Princess Cruise Tour
Help suggest destinations for my tour of Alaska on a cruise.?
Hi, I’ll be going on a cruise to Alaska this summer. It’ll be from Princess Cruises and we’ll be going from Seattle to Ketchikan, Junea, Skagway and finally to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The amount of options for each day is overwhelming with close to 5 pages of activities for each day.
Also, another factor is price. Some, such as fishing cost a fortune, and I’m not sure what would be the best choice. I’ll be going with my spouse and a 15 year old son. If you have been here on vacation or is a native of this area, please help me out!
Don’t pay for those shore excursions. They’re a rip-off. You’re already paying so much for the cruise. The cruise line tacks on about 50% to the normal cost of the activities. That’s if there’s even a need to pay for it at all. Some of the stuff, like the city tours, you could perfectly well do on your own.
Ketchikan – Walk along Creek Street. The creek is very scenic, especially in the rapids at the end of Creek Street. I’m not sure if the salmon will be running when you’re there, but it’s something to see if they are. You can also continue along the creek up Married Man’s Trail (or something like that) at the end of the street and see a fish ladder and a salmon hatchery. $FREE
Juneau – You can get a bus right from the cruise terminal to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitors’ Center. My ship docked about a mile down the shore, but they provided a bus for free to all passengers to the edge of town where you can buy a ticket with no reservation and pick up the bus. There are a bunch of different operators with little booths selling the tickets. You can’t miss it. $15 per person round trip. Much better than the $45 or so my cruise line was trying to charge for a guided Mendenhall trip.
OR
Mt. Roberts Tramway. This thing leaves right from the same place as the Mendenhall bus – i.e. right at the cruise dock. You don’t need to book this in advance with the cruise line.
Conceiveably you could do both of those activities, but only if you arrive, take a look, and leave. If you want to spend any time at either, you can only do one.
Skagway – There is not a lot to do except look around and shop.
Victoria – Also kind of a look around and shop place. I haven’t been there on a cruise ship, so I’m not sure where they dock. But once you get downtown, it’s walkable.
So, what do you have to pay their extortion fees for? Well, some things that are unique you will have to pay for if you want to do them, for example the White Pass Railway or Lumberjack Show. These guys sell all their tickets out to the cruise lines for the days they will be in port. You cannot make an advance reservation with them directly. I have heard that you can go to them on the day you arrive, and if the cruise line has not sold out they might have space, but you take your chances.
As far as something like fishing, you could probably find some local guy to take you fishing who’s not affiliated with the cruise lines. But how comfortable do you feel about doing that in an unfamiliar place when you need to be back by the time your ship sails? I don’t know.
If there’s something you’ve just gotta do, I guess you pay their price because when are you going to get another chance? But I wouldn’t buy a shore excursion for every day just to have something to do.
Princess Cruises, Princess Cruise Tours, Princess Cruises, video
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