Reply to Favorite excursions in Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway?

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[quote=Anonymous]Ketchikan:
I booked a private walking tour in Ketchikan with Wild Wolf Tours that was outstanding. They picked us up in a van and drove us away from the crowds. We walked through a rain forest and then down on the beach. We were lucky enough to be there at low tide, so we spotted sea stars, tiny Dungeness crab, moon jellies, and an anemone. Our guide Jamie was excellent and provided lots of information about life in Ketchikan, history, and natural science. Then we went to Potlatch Park to see totem poles. I almost never buy souvenirs but I did buy a tiny totem pole at the gift shop.

The 10 year old LOVED the Lumberjack Show! His grandfather said the best show on the cruise was watching the 10 year old enjoy it. :) It was too cheesy for the 13 year old and some of the adults.

Skagway:
In Skagway, some of us did the two-hour version of the White Pass Railway, where you don’t get off the train. The scenery is very nice. Most people love this excursion; I thought it was fine, but I’m spoiled and have traveled quite a bit in Alaska, so it was a tad boring to me. The train does turn around so that everyone gets to view both sides, but I recommend sitting on the left if you can.

Some of us did the trolley tour and thought it was fine but not amazing. A big hit, however, was the Klondike Doughboy in town, which serves delicious fry bread. ;)

In the afternoon, we booked a tour with Ocean Raft, which everyone LOVED. I would describe this as mostly a thrill boat road with a side of wildlife seeing. You don orange onesies that keep you warm and dry (and make for cute photos!). The boat is a large inflatable with great maneuverability and speed. The captain did lots of donuts and other fun things that made it a fun ride, plus we saw about 10 bald eagles and two groups of seals. The scenery in Lynn Canal (which is a fjord, not a canal) was just beautiful. This was by far my favorite excursion in Skagway. Do be aware that the “seats” are kind of like saddles that you straddle. I would not recommend this tour for anyone with mobility issues or back/neck issues. Two of the grandparents opted not to go on this tour, which was a good idea; they might have struggled even to board the boat.

Juneau:
In Juneau, we went to the Alaska State Museum right as it opened and had it almost to ourselves. This is a new-ish and very well done museum which covers a lot of Alaska history, including much about Alaska Natives. I highly recommend it. It’s about 1 mile from the cruise terminal; we walked it easily.

Then we went on a private whale watching tour with Harv and Marv. We had an amazing day on the water! Some of our group have done a lot of whale tours and they were still impressed with our sightings. Our captain and naturalist identified most of the whales on sight. We saw lots of flukes and some feeding behaviors. We think we saw a mom and calf but they were a little too far in the distance. We were able to see a lot of the other whales much closer. The boat was very comfortable, and our captain and naturalist were excellent. It’s amazing that they can identify the individual whales on sight! We also saw seals and an otter.
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