Rocky2
Ventura, Ca.
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Joined: 01/14/2004
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No one has mentioned the Totem parks in Sitka or in Ketchikan. Sitka was one of my favorite towns and is not reached by road and has a great walking park. I mention this because once you have visited Alaska by cruise ship it is likely you will drive in later.
Renting a car in Juneau gives you much more freedom at much less cost than the arranged tours available on ship. You can do your touring and even get in a little fishing along the way.
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Davydd
Minnesota
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Joined: 11/27/2005
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We took a Holland America cruise Labor Day week and kayaked in Ketchikan. We hit port a little late and rushed down the gangplank hoping not to be late for the group. As it turned out we were the only ones scheduled and that was with our 1,300 person ship and another 2,000 person ship in port! It was about 50 degrees and drizzling.
We went out. It was our first time in a kayak though we had canoed quite a bit. We now own four kayaks - two hard shell sea kayaks and two inflatables. It has become our water sport of choice. They put us in dry suits and tandem kayaks that were very stable. The guide went with us in his single kayak and another person hung back in a motor boat for safety. We kayaked in the harbor. It was not strenuous. We kayaked leisurely and mostly along the shore saw lots of wildlife in and out of the water. The highlight was two American Bald Eagles sitting on a branch together probably not more than 20 feet over our heads.
We were done by 11 AM and had the rest of the afternoon for walking about the town.
Davydd
2005 Pleasure-Way Plateau Sprinter B Camper Van
Davydd is the Welsh spelling for David with an English twist using a v instead of an f.
See Our Pleasure-Way and my pork tenderloin sandwiches
Visited states in an RV
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Polishnurse
Schodack, NY
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Joined: 03/13/2007
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I think Ketchikan is the rain capital of the world, I look at there web cam and have yet to a sunny day. There proud of that. Guess that's why that hole coast line for the most part is a rain forest.
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Matt and Jerie
Santa Clara, CA
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Joined: 07/28/2003
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We cruised to Alaska this past June on RCCL's Serenade of the Seas. I would highly reccomend checking out the Alaska forum at cruise critic dot com. We found a ton of excellent info there.
In Juneau we went zip lining- I was a bit hesitant- but so glad I did it!
In Skagway- we rented a car and drove up to Emerald Lake in the Yukon- what beautiful land Alaska is! We thought about taking the train- but prefer a less crowded, do as we please sort of trip.
Enjoy your cruise and Alaska!
-Jerie
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TomG100
North Royalton, Ohio
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Joined: 08/19/2007
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We did that exact cruise 2 years ago. The best excursion we went on was called something like a wildlife cruise. I think it was out of Sitka. We saw seals, otters, whales, bald eagles,and others. Definitely money well spent. We also went gold panning combined with a salmon bake. I really enjoyed the gold panning part. The salmon bake was OK, but we got enough food on the ship.
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ladymc53
Canyon Lake, Texas
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Joined: 04/20/2007
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We're currently on the cruise and have 1 stop left - Victoria, Canada. To be honest, I'm very disappointed. It's more cruise than Alaska...rush,rush, rush. We LOVED Sitka and the tour we took. At Juneau we saw whales and seals which was good. The whales especially. Ketchican - the lumberjack show was very cute and fun - I'm a former Dawson, so I cheered for the Canadian Dawson Camp....the weather is abmomnibal...rainy, cold and socked in - can't see too much...but what you do see is the bomb! Would I recommend this trip...hesitantly yes, but with reservations...Would I recommend Holland America...definately not...too much to say about that, so I'll leave it alone. Would I recommend cruising? No...I'm too independent and all the luxury is fine, but I'm missing my 5'er and the simple life. Give me a campfire and an iron skillet and I'm in heaven!
Bill & Linda
Ladymc & Shuttlebird
2008 Silver Dodge Diesel Dually 3500 - "The Silver Bullet"
Towing 1998 35 ft. Newmar 5th wheel
20K Husky Hitch & Blue Ox Bedsaver
Handheld Garmin Nuvi 350 GPS AND Sat. in dash mounted GPS in the truck
READY TO ROLL!
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AntiqFreq
Sunny South Florida USA
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Joined: 03/20/2003
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It has been about eight years since we took a Princess cruise from Vancouver to Seward. Did the usual stops along the way. In Seward we rented a van and headed
north to Anchorage, then on to Talkeetna and took a small plane and landed on a gladier for a hike. In Anchorage there is lots to do also.
Wish we had more time there, but had to head back south and home out of Anchorage airport.
We plan to take the RV to Alaska and hopefully once we get there we can stay about a month.
I'll be over at the Alaska forum soon getting info as to routes, places to camp and also WHEN is the best time to go. Guess that would be during June or July when it is warmest there - but I am sure others will chime in help us out!
Jo
2007 Keystone Cougar, 291 RLS
2003 Ford F250, 7.3L, Lariat, CC, SB, 4x4
Isspro Gauges-overhead mount, 14K Pullrite Superglide
Firestone RideRite airbags & pressure gauge
Two Honda eu2000i generators, parallel kit
Bell Morningstar Canoe, bent shaft paddles
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ladymc53
Canyon Lake, Texas
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Joined: 04/20/2007
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Victoria and High Tea at the Empress Hotel was fun...Victoria is gorgeous...very glad we did the excursion there (I was thinking of staying on the ship and taking a nap). Got back home tonight at 9 PM and kickin' back....ah, HOME!
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Chuck Linn
southeast OK
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Joined: 10/05/2007
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We used to live in Eckulna just south of wasilla and there is so much to see I don't know if i could take a cruise because of all the things that you can see that you don;t get to see on a cruise. We came out of AK on the ferry and I would probably go back as we can take the MH with us and then be able to get to places where you cant on the cruise, Kenai, Fairbanks, Denali ect. Also the ferry stops at most of the same towns and you do get to get off and sight see just not as long nor in the luxury of the cruise but get to meet some real interesting people as on the ferry they will let you tent camp on the deck  and as Gracies mom says you never completely leave Alaska
Chuck & Linda
Fred & Molly
2007 Four Winds Hurricane 33h
WH Chassis 8.1L Chevy
look out world here we come
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The_Painting_Teacher
Cape Cod, MA/St. Augustine, FL
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Joined: 12/08/2005
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Two easy shore excursions we did: the White Pass Railroad ride in Skagway, which picks you up right at the ship; and the Mendanhall Glacier/Wildlife tour in Juneau, which also picks up up right at the ship. Enjoy; Alaska is spectacular. Camp on!
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