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Posted: 4/20/2015 12:49:04 PM EDT
Hey Guys,

The wife and I are doing an 8 day cruise in Alaska in May. It's our first time visiting Alaska as well. We are looking for things to do as excursions/site seeing for the dates listed below. I don't really feel like getting raped via the cruise line for the excursions they set-up. We are open to other excursions even private ones. Site seeing, fishing, hiking, four wheeling would all be awesome. Cool bars, places to visit, any must sees would be greatly appreciated. If you or you know of someone that's interested in being a guide for a day let me know. We'll take of you!!


Juneau, AK - Thu, May 21
Skagway, AK - Fri, May 22
Ketchikan, AK - Sun, May 24

Thanks,

Casey
Link Posted: 4/20/2015 6:48:36 PM EDT
[#1]
You realize that the town of Skagway is like 150 people in the winter and in summer it is like 3000 (all supported by the cruise line)... Skagway has some pretty cool goldrush musume stuff(visit the actual wells fargo branch in town, it is the same building from 115 years ago. the hardware store is also a gun store and you can look at the 5-7 they are trying to sell for 1600 bucks(WHY I have no idea...). Never been to Juneau or Ketchikan.
Link Posted: 4/20/2015 11:39:54 PM EDT
[#2]
Juneau whale watching boat is a very cool experience and well worth the cost.

Skagwey - White Pass Railroad

Ketchikan- go fishing, small skiffs great fishing and wonderfull views.

Bring your rain gear and comfortable shoes. Get out of town as fast as you can as the jewelry stores and t shirt shops are overwhelming!
Link Posted: 4/21/2015 9:20:53 AM EDT
[#3]
In Juneau right when you get off the ship, there should be a TON of various booths and people setup selling tours and such.  We waited until then to pick something, considerably less expensive than on the boat.

Skagway and Ketchikan, what waterfowler1 said.

Enjoy!
Link Posted: 4/21/2015 11:03:48 AM EDT
[#4]
I appreciate the responses everyone. We'll definitely wait to get off the boat before booking anything.
Link Posted: 4/21/2015 7:56:36 PM EDT
[#5]
If you want to fly to see the ice fields in Juneau, ERA Helicopter is a good place. I know the people there well. You must take a ride to Mendenhall glacier and you can hike to nugget falls. Your time is short in Juneau. Fishing will still be a bit slow then, the bears are out already.
Skagway is nice to visit. The brewing co at the far end of Broadway on the right has good beer and the food is good also.

IM or email me if you want detailed info on Juneau. Just get away from downtown when you land. A cab or a tour bus will be fine.
Link Posted: 4/22/2015 1:17:11 PM EDT
[#6]
The Red Dog Saloon in Juneau is the bar that is famous / supposedly the one to go to.  It's alright.  It's right in front of the docks, so it's hard to miss.  The Alaska Brewing Company I believe runs shuttle busses to their facility for a tour.  The Alaskan Hotel and Bar is the oldest continuously operating hotel in Alaska.  I don't think the bar has the same "pedigree" but it's old/historic, however you view those kinds of things.  It was recently renovated and featured on the show Hotel Impossible.  Most bars in town are pretty much dives.  I wouldn't be terribly upset if I missed them.

If you are up for a hike, you can take the Mount Roberts trail up to (you guessed it) Mt. Roberts.  This is the same location that the tram charges a large sum of money to take you up to.  From where the tram departs at the base, you hike up Franklin Street (and at the North end, it really is "up"), cross a block over to Gold Street, which dumps into Basin Road.  The trailhead is about a mile to a mile and a half from the tram.  The trail itself is about 2.5 miles to where the tram ends.  It has an elevation gain of about 1800 feet from the bottom of the tram.  If you buy lunch at the restaurant, you can get a free ride down.  Otherwise the tram costs $33 per adult, $16 for 6-12 year olds round trip.  At that point, you can also go up higher to the peak, but then you are looking at a huge portion of your time in Juneau.  Hiking up, taking a look around, eating lunch, and taking the tram down can be done in 2-3 hours, depending on fitness.  

If you continue on past the trailhead for Mt. Roberts, you can go up Perserverence Trail, which has a mining museum, and some old mining equipment, etc.  I don't know how long your stay is in Juneau, but that one is probably a little too far to do comfortably.

You can take a taxi or tour bus to Mendenhall glacier, and hike the half mile out to nugget falls like LESPAUL suggested, or one of the other hiking trails around the area.  Salmon won't be in so you can't see the bears eating the fish right next to the trail, but there are some really pretty views.  Trail through time is a nice hike that marks out the location of the glacier face through the years.  It's interesting to see how far out the glacier was 100 years ago.

If you are adventurous when it comes to food, I really like V's Cellar Door, a Mexican-Korean fusion restaurant.  I don't know what day you are getting in, but they have specials on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  They might also have a food truck doing halibut tacos by the docks this summer.  There's an Indian place called the Saffron which is good too.  Seafood is big up here.  Tracy's Crab Shack is the standard, and it is expensive, but from what I've heard its worth it if you want king crab legs or crab bisque.  

LESPAUL has been here longer than I have, so he'll probably be a better source of info.
Link Posted: 4/22/2015 9:06:22 PM EDT
[#7]
The tour director crown has been passed.


All hail King Armstrong
Link Posted: 4/22/2015 9:20:37 PM EDT
[#8]
You picked probably the best time of year, weather-wise.  Still it rains a lot in Southeast Alaska.



August seems the rainiest month.
Link Posted: 4/23/2015 12:03:43 AM EDT
[#9]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
The tour director crown has been passed.


All hail King Armstrong
View Quote

If you enjoy your service, gratuities are gladly accepted
Link Posted: 4/26/2015 4:56:28 AM EDT
[#10]
Do the tram in juneau.  Just walk there from the ship.  If the weather's good, hike up and ride down free.
Link Posted: 4/26/2015 5:01:10 AM EDT
[#11]
Do the White Pass Railroad in Skagway
 



ETA, in Ketchikan, get drunk
Link Posted: 5/16/2015 12:08:47 PM EDT
[#12]
Thanks again for all the replies, the wife and I really appreciate it!

So it looks like we'll do Mt Roberts hike in Juneau and whale watching if time permits, the White Pass Railroad in Skagway, and fishing/drinking in Ketchikan. We have the following amount of time in each place:

Juneau - 15 hours
Skagway - 13 hours
Ketchikan - 7 hours

Is there anything else we should try and squeeze in given the time we have?
Link Posted: 5/18/2015 11:54:57 AM EDT
[#13]
Boy, you are hitting Juneau at an amazing time.  Clear to partly cloudy skies, mid 60's through next weekend.  Going to be gorgeous here.  Should get some pretty views up on Mt. Roberts.

The Sealaska Heritage Insitute just held a grand opening for their new building last Friday here in Juneau.  It should be open to visit if you'd like to see some representative art from the tribes in this area.  Info
Link Posted: 5/18/2015 1:24:21 PM EDT
[#14]
Link Posted: 6/19/2015 7:13:59 PM EDT
[#15]
So, how was it?
Link Posted: 6/19/2015 8:51:26 PM EDT
[#16]
I enjoyed my time when he was here.
Link Posted: 6/19/2015 9:10:57 PM EDT
[#17]
Lol, so did I
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