Thread: suggestions for alaska ?

we will be sailing to alaska on the dawn princess in august, our 1st time there ever
we are going to juneau , ketchikan, skagway and then to victoria
any suggestions on what to do at each port ? my mother whos in a wheelchair will be with us , so that is a concern to me of what she can do,,

any suggestions?

thanks in advance
melissa

First off you are going to LOVE Alaska and The Dawn Princess. I've sailed on her twice and one of those times was in Alaska.

In Juneau - I took the Deluxe Mendenhall Glacier & Juneau Highlights and Rainforest Garden Adventure the first time in Alaska. Both would be good for your Mom. If you really want a cool opps I mean COLD tour away from you Mom, May I suggest the Mendenhall Glacier Helicopter Tour. I did that on the 2nd cruise in Alaska and OMG it was the best expirence I have ever had.

In Ketchikan - This was my least favorite port. So there is nothing I can really recommend

In Skagway - This is a MUST - White Pass Scenic Railway. Also Eagle Preserve Wildlife River Adventure is cool (can't remember if a whellchair can do that or not)

In Vicoria - Enchanting Butchart Gardens, Butchart Gardens, Wine & Chocolate, or Grand City Drive & Empress Tea

If you have any other questions I'll be more than happy to help ya out!

the tour you did in juneau did you book it through the cruiseline?

how long is the tour?

thanks so much for your suggestions !!

In Skagway, we did the White Pass & Yukon Railway - you can book this yourself directly with them.

In Juneau, we did the helicopter tour & dog sled ride. Absolutely the most amazing adventure!! I recommend booking this through an independent as the cruise line wanted $425 per person and we only paid $325 through Shore Trips.

I'm not a big fan of cruise line operated shore excursions because they charge more, they're crowded, and there are almost always better options available. We really like doing business with Shore Trips. Cruise Planners has over 700 agents and we've had a contract with them for many years and never had any complaints or problems with many thousand excursions they've provided to our clients.

Pete

Hey Pete

The only problem we found with trying to book the Whitepass Railway on line direct with Whitepass, was that the only seats available were not compatible with the ship's time in port. The ships book in such volume! On 2 different trips we tried to get seats direct and could not---and this was well in advance.

Does Shore Trips hold space on the Whitepass Railway?

Yes, the do. I recommend the train up and the bus down - get to see a little different scenery that way. Plus, those seats on the train aren't that comfortable.

Pete

We took a ship's tour in Skagway, a van that went up the Pass in parallel to the train (we could see them much of the way). It was comfy (and no diesel fumes), the guide was very informative, we got out several times to take photos and check out the scenery, and even though we got back after the scheduled time for sailaway due to the foggy weather, the ship waited for our group.

Personally, I prefer the bus over the train for comfort sake and the sightseeing. But then again, for those into trains, that's a unique way to go.

I recommend Frontier Excursions (Welcome to Frontier Excursions). Jeanne is the wonderful owner of the company and will customize the excursion and is extremely knowledgeable. Her prices are very good and usually never crowded. In fact, on our tour with her, we were the only two.

Pete

All my Alaska tours were through Princess.

Originally Posted by melika091900

how long is the tour?

The Deluxe Mendenhall tour was about 4.5 to 5 hours.

The Rainforrest Garden was 2.5 hours

The Helicopter was just over 2 hours. (Next time I'm going to see if there is longer one!)