Are you a first-time cruiser to Alaska and wondering: What are the can’t miss excursions at each port? Or do you want to make the most out of a limited budget for excursions? Or maybe you want to splurge on something, but you’re wondering what?
Well, you’re in the right place! This guide will help you pick the perfect excursions for your first cruise to Alaska, regardless of your budget.
My very first Alaska cruise was on my honeymoon ten years ago. Since then, I moved to downtown Seattle within walking distance of the cruise piers, so I hop on a ship to Alaska multiple times each season. I’ve sailed to Alaska on nearly every cruise line and have experienced most of the popular excursions at each port. I’ve cruised to Alaska with my family, with my elderly mother, alone with my young son, and solo. In fact, I’ve started telling people I summer in Alaska because I spend so much time cruising there every year! And I’ve learned a lot, through both extensive research and personal experience, since my first Alaskan cruise where I lost three fingers to frostbite and wasted a lot of money on expensive excursions booked through our cruise ship that weren’t that great. Live and learn and prevent your cruise friends from making the same mistakes!
Below you’ll find my favorite three excursions for each Alaska port based on your budget: budget friendly, moderate budget, or big splurge. Note that I booked all of these through private companies. I advise against booking cruise ship excursions unless you have onboard credit you need to burn through – they are more expensive and sometimes crowded and rushed. However, if you’d rather book through your cruise line, you will probably find similar tours available. As always, do whatever you’re most comfortable with and best suits your individual needs.
Icy Strait Point, located on Chichagof Island, has a rich and interesting history as a salmon cannery and important fixture of nearby Hoonah, employing and even temporarily housing residents of Hoonah when a fire destroyed the town in 1944. But today, Icy Strait Point serves solely as a cruise ship destination privately owned by Alaskan Natives though the Huna Totem Corporation. It’s a gorgeous spot and easy to do on your own with a small budget. Go here to learn the 10 things I love about Icy Strait Point and about all the free and inexpensive things you can do on your own there including a free museum, a beautiful and easy hike, shopping, and restaurants.
If you want to see a bear in the wild on your cruise to Alaska, Icy Strait Point is your best bet. Why, you ask? Because the nearby Spasski River valley is known for having one of the highest densities of brown bears anywhere in the world. You won’t see them on your own though, you’ll need a guide experienced in bear tracking. Here’s the tour I’ve taken: We’re Going On A Bear Hunt. You can also read my full review of the tour (and find out if we actually saw any bears) here.
If your ship isn’t calling in Icy Strait Point and you want to see whales, don’t fret, you can also see them in Juneau (more information to come), but if you are lucky enough to be visiting Icy Strait Point, you’re in for a treat. Or I should say the whales are in for a treat and you’re in for a show! Icy Strait Point is an excellent place to see humpback whales bubble feeding (see image below), because they are attracted to the nutrient rich waters of nearby Glacier Bay. Go here for pricing and tour information.
I have two great options for you if you want to do Juneau on a budget. You can do one or both depending on how much you want to spend and how much time you have in port.
Option 1: Mt. Roberts Tramway (also called the Goldbelt Tram). This aerial tramway located a short walk from the cruise pier ascends 3,819 feet in just six minutes and offers spectacular views, hiking trails, a nature center, a restaurant, and a gift shop at the top. The cost is $35 for adults, $18 for children 3-12, and free for children under 3.
Option 2: Take a shuttle to the Mendenhall Glacier. Start at the Visitor’s Center where you can learn about the area and grab a map, then take the short, easy hike to Nugget Falls which is incredible in its own right, but also gets you pretty much as close as you can get to the glacier without a boat or helicopter. You can purchase shuttle tickets in advance here or you can purchase them when you get off the boat.
Juneau is one of the best ports on your Alaska cruise to go whale watching (Icy Strait Point is the other) and there’s a great tour that combines whale watching with the Mendenhall Glacier for those with a moderate budget for Juneau. Go here to check current pricing and availability.
For those with room in the budget to splurge and who want a once-in-a-lifetime experience (not to mention the best photos ever for Instagram!), I recommend a Juneau helicopter tour and guided icefield walk. Your table mates at dinner will be jealous!
Ketchikan is an easy port to do on your own. It’s a quaint town full of interesting history and sites within walking distance of your cruise ship. For those with a limited budget for excursions, I’d strongly suggest doing Ketchikan on your own and saving your money for paid excursions at other ports. See my Guide For Touring Ketchikan On Your Own, which includes a map with eight highlights identified.
