OT Alaska cruise

We took that cruise out of S.F. and stopped in Victoria BC and then on up the inland passage. One of the things you can do if you stop in Juneau is take a Helicopter ride up to the Mendenhall Glacier. It is a

4 passenger helicopter that lands on the glacier and you get out and walk around. It is very dramatic. There are plenty of tours that are offered by the Ships to choose from so you should not be wanting for things to see. Deep see fishing expiditions, stores with Native things to buy, ect. I will say that it is not a cruise like a Caribbean cruise in that even during the summer it is not as warm on the decks as the other more temperate cruise. The view outside during the Inland Passage part of the trip is one of endless mountain ranges on shore followed by endless mountain ranges. The White Pass Railway out of Skagway is a truly scenic one and should not be missed. It is amazing to think that that roadbed was carved out of the overhanging cliff face. The most expensive, per mile, railway in the world. Hope this helps.

John

We took a similar cruise out of Vancouver a few years ago. DH and I took a bus trip in Skagway, and DT and her DH took the train. They were very disappointed in the train, since it didn't ever stop for them to take pictures; it was hot and noisy, too. OTOH, DH and I enjoyed the bus trip immensely. It was comfortable (though not as intriguing-sounding ), and we stopped in lots of places for pictures. Just MHO. :)

We didn't get to stop in Victoria with our itinerary, since we left from Vancouver, but we'd been there once before. It's a delightful place! If you hit it on Canada Day, you may get lucky and see bagpipers and all sorts of celebratory "stuff". We were thoroughly entranced by the place and by the hospitality of the residents. :)

We did a similar cruise last summer.

In Juneau we walked the main drag and there's a quilt shop :-) Then we went on an excursion to the glacier and took a hike and wandered the nature center and finished up with a salmon feed. The glacier was beautiful especially if you are into hiking. The dinner was delicious and I do recommend that - many of the excursions offered in Juneau were offered with that dinner stop on our cruise.

Ketchikan we did our own walking tour of the town. The town library has a nice totem pole outside and a small museum in the building. We are museum fans and find joy in looking at old photographs and such. It's small but interesting if you are into that type of thing.

Skagway I highly recommend a stop in the ranger station. Parts of the town are owned by the national park service. You can hit the ranger station and look around and they offer a free walking tour that was really fun. Free is always good. There are also two quilt shops in town that we walked past and into.

Enjoy!

marcella

My brother took that trip years ago and loved it....I hear food is expensive in Alaska. Pami

We took the train trip in Skagway and loved it. I took lots of pictures - shooting out the window. They all turned out good. We were there in late August & it was pretty cool. I enjoyed the trip even though I had stubbed my bare toe really bad the day before and could hardly walk.

Thanks to all that answered my questions. At this point I'm not going to schedule any walking trips due to the foot surgery. I hope by July it will be healed enough to get back to normal. For some reason the travel agent wants our choices by next week----they'll just have to wait on mine. Gen

DH & I drove to Alaska about 15 years ago, and we are thinking of doing it again this summer. We are also looking at cruises. I have friends who have taken Alaska cruises at least once, and they all say not to miss the train ride. Be sure you take lots of mosquito spray for when you are outdoors.

Sherry Starr

If you are up for walking and you enjoy walking around gardens, Bouchard Gardens in Victoria is very nice. I believe it was part of a bus tour of Victoria as well. I think we spent something like 1-2 hours in the garden, stopped off at a large park for some more walking, and then traveled downtown by bus for a short history lesson.

Ketchikan has a nice bus tour that included a stop at a native culture location and then takes you downtown to the "Red Light" district of the past. The district is now all little boutiques if you are looking to do some shopping.

In Juneau, there is a bar not far from where the cruise ships drop you off. If you do a self walking tour of Juneau or if you have time after another tour, we had a fun time sitting in the bar listening to the locals chatter as well as sing as there is a small stage where a band was set up. Can't remember the name of the establishment but I remember it was about 1.5 blocks from the ship and was painted red.

We were on one of the Princess line cruise boats so I'm not sure the other lines do the same tours or not. Of course, this was back in

1993 so I'm sure things have changed a lot.

Marilyn

Gen, you might consider renting a wheelchair for the duration of the cruise. I had foot surgery a few years ago and did that. I am pretty sure that if there are walking tours around towns, at least, that they should be wheel chair accessible. That way you would not put undue pressure on your healing and still be able to see the sights. You could walk when/if you felt like it and use the chair at other times. And they do fold down fairly small for when on board.

Pati, > Thanks to all that answered my questions. At this point I'm not going to

I mention again, if you are driving up to Alaska, anyone in here, PLEASE let me know and I would love to meet you for coffee at Tim Hortons!!

Afterall I DO live at the Mile Zero of the Alaska Highway! lol

~KK in BC~

: :

Gen: We did a cruise last July. Although we had booked excursions early, the on-board excursion office was still booking tours while at sea for those tours not at full capacity. We were on Celebrity Lines. YMMV.

In Juneau we took the Float Plane tour. It did not stop on the glacier, but we had a great time. Sometimes flights (fixed wing or helicopter) are canceled due to weather. Our flight happened to be scheduled at about

1:30 PM, and it was the first flight of the day. All earlier flights were scrubbed because of weather.

In Skagway, we took the train trip. The trip was slow enough to take lots of photos. I especially enjoyed going up to the observation car to take photos 'on top.' Also, when we came down, the crew required the passengers to swap seats ... inboard for outboard ... so everyone got a chance to see the various scenes. The Ranger stuff is good too.

If you want LQS info, remind me to find my stuff. I hit five LQS in Alaska, including those towns.

PAT

Gen wrote:

Thanks Pat. I have the names of 3, but if we do the hoped for excursions, I may not hit them. Like I need more fabric!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gen

If you can only visit one, I suggest the one in Juneau. That shop has lots of Alaska theme fabrics (I got the cutest Russian doll fabric) and more local patterns than any of the other shops we visited. Nice memory to have something that you can only get in Alaska.

marcella

Thanks. Gen