Alaska Cruise - Port car rentals?

[mdurette]

We will be heading to Alaska in this year. The prices of the shore excursions are choking me! So, I have been looking at ways to save.

Years ago when we did a Hawaii cruise we rented car at each port and visited the places that the shore excursions would have taken us anyway. It worked out fantastic. We were able to see 2-3 of the places (instead of one) and save a ton of money.

I'm thinking about doing the same in Juneau since there is so much to do. Anyone have any experience with this in Alaska? Do they have rental agencies at every port with shuttle service?

 

[Passepartout]

The ports are not all that large and the stays in port are not usually that long. You can walk- or taxi to most of the places you will want to see. Juneau might be an exception. If you sign up for the Cruise Critic Roll Call for your cruise, you'll very likely find other people on your cruise who will be arranging self-catered shore excursions. Cruise Critic dot com is really the TUG for cruisers with everything you could possibly want to know.

Jim

 

[beejaybee]

Skagway

We rented a car thru Avis in Skagway (many cruisers choose the White Pass Railway) and had a great day driving into Yukon territory Canada. The scenery was amazing and we had a delicious lunch at a small restaurant advertising the "best buns in the Yukon". No shuttle service to Avis, but it's a short walk. Leave the ship early to avoid the line-up of other renters.

In Juneau we toured in a car driven by DH's cousin who lives there. We went to the Mendenhall Glacier and then out to St. Theresa's shrine- a tranquil, meditative spot.

You won't need a car in Ketchikan.

 

[Paumavista]

We DID this!!

We flew to Anchorage and rented a car to explore a couple of days before our cruise.....did a VRBO rental.
Then at each port we rented a car and explored - it worked fantastically......there aren't that many roads or that much traffic so driving was easy & we got to see so much more at our own pace than if we had signed up for a tour (we were a family of five so it was also a great cost savings). I remember one stop in particular....we stopped quickly to see this famous church....it wasn't a "destination" it was just on the way so we pulled in......the tides were WAY out and we spent two hours climbing around the tide pools....saw more starfish and sea life than ever before in my life - 1000's of big star fish - we could never have "planned" this!
We did rent our vehicles MONTHS in advance but I would do it again in a minute. Also driving back to the ship after exploring in another area we saw two big bear......we were the only ones along that stretch of road for about 10 minutes and we had so much fun watching and taking tons of pictures!
I have never seen as much wildlife as we saw on that vacation....brings back great memories just writing this!!

 

[mdurette]

Thanks so much for your replies. I absolutely loved this when we did in Hawaii and after reading the positive reports from a couple of you, I think this is going to be the way to go. I realize the port area is small - I recall that from last trip. That is why I want to get out an explore a bit more.

The port stays are long, so we will have more than enough time
Skagway: 12.25 hours
Juneau: 10.25 hours
Ketchikan: 8.25 hours

I would never consider this in Mexico - but from what I recall from our last Alaskan cruise all appeared to be easy drives.

So, I see Avis is in walking distance in Skagway.
Any other suggestions for the other ports?

 

[Timeshare Von]

You may want to try sites like Cruise Critic or Trip Advisor (Alaska Forum) for some first hand and/or local advice.

 

[rcshelton]

Juneau

We rented a car in Juneau during our cruise 5 years ago. It was great as we had the freedom to do whatever sight seeing we desired during our day in Juneau. We rented from Rent-A-Wreck as they had the best rates and service. They were located away from the cruise dock terminals and airport but provided pick up and dropoff service to your ship dock when you called ahead and scheduled it. The car was an older model but was fine for a day. To turn the car in we just left it parked at a designated location near the cruise ship dock.

They have changed their name to Juneau Car Rental Company and now say they have a location within walking distance of all cruise ship docks in addition to their main location. See www.juneaucarrentals.com. Calling them ahead of time and making arrangements is critical. The cruise ship dock area is very large and the walk could be long.