Help a Tourist Out (Skagway, Ketchikan, Juneau) (how much, house)

[rwjoyak]

Looks like the Juneau dog sled camp is offered as a Disney cruise excursion - Dog Sled Summer Camp | Juneau Port Adventures & Shore Excursions | Disney Cruise Line. It's a little more pricey through Disney than on the camp's website but maybe worth it to reduce the possible "hassle" factor of arranging with an independent tour operator. The general issue of cruise line vs. independent operator excursions is subject to many factors and very much a personal preference. But given your description of your family and the limited time you have in the ports of call, seems like going with Disney excursions may be worth it for you (unless there's certain excursions you really want to do which Disney doesn't offer).

Have you looked through all the possible Disney excursions to see what's available in each port?

[rwjoyak]

Originally Posted by zenjenn

Is another few hours in Juneau worth sacrificing Victoria?

I'd approach it by thinking about which would give your entire family the most fun and the best long-term memories. I've spent lots of time in Juneau and visited Victoria a few times, and love both places. But I'm not sure Victoria would be that appealing to 7 and 9 year olds. If you could fit in the dog sled camp excursion by spending a little more time in Juneau, seems like this would be something your girls might treasure for years to come.

[rwjoyak]

My wife and I've done the lumberjack show in Ketchikan, and enjoyed it even though we grew up in Alaska. It is a bit hokey but well done. And has enough action for your kids to enjoy it. We viewed Potlatch Park as just okay, of course we had seen lots of totem poles before.

If your kids are really into wildlife, I think the raptor center would be a great choice. We enjoyed this the most of anything in Ketchikan (besides just walking around the town). Great way to get very close to eagles, etc. Maybe do this Disney excursion - Rainforest Wildlife Sanctuary, Raptor Center and Totems | Ketchikan Port Adventures & Shore Excursions | Disney Cruise Line...? Don't know how grandma might do with this, however.

[LadyAuke]

Originally Posted by zenjenn

Ketchikan

This is an extremely short port of call. Like 4 hours. This was the one port of call where I was thinking of just using the Disney excursion to go to Potlatch Totem Park and possibly a lumberjack show add-on. The lumberjack show looks like something I could see on TV, but other tourists seem to really love it, especially kids.

Anyone want to sell us on a different idea?

I'd skip the lumberjack show, personally. It's real hokey.
"Potlatch Totem Park" is not something I'm familiar with. I looked it up and it looks like it's run by the cruise agencies which is probably why I hadn't heard of it even though I apparently drive by it multiple times a day. I'm really not sure how I feel about treating a totem park as a theme park. Kinda itches at me the same way that seeing tourist shops selling ceramic "totem poles" with made in China stickers on the bottom. You should go to one of the others- Saxman or Totem Bight- if you really want to see totem poles. I like Totem Bight because it has a really nice beach and you often see sea lions and whales. [EDIT: Looks like Potlatch Park is located very close to Totem Bight. Not sure of the association there- I guess go at your own risk.]

I'd recommend the zip line but grandma probably couldn't do that one. You could take a whale watching trip or a floatplane to Misty Fjords.

You could also hop on the downtown shuttle and go up to the Totem Heritage Center. It's a museum and they have carvers working there and such. Next door is the Hatchery and Raptor Center which is really fun too in the summer because you can see all the fish and get up close with the birds. Both are run by the Ketchikan Indian Community and visiting them supports our community- most of my family is employed by KIC. My father in law runs the hatchery so be nice!

[zenjenn]

So Dyea Dave is highly recommended. We will almost definitely either go on one of their tours, or a custom tour from one of the other tour guides that are (formerly? - but still friendly) affiliated with Dyea Dave. Becky or her son "Klondike Kevin". Still deciding.. but whichever we decide, I am feeling very good about hiring one of these folks. It will allow us to see a lot of Skagway, I think, during our day there. We could even squeeze in husky time (with a dog-cart, not a sled, FINE with me) during that day.

Juneau is tougher for me. There's lots to see in Juneau. EVERYONE seems to think taking a helicopter ride and standing on a glacier is a great life experience, but I admit I have reservations about paying $250+ a pop for 30 minutes in a helicopter and 20 minutes standing on a glacier, especially if I am going to pay yet more $$ to see anything else of interest in Juneau. Hmm.

