Alaska help....again

[jewel]

Sorry :-)

We leave in less than 2 weeks and I'm getting a little worried because we don't have any excursions or activities booked, and not many even planned. I'd love some feedback on my ideas:

Fairbanks (3 days): Mary Shields dog sled tour, Chino Hot Springs, Riverboat Discovery. I do have a car booked. We'd really like a chance at seeing the Northern Lights - any good look-out spots?

Denali: nothing yet, but probably a bus tour of the park. Prices seem to be about $50 higher booked with princess, vs the bus company directly. Is it possible to book directly, and still get transportation from the hotel?

Skagway: Klondike summit/suspension bridge, white pass railway, or grizzly falls ziplining. No rental cars available still on that day.

Juneau: Alaskan Brewery & bottling company (must-do for DH), Mt Roberts tram or Mendenhall Glacier (all will be done with public transportation, outside of the ship)

Ketchikan: Wildlife Sanctuary, Lumberjack show, or Bering Sea crab boat tour

We are NOT hikers. My husband refuses to get into a helicopter or small plane, and gets seasick. He's such a sissy, so that limits our options :-)

Any feedback (good or bad) on what I have listed? Any other suggestions? Should I book anything now, or wait until we are on the ship?

[Susie]

I've been to Skagway, Ketchikan, and Juneau, so those are the only ones I can comment on.

Juneau - I would definitely get up to Mendenhall Glacier if you can. I went by helicopter and then went ice climbing up there. I get that that may be a no-go for you, but I've gotten to a glacier via ground transport in Iceland - it's worth it, if you can do it. I don't know about logistics at Mendenhall. Mendenhall was much prettier than the one I was on in Iceland (owing to all the volcanic ash in Iceland).

Skagway - we did the White Pass railway, which I was afraid would be a little lame, but was really pretty. We did a tour that did mountain biking back down, but I think it'd be worth it however you do it.

Ketchikan, I have less to say about. We chartered a fishing boat and spent the whole time in port out fishing. It was great, but I don't know if you're into that.

[stumpy]

Sept 3, 2012 17:49:25 GMT -5 jewel said:

Sorry :-)

We leave in less than 2 weeks and I'm getting a little worried because we don't have any excursions or activities booked, and not many even planned. I'd love some feedback on my ideas:

Fairbanks (3 days): Mary Shields dog sled tour, Chino Hot Springs, Riverboat Discovery. I do have a car booked. We'd really like a chance at seeing the Northern Lights - any good look-out spots?

Denali: nothing yet, but probably a bus tour of the park. Prices seem to be about $50 higher booked with princess, vs the bus company directly. Is it possible to book directly, and still get transportation from the hotel?

Skagway: Klondike summit/suspension bridge, white pass railway, or grizzly falls ziplining. No rental cars available still on that day.

Juneau: Alaskan Brewery & bottling company (must-do for DH), Mt Roberts tram or Mendenhall Glacier (all will be done with public transportation, outside of the ship)

hikaKetcn: Wildlife Sanctuary, Lumberjack show, or Bering Sea crab boat tour

We are NOT hikers. My husband refuses to get into a helicopter or small plane, and gets seasick. He's such a sissy, so that limits our options :-)

Any feedback (good or bad) on what I have listed? Any other suggestions? Should I book anything now, or wait until we are on the ship?

I know I am late . . . sorry!! Don't know what you have done or planned since you posted but here goes:
Juneau -- I would go whale watching. You waited until the last minute to book, so you might not be able to get Harv and Marv or Weather Permitting. Both are great companies and small boats. (Just take Bonine -- he shouldn't have a problem b/c these boats are stable) You don't want to be with hundred of other people and these boats are very stable and you can get closer and go quicker to the whales. If whales aren't your thing, I would go to Mt. Roberts. The tram is super easy and it is not a difficult hike. It is beautiful up there. Gorgeous vistas!

Skgway -- Of the things you listed, I would go ziplining. BUT I would suggest you look and see if your ship offers Glacier Point Wilderness Safari. You can get up close and personal with a glacier and you don't have to go on a helicopter. You have to take a boat there and you canoe up to a glacier -- but it is very stable. This excursion is only availble thru your ship and they normally sell out. But it is SPECTACULAR!!! If you can't do this, I would go dog sledding on land. Doing it on top of the glacier is way more fun and beautiful but if your DH refuses to get into a helicopter, then on land it will have to be.

Ketchikan: Bering Sea Crab tour would probably be what I would recommend. The lumberjack show is pretty lame. It is kinda fun but we only went b/c on our first trip to Alaska, the weather cancelled our floatplane trip and the lumberjack show was the only thing that didn't get cancelled due to bad weather.

I booked all the excursions month and months in advance. That being said, a ton of people just got off the boat and went to the booth or stands to book something. The concierge on your cruise should be able to book your stuff and have a few spots available.

I haven't done the land tour portion yet . . . but I have een to Alaska twice and you really can't go wrong!

[gtkim]

I'll address what some of the pps have not.

In Fairbanks we did the Riverboat Discovery and really enjoyed it. Be sure to sit on the top left. We also had a car and drove to Chena Hot Springs. We got in the springs and it was wonderful, and we also visited the ice bar they have there. We drove to see the Alaskan Pipeline and went to the Fairbanks brewery one night for dinner.

We booked a bus tour directly with Denali. We took the tour that goes to the Toklat stop. Princess did have a shuttle from the hotel to the Wilderness Activity Center, but when we got back it was 11:30 at night and they did not have a shuttle so we just walked back to the hotel which took abt 20 minutes. Some of the other guests had shuttles from where they were staying and offered to drop us, but honestly we wanted to walk and were glad we did because we saw a moose on the way.

I would also look into whale watching in Juneau. it was one of the highlights of our trip.

[aurora]

If the northern lights are out you should be able to see them anywhere it's dark out, esp. as far north as Fairbanks and Denali. Chena Hot Springs is in a valley between hills that will limit your sky vision a bit but you should still be able to see them there. The most common reason for missing them is forgetting to go outside and look up. In Fairbanks the other well-regarded tourist spots are the UAF museum and "Pioneer Park" (it's somewhat cheesy, but has some historic shows, buildings, and a beached riverboat with neat diorama).

I'm not sure about transportation from the hotel in Denali, but if you want to book the National Park shuttle (are you sure it's still running?) they often open up extra seats 2 days before the departure date. But, you might not have a problem getting a spot this time of year.

You got good feedback on the other towns already.

[FrozenSunshine]

Fairbanks is pretty this time of year. On a dark night if the northern lights are out, you'll be able to see them.

Silver Gulch Brewing is just outside of Fairbanks.

If you have any kids in your life that would like a letter from Santa Claus you can head out to the Santa Claus house in North pole.

A lot of stuff in Denali will be closed. The buses still run until snow closes the road. Ask your hotel if they have a shuttle.

No recommendations on the other cities, after 20 years in AK I still never made it to them.

[Deleted]

We just got back and it was awesome. We missed the aurora though. It was too cloudy when we were in Denali. Some people were able to see them. Just not us.

All I can comment on is Denali. I don't think the shuttle bus will be running then and even if it's not shut down yet for the season, you may not be able to make it in anyway due to snow. The park road has already been shut down a couple of times. We went to Prospector's Pizza and it was great pizza.