Alaskan Cruise Excursions

We did a Princess cruise out of Seattle in 2011 and so memory is somewhat foggy. But we didn't book any excursions from the ship and did all stops but one on our own. You didn't mention what ports you'll be at but my kids and I did a kayak excursion with https://www.ketchikankayakco.com/. They picked us up from the ship and had us back in plenty of time. I'll always be a proponent of booking through a 3rd party and saving a ton of money, while others will warn you that if you book through the ship you're guaranteed not to be left behind-personally, we never had that problem.

I found most stops on this cruise awfully dull with jewelry shops lining the towns. You really needed to explore to beyond the tourist zones for anything of interest. The exception was our kayak stop and Skagway which was the American entry port to the Yukon Gold Rush. I don't know if they still do it, but we took a 1.5 hour free town tour hosted by the US Parks Service about the gold rush and the colourful history of Skagway.

Thanks Allan - our ports of call are Juneau, Sitka, and Ketchikan. Also Hubbard Glacier and Victoria, but those stops are very limited with time/options.

Definitely feeling like Ketchikan is a DIY tour spot, and got a good recommendation for a local tour guide for hire for Sitka, so hoping that may work out. Just leaves Juneau, which I'm leaning towards booking just because the options via third party are overwhelming.

We did an Alaska cruise about 7 years ago and used private tours instead of the expensive ship's tours.
Ketchikan- was the least interesting port, frankly, I don't remember much about what we did.
Juneau- we did a whale watching tour that was very good, also visited some interesting sites like a glacier.
Skagway-was the most interesting, we took a tour that took us on a bus all the way to Canada, then a train back down the mountain, stopping at a rain forest were we did a 6 mile hike. The rain forest was beautiful and loved it.

Juneau, transport to the Mendenhall glacier is a worthwhile excursion.

Ketchikan- Rainbird trail is a nice hike on the hill above town, then stroll through town.

Most places have local tour companies that are at the dock when you arrive if you change your mind at the last minute and want to do an excursion.

Definitely recommend whale watching in Juneau. We booked through the cruise line (Princess), but I believe it was run by a company called Allen Marine. Fantastic excursion, saw both humpbacks (bubble feeding) and orcas. They dropped a microphone into the water and we could hear the humpbacks “sing”. Magical. I believe they go to a place called Stephen’s passage and the scenery-the mountains and glaciers were just beautiful.

Ketchikan is good to do on your own. Lumberjack show, totem poles, town itself.

Sitka you could do on your own. If you want to go whale watching, Juneau is fine. You could book on your own if you don’t want to take it thru the cruise line

We did an Alaska cruise tour with Holla d America several years ago (2016?). For Ketchikan we were able to just take a local bus out to the totems for just a couple of bucks, as opposed to the cruise excursion which was $50+. Admittedly we didn’t have a guide at the totems but we enjoyed it on our own. In Juneau we booked with a separate company from the cruise excursion that included both whale watching and transport to the Mendenhall glacier. They had an ‘on time’ guarantee and it seemed like you were never that far from the port of things got tight. I just wish I could remember the name of the company, because it was a great experience!
Our cruise didn’t stop in Sitka so can’t speak to that!

Ketchikan. Hop on a city bus south to Saxman for totem poles and a native crafts store. Also a city bus north to Totem Bight Park for more totems (of course). A city bus can also take you into residential areas above town and where you can get off at an overlook and walk down to town. If you ask nicely, the bus driver might go a bit out of the way to show you something different. Built on a steep hill, uphill and down involves lots of stairs. Note the school playgrounds under cover. It rains a lot.

Sitka. A city bus (or you can walk a bit) can take you out to Sheldon Jackson Museum of native artifacts. At the main bus stop in town, take a few minutes to look in the Performance Center. Nearby are a few galleries selling really lovely (and $$$) Alaskan art. Sitka was the capital during Russian days, so there are some historical walks and buildings in town.

Juneau. Mendenhall Glacier. State Historical Museum. City of Juneau Museum near the Legislature building has artifacts and info on the extensive area gold mining - even tunneling under town, Douglas Island and the Gastineau Channel as well as back in the mountains. Mount Roberts Tramway to mountain top. Whale watching tours good IF whales in area.

