Hey my parents are taking the kids and grandkids on a cruise this year, to Alaska. For anyone who has been, what is a have to do shore excursion? I think whale watching would be good, but I am also not the biggest fan of "touristy" type things.

Like for instance, I have ridden in the big jet boat in Chattanooga for the Aquarium. It was ok, but not something I would say to someone to go do. Make sense?

Maybe I just need to get off in port and go wander around?

It's my parents 60th anniversary, and they probably won't go on most of these, so... I sort of want to be respectful of that too.

We did that back a few years ago, great trip. We salmon fished in one port, zip lined in another and both were great excursions. We also did the whale watching and it was great too. Lots to see and do for sure but those 3 were things were at the top of list. Have a great time and make great memories with your folks!!

We did whale watching, took a helicopter ride to a glacier, and went to a sled dog thing. Skip the sled dog thing. It was dumb as hell. I was expecting some pretty Siberian huskies pulling us around in the snow….it was some stinky ass whippet looking dogs pulling a wagon around a gravel road.

My sis booked some UTV thing. I don't think I want to mess with that. I want to see some stuff I wouldn't see again.

We paddled a canoe up to a glacier and walked on it, took a plane to Denali and landed

I haven’t been but we were looking at joining another friend and her grown girls for an Alaskan cruise this year. I’d say that it’ll really depend on which cruise, time of year, ports of call etc. Alaska is a big place. I want to fish so the Sept cruise was a bit late where we would be, she really wants to dog sled so it was a bit early.

Check out National Geographic Expeditions. Have not been but looking at trips, smaller ships and great learning experience.

When you do the whale watching excursion. Take the small boat. Don’t take the head boat persae. We took one with like 10 folks. Lot more personable. We even saw killer whales. Which they said was not rare but not common either. Saw the humpbacks also. Absolutely amazing to hear them blow that close.
We did the glacier hike also. Paddled a canoe and then walked to glacier. It was ok. Brother did the dog sledding. Said it was ok also.
Zip lining was stupid. Did a hike through the forest also with a big bus load of folks to see I think mendenhall glacier. Neat. Whale watching on small boat was the best though for me.
Eat you a crab roll at the Ketchikan stops. Take a hundo cause it’s expensive but it was so good.

Take a good pair of binoculars . I spent a good amount of sitting somewhere on the bow, watching where we were going and all the wildlife.

Take several pairs of good binoculars or somebody will constantly be borrowing yours.

Depends, what are the Ports of Call?

We go to Juneau first, then Skagway, go thru glacier bay on thw way back to Ketchikan, then to Victoria and back to Seattle.

We are going May 11th this year. Juneau we are going whale watching with Jayleen. Skagway a dog sled tour and some of our group is doing a train trip. Ketchikan we are going to goof off.

We love to cruise and this is our first Alaska trip. Looking forward to it

Hoggin did this about 2 years ago I believe

The wild bear rescue. Released into the wild is a joke. We thought out in the wild riding to see bear and wildlife. Like (cades cove). Nope there in big concrete walls 12-15 ft tall begging for food. The folks running the place feeds them just enough to keep them moving.

Wale watching was pretty good. We saw several nothing really big.
Bring binoculars Eagles are everywhere. Different animals can be seen from the ship.
Enjoy it……

We did a float plane trip out of Ketchikan with a company called Island Wings. Pilot (Michelle) was awesome. We flew over Misty Fjords and landed in a remote lake with huge bear tracks in the snow. Highly recommend!

We also did the short rail trip in Skagway and whale watching in a small boat in Juneau. Enjoyed those also.

We were on Holland America and I’d repeat that trip in a heartbeat.

Prepare to go back and go deeper in the state and really see Alaska. There's a whole lot more to see than whales and icebergs.

One more thing if you are going on Princess we get the plus program. It is $60 per person per day. It includes gratuity and WiFi. Also comes with coffees, desserts, 2 nicer lunches, and a few more ther things like 15 free alcoholic beverages a day. I can’t drink that many but I can drink 3-4 a day and the math works out. It’s good for us.

We fished out of Ketchikan. It was an excellent trip, caught several halibut, went to an Island where they cooked a fish stew and ate after fishing.

Mainly what I did. Bears on the banks. Eagles. Dolphins. Whales. Goats. You will see all these. This was my most favorite part of the trip. Looking at the or finding the bears on the bank.
I’d just sit up on the top or from our balcony spot and look.