that's where this excursion is listed via RCCL) but also want to do the whale watching which I understand you can only do in Juneau. We're only in Juneau until 4PM I believe. Oh the decisions :)

[Budget Queen]

OK so you're doing this in Skagway then? I was looking to do this in Juneau (that's where this excursion is listed via RCCL) but also want to do the whale watching which I understand you can only do in Juneau. We're only in Juneau until 4PM I believe. Oh the decisions :)

 

 

Your best bet is to combo book this with Orca Enterprises then they drop off for each other saving an hour in shuttle time. The company is Coastal helicopters, on their dog sledding tour- they use Godwin's dogs- a long established vender.

[baseballmom]

OK so you're doing this in Skagway then? I was looking to do this in Juneau (that's where this excursion is listed via RCCL) but also want to do the whale watching which I understand you can only do in Juneau. We're only in Juneau until 4PM I believe. Oh the decisions :)

 

Yes, Pug, Serenade is only in Juneau until 4pm, which is why I opted to do one excursion. Budget Queen is THE expert, in my opinion, so I'd go with her recommendation. We thought about going whale watching, but since we've done it several times here in CA, I wanted to give my son a more "Alaskan" experience, i.e., walkin' on a glacier! I've read wonderful things about ORCA, so I know that you'll have a great time!

 

Laurie

[family-time]

Coastal helicopters , experience from hell !!! booked coastal helicopters for Dad's 75th birthday , were the first once to arrive and the last one to board the helicopter, were 6 people, the view for heber glacier was nice , when we landed at the dog sledging area, the pilot literally "pushed me out" of the helicopter, then we met a person " Jimmy " , asked two of us to share sledge with another couple, so my wife and dad( 75 year old ) went on the front sledge with the other couple, Jimmy even after repeated requests did not let my wife drive the sledge till the ride was almost over , my wife asked , if anything special had to be done , he said no , after a little while , we see both my dad and wife had been toppled into snow and my dad could not even get up , this guy Jimmy did not even bother checking with my dad and we had to help Dad back on feet and his back was hurting , there after instead of feeling sorry , he said that my wife was responsible for the fall and rudely talked with us , on the other hand we had a guy " Kevin " who let me 10 year old drive our sledge and we had no issues at all, after this incident Kevin was gracious enough to admit that Jimmy was not a nice guy and he apologized to us about Jimmy's behavior , said he felt helpless and could not do anything since Jimmy was his manager and said that i should complain since Jimmy did not handle the dog sledge well and Kevin( with our sledge ) following from behind saw it all, there after the manager and supervisor did nothing , all they wanted was for my dad to sign document denying " emergency services to hospital" , he said the manager will call , no one bothered calling , even the helicopter pilot commented sarcastically that " these things happen, you did not come for a park ride" really sad , after spending almost $3700 for dad's 75 birthday , to be treated like this is so humiliating, on top of it my Dad is getting medical care for the back pain after fall!!!

[notentirelynormal]

Coastal helicopters , experience from hell !!! booked coastal helicopters for Dad's 75th birthday , were the first once to arrive and the last one to board the helicopter, were 6 people, the view for heber glacier was nice , when we landed at the dog sledging area, the pilot literally "pushed me out" of the helicopter, then we met a person " Jimmy " , asked two of us to share sledge with another couple, so my wife and dad( 75 year old ) went on the front sledge with the other couple, Jimmy even after repeated requests did not let my wife drive the sledge till the ride was almost over , my wife asked , if anything special had to be done , he said no , after a little while , we see both my dad and wife had been toppled into snow and my dad could not even get up , this guy Jimmy did not even bother checking with my dad and we had to help Dad back on feet and his back was hurting , there after instead of feeling sorry , he said that my wife was responsible for the fall and rudely talked with us , on the other hand we had a guy " Kevin " who let me 10 year old drive our sledge and we had no issues at all, after this incident Kevin was gracious enough to admit that Jimmy was not a nice guy and he apologized to us about Jimmy's behavior , said he felt helpless and could not do anything since Jimmy was his manager and said that i should complain since Jimmy did not handle the dog sledge well and Kevin( with our sledge ) following from behind saw it all, there after the manager and supervisor did nothing , all they wanted was for my dad to sign document denying " emergency services to hospital" , he said the manager will call , no one bothered calling , even the helicopter pilot commented sarcastically that " these things happen, you did not come for a park ride" really sad , after spending almost $3700 for dad's 75 birthday , to be treated like this is so humiliating, on top of it my Dad is getting medical care for the back pain after fall!!!

