Thread: Skagway versus Juneau Heli tour, or maybe Misty Fjords?

Hello Hubby and I can only afford one major tour during our cruise, so I am trying to investigate which one to take. He would like to land on a glacier, but from the photos that I have seen, I was not that impressed with that tour (unless I am just missing something).

I saw many photos from the Misty Fjords Airplane tour with Island Wings that I was very impressed with, but am told that during our stay (late September) that flying up to the glaciers from Ketchikan is impossible. That leaves Juneau and Skagway. Does anyone have any experience with these tours that they may be able to share with me? Thank you, in advance

Late September brings the fog, low hanging clouds and rainy weather...bummer.

We have done both the Glacier landing and the Misty Fjords float plane. Both were fantastic, but I think the float plane was the better of the 2.

I have not taken those tours out of Juneau or Skagway so I can't tell you anything about them.

My only concern is the weather from any of the ports. Flying is by far the best way to see this magnificent land, but low clouds can obscure the views that late in the season.

If you can snag a floatplane for early afternoon, that would be your best bet of being able to see the wonderful vistas afforded from an aircraft, whether a floatplane or helicopter. Make sure the tour is refundable if the weather is not good.

Have a great time! We love Alaska and will be sailing there for our 6th time in May.

I enjoyed the helicopter glacier landing out of Juneau. We caught a beautiful clear day and booked our tour right there on the dock.

In Skagway, I highly recommend renting a car from Avis and driving to Emerald Lake.

First, I recommend booking your excursion through an independent company - it'll save you alot of money. We did the helicopter/dog sled tour out of Juneau the end of August and it was absolutely wonderful! The cruise line was selling the exact same excursion for $100 more per person than what we booked it with an independent company.

We took about 150 pictures from that excursion that included a van picking us up from the pier, helicopter flight over Mendenhall Glacier, landing on a glacier, an hour tour around the glacier on a dog sled, and a flight over another glacier enroute back to Juneau.

Yes, it was the most expensive excursion we've ever purchased, but it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that we thoroughly enjoyed.

We have a client that did the exact same excursion and he proposed to his girlfriend while on the dog sled ride. We arranged it with the helicopter company and they had a bottle of champagne on the dog sled hidden for them. He actually called me from the glacier and started yelling, "She said yes!!" It was great to be a part of it.

If you're young and in good shape, you might consider the helicopter landing on a glacier and a glacier hike instead of the dog sled; it really gives you a great up close and personal look.

Pete