This is a continuation of my Alaska cruise report. See Alaska: Just as Good the Second Time Around? and Hits and Misses from my First Cruise on Holland America Eurodam
On my recent cruise to Alaska, I booked a few ship excursions and also explored a bit on my own at our port stops.
Juneau, Alaska
My friend and I decided to wing it in Juneau. Of course, it was cloudy and rainy (like it was every day on this cruise and normal for Alaska this time of year). All of the helicopter and sea plan excursions were cancelled due to the foggy weather.
We saw a seal swimming around the ship (Sally the seal, as the ship’s wilderness guide calls her). The port has several totem poles:
Juneau employs locals to answer questions and point tourists in the right directly. We chatted with one such local for a bit, and then we decided to take a ride up the Goldbelt Tram. The tram is very close to port.
When we got to the top, we could see the cruise ships below through the clouds:
We decided to take a short hike at the top. We had several trails to choose from.
Unfortunately, by the time we made it to this lookout point, we were completely fogged in:
Oh well! We went back down the tram and decided to take a bus to Mendenhall Glacier. I had visited Mendenhall on my last visit to Juneau, but my friend had never been. We purchased tickets from one of several tour companies, and the cost was less than the cruise ship’s excursion to Mendenhall.
In my opinion, once you are at Mendenhall Glacier, you should definitely walk the trail to Nugget Falls if you are physically able. It takes 20-30 minutes each way, but you can get very close to the waterfall.
Unfortunately, the trail was a bit flooded during our visit. Still, it was worth it.
After hiking to Nugget Falls, we walked back toward the visitor’s center and took in some better views of Mendenhall Glacier:
After we took the bus back to the port, I returned to the ship while my friend explored Juneau a bit more. There are lots of restaurants and shops in the port area.
Glacier Bay National Park
Sailing through Glacier Bay isn’t a port stop, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention this part of the cruise. Our ship entered Glacier Bay National Park in the morning and left in the late afternoon. There are over 1000 glaciers in the park, although not all of them are visible from the water.
We could watch the scenery from the Crow’s Next lounge inside:
Or from many spots on the outside decks. Eurodam opened up the bow of the ship for viewing:
Glacier Bay is just gorgeous.
Park Rangers came on board and narrated our journey throughout the bay.
Wildlife and glaciers….what’s not to love?
Icy Strait Point
That same evening, our ship sailed to Icy Strait Point, Alaska. We did book a ship excursion at this port, a whale watching cruise for $195/person. Our tour departed just a few feet away from where we disembarked the cruise ship.
The day prior, we had seen a few dozen whales from the cruise ship with the help of the onboard wildlife expert. We wondered if we should have saved our money and not booked this whale watching trip. However, we were on a much smaller boat and were able to get closer to the whales. Totally worth it.
Sitka, Alaska
In Sitka, I booked this ship excursion: Best of Sitka: Otters Raptors and Bears. The tour started with a boat ride to view otters, whales and other wildlife. By this point in the trip, I had seen so much wildlife that I could have skipped this part.
Next, the tour headed to the Fortress of the Bear rehabilitation center. I could have stayed at this place longer. The bears were so interesting to watch!
Lastly, the tour took us to the Alaska Raptor Center.
We could see injured Eagles learning to fly as well as other raptors:
My friend couldn’t get on this tour due to lack of space, so she explored Sitka on her own and also visited Fortress of the Bear. If I visit Sitka again, I would do the same.
Ketchikan, Alaska
Since I had explored Ketchikan on my last cruise, I decided to book an adventurous excursion that I probably wouldn’t have splurged on if I had to pay for my entire family of five. I booked the Rain Forest Island Nature Walk and Seahawk Adventure. I’ve always wanted to ride in one of those rigid hull inflatable boats.
I loved the fast boat ride to the island!
We saw some sea stars on the beach:
My group had a snack by the camp fire before going on the guided nature walk:
The nature walk wasn’t too strenuous:
Our guide pointed out interesting things like this banana slug!
Overall, I loved this excursion. There was one huge problem, though. The nature walk was too strenuous for a few people in our tour group, and they were much slower than predicted. Our tour guide had to call our ship to let them know we would be late. We ended up being almost an hour late back to the ship! Since this was an official cruise excursion, the ship waited for us. But, I must admit, I was still a bit worried!
My friend opted to explore Ketchikan on her own and watch the Lumberjack show. Ketchikan is a cute, walkable town!
Victoria, Canada
Eurodam stopped in Victoria, Canada on our last evening for just a few hours. I opted to stay on the ship and pack.
Final Thoughts
Ship excursions in Alaska can be very expensive and aren’t necessary in every port. For this cruise, I did splurge a bit since I just had to pay for one person.
Good review!
Not sure if you suppose take stars out of the water – typically you should not as they can die after such encounter! I’ve seen a lot of dead sea stars in the Caribbean from people’s negligence.
Tour prices in Alaska almost always higher compared to other states, I guess due to short tourist season and lack of competition. Although I recall, in Seward there are several moderately-priced tour companies that offer full-day and half-day cruise-tours to see Kenai Fjords National Park, nature, whales, birds, glaciers, etc. Prices were $110 for half-day to $250 for full-day with meals, as they offered few routes. We did a full day excursion and it was very good. I’d recommend Kenai Fjords Tours.
There is a very nice safari park near Anchorage – Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, where you can drive-thru part of it, and walk another part: good bear, northern deer, and other animal viewing. You can also feed some of them.
Happy travels!
@Aleks Yes, there is still much of Alaska yet to explore! (I’ve heard the same about the sea stars–they did have them in water but took out briefly for us to see).