Reservations for sight seeing tours??

Here's a nice write-up of the ferry trip. A highlight for us was going through the Wrangell Narrows (see Day 5-6). It is truly, very narrow and shallow and cruise ships cannot use this passage. The waters have many red and green navigational lights. It looked like Christmas. We came to a tiny village which was up on the hill and the ferry captain slowed almost to a stop. The townsfolk ran down the hill to greet us, waving and laughing. They don't see many ferries come through so this was a big thing for them. We were so close to land that we could carry on conversations with them. It was truly awesome!

http://www.dot.state.ak.us/amhs/sample/10_ypr_hns.shtml

Been going to Alaska, mostly for work, since 1972, and Sitka is, hands down, my favorite town in the state. But the town and road system are so small that I would suggest leaving your RV in Juneau and taking the AMHS ferry from there to Sitka for 3 days (about the minimum time based on the summer ferry schedule). A van service will take you into town from the ferry terminal, then you can walk to the major attractions, rent bikes and sight-see along the coast, take a whale/sea otter-viewing boat tour, maybe enjoy a flight-seeing trip or do some salmon fishing.

Cruise ship passengers actually spend less time in Sitka than in any other SE Alaska port because there is no cruise ship dock. So, everyone has to be lightered on and off their ships. The "pro" is that they are in town only part of a day because they eat breakfast and dinner aboard ship. The "con" is that some shops, restaurants, and other attractions are only open while the cruisers are in town and close up shop when the last lighter leaves.

If it were my trip, I wouldn't miss Sitka. The ferry trip from Juneau is so short and the scenery so spectacular that you wouldn't want to bother with a cabin. And the ferry ride through Peril Straits (which cruise ships never travel!) makes it worth every penny!

We loved Sitka, former capital of Russian America. We took a small motorhome and got on/off the ferry multiple times. Most of the time we did sightseeing on our own, but we did do some tours.

Dale

Yeti plus wrote:
We took the AMHS ferry this summer ( 2016). We started in Prince Rupert, went to Ketchican, Wrangell, Juneau, Petersburg, Haines and Skagway. Due to the ferry schedule it took us 12 days. We were there early June about 10 to 22.
We had no problems getting on any of the side excursions. All the cruises are timed to leave early A.M. and get back to the docks in time for the cruise ships to head out to their next port, usually about 4 P.M.
Most of our ferry rides were boarding at 11 PM and exiting about 7 AM so we grabbed a cabin and slept and were ready to go as soon as we got off the ferry.
I don't remember the cost but it was a do it once , don't need to do it again trip.
As far as arriving in Skagway mid May, might be a little early. The border crossing to the Yukon doesn't open until the snow is off the road, so it depends on snow cover. Check to see when the attractions open for the season.
We didn't go to Sitka, but Wrangell and Petersburg were good stops.
Enjoy the north country!
Brian

The border crossings from Skagway to Whitehorse is open year round except when the highway is closed due to storms. You will need to check if it will be closed at night.

Here in Juneau there are many little booths next to the cruise ship docks for booking tours. Usually at a lesser cost because they cut out the cruise ship kick backs. For example, there are several bus companies that will take you out to the Mendenhall Glacier for about 10 bucks each way. The bus drivers give the same info talks as the cruise ship buses.

Since cruising to Alaska has become so popular, most cruise ships only stay in town for half a day. As soon as one ship leaves another is ready to dock. Really cuts down the time a visitor has in each community.

If you want to know when cruise ships are in town in order to avoid busy days, the Juneau Chamber of Commerce posts a calendar showing which ship and how many passengers/crew will be in town each day. I don't know if the ships schedules have been finalized at this time.

We took the AMHS ferry this summer ( 2016). We started in Prince Rupert, went to Ketchican, Wrangell, Juneau, Petersburg, Haines and Skagway. Due to the ferry schedule it took us 12 days. We were there early June about 10 to 22.
We had no problems getting on any of the side excursions. All the cruises are timed to leave early A.M. and get back to the docks in time for the cruise ships to head out to their next port, usually about 4 P.M.
Most of our ferry rides were boarding at 11 PM and exiting about 7 AM so we grabbed a cabin and slept and were ready to go as soon as we got off the ferry.
I don't remember the cost but it was a do it once , don't need to do it again trip.
As far as arriving in Skagway mid May, might be a little early. The border crossing to the Yukon doesn't open until the snow is off the road, so it depends on snow cover. Check to see when the attractions open for the season.
We didn't go to Sitka, but Wrangell and Petersburg were good stops.
Enjoy the north country!
Brian

