Alaska Excursions--post your reviews here!

[chickamu]

In July of this year we did the Chilkoot charter tour with dog kart. My daughter we was 8 loved the dog kart ride but is wasn't very long. We were also signed up for the helicopter dog sled ride in Juneau. We got all the way dressed and in the helicopter. When we got close to the glacier the weather turned bad so we had to turn back. The company was really nice and they said it happened often. They gave us a full refund and we got a helicopter ride..

 

[twindaddy]

A few questions:

Can someone who is better at the search feature than me find the list of Alaska excursion times from last summer? I know I saw it somewhere, sometime...

Is the "Exclusive Disney" lumberjack show really anything exclusive or Disney, or is it pretty much the same as all the lumberjack shows?

Has anyone done the duck excursion in Ketchikan, that bus thing that drives on streets and in the water?

Thanks!!!

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

A few questions:

Can someone who is better at the search feature than me find the list of Alaska excursion times from last summer? I know I saw it somewhere, sometime...

Is the "Exclusive Disney" lumberjack show really anything exclusive or Disney, or is it pretty much the same as all the lumberjack shows?

Has anyone done the duck excursion in Ketchikan, that bus thing that drives on streets and in the water?

Thanks!!!

Lumberjack shows are exclusive to DCL but very corny.

Duck tour was very good we booked direct in advance to get the time we want they are corny but very funny, what works well on the duck tour doesn't on the lumberjack show.

We did private tours in all ports selecting our own times, to try to avoid morning fog book flights planes and helicopters mid to late morning, see more in my trip report.

 

[donaldjessie]

I have some questions
If I go to Alaska on Jun 9,can I see the bear and whale?
If I want to take plane to watch the glaciers, Skagway or Juneau, which is better?
Thank you

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

I have some questions
If I go to Alaska on Jun 9,can I see the bear and whale?
If I want to take plane to watch the glaciers, Skagway or Juneau, which is better?
Thank you

We took a plane to see Glaciers in Skagway and a helicopter in Juneau, both were wonderful, both were different, both very interesting we landed on one in Juneau so both are a good choice. We went Lester this you we saw whales and salmon not much bears unless in captivity.


Example Skagway



Holiday 2013 1668 by Andrew D Porter, on Flickr

Example Juneau.



Holiday 2013 1940 by Andrew D Porter, on Flickr


Tip:- book late morning as we had morning fog and it had to burn off flights were cancelled.

 

[luvmy2kids]

Dizneekrazee... We will be on the same sailing. June 2, 2014

 

[Never to old]

A few questions: Can someone who is better at the search feature than me find the list of Alaska excursion times from last summer? I know I saw it somewhere, sometime... Is the "Exclusive Disney" lumberjack show really anything exclusive or Disney, or is it pretty much the same as all the lumberjack shows? Has anyone done the duck excursion in Ketchikan, that bus thing that drives on streets and in the water? Thanks!!!

Not sure if you are spending anytime in Vancouver, we did the lumberjack show there. It was included in the admission to Grouse mountain. So we skipped the Disney one. When we compared ours to people we met on the ship that went to the Disney one, there wasn't a lot of difference.

 

[Debbie]

Misseulalie,

Take it from someone who had 2 excursions cancelled due to weather, there are always other options. We had a morning helicopter tour cancelled in Juneau due to the weather. We went to Disney but they didn't have any free slots in the afternoon excursions so we just went into town and booked through another company. There are booths in Juneau where the shuttle bus drops you off.

We also had a float plane tour cancelled in Ketchikan due to rain, rain, and more rain. We went to the Ketchikan visitors building which is a short walk from where you get off the ship and there were all kinds of booths in there booking tours.

Our helicopter tour in Juneau was the absolute highlight of our trip and the best part is, they were much cheaper than Disney for the same excursion. So don't give up if the weather is bad. Just go book an excursion on your own. Enjoy your cruise!

This is good information for whether one is 'cancelled' or just hasn't booked anything. Thanks for that!

 

[SG101]

So this is what we're planning:

Skagway - Hubby will do helicopter ride. Question - what's the difference between TEMSCO and M&M Tours? Was there a major price difference? Do people like one over the other? I think M&M is $299/pp.

Also, what is there to do in Skagway with a 10 & 7 year old while daddy is on his excursion? I didn't want to book anything because I want to be able to afford the seaplane in Juneau for all 4 of us.

Thanks so much for all of the reviews and helpful tips. Planning the excursions on this trip has been made a whole lot easier.

 

[misseulalie]

Going through the excursions... if you did "Alaska Coastal Expedition" in Ketchikan, why is it considered "active"? It seems all one does is drive a boat. It even says people in poor physical condition should not participate.

It looks pretty fun, but wondering what exactly it entails.

