Multiple Alaska port adventures in one day?

[monorailrabbit]

Sorry for another Alaska thread!

After making my "this peeks my interest" list and realizing I basically wanted to do EVERYTHING in Alaska, I'm trying to narrow it down. I noticed that the time you have in AK is much longer than the time we had in Nassau. (Skagway Guest Ashore is 7:15 AM and Onboard is 8:00 PM) This got me wondering... can you do 2 port adventures in one day? Without being a massive ball of time-watching anxiety?

For example, in Skagway our top 3 are the steam train, horseback riding, and dog sledding/glacier sighting. Would it be possible to do 2 of those comfortably? (On a side note, does anyone have strong opinions on the dog sledding here vs. Juneau?) I'm imagining if we opt for the dog sledding in Juneau we wouldn't have time for the whale watching adventure... but would both be possible there as well?

Any advice or tips for doing multiples or on how to narrow down my choices? Thanks!

 

[dcassetta]

Sorry for another Alaska thread!

After making my "this peeks my interest" list and realizing I basically wanted to do EVERYTHING in Alaska, I'm trying to narrow it down. I noticed that the time you have in AK is much longer than the time we had in Nassau. (Skagway Guest Ashore is 7:15 AM and Onboard is 8:00 PM) This got me wondering... can you do 2 port adventures in one day? Without being a massive ball of time-watching anxiety?

For example, in Skagway our top 3 are the steam train, horseback riding, and dog sledding/glacier sighting. Would it be possible to do 2 of those comfortably? (On a side note, does anyone have strong opinions on the dog sledding here vs. Juneau?) I'm imagining if we opt for the dog sledding in Juneau we wouldn't have time for the whale watching adventure... but would both be possible there as well?

Any advice or tips for doing multiples or on how to narrow down my choices? Thanks!

Disney will not let you book two if they think the time between them is too narrow. But, you might look at booking one through Disney and one independently. Or, see if there is an independent excursion that would include all the options such and train and dog sledding.

 

[monorailrabbit]

Disney will not let you book two if they think the time between them is too narrow. But, you might look at booking one through Disney and one independently. Or, see if there is an independent excursion that would include all the options such and train and dog sledding.

Do you happen to know what they would consider "too narrow"? If Disney doesn't think we can do it, I am probably not going to try and attempt it. I'm wondering if maybe we did something first thing in the morning and then the second in late afternoon or something like that would work. I also have no idea what times are like for these adventures, all of my experience thus far has been with Nassau, but I remember for Blue Lagoon being able to pick a morning or afternoon departure...

 

[dcassetta]

Do you happen to know what they would consider "too narrow"? If Disney doesn't think we can do it, I am probably not going to try and attempt it. I'm wondering if maybe we did something first thing in the morning and then the second in late afternoon or something like that would work. I also have no idea what times are like for these adventures, all of my experience thus far has been with Nassau, but I remember for Blue Lagoon being able to pick a morning or afternoon departure...

Not specifically, and it may vary by port. But, you will know when bookings open. Once you select a port adventure, anything that Disney thinks is too close will be grayed out and not selectable.

 

[mrsxsparrow]

Sorry for another Alaska thread!

After making my "this peeks my interest" list and realizing I basically wanted to do EVERYTHING in Alaska, I'm trying to narrow it down. I noticed that the time you have in AK is much longer than the time we had in Nassau. (Skagway Guest Ashore is 7:15 AM and Onboard is 8:00 PM) This got me wondering... can you do 2 port adventures in one day? Without being a massive ball of time-watching anxiety?

For example, in Skagway our top 3 are the steam train, horseback riding, and dog sledding/glacier sighting. Would it be possible to do 2 of those comfortably? (On a side note, does anyone have strong opinions on the dog sledding here vs. Juneau?) I'm imagining if we opt for the dog sledding in Juneau we wouldn't have time for the whale watching adventure... but would both be possible there as well?

Any advice or tips for doing multiples or on how to narrow down my choices? Thanks!

