Free things to do in Alaska


 
AndyK

AndyK

TVWBB Wizard
A few weeks ago I googled cheap Alaska cruises From Seattle since Seattle is only a few hour drive from us.
I found a 5 day cruise for $248 each.
So we did some research and decided to spend a bit more.
A bit more.

We are heading up there in a couple weeks to cruise the glaciers for 7 days.
Looking at the shore excursions pricing we could easily spend a few thousand more.
$500 each for a half day of this or that adds up.

I was thinking of going cheap and doing some hiking to see stuff or hitting some museums or sodas (I don’t drink) at the bars.
I plan on bringing my binoculars.

Have any of you all done these Alaska cruises or maybe have any idea on how not to spend 1k per day on shore.
We live in a similar environment to a degree so we see salmon, orcas, eagles and such more than most.

Thanks.
Andy.
 
I got back from a 7 day alaska cruise out of Seattle a few weeks ago. Can't say our cruise was cheap, it was more upscale, better room better food etc.

The first thing I'll tell you, and they have a sign in Ketchikan i think.. Is that in coastal Alaska it rains something like 305 days a year. It's a giant rainforest. Even in summer the weather is 55F cool, cloudy, drizzly most of the time. Which puts a bit of damper on site seeing... No pun intended. It also grounds things like helicopters and planes that take you on some of the more interesting excursions. So you can plan your big shote excursions and then find them canceled.... And the only thing left you can do is wander around a dumpy little town near the boat for a few hours.

Enjoyed the glacier excursions, enjoyed King Salmon fishing, humpback whale watching. These excursions weren't that expensive, maybe 250 a person for just a few hours. The glacier and wildlife viewing when we went on might have been more like $500 pp. We left the boat at about 7:00 in the morning and met up with it again in the afternoon in juneau.

The cruise lines own all the gift shops as well so there's a real lack of uniformity there too. If you ever been on a Mexican cruise and seen how the gift shops all sell Mexican blankets (they're made in China), The Alaska version of that is the fleece lined windbreaker.








..
 
Last edited:
Our cruise cost nowhere near $248.
That was the price that hooked me into taking a closer look.

Our ports of call are Ketchikan, Sitka, Juneau and Victoria.
We leave from Seattle.
We actually live 20 miles from Victoria so that really doesn’t do much for us.

The weather doesn’t really concern us unless it’s a blow out.
How was the weather for y’all?
If its the mid 60’s I’m in heaven and normally wear board shorts and a short sleeve.
Done a a few Carnival Cruises out of Long Beach to Mexico.
Time for something new.
Thank you.
Andy
 
Yeah... Victoria is kind of pointless anyway. I don't know why cruise ships even put that on their itinerary. Like I said it drizzled rain a lot and was cool for us. Did not see a lot of wildlife. 1 black bear. I seen plenty of black bears before, up close in the wild, so that wasn't that exciting.

There's a big age difference in the cruisers going to Alaska versus Caribbean etc. I'd say the average age on our cruise was 65, and walkers and mobility scooters weren't unusual. Definitely an older crowd than the Caribbean. For what it cost to fly to seattle, stay 2 nights there, and cruise with excursions....i can think of a few things in would have rather done.....but wife wanted to go with her best friend and her husband...do go we did. Just the covid BS cost cost ~$150 for testing and $250 hotel room for that extra day required in Seattle to test.... And you know we had to go shop and eat out =100....=$500. Airfare was $2000. Etc And covid still rampant on all cruise ships. We all caught it.....on the ship....tested positive after return. Ships report only >1%, but every ship out there reports greater than 1%, and nobody is actually dumb enough to report that they have COVID when symptoms and ruin their cruise. They will isolate you or even put you ashore ....... So yeah, it's rampant.
 
Last edited:
Andy Kaminski said:
A few weeks ago I googled cheap Alaska cruises From Seattle since Seattle is only a few hour drive from us.
I found a 5 day cruise for $248 each.
So we did some research and decided to spend a bit more.
A bit more.

We are heading up there in a couple weeks to cruise the glaciers for 7 days.
Looking at the shore excursions pricing we could easily spend a few thousand more.
$500 each for a half day of this or that adds up.

I was thinking of going cheap and doing some hiking to see stuff or hitting some museums or sodas (I don’t drink) at the bars.
I plan on bringing my binoculars.

Have any of you all done these Alaska cruises or maybe have any idea on how not to spend 1k per day on shore.
We live in a similar environment to a degree so we see salmon, orcas, eagles and such more than most.

Thanks.
Andy.
Click to expand...
Andy, if it were me, I would skip the cruise and go to photograph the northern lights...... just a thought.
 
Funny in a bad way the way things add up huh?
I figure that “cheap $248” trip that made me look is going to cost us near $4,000 :).
Literally everybody has their hand out looking for payment.
Our parking was just south of $200.
Oh well I plan on having fun.

I figure renting bikes or e-bikes would be fun to see the area at some locations.

Did you guys see the Northern lights?
We have northern lights here where I live but I don’t have a northern view.
 
Hi Bob,
Seeing the northern lights is a bucket list thing that has continued to escape me.
I could prolly see them by walking or driving to the end of the road we live on.
It is still light out at 10:00pm and I’m an early to bed kinda guy :).
 
Going to see and photograph them next year near Fairbanks.
I see them in Northern Wisconsin once in a while.
 
Andy Kaminski said:
Funny in a bad way the way things add up huh?
I figure that “cheap $248” trip that made me look is going to cost us near $4,000 :).
Literally everybody has their hand out looking for payment.
Our parking was just south of $200.
Oh well I plan on having fun.

I figure renting bikes or e-bikes would be fun to see the area at some locations.

Did you guys see the Northern lights?
We have northern lights here where I live but I don’t have a northern view.
Click to expand...
Yeah my parking was about $240 as well. All together we spent probably about $8,500 bucks.. not counting the minor gambling and souvenir purchasing. Was all worth that amount of money..?. No. And fortunately we didn't have to board our dogs and cats this time cuz that would have added up to another $1,000 for the basically 10 days we were away from home
 
Last edited:
Andy Kaminski said:
Funny in a bad way the way things add up huh?
I figure that “cheap $248” trip that made me look is going to cost us near $4,000 :).
Literally everybody has their hand out looking for payment.
Our parking was just south of $200.
Oh well I plan on having fun.

I figure renting bikes or e-bikes would be fun to see the area at some locations.

Did you guys see the Northern lights?
We have northern lights here where I live but I don’t have a northern view.
Click to expand...
Wrong season for the northern lights.

I’ll reply back with what we did in 2 of your ports as those were the ones we shared with you. I’m in Vegas on family business and will be able to think more clearly Monday.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top