Most cruisers only go on an Alaskan Inside
Passage cruise once. So, every day must be special and memorable. That’s where I come in, as from my multiple
cruises there, I think I know what you can do to make it so. As some of these activities can be costly,
I also have an “Exploring Alaska's Ports Without Breaking the Bank” video that will
help balance your budget if these are a bit too much. More on that later. Meantime, welcome aboard I am Gary Bembridge,
and let’s start with the three ports you almost certainly will be calling on. And let’s start in Juneau. Juneau is the capital of Alaska. It was founded by two prospectors, Richard
Harris and Joseph Juneau, who discovered gold there. They triggered a major gold rush and people
flooded into what first was called Harrisburg and eventually became known as Juneau. About 30,000 people live there, the gold mines
closed in 1940 and its main business now is being the administrative capital of Alaska
and tourism. What epic things should you do in Juneau? While many people think going to view the
Mendenhall Glacier just outside Juneau is incredible, which it is, but going dog sledding
on the glacier trumps it. It is the best trip I have ever done. A helicopter whisked me over Juneau and Juneau
Ice Field, before landing on Norris Glacier. There were around 150 racing husky dogs there,
which train and spend the summer season here. I then went on a dog sledding adventure. It was an incredible experience. After the ride, I had time to interact with
the dogs before the helicopters returned with the next set of guests and to fly me back
to Juneau. While it was a phenomenal experience, it is
very pricey. Around $630 per person. That’s why on a return visit instead I went
for the next best thing, which was a helicopter up onto the Mendenhall Glacier to walk across
the surface. This too was memorable and thrilling, and
about half the cost. If those eye-watering sums are a no go, I
guarantee you and your family will find visiting the Mendenhall Glacier face and Nugget Falls
up close a stunning experience. They’re 12 miles out of town and I explain
the best ways to do that in my “Exploring Alaska's Ports Without Going Broke” video. Another epic thing to do in Juneau is going
up the Goldbelt Mount Roberts Tramway. It's one of the steepest cable car rides in
the world, and at the top of the mountain you’ll see views across the area that you’ll
cherish forever up there. I always go when I am in Juneau. There is another adventure I do every time
I go to Alaska, and this one is in Skagway. It is so fantastic, and I will never tire
of doing it! Skagway became famous as the gateway to the
Klondike in the Yukon, Canada. When gold was discovered there, going via
Skagway was the easiest way of reaching the gold fields, even though they were many hundreds
of miles away. 30,000 prospectors headed to Skagway using
the Chilkoot or the White Pass behind the city to get to the Yukon. The White Pass and Yukon Railway was built
to make it easier for prospectors get to the goldfields, and to transport ore and the cargo
back. The railway ran from 1900 until 1982. In the late 1990s it was resurrected as a
tourist attraction, travelling from Skagway up many thousands of feet right up to the
White Pass summit. While you can go further into Canada, the
best trip, in my view, is the 40-mile return trip to the summit and back. The views are incredible as the train twists
and turns up the mountain, there is live commentary about the route and history and the train
itself is just brilliant. Whilst the regular carriages are great, on
some trips I’ve been on there was a Luxury Palour Car option. But it cost almost three times standard carriage
price of around $140. It holds 14 people in big comfy seats, and
a dedicated guide who serves drinks and food. If booking as an excursion with your line,
the railway usually allocates a train per ship, and you board right next to your ship. Either before or after the train do spend
time exploring the town itself, and it still mostly has the original buildings with many
stories. In my budget exploring video, I have tips
on how to get the most when exploring the town. In the next port, Ketchikan, there is one
of the most fun things to do in Alaska. Ketchikan started as an indigenous peoples’
fishing camp, and rapidly grew after a salmon cannery was founded in the 1800s. It is the self-declared “Salmon Capital
of the World”, although forestry and lumberjacking were a major industry for a time. Nowadays, tourism is the main activity. So, what should you do in Ketchikan? The most spectacular activity is a floatplane
sightseeing flight over the Tongass National Forest to The Misty Fjords National Monument
(https://youtu.be/4RMe-0qm0uI @scottsdaletravelchick ), where millennia ago volcanos and ice carved
the stunning scenery and, in theory, they claim you have a chance to see eagles, bears,
deer, mountain goats, seals, or maybe even whales. But from a plane not really! These are costly, around $300 for an hour. So, there are though three fun things I usually
do instead. First of these is such a laugh. It's the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show on
the site of the old Ketchikan Spruce Mill. Two lumberjack teams, United States and Canada,
battle it out in increasingly spectacular and crowd-pleasing wood chopping competitions. It's done tongue-in-cheek and a really fun
activity. Not far away is Creek Street. These are original and colourful wooden buildings
on stilts built over the Ketchikan Creek. It was Red Light District from the early 1900s
right up until 1954. Each building has a story, and now they are
mostly craft and souvenir shops, and one is Dolly’s House Museum, home of one of the
infamous Madams there. Ketchikan is also renowned for the around
80 totem poles in the city and surrounds. My favourite place to see them us at the 11-acre
Totem Bight State Historical Park, which was created in the 1930s. As many indigenous native people were moving
into the centres for work, there was concern that some of the heritage and the culture
would be lost, particularly the beautiful storytelling totems. So, they were collected and preserved these. The entrance fee includes a guided tour telling
all about the history and story of each pole. It's not far out of Ketchikan, and you can
get there on a trolley bus that has tours of the city or by taxi. While there are three main ports on most Alaskan
Inside Passage cruise, there is one destination that is crucial to making any Alaska experience
epic. It is also one that you're not going to get
off the ship when you get there, and this is Glacier Bay. If you're planning an Alaska Inside Passage
cruise, makes sure it is one that will be going into Glacier Bay. Not many do as only two cruise ships per day
are allowed in. The three lines that have most access are
Holland America and Princess, as they have been going to Alaska longer than other lines,
and Norwegian Cruise Line. Other lines will go to other areas, like Tracy
Arm which is great but lacks the scale and range of Glaciers in Glacier Bay. I have been to Glacier Bay on both Holland
America and Princess cruises. Glacier Bay National Park and Reserve is a
magical and important place to see glaciers. It's 3.2 million acres large, and you will
get to see several impressive tidewater glaciers, including the Reid Glacier, John Hopkins Glacier,
and the most impressible of all, the Margerie Glacier. The cruise spends hours cruising between the
different glaciers, and National Park Rangers join the ship to give talks and commentary
while in the bay. At Margerie Glacier, the ship will spend time
there, with everyone out on deck hoping to see the glacier calving, which it often does
in the summer. In my view, nothing beats Glacier Bay, and
you are going to be shortchanged if you are on a cruise that does not go here. Depending on when you are cruising, whale
spotting and sightseeing is likely on an Inside Passage cruise. It is a memorable and humbling experience. On my last Holland America Alaska cruise,
I was told that over 500 humpback whales are in Alaska’s Inside Passage for part of the
season, with June and July being the key months. As I discovered then, the first sign of a
whale near the ship is a plume of steam that springs up from the water. Orcas who feed on salmon in the Alaska Inside
Passage can also be spotted earlier in the season (early May to early June) around Ketchikan
and Juneau. I have not seen them though! If you really want to see whales, the best
ports for boat excursions to find whales are Juneau and Ketchikan, and the lines will usually
have options. They start from around $175 per person. As Inside Passage cruises are increasingly
starting to call on Sitka as the region grows in popularity, I do have some great low-cost
activities to do there in my “Exploring Alaska Without Breaking the Bank” video
along with amazing ideas of things to do in the other ports for no or low cost. So, watch that now to find out what they are. See you over there.
