My husband and I are taking our first cruise to Alaska on Aug. 4th. We have booked our excursion for Juneau (whale watching & wildlife quest) but are having difficulty making a decision on Skagway and Ketchikan. We want to do something fun and would prefer not to spend more than $150 each (if that).

Any recommendations would be very helpful.

Kathy

There are many popular excursions there. Probably the most popular is the White Pass Railroad tour. Another afforable option is panning for gold. If money's not a problem the glacier helecopter ride is probably the coolest thing there. There is the Chilkoot Bald Eagle Preserve there as well.

Cheers, Neil

White Pass Railroad in Skagway by far...$110 or so.....Ketchikan Totem Pole Village, tour, fishing, shopping....

Bob E

Hello,

We will be on the Volendam's 7/20 back to back cruise to Alaska. As this will be our third cruise to Alaska, here are some ideas for you.

Consider renting a car in Skagway and driving up into the Canadian Yukon. The highway from Skagway to Carcross in the Yukon is an engineering marvel. Make sure that you have your passports and cruise pass with you when you cross the border. While this may not be as spectacular as the train, you will save lots of money and still see quite a lot of this fascinating place.

Ketchikan can be seen on foot. It is a very pleasant little city to walk around. This won't cost you any money.

Hope that this helps.

Fred

I did extensive research for our first Alaska trip coming up this September. For almost the same amount of money ($114), an independent tour by mini bus (18 people max) did much more than the train only. The bus takes the Klondike Highway to Emerald Lake. Lunch at Caribou Crossing Trading Post is included as is a visit to the Yukon Wildlife Museum and a dog sled camp. They make stops along the way for photos, we have a live person to tell us what we are seeing and both of us can enjoy the scenery. Others who have been on this trip said they didn't feel they missed anything by not taking the train. Since we haven't been yet, I welcome others to comment on this trip.

We did those ports last year. In Skagway we did the haynes wilderness kayak trip. It was awsome. The lake we went to was up in the mountains.

In Ketchikan we did an air tour. We booked with Seawind aviation. They were the best part of our trip. The ship was late getting into port. The waited for us for a while, then arranged a later flight. The scenery in alaska is great, but from the air it was amazing. We were able to see bears, whales and at one point landed on a lake in the mountains. It is a little more than you want to spend, but worth it.

In Juneau we booked with AK alaska. The boat was smaller and there were just 4 of us on board. the small boat seemed to be able to get closer to the whales. I would look for smaller boats. If you would like to see pictures, e-mail me at vafatboy@aol.com

Robert

Majesty 12/06
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quote:

Posted July 05, 2007 01:45 PM Hide Post
I did extensive research for our first Alaska trip coming up this September. For almost the same amount of money ($114), an independent tour by mini bus (18 people max) did much more than the train only. The bus takes the Klondike Highway to Emerald Lake. Lunch at Caribou Crossing Trading Post is included as is a visit to the Yukon Wildlife Museum and a dog sled camp. They make stops along the way for photos, we have a live person to tell us what we are seeing and both of us can enjoy the scenery. Others who have been on this trip said they didn't feel they missed anything by not taking the train. Since we haven't been yet, I welcome others to comment on this trip.

Granny C Last year we did the bus ride both ways. This year we did the bus ride to Caribou crossing lunch ect., plenty of photo stops. Then ride back to Frazier then train ride down. The view is a little different on the train. They narrate while you are on the train. The train ride down is worth the extra. It makes it a completly different class of ride.

Thanks for the information. I'll look into the cost of taking the train back.

quote:

In Skagway we did the haynes wilderness kayak trip.

VA, what kind of footwear did you need for kayaking? Did footwear come off and was the water very cold? Or did you wear sneakers/sandals/Tevas/whatever?

Sandy

We were in Ketchikan on 7/3/07...our best excursion was the Rainforest Canopy Expedition! It was $165/ea for 3-1/2 hrs. We were taken by bus (from the dock) & then 10-min later transferred to a large 4-wheeler (looked like a converted hummer), which took us up to a lodge in the mountains. After being outfitted with the harness/cable rigs & safety instructions, we each tried out the zip-lines on a short practice line---and then 7 long zip-lines + 3 rope bridges followed! It was incredible!
We are mid-50's & didn't find it strenuous at all.

(Ketchikan's zip-lines was much better than the seat zip-line we saw at Icy Strait Point---which was one zip-line sitting in a seat/$85).

Here is what you get on the train

http://Joslin-Family-Photos.smugmug.com/photos/175527554-M-1.jpg

gdjoslin:

Wow! Those two photos are AMAZING

If you don't mind me asking, what camera did you use? And, are you a professional photographer? A serious amateur photographer? An excellent beginer photographer?

Thank You Frase but I just like to snap a shot here and there. Those were taken with my Canon XTI.
Here is waht the otherside of the train looks like.

I just got back from the cruise. Skagway, no question is White Pass Railroad, really stunning. My recommendation is to go up and back on the railroad. They will make you change sides at the top and the left side going up is better, so if you take the latest tour in the afternoon up and back, it is unlikely to be as full, and you may be able to stay on the same side of the train as did we. I can't describe fully how spectacular that scenery was but it was breathtaking.

In Ketchikan, don't miss the Great Alaskan Lumberjack show which is great entertainment. Slightly cheesy, but well done and good fun. The guys in it are terrific and the woman who is the hostess is very funny as are the guys.