The White Pass RR in Skagway is a "can't miss" You take a train way up in the mountains and the views are amazing. For Juneau Mendenhall glacier is a must as well.

I agree with jacketwatch. Also, in Talkeetna, we went to the IDIDEROD sled dog training place... Fascinating!!!!

We went to Alaska last summer, July 1st week. Weather was perfect, coolish a couple of days. Make sure you bring layers, fleece jacket, etc. Don't think you would need hats, gloves, etc. but you never know. The older crowd may feel the chill. Otherwise, we had days in the 70's and one day of rain.

Alaska tours are very expensive through the ships but sometimes you don't have many options. I am a "plan my own itinerary" person, usually book private tours when we visit ports. We

Ketchikan - very pretty port town. We had booked a flight plane tour b4 we left home and there was a van waiting for us at the port. They are pricey ($200. and up) but we loved that day. Awesome scenery from the plane. It is about 1.5 hr. trip. After we were done w/ the plane ride, we walked around Ketchikan and browsed the stores. Lots of stores to see. There are lots of stores to buy souvenirs here.

Juneau - we loved our day in Juneau. Here is where you can get off the ship and sightsee on your own. We got off the ship and walked a very short distance to where you can grab the cable car up the top of Mt. Roberts (about 1500-2,000 ft.). The scenery is breathtaking on the way up, it is not a scary ride! There is a visitor's center at the top and also a bald eagle in a cage that was injured. There are trails that you can hike also. You could easily spend a couple of hours there. There is also a restaurant if you get hungry.

We bought a combo ticket for the cable car ride up Mt. Roberts and then a bus tour out to Mendenhall Glacier, which is a MUST see for everyone. I would not recommend buying the combo ticket. If you just want to go up the cable car, you can buy tickets for that.

We did not have sufficient time on the bus tour to spend at the glacier. The driver gave a commentary on the way to/from the glacier but he was terrible! There is so much to see at the glacier so I would suggest that you take the shuttle bus out there instead.

Most Mendenhall Glacier visitors see it as a shore excursion from a cruise. If you're looking for a lower-cost way to see it from a cruise ship, or if you're visiting Juneau on your own, Mendenhall Glacier Transport's blue "Glacier Express" busses run to the glacier all day long. Below is a link with info on this as well as Ketchikan, Skagway, etc.

http://gocalifornia.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=gocalifornia&cdn=travel&tm=5&f=20&su=p974.8.121.ip_p284.9.336.ip_p531.51.336.ip_&tt=2&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.mightygreattrips.com/se_alaska_shore_excursions.htm

Hope this helps. We loved Alaska and would return in a heartbeat!

Denali - we took the bus tour through the cruise line but you can take the Eiselon bus as well. If you want to see bears, then this is where you would be mostly likely to see them. We saw moose, elk, dall sheep, etc. We had a great day on this trip. It is a long day as we were 8 hr. on the "school bus" but it was so worth it. Denali was our favorite part of the cruise and if you don't visit there then you miss seeing what Alaska is all about. We passed through Talkateena on the train and people got off that were staying there. It's a big fishing place because lot's of fishermen got off the train!

Denali you can take a trip out to Jeff King's training camp for the Iditerod and see all the dogs and how they are trained for the race. There were many newborn pups there also and we got to hold them! Very cool. It was much cheaper than taking a dog sled ride.

Seward is where we boarded our ship but we didn't spend any time there.

Have a great cruise. If you would like any further info, just holler!

May

I forgot to mention the long daylight hours! We took the Denali bus tour and left around 2 pm and toured Denali the whole 8 hrs. in daylight. Midnight, still daylight! It was really nice to be able to do so much w/ the long daylight hours.

The best money we spent on the whole trip-helicopter ride and a walk on a glacier. The very best. My husband gets motion sickness and is deathly afraid of heights. He decided he would never have this opportunity again so he went. He loved it.

Ditto to mrscpa. We did this as well.

Instead of taking the White Pass Rail Road in Skagway, you can take a bus that parallels the train and actually stops so you can take photos.

If you take the round trip on the train, you're on the train the whole time without ever getting off...pretty boring.

The train runs about $120.00 per person. The bus (or van) is around $40.00.

There is a "bear sighting" excursion available flying out of Ketchiken if you want to see bear that badly. However, you wouldn't want to be too close ...

Jim, thanks for the info on the bus vs rail ride in Skagway. I am going to keep that in mind for our next trip. We did not go to Skagway so it was not an option for us. However, think the bus ride would be more interesting.

We did the train from Denali to Juneau and did enjoy that experience. However, it was a long 8 hrs. on a train w/ no getting off.

Of all the cruises we have been on, Alaska has been my favorite cruise. Never thought I'd say that as we love cruising to Europe. We can't wait to do another Alaskan cruise.

As far as bear sighting, we did the floatplane trip in Ketchikan (it was a wonderful experience) and the pilot landed on the lake because he sighted a bear coming out of the woods. Just as the plane landed, the bear got spooked and ran back into the woods! LOL You may see bears but you may not either. I am sure the pilots know where to find those bears!

Wished we had done the helicopter landing on the glacier but we had to pick and choose what we did and our group opted for the floatplane tour. I am very glad we did that; however, when we got to the dock and saw the size of the plane, we had reservations about doing this. Once we were up in the air, it was a spectacular experience. I would highly recommend it to everyone.

we did a van/train combo excursion in Skagway, and I have to say I thought the scenery from the train was much better. With the van part, we stopped often for photos, but its a little bit monotonous after a while...the views don't change that much. Its true, photography from the train is very difficult, but I was surprised how much more I enjoyed the ride than the van. Maybe its because you can get up and go outside, and get the fresh air, and open view that you can't get from inside the van.

I agree with those who said the helicopter glacier landing is a must-do if your budget can handle it. We did it in Juneau with Coastal Helicopters, and it was worth every penny.

oh, and if you have enough time in Seward for one of the longer Kenai Fjords boat trips this was outstanding. Lots of good scenery, lots of marine wildlife...whales, orcas, otters, bald eagles, puffins, and a little bit of glacier viewing too. We did the 9 hour northwestern fjord trip with Kenai Fjords Tours, but I think the shorter ones (7 hours to Ailik Glacier) would be good as well. Just make sure to get one that gets out of the bay. The really short ones (4 hours) are not so worthwhile.

We completed our cruise June 22. In Juneau, some members of our party (a 5 year old and his mother) did the boat trip starting at the Mendenhall Glacier. They really liked that. We (the middle agers) hired a taxi which took us to the glacier and waited while we walked to the waterfall. He also gave us a tour of Juneau.The taxi driver may have told a few tall tales, but he was amusing. He charged us $55/hr. With tip, it cost us $120. It was fun and we got to go at our own pace. The glacier and waterfall is definitely a must see.

In Skagway, we did the train ride. It was good. Not sure what else you would do in Skagway if you didn't do some sort of excursion. There's not a lot to see there, except of course the Red Onion Pub and the brothel tour.

In Ketchikan, we did the plane ride/boat ride combo. We wish we had just done the plane excursion. The boat ride was ok, but it got a little tedious after the first 1 1/2 hours.

We talked to other cruisers who did the dog sledding excursion and loved it.

And agree with previous posters about clothing...put away those summer white pants and bring on the fleece and Gortex coat.

Luvtotravel15. The only way to get to Juneau is fly-in or ship. There is no rail service from Denali to Juneau.