Victoria. If there is time and you like flowers, take a tour to Butchart Gardens. World class. Otherwise, Craigderrach Castle and Princess Hotel

Try to get away from the areas near the cruise ship docks - too many jewelry stores and t-shirt shops. Avoid the site-seeing "Duck" boats. Cost of excursions pushed by the cruise ship are higher. It is a shame that your time is limited in port. I often recommend a cruise using the Alaska State Ferry system so you can stay a night or 2 in ports.

It was in the late 1990s when we cruised Alaska. If a helicopter trip to the top of a glacier with the ability to experience dog sledding (on the actual glacier, (not on flat land -- I have heard some excursions do that), but if you get can that helicopter up to the top of a glacier and dog sledding), it is soooo worth it. Just the flight up/down is wonderful. Typically such an excursion is offered at two different ports. I would suggest signing up for the first available, so in case it is too foggy for the helicopters to take off (as it was for ours in July that year), then you have the next port where it is available to quickly rebook thru the shore excursion desk.

Another shore excursion trip we loved was taking a float plane to some remote place and fly fishing. Guide had a gun to scare off bear. We saw one bear (was not necessary to scare it off) and lots of salmon with just one bit out of the middles...food was plentiful for the bear. We also saw a gazillion hump back whale, one that breached (I think that is the word) right at the front of the ship. The naturalist on board said it was a truly amazing experience to see so many....I thought that was just part of her "tourist reassurance bit," but turns out we really, really lucked up.....we even left our dinner table one night to go outside to see them all :) figuring we could eat anytime, but not experience what was outside any other time.

Enjoy!

Oh, and we were on a Carnival ship....our second only cruise ever at the time. If we were to ever go again, now I would choose National Geographic/Lindblad. But, we did see a lot on our Carnival cruise. We did not have a balcony...just a basic window, but it would be so worth it to have the balcony.

We have never done a big ship cruise. Both of our cruises have been Alaskan Dream cruises which are owned by Allen Marine.

High points for us:

Mendenhall Glacier and the state Museum in Juneau. If I had to pick one, it would be the museum.

Sitka

The comments you have already regarding Sitka are good other than we loved the raptor museum. We have been there twice. But I love birds. Sitka is small and very walkable.

Ketchikan

Definitely do it on your own. It's a very small.town. First trip was beautiful warm weather and blue skies. Second trip off of the small boat was wet, cool and downright nasty.

Bring good rain gear,

Hope you have a great trip.

A lot of good ideas here. I'll add another for Juneau, if the weather's good: the Mount Roberts Tramway. It's a scenic gondola ride from close to the docks 1800' up the side of a mountain, with views to the north, south, and west. I wouldn't buy the tickets in advance because in bad weather you may not see enough to make it worthwhile. There are trails, food, and a visitor center at the top.

Re Victoria, I think Larry's reference to the Princess Hotel probably means the Empress Hotel in the Inner Harbour, famous for its setting, architecture, interior, and overpriced "high tea." Across the street is the very good Royal BC Museum, and across from that is the BC Parliament building. All worthwhile in the center of the city, though a pretty long walk from where the big ships dock. In my experience there's a shuttle service between the docks and downtown.

Thank you, Dick. Yes, it is the Empress Hotel in Victoria. One of a chain of hotels built by the Canadian RR to push tourism. A nice place to wander around in, but everything except the restrooms are budget benders. Check for a marmot living in the garden to the left/west of the entrance. The Museum , the nearby totems and the Parliament are worthwhile. If good weather, the harbor front promenade has a "town square" feel with entertainment, crafts and people watching.

Hello Karen,

I believe that I did a similar cruise to the one that you are taking last September. I sailed Norwegian

For Juneau, I suggest Mendenhall Glacier. I wanted to also do the Roberts Tram but there was not enough time.

For Sitka, I did a Wildlife Quest & Feast. Got to see many whales from a. small boat. Feast was great.

For Ketchikan, I went to Totem Pole State Park which I highly recommend but this was my second time to Ketchikan and it is a great place to just walk around. Very sweet.

Victoria is wonderful but we only spent a couple of hours in Victoria which is a terrible shame and for whatever reason, we never went through s glacier or fiord even though it was scheduled. Big disappointment.

The main tip for picking any Alaska cruise would be to book with a cruise that goes to Glacier Bay.
We did NCL because of that and it was AMAZING. I think Princess also does Glacier Bay.

Just a reminder, it can, and probably will, rain while you are on this vacation. Plan and dress accordingly.

Take a look at cruisecritic.com web site and on the top right, click on "boards." Scroll down and look for Ports of Call/Alaska - tons of information re excursions and what to do.