If you’d like to see a bit more of Ketchikan with a guide or want to limit walking, I’d recommend doing an all-in-one tour which will include a nice overview of the history, culture, and wildlife of the area as you travel to the famous salmon ladder, the Saxman Native Village, Rotary Beach (where you’ll look for whales and other wildlife), and Herring Cove (where you’ll look for bears). Note that you’ll only get a passing glance of Creek Street on this tour, so you may want to head there on your own either before or after your tour. You can find my full review of the all-in-one tour here. And booking and pricing information can be found here.
If you want to splurge in Ketchikan I’d strongly recommend a seaplane tour of Misty Fjords National Monument. This remote wilderness area is only accessible by air or sea, and while some cruise ships travel through it, you’ll see much, much more from the air. Booking and pricing information can be found here.
There are so many free or inexpensive things to do in Sitka within walking distance of the ship shuttle stop (their is a free shuttle that will transport you from the ship into Sitka) that you’ll have to book another cruise just to see them all (bummer, right?)! See my 9 Free Or Inexpensive Things To Do Near Port In Sitka for details and a map.
If you want to see some highlights of Sitka that are not within walking distance or have mobility issues, I recommend this moderately priced tour. You’ll visit Fortress of the Bear, the Alaska Raptor Center, the Russian Bishop’s House, St. Michael’s Cathedral, and the Sitka National Historic Park/Totem Park.
For a splurge (which isn’t actually much of a splurge priced at around $100), explore the beauty of the Alaskan coastline around Sitka in a kayak. If kayaking in Alaska isn’t on your bucket list, it really should be. Go here for tour details.
Skagway is home to just over 1,000 residents, but welcomes over 1 million tourists, mostly arriving via cruise ship, every year. It is best known as a former Gold Rush town, restored to offer a sometimes foggy glimpse back to an earlier time, but with the requisite diamonds, fudge, and novelty t-shirts to make it quickly come into focus as a popular cruise port.
It’s a fun little town to just explore around and do a bit of shopping. You can also hit the Visitor’s Center (on 2nd and Broadway) or one of the small, free museums representing different parts of life during the Gold Rush. The museums include the Park Museum (right next to the Visitor Center), the Mascot Saloon Museum (3rd and Broadway), the Chilkoot Trail Center (between 5th and 6th Ave), and the Moore Homestead (400 Spring St).
If you want to work off the three desserts you ordered for dinner the night before (come on, I can’t be the only one), you can hike to Lower Dewey Lake or walk to Reid Falls and the Gold Rush Cemetery.
If you have a moderate budget for Skagway and especially if you have kids with you, I’d recommend a sled dog excursion. You’ll see beautiful scenery on your drive up to the musher camp and enjoy a comfortable summer ride on a scenic trail winding through stunning mountain vistas on a UTV partially pulled by a team of eager canine athletes in training. Plus, you’ll get to play with puppies and learn more about the life of a musher! Here’s a review of the tour I did. That exact tour isn’t available anymore, but this one is very similar. There will likely also be one available through your cruise ship if you want to go that route.
There is one excursion I recommend to all first-time cruisers to Alaska: the White Pass Railroad in Skagway. In fact, I wrote a whole blog post about why. I promise this will be a highlight of your cruise to Alaska if you decide to do it. Just look at this view:
So now that we’ve covered excursions at each of the common ports on cruises to Alaska (I’ve also been to Anchorage, Homer, and Kodiak on cruises to Alaska, but they are less common so I didn’t include them here), I want to mention excursions available through your ship that get you up close to a glacier on your scenic cruising day (depending on your itinerary it will be the Sawyer Glacier, the Hubbard Glacier, or the Margerie Glacier in Glacier Bay). These excursions are pricey, but spectacular. They will give you a better sense of how massive the glaciers are and how small you are in comparison (I still think you’re pretty special though). If it’s in your budget, I’d go for it! If it’s not, don’t worry – you’ll get an awesome view of the glacier right from your cruise ship.
So with that, feel free to ask questions in the comments or share Alaska excursions you’ve done that you feel should have made the list.
Class Dismissed.
Homework (10 points): Check out all my Alaska port posts here and my Guide To Packing For Alaska.
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