Thanks for the thoughts on Ketchikan. The wildlife/raptor sanctuary might be a great alternative... I think we may go that route.

[jlawrence01]

We did the scenic railway in Skagway when we were in Alaska. If you children have never been on a train, I guess it would be pretty interesting. However, it did NOT do a lot for us.

If I had to redo it, I would have rented a car at the dock and driven to Whitehorse, YT for the day.

As for Juneau, my wife did the flightseeing and thought it was cool. I took the bus to the glacier and thought that was pretty interesting. We really enjoyed the salmon cookoff which was the high point of the trip.

[tigre79]

Originally Posted by zenjenn

Juneau is tougher for me. There's lots to see in Juneau. EVERYONE seems to think taking a helicopter ride and standing on a glacier is a great life experience, but I admit I have reservations about paying $250+ a pop for 30 minutes in a helicopter and 20 minutes standing on a glacier, especially if I am going to pay yet more $$ to see anything else of interest in Juneau. Hmm.

Would it work for you to take a slightly cheaper flightseeing tour in a plane and not stand on a glacier but have more money left for something else? That's what I would do. I mean, being on a glacier is pretty cool, but the flightseeing part is way better. I'd compromise on the landing part before I'd scrap the flight altogether.

[LadyAuke]

Originally Posted by zenjenn

Thanks for the thoughts on Ketchikan. The wildlife/raptor sanctuary might be a great alternative... I think we may go that route.

It's a really nice hatchery. I haven't been on one of the tours so I don't know exactly what they do but there's a big theater space at the end of the tour and I think they might do storytelling and such there. I do know they have carvers in occasionally too.

For what it's worth, I asked my partner about Potlatch Totem park. He is a Tsimshian native and grew up in Ketchikan, but had also never heard of it. I'd steer clear.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by LadyAuke

It's a really nice hatchery. I haven't been on one of the tours so I don't know exactly what they do but there's a big theater space at the end of the tour and I think they might do storytelling and such there. I do know they have carvers in occasionally too.

I did take the tour of the hatchery. I thought it was pretty interesting at the time and well worth the effort.

[LadyAuke]

Originally Posted by zenjenn

Juneau is tougher for me. There's lots to see in Juneau. EVERYONE seems to think taking a helicopter ride and standing on a glacier is a great life experience, but I admit I have reservations about paying $250+ a pop for 30 minutes in a helicopter and 20 minutes standing on a glacier, especially if I am going to pay yet more $$ to see anything else of interest in Juneau. Hmm.

I'm from Juneau- I have never been on one of the heli tours but I had a friend that worked at coastal over the summers. I think it's probably worth the money especially if you're never going to come back to Southeast.
You can still get a really nice view of Mendenhall just by getting on one of the buses and going out to the interpretive center. When I was a kid on nice days we'd go swimming in the lake and bring iceburgs in for the tourists to see, and if your kids are brave they might really enjoy doing such a thing too.
South of town there's a restaurant called Thane Ore House. It's a salmon bake style thing that I'm 99% sure is owned by local residents. I think it is also open during the winter but I can't say I've recently gone during the winter because I could only afford to go when my folks were in town which was never in the winter. That said, it's a good price for the food you get which is really tasty and very fresh. It's fun to watch the fishing boats dock and unload their catch right there are the restaurant.
Another fun thing to do in Juneau is a Tracy Arm tour. It's longer than the whale watching trips and you get really close to tidewater glaciers. Lots of seals hauled out on the iceburgs which are much bigger than what you'd see at Mendenhall.
You don't say when you are going, but there are some interesting events occasionally. Fourth of July is pretty fun over on Douglas if you can get over there and mingle with the locals. Frontier Days is towards the end of summer and is also fun, I especially like the log rolling contests. It's also a Celebration year, we're all coming up from Ketchikan and Tlingits, Haida, and Tsimshian from all over southeast will be in Juneau for dancing, carving, and other cultural activities. Basically we're going to stuff ourselves with fish and fried bread and dance around. That's in early-ish June.
Just some thoughts.