I was in exactly the same situation for our upcoming Alaska cruise. We ended up booking two excursions on our Skagway day: a helicopter glacier walk first thing in the morning, and the railway and Yukon Suspension Bridge midday. It really just depends on what times are available -- for example, 12:15 was the only time open for the railway, so it was hard to book anything before/after. Luckily the helicopter is only a couple of hours long

 

[Geomom]

For DCL excursions, I think it's 2 hrs from the end of an excursion before you can book another one.

In 2016, for Skagway we booked with Chilkoot Charters--Yukon Bus and Rail with Dogcart excursion. We did the bus up, White Pass scenic railway back. Lots of picture taking spots, 15 minute stop in the town of Carcross, and a couple hours? at Caribou Crossing Trading Post--it included a BBQ chicken lunch, and we did the dogcart ride there. Also--puppies! They have some petting zoo type animals, and a wildlife museum (didn't have time to look through it...and we'd rather look at 'live' animals than taxidermied ones anyway...) This excursion ticked off lots of boxes for us--actually going to the Yukon, going on the White Pass Scenic Railway, and dogs. Yes, it's not a dogsled ride on a glacier...but it's as close as you can get while still on 'land'.

 

[KayKayJS]

We did the train in Skagway and in Juneau we did whale watching with Harv & Marv (booked independently) in the morning, then went back to the ship, then did the Dog Sledding on the Mendenhall (with Disney).

There were no issues. I think if you are questioning the time frame just call the operators and ask how long it takes from teh end of the excursion to get back to the ship.

Side note: we had originally planned to do the dog sledding in the afternoon after the train in Skagway - but it got cancelled due to high winds, so we were able to go to Disney and book for Juneau. I am glad we did because I loved flying over the Mendenhall.

 

[AgentMama]

We booked independently and did multiple excursions in most ports.

 

[monorailrabbit]

Are you guys willing to share recommendations for who you book with independently? I've always been afraid to go with anyone non-Disney.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

We booked a green jeep rental for our morning in Skagway and the glacier helicopter dog sled for the afternoon. We won't get as much value out of our green jeep rental or be able to take it all the way to Emerald Lake as we would have if we kept it all day, but it's something we can do in the morning and at our own pace. We have a whale watching tour in the morning in Juneau and I am hoping we will be able to rebook our glacier dogsledding for the afternoon there as well if it happens to get canceled in Skagway due to weather. All of our tours are booked independently.

 

[doublesided]

Are you guys willing to share recommendations for who you book with independently? I've always been afraid to go with anyone non-Disney.

We booked this for Skagway, much easier to hit everything we wanted to do. https://www.beyondskagwaytours.com

 

[gotomu212]

Are you guys willing to share recommendations for who you book with independently? I've always been afraid to go with anyone non-Disney.

Chilokoot Tours (which others mentioned) in Skagway were the BEST and I cannot say enough about their professionalism, organization, and commitment to providing a good touring experience.

In Juneau we booked directly with Taku Glacier Lodge for a flight tour and visit to Taku and interesting we were on the same flights and seating as those on DCL tours but paid 50% less.

I get being a little hesitant with non DCL excursions, but I think the place it makes absolute sense for everyone is Alaska. Things run very professionally (you don’t run into island time problems and reviews seem pretty accurate) most excursions are close to port, if heaven forbid you did miss the ship it’s very doable to catch up with the ship in the next port and you are in a US city so don’t have to scramble with passports etc if you did have an issue that prevents you from rejoining the ship. For us the real deciding factor is that excursions are insanely expensive for Alaska but the private tours made it more doable at their reduced rates (still high but not quite heart attack high).

 

[robhawk]

We

Are you guys willing to share recommendations for who you book with independently? I've always been afraid to go with anyone non-Disney.

are doing Harv and Marv whale watching in Juneau. Southeast Aviation Misty Fiords floatplane in Ketchikan. Chilkoot White Pass train in Skagway