Alaska - Celebrity Cruise
(From Seattle to Skagway)

 

 

Day	Ports of Call	Arrival	Departure
1	Seattle, Washington	---	5:00 p.m.
2	At Sea	---	---
3	Ketchikan, Alaska	7:00 a.m.	4:00 p.m.
4	Cruise Tracy Arm Fjord, Alaska	6:00 a.m.	10:00 a.m.
4	Juneau, Alaska	1:30 p.m.	10:00 p.m.
5	Cruise Inside Passage, Alaska	---	---
5	Skagway, Alaska	7:00 a.m.	6:00 p.m.
6	At Sea	---	---
7	Victoria, British Columbia	6:00 p.m.	11:59 p.m.
8	Seattle, Washington	7:00 a.m.	---

 

Ketchikan (available time for tours - 7:00am-4:00pm)

Totem Bight State Park

Take the Blue Bus costs $1 per trip; you can buy the "all day pass" for $2. Couple of places to take the bus, on Front Street right before the tunnel, or tight in front of the town's library on Dock Street. The bus leaves town around :45 and arrives at Totem Bight at :15. They just have a single bus that goes back and forth on this route. It takes about 30 minutes ride.
One hour is pretty much all you need here, so be sure to catch the bus back into town at :15.

Note: Blue bus on Sunday starts at 8:45am – 3:45pm

Bus route map: http://www.borough.ketchikan.ak.us/bus/BusRoute.htm

 

Saxman Native Village Totem Pole Park

This unique park's 24 totem poles each tell a different story. Less recommended by peoples.

 

Tour the down town
There is a free Shuttle (May thru September only):

The free downtown Salmon Run Bus operates on a 20-minute loop 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily serving all of the downtown area, cruise ship berths and several attractions including the Totem Heritage Center.  Look for the bus with brightly painted fish! See Creek Street, then walk up Park Avenue past Ketchikan Creek fish ladder and up to City Park, site of the Totem Heritage Center.

 

Totem Heritage Center

This museum is a little inconvenient to get to. It has a collection of original native totem poles with background stories on them, but they are displayed in glass cases under subdued light (I guess to help preserve them). It's worth a quick trip if you don't mind walking a mile or so.
Address: 601 Deermount Street, Ketchikan, AK 99901
Entrance Fee: $5 per person 12 years and younger, FREE
Operation time:  8a.m. - 5 p.m.

 

Southeast Alaska Discovery Center

Museum that shares the history and beauty of Alaska
Address: 50 Main St, Ketchikan, AK
Entrance Fee: $5 per person 15 years and younger, FREE
Operation time: Saturday - Sunday 8a.m. - 4 p.m.

 

Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show

Cost about $35 per adult, $17.50 per kid

 

Juneau (available time for tours - 2:30pm-10:00pm)

Mendenhall Glacier

Just a 15 minute bus ride - use any of the $16 round trip - blue MGT bus, runs about every half hour. We spent about 2 hours and the views of Nugget falls and the glacier were spectacular and the visitors center was great (extra $3 for adults to get in, children under 12 are free). Take the hike to the falls - view is spectacular and hike is level and pretty easy (though very buggy).  East Glacier Loop Trail – the loop is 3.5 miles but the AJ falls are at 1 mile and the Nugget Creek Falls are at 1.25 miles, which is very nice.

Go to the West Glacier Trail (not the east side where the visitor center is) and take the trail as far as you like. You can get up above the glacier for great views and no crowds of any kind.

Do not go to the Mendenhall Glacier hungry. Due to bears, there are no vending machines, restaurants or any place to get something to eat. You can only have water from the water fountain...and that is it. I don't recommend bringing food, again because of the wildlife, but a bottled water or water bottle is a must.

Juneau Walking Tour

Start & finish at Alaska State Capitol, 4th and Stewart (Frommer’s page 158). Takes about 1 hour (1 mile).

Map: http://www.traveljuneau.com/downloads/map_downtown_big.jpg

Alaska State Museum

Address: 395 Whittier Street, Juneau, AK 99801

Phone: 907.465.2901.

Hours: Open: 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily, May 13 through mid-September.

Cost: Summer $7, Seniors (65+ years) $6, 18 and under free.

Mount Roberts Tramway

Offers panoramic views of Juneau.

Hours: Open May through September Mon 12 PM to 9 PM, Tue - Fri 8 AM to 9 PM, Sat & Sun 8 AM – 9 PM.

Cost: $29/adult; $14.50/child 6-12; Free/Child 5 & Under

 

Skageway (available time for tours - 7:00am-6:00pm)

The main thing to do here is to see the old buildings and historic gold rush places.

Walking tour

Map: http://skagway.com/skagwaywalkingtour.pdf

International Historic

Civil Engineering Landmark

Built in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush, this narrow gauge railroad is an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark - a designation shared with the Panama Canal, the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty.  The WP&YR climbs nearly 3000 feet in just 20 miles and features steep grades of up to 3.9%, cliff-hanging turns of 16 degrees, two tunnels and numerous bridges and trestles including the steel cantilever bridge which was the tallest of its kind in the world when it was constructed in 1901. Takes 1.5 hours each way (according to reviews was too long and boring for kids). We’ll do it by car.

Yakutania Point

About 1 mile, mostly flat, easy hike. Nice views. Was perfect with kids. It is a Point very close to downtown Skagway, which offers a great view of the ocean and Taiya Inlet. The round trip from downtown Skagway is about an hour, but that includes getting to the trail which is just out-of-town near the small airport.

Gold Rush Cemetery

1.5 miles from town, up State Street. Used until 1908. The graves of Soapy Smith and Frank Reid are the big attraction, but don’t miss the short walk yo Reid falls. There was a gunfight between Frank Reid and Soapy Smith, the most famous shootout since the OK Corral.

 

Alaska schedule

·         August 5th: Ketchikan – Totem Bright State park arriving by blue bus.

·         August 6th: Juneau – Taking Shore Excursion to Mendenhall Glacier (2:45 hours). The tour departs at 4:30pm from Mt. Roberts Tramway building (look for someone holding a yellow and red “Last Chance Tours” sign). Need to arrive 15 minutes before for check-in.

·         August 7th: Skagway – Rent a car and do the Skagway-Emerald Lake driving tour. A minimum of 5 hours need to be allowed for the trip from Skagway to Emerald Lake and back. The drive is about 75 miles one way. For cruise ship passengers, Emerald Lake is recommended as the turn-around point so that they have time to see Skagway, and because the scenery north of Emerald Lake is nowhere near as dramatic as what has been seen to that point.
Note: Need a Passport for this one.

·         August 9th – Victoria

 

Notes

·         There is 1 gas station in Skagway (at 2nd Avenue and State Street), and 1 in Carcross. Regular gas is currently (July 6, 2012) $4.60 per gallon in Skagway, $1.489 per liter in Carcross (approximately $5.45).
There is 1 grocery store in Skagway and 1 convenience store in Carcross.

·         There are many restaurants in Skagway, 1 at the Yukon Suspension Bridge and 4 in the Carcross area. The recommended ones are the Skagway Brewing Company and Glacier Smoothies in Skagway, and the new Chilkoot Trail Authentic Sourdough Bakery in Carcross.

·         The speed limits on the highway are 40mph in Alaska (outside Skagway), and 90 kmh (55mph) in British Columbia and the Yukon.

·         A GPS is of little use on this road due to poor satellite reception in many areas and the almost complete absence of geographical information about this area in GPS databases. They will give you last/long for most of the route and most units will give you your distance from the towns, but not much else.

·         There is only cell phone coverage within a few miles of Skagway and Carcross.