 

[MickeyMomTo2]

So this is what we're planning:

Skagway - Hubby will do helicopter ride. Question - what's the difference between TEMSCO and M&M Tours? Was there a major price difference? Do people like one over the other? I think M&M is $299/pp.

Also, what is there to do in Skagway with a 10 & 7 year old while daddy is on his excursion? I didn't want to book anything because I want to be able to afford the seaplane in Juneau for all 4 of us.

Thanks so much for all of the reviews and helpful tips. Planning the excursions on this trip has been made a whole lot easier.

TEMSCO is the company that operates the helicopters. You will be with TEMSCO whether you book directly with them, through M&M, or through Disney. I would just go with the best price. We used M&M for the $299 rate last summer. They met us at the bottom of the gangway and walked us to the TEMSCO office. This was kind of funny since the ship was parked right next to the office, so we really didn't need help finding it.

Skagway is VERY small. You can walk around in the town with your kids for a little while and shop for souvenirs--it is very quaint. If you don't plan to book an excursion with them in Skagway, you can enjoy the ship--it will be empty! The pools are heated, so as crazy as it sounds, my kids swam and enjoyed it. I have pictures of them in their bathing suits with a glacier in the background. I wouldn't have done it, but they loved it!

Hope you have a great trip!

 

[piglet33]

Has anyone done the Dog Sled Summer Camp or Sled Dog Discovery & Musher's Camp in Juneau? There isn't much of a price difference but I was wondering which one is better to do? Any opinions?

Thanks!

 

[cbmeadors]

We did a number of excursion but I think our favorite thing was a hike in the woods we did on our own while in Skagway. We stopped by the rangers office to get a map and then head to the woods before heading back and going to the Skagway brewery for some Spruce Tip Ale and the best Scotch Ale I have ever tasted.

 

[luvmy2kids]

TEMSCO is the company that operates the helicopters. You will be with TEMSCO whether you book directly with them, through M&M, or through Disney. I would just go with the best price. We used M&M for the $299 rate last summer. They met us at the bottom of the gangway and walked us to the TEMSCO office. This was kind of funny since the ship was parked right next to the office, so we really didn't need help finding it.

Skagway is VERY small. You can walk around in the town with your kids for a little while and shop for souvenirs--it is very quaint. If you don't plan to book an excursion with them in Skagway, you can enjoy the ship--it will be empty! The pools are heated, so as crazy as it sounds, my kids swam and enjoyed it. I have pictures of them in their bathing suits with a glacier in the background. I wouldn't have done it, but they loved it!

Hope you have a great trip!

MickeyMomTo2...Do you mind if I ask you a question? We are considering using M&M tours and I spoke with them yesterday on the phone. Would you have any reservations about giving them your credit card information for tours that are several months away? He said they charge once you are there just wondered if you would trust them as a reputable company. Thank you for your help regarding this. One can't be too trusting these days

 

[Bethann1959]

This was an EXCELLENTwhale watching adventure in Juneau!!! They are 2 friends, not their real names. We (family of 5) we're the only ones on board. I think 6 or 8 are max. I cannot say enough good things. They have option of someone to take photographs for you so you can enjoy without being behind a lens!

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

MickeyMomTo2...Do you mind if I ask you a question? We are considering using M&M tours and I spoke with them yesterday on the phone. Would you have any reservations about giving them your credit card information for tours that are several months away? He said they charge once you are there just wondered if you would trust them as a reputable company. Thank you for your help regarding this. One can't be too trusting these days

We used M&M Tours in August 2013 they had my credit card details, no issues at all, they had a booth where the ship docks in Skagway on the pier.

No charge before that, it was run through an IPad charge there.

Referring to an earlier post our flight wasn't with Temsco.

 

[MickeyMomTo2]

MickeyMomTo2...Do you mind if I ask you a question? We are considering using M&M tours and I spoke with them yesterday on the phone. Would you have any reservations about giving them your credit card information for tours that are several months away? He said they charge once you are there just wondered if you would trust them as a reputable company. Thank you for your help regarding this. One can't be too trusting these days

I did give them mine and had no problems.

 

[luvmy2kids]

Thanks for the info. on M&M tours. I feel better now.

 

[Apsychmommy]

This thread has a ton of awesome info--thank you everyone! We are going on this cruise in late July and I will have a 3 and 5 year old with me so I'm trying to find excursions that are age appropriate. We are also on a somewhat tighter budget so I'm hoping to book many of the excursions independently.

 

[SZ2016]

Has anyone done the more expensive dog sled excursion where you fly up the glacier and there's no go-cart type thing involved. I don't remember the name but I know it's about $500 a person. I really want to do this but want to make sure it's worth the $2,000 it will cost my family.TIA.