Juneau Question - Advice Appreciated

[dasey]

We will be on the NCL Star, May 9th sailing out of Seattle. We want to see Mendenhall Glacier and the Salmon Hatchery and although the ship has an excursion that does this itinerary, it is only 3 hours total. I have read you can take a shuttle to the glacier and back to the dock but how could i get to the glacier, the hatchery and back to the dock. If there is cab service, any idea how much or should we just stick with the $55 - 3 hour tour? I would like to be on my own time rather than pushed quickly through it. Your help would be most appreciated!!

[neecee23]

Rent a car from Rent A Wreck. They will pick you up at the dock and take you to their office near the airport, which is very close to Mendenhall Glacier. You can go where you want and stay as long as you like. We did this last summer and we visited Mendenhall, Shrine of St Therese and Mccauley Fish Hatchery. I think you will pay less than for the excursion and you won't be rushed. Rent A Wreck is the only car rental that picks you up at the dock. For the others you will have to take a taxi to the airport and some say that costs $50.

 

http://www.rentawreck.com/juneau.htm

[Ferndale Girl]

Do you remember how much Rent-A-Wreck costs???

[tee_harbor]

RAW is going to depend on how busy the day is, and what size car you get. I rented a minivan in May last year for about $75 when some friends came to town.

 

For the OP, I'd say, take the shuttle to the Glacier, and the the public bus to the hatchery. You'd get off at the hospital's stop. It's a bit of a walk, but not miles or anything. Go back down to the light, cross to the water side of Egan, and follow the drive past the barge depot, newspaper building, and you're at the hatchery.

 

It's a bit of backtracking, but at $14 for the shuttle and $1.50 each way for the bus, it's cheaper. The hospital is 15 minutes on the bus from downtown.

[muttsR4me]

Where do you pick up the shuttle to take you to Mendenhall Glacier? This will also be our first time to Alaska.

[neecee23]

We paid $75 for a minivan including a fee for late drop off after 6PM. I think it would have been $60 without the late drop off fee. The Mendenhall shuttles are right at the dock.

[bondscruisegal]

You get the shuttle bus to the glacier right on the dock.

[dasey]

Thanks for the tips!! I like the idea of taking the shuttle to the glacier and then the city bus back to the hatchery. I would assume then I could take the city bus to the dock or is it within walking distance?

 

I'll also contact RAW to see what their rates are for renting a car, however, we will only be in port for 6 hours.

[neecee23]

We were only in port from 2 to 10. We had the car by 2:30 and it had to be returned by 8:00. In August it is still daylight then and you really have plenty of time to drive around and see the sights that you want to see and stay as long as you want. Leave visiting the shops and sites in town near the dock until after you drop off the car and focus on outlying areas that you want to visit. Most shops stay open late when ships are in port.

[dasey]

Thanks for all the great tips, I do have a couple of more questions. Is the city bus accessible at the glacier? How often does it run? I tried to look it up but could not understand the different routes, I could not find the glacier on the map.

[neecee23]

The city bus blue line does not go all the way to the Mendenhall Glacier, you would have to walk about 1.5 miles to get to the bus stop from the visitor center, or a 3 mile walk round trip. Check this link for a map. If you click on the Mendenhall area of the map you get a closer look. The glacier is up the road on the far right.

http://www.juneau.org/pubworks/captrans/map/index.php

 

http://www.juneau.org/pubworks/captrans/map/loop.php

 

Click on the stars to get the schedule.