Alaska Cruise Excursions

[mentalbreak]

Help! I love vacation planning. And enjoy vacation planning. But due to many challenges this last year, just haven’t had the time or energy to put into vacation planning for our June 2025 Alaskan Cruise. I would appreciate any and all suggestions on excursions.

Our crew is:
my family of 5: myself and husband (50s, decently adventurous), 2 college kiddos, and my 85yo dad (very fit, but 85…)
Our great friends - family of 4 - very similar 2 adults, 2 college kiddos
Our friends’ 3 parents - mid-70s, 2 very active, 1 also active but somewhat limited (no long hikes).

So we are a party of up to 12. Willing to split up or all go together.

Would love to hear all of your suggestions and opinions on the following ports:
JUNEAU 2:30 pm to 10:00 pm
SKAGWAY 6:00 am to 8:00 pm
KETCHIKAN 7:00 am to 1:15 pm
VICTORIA BC 8:00 pm to 11:59 pm

Thank you!

 

[beejaybee]

We've been to all the ports above twice, but I only booked one ship excursion- the Misty Fjords boat cruise out of Ketchikan. With your diverse group, why don't you prepare a menu of suggested excursions.
Juneau: we visited Mendenhall Glacier and the labyrinth at St. Theresa's thanks to a cousin who lived there and drove us around. We next wanted to take the tramway up to Mt. Roberts but it poured rain so we got drenched just wandering the city. But many people book whale watching cruises or helicopter tours from there.
Skagway: Rented a car to go into the Yukon Territory while the rest of the gang did the r.r. On our 2nd visit we hiked the Lower Dewey Lake trail and then used the $2 bus to head to the graveyard where Soapy Smith and others lie in peace. There is a short hike to a waterfall from there.

Basic Information - Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)

www.nps.gov

Ketchikan: While I took the shorex to Misty Fjords DH went kayak fishing, but he had better luck renting a rod off of Creek St and catching/releasing salmon from there. Our next time there we walked/hiked in town doing the Married Mans trail and then having lunch at the Alaska Fish House. A hokey but fun thing to see is the Lumberjack Show- buy tickets on your own to save $$ and It only takes an hour of your time. If you are sailing NCL, you will be docking in Ward Cove, not downtown Ketchikan.
Victoria: Will be probably be too dark to visit Butchart Gardens so just enjoy the buskers.
Head to this forum on Cruise Critic. You have to join to post, but just reading others' comments is extremely helpful!

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/33-alaska/

 

[mentalbreak]

Thank you! I have a Cruise Critic account and have poked around a bit, but just not wrapped my arms around much with my attempt at searching. It’s probably because only have had my phone and the interface is just not intuitive to me so far. I’ll have to pack the personal laptop and spend some time looking around.
Sincerely appreciate your response!

 

[Cindy M]

I loved the Neets Bay bear adventure offered through cruise ship. This may be it https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attract...r_Encounter_by_Land_Sea-Ketchikan_Alaska.html

 

[Timeshare Von]

I've thoroughly enjoyed Alaska, but never by cruise. That said, you'll find plenty to see and do, no doubt. I've been to Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan and have blogged about the things I've done. Juneau & Skagway were via the AK Marine Ferry and Ketchikan was a fly-in just last spring . . . all were for more than a single day/limited time . . . so you'll really need to figure out priority interests as your group decides what folks want to experience. Here are links to the blog posts (with lots of photos) to help you decide:

Skagway
Yukon (day trip from Skagway)
Ketchikan Day 1
Ketchikan Day 2
Juneau Whale Watching Tour
Juneau Day 1

 

[Timeshare Von]

Thank you! I have a Cruise Critic account and have poked around a bit, but just not wrapped my arms around much with my attempt at searching. It’s probably because only have had my phone and the interface is just not intuitive to me so far. I’ll have to pack the personal laptop and spend some time looking around.
Sincerely appreciate your response!

I have found Cruise Critic to be rather limited, especially if there aren't enough people to have engaged discussion or to seek input/advice from. You're probably better off checking out the Alaska Forum on their sister site Trip Advisor. But be prepared for some possible snarkiness from some of the forum regulars there. I gave up my "Destination Expert" (volunteer) status on Trip Advisor due to some of the nonsense experienced in that forum.

 

[beejaybee]

I have found Cruise Critic to be rather limited, especially if there aren't enough people to have engaged discussion or to seek input/advice from. You're probably better off checking out the Alaska Forum on their sister site Trip Advisor. But be prepared for some possible snarkiness from some of the forum regulars there. I gave up my "Destination Expert" (volunteer) status on Trip Advisor due to some of the nonsense experienced in that forum.

There are some very helpful posters on Cruise Critic ports forums: John Bull, hallsam, Globaliser to name a few.
But snark is the trademark of one frequent poster on the Cruise Air forum. When I last posted a question there, I braced myself for her replies. Despite being aware of how she'd question my flight decision, I made the mistake of trying to defend myself. Shoulda known better...

Thankfully 99.9% of Tuggers are kind!

 

[2rebecca]

I found the "roll call" section of Cruise Critic to be the best source of help when it came to planning excursions and/or DIY at ports. Those folks are on the same cruise as you so they have info on the dates you'll be there. If you haven't already, I highly recommend you join your roll call and see what others are doing. How active and helpful the information is will vary. My 2-week Norway/Iceland roll call had a ton of valuable information, but the 4 day Mexico roll call was weak.

 

[Timeshare Von]

I found the "roll call" section of Cruise Critic to be the best source of help when it came to planning excursions and/or DIY at ports. Those folks are on the same cruise as you so they have info on the dates you'll be there. If you haven't already, I highly recommend you join your roll call and see what others are doing. How active and helpful the information is will vary. My 2-week Norway/Iceland roll call had a ton of valuable information, but the 4 day Mexico roll call was weak.

Thanks! I too have connected on Cruise Critic with some on the roll calls. Our upcoming back-to-back out of Tampa cruises (5 nighters to Mexico) have very little activity which has been disappointing. But that's OK. Like your Norway/Iceland roll call, the one for the transatlantic my sister & I are doing in October has been invaluable in connecting with others . . . and scheduling some independent excursions in Spain.

 

[echino]

Juneau: take the Goldbelt Tram up and hike on the trail towards Mount Roberts as long as you are comfortable to go. We went until Gastineau Peak. Great views!

 

[SmithOp]

Skagway we enjoyed a van tour up to the Klondike. I found a referral on Cruise critic, it was a small van, about 12 passengers, much better than the big cruise tour buses. They dropped us at the rail station coming back so we could ride it back down, then picked us up at the bottom.

 

[beejaybee]

@echino
Great photos. Disappointed that we did not get to do that on our last visit to Juneau.
FWIW, I seem to recall that those tram tickets can be purchased independently of the cruise line excursion for less $$.