 

First the thread is TWELVE YEARS OLD. Could you not have started a new one. Next, I have a few issues with your story. I believe it highly unlikely that a helicopter pilot would ever push you out of a helicopter. You are either lying or highly exaggerating. Now your credibility is in question. You don't say how many were in your group so I am going to guess. You, your wife, daughter and father.

 

Now, you say you paid $3700. But the trip for dog sledding (not sledging) is either $510 per person ($2040 for 4) which would mean over 7 people in your group or $580 ($2380 for 4) with the additional stop would mean over 6 people in your group. You've already stated that two others were in your helicopter because you were the first to arrive and the last to board and you only mention 4 actual people so again your credibility comes into question.

 

Now, if there really were more people in your group, mom, dad, you, wife and your two kids that would be $616 per person BUT then it would explain why you were broken up on the dog sledding as each sled only holds a maximum of 6 people include the guide. Since you don't clarify we have to leave it to our imaginations.

 

I'm going to run with you don't know how to add and assume there were the four you mentioned doing the SLEDDING ride. Before the ride there is a training course, right? Did your wife not bother to pay attention and that is why after the ride was more then half way through had to ask what to do. Because she didn't bother to pay attention there was an accident WHILE YOUR WIFE WAS DRIVING. Your 10 YO did a better job, according to you. Did you really want them to move your dad and take the liability for your wife's inattention? Had they lifted him and done unknown damage (never move a fall victim if you are not trained) then you would be suing them RIGHT NOW for your wife's irresponsibility. Remember, even a 10 YO could do a better job then your wife.

 

I'm guessing that they asked if you wanted him to have medical evacuation done and you said no because of the cost and since you refused medical treatment they had you sign a waiver denying treatment. Actually, I'm sure you had already signed a waiver before they let you put a step on the helicopter or the SLED.

 

Maybe next time your wife will pay attention when she has the life of a 75 YO person in her care. Sorry no sympathy from me. You would have had much more but for the huge exaggeration on your part.

 

Edit: oh wait, I see you are multi posting this.

Edited June 7, 2016 by notentirelynormal

[family-time]

The only thing informative and right about your reply is the correct spelling of the word " sledding"

the fact remains

1. no training was given , even though we asked many times

2.my wife asked many times from the start for " Jimmy" to be fair , he kept ignoring her

3. these names of the employees are not made up , the guy who was with the rest of our party " Kevin" himself apologized for " Jimmy's" behavior

4.my dad is still taking painkillers for the fall

- rest is upto the people , our aim was to inform other follow cruise people about our experience .

[Bruin Steve]

I don't think Coastal has anything to do with the sledding facility other than contract with them to take the copter to us there.

There are actually limited facilities like this and you're going to deal with them no matter who you contract with to get there...but sort of wrong to blame Coastal for the dog center personnel...

 

I also got the feeling that family-time was exaggerating the negatives...including that $3700 price tag. The numbers don't add up...I also don't know about the "pushing out of the helicopter" thing. I thought they were very careful on issues of safety...pretty much top priority the whole trip...and why would they not? As to how they load the copters, it has nothing to do with who got there first. They are doing different copter tours to different places and have to load the copters accordingly...Then they have to balance them as well. It's six people to a copter, so, yes, we were a party of four and they loaded us into a copter with two others...

 

When we did our helicopter tour with Coastal, we thought they were just outstanding...one of the best port tours we've ever taken.

[Budget Queen]

First- nobody is "driving" the sled, EXCEPT the driver. Anyone "standing" on the back, is for the breaks. It could possibility be, you assumed more risk than should have been? You mention the 75 age. Standing on the back of a sledding ride is uneven, and can have abrupt turns, starts and stops. It is not for everyone, and people to fall.

 

Not sure how the configurations were, but some teams are set up with 3 passengers with 1 driver with 2 baskets. 2 riders, 1 on breaks plus employee/driver. Switching off is not a given, some visitors do get longer turns, and it could have been the driver, accessed the abilities differently?

 

Correct- Coastal Helicopters is only the helicopter transportation. The Camp is separate, with contacts.

[CruisenDad]

My family cruised on the Golden Princess to Alaska last June and we booked a helicopter glacier tour when we were in Skagway. Temsco was the operator and they were fantastic. Very friendly but also very professional. It was approximately $300 per person so it wasn't cheap but I have to saw it was one of the highlights of my life. Just jaw dropping scenery from a perspective you will never have another opportunity to get. It was about a 30 minute flight out to the glacier (I believe it was the McClellan glacier) then about 45 minutes on the glacier then the flight back. Everyone in my family had a blast and we still talk about it today. Save up and do this tour when you're in Alaska. You won't be disappointed!