We didn't take our RV on our ferry trip. We rented a Class C in Skagway and re-rented in Anchorage where it was cheaper. We have also driven the whole route. Each way gives you a different perspective. Our ferry trip left from Bellingham on May 15. We were gone a month and a RV park in Birch Bay let us store our RV there while gone. We were shuttled to Bellingham. We flew back to Bellingham from Anchorage after the month. The Alaskan Ferry route included all that you mentioned except Sitka. We enjoyed Ketchikan the best. We weren't in Wrangell or St. Petersburg long enough but from what we saw we wouldn't pay extra for stopping there. I understand Sitka is very nice.

Not sure what tours out of Ketchikan you are planning but to do the little town you don't need a tour. It's very walkable. There were tour vans waiting at the ferry in Juneau which took us to Mendenhall Glacier. We didn't need reservations at that time. No cruises there. When we got off in Skagway there were no cruise ships there for two wonderfully quiet days. Then they arrived.... :( We left.

Of course, every day is different but we had awesome weather mid-May. We got a room but if we did it again we would not. There were plenty of nice lounge chairs inside for sleeping and it was quiet at night. Young workers going up had their tents outside and we enjoyed their antics and guitar-playing during the day. They lived on peanut butter and jelly. :)

Mid-May you will see a lot of waterfalls along the trip. Bears were at the water's edge fishing and whales were plentiful. It was beautiful with sun every day. Hope your weather will be just as nice.

Another year we drove up and spent the whole summer. It was absolutely fantastic! Again, we lucked out with the warmest, driest summer they had, as stated in the newspapers. No mosquitoes either!

When we did the trip from Prince Rupert in 2009 we did a couple of tours and the only problem we had was a good many of the tours expect you to be aboard a cruise ship with their concierge making the reservations. We were still able to make the tours we wanted, mainly the Misty Fjords tour out of Ketchikan by getting reservations a few days in advance. Don't forget to get the Alaskan Tour Saver coupon book if you haven't already.

We stopped at each major island and didn't see the cost increase much because of the stops. With the exception of Sitka you will be passing each of those other ports on the way between Ketchikan and Juneau. You also will only be on the ship for five or six hours between stops (except for Sitka) and will not need a stateroom. The trip to Sitka did add a bit but was well worth it.

You are aware to make separate reservations for the MH and the toad? You do not want to pay for that five feet between them when you tow and there are times you will have to back up inside the ship and don't want the toad attached. At each boarding I drove the MH and the DW drove the Jeep.

That link above to Prince Rupert is to the start of our Alaskan time in our blog. You can peruse that blog to see what we did and where we stopped and camped.

puttd wrote:
I am planning on going to Alaska in late May via the ferry system. A couple questions.
1) is there any problem with moving things up so as to arrive in Skagway mid May.
2) Ive read somewhere that the tours in Ketchikan, etc. sell out in advance because of the cruise ships. Can anyone give me a reality check on that? Hate to have everything totally booked, but dont want to miss out on some key side trips.
3). Current iterary is Prince Rupert to Ketchikan to Jumeau and then Skagway. Are wrangel, sitka and petersburg worth the additional $1500 in ferry fees that they would cost, given that I am travelling with a motorhome and toad.

In my limited experience (been to all of Southeast, but never tried to compete with cruise ship traffic):

- Can't imagine a real problem with moving your trip as long as the sailings fit.
- for the side trips: Like anything, when the potential market is increased by several thousand, supply can get overcome. Typically, for any given type of side excursion (fishing, sightseeing, etc) the vendors affiliated with the cruise ships will book up the fastest for "in port" times. Non-affiliated vendors a bit slower. Air-based sightseeing is probably the most constrained market (between limited aircraft, limited weather, and lots of potential customers). FWIW, you'll see some spectacular scenery on side trips that you won't see off the ferry, although that scenery isn't bad.
- Wrangell, Sitka, Petersburg, etc.: Off the wall suggestion, but consider leaving the MH and toad in your jumping off spot (Prince Rupert or possibly Bellingham) and renting a Class C in Alaska. Might pencil out the same or better on a $$ basis vs. cost of ferry plus cost of driving. All of Souteast is beautiful: on one hand, I wouldn't miss 1/2 of it (i.e. Wrangell, Sitka, Petersburg) for $1500. On the other hand, you don't need to go there to "check the box" of SE Alaska.
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