Shore excursions in Juneau
I'm stuck again. I'm the worst decision maker in the world. I'm the UNdecider. =sigh=
Yesterday I worked on Ketchikan and Skagway. Today I was working on Juneau. I've also been updating my original thoughts and information on the shore excursions.
The more I think about it, the more I want to do the Helicopter Glacier Walkabout. The more I look at the pictures, and read the description, the more I can just taste how much I want to do that. BUT ... it's $344 and it's NON-refundable. So if it's pouring down rain that day, all that money is wasted. I won't see anything from the helicopter, and it won't be much fun clambering around on the ice in the rain. And I won't get to see anything else either.
What I'm going to do is pick something else, and then wait to see how the weather is shaping up. And then, a day or two ahead of time, if there's still space available in the Walkabout I can cancel my other trips (if I want to) and switch. That way I'll make sure I can at least get my second or third choice, since I'll already have a reservation.
Here's the problem: There are three things I want to see that are specific to Juneau:
So the question is, how do I fit all that in between 2:30 pm and 9:00 pm?
Of the official NCL excursions in Juneau, the one that sounds most interesting to me is the Mendenhall Glacier & Wildlife Quest. The tour operator's description says you get 1 hour at the glacier visitor's center, and a 3-hour cruise (don't you dare!
) in a "jet-powered catamaran" from Auke Bay and out into Stephen's Passage to look for "humpback and killer whales, Steller sea lions, Dall’s porpoise, harbor seals, bald eagles, bears and Sitka blacktail deer." Which sounds pretty cool.
But that lasts from 3:00 pm to 8:15 pm, which means I wouldn't get to do anything else, because the ship casts off at 10:00 pm -- which means the gangplanks and everything have been long since stowed by then. If you don't get back in time they leave without you, and you have to find a way to get to the next stop -- Skagway, in this case -- on your own. So you're supposed to be back on board an hour or two before sailing time.
So if I do the Mendenhall Glacier & Wildlife Quest, I wouldn't have enough time to go up the Mount Roberts Tramway. The view is spectacular (assuming it's not raining or foggy), and they have an interpretive loop trail at 1,800 feet that looks fantastic! I could probably spend half the day there! There are sure to be birds that I won't see anywhere else, and I'd have possibility of seeing "eagles, ravens, hoary marmots, mountain goats, bears, wolves and Sitka Black-tail deer, [which] have all been sighted and photographed near [the] Mountain Complex." There's also a half-hour movie about the Tlingit culture which I'd really like to see.
So I called the Mt. Roberts Tramway today and asked how long it takes to get to the top. The guy I talked to was really friendly and nice! I started by asking him how long it takes to get to the top (4½ minutes) and explained that I was trying to figure out whether I could squeeze in a visit, and we ended up talking for about 10 minutes while I asked all sorts of questions about the tram, the schedule, the mountain, the glacier, the weather, and anything else I could think of. He was very helpful. (He was also probably bored to death because the tourist season hasn't started yet!)
The last tram up leaves at 9:00 pm, and the last tram down is at 9:30, which he said is really cutting it too close for being back aboard the ship. The thing is, I could get up to the top, spend a couple of minutes looking at the view and come right back down again and make it to the ship in time, but I would have paid $22 for very little. I really want to walk that trail! And late afternoon is not a great time to do that because (I think) you're looking west, right into the setting sun. On the other hand, sunset is at 9:18 pm, so if the clouds are right I could maybe get some incredibly spectacular sunset photos.
Another alternative is to skip the glacier and take the Evening Whale Quest. That runs from 6:00 pm to 9:30 pm (if you're on an official NCL tour, it's their responsibility to make sure you get back on the ship, as opposed to when you're out wandering around on your own). That's the same trip as the 3-hour wildlife cruise above, without the glacier. Then I'd have a couple of hours to hang around on Mt. Roberts just when the light would be best, which would also give me two of the three things I want.
The Glacier Walkabout doesn't go till 5:30, so if I did that I'd miss the whales but I'd have the glacier and Mt. Roberts.
So it looks like I can have any two out of the three, but there's no way I can get all three in.
I'm not making much progress. =sigh=
Yesterday I worked on Ketchikan and Skagway. Today I was working on Juneau. I've also been updating my original thoughts and information on the shore excursions.
The more I think about it, the more I want to do the Helicopter Glacier Walkabout. The more I look at the pictures, and read the description, the more I can just taste how much I want to do that. BUT ... it's $344 and it's NON-refundable. So if it's pouring down rain that day, all that money is wasted. I won't see anything from the helicopter, and it won't be much fun clambering around on the ice in the rain. And I won't get to see anything else either.
What I'm going to do is pick something else, and then wait to see how the weather is shaping up. And then, a day or two ahead of time, if there's still space available in the Walkabout I can cancel my other trips (if I want to) and switch. That way I'll make sure I can at least get my second or third choice, since I'll already have a reservation.
Here's the problem: There are three things I want to see that are specific to Juneau:
- Mendenhall Glacier (at least from the visitor's center if nothing else)
- Whales
- Mt. Roberts
So the question is, how do I fit all that in between 2:30 pm and 9:00 pm?
Of the official NCL excursions in Juneau, the one that sounds most interesting to me is the Mendenhall Glacier & Wildlife Quest. The tour operator's description says you get 1 hour at the glacier visitor's center, and a 3-hour cruise (don't you dare!
) in a "jet-powered catamaran" from Auke Bay and out into Stephen's Passage to look for "humpback and killer whales, Steller sea lions, Dall’s porpoise, harbor seals, bald eagles, bears and Sitka blacktail deer." Which sounds pretty cool.
But that lasts from 3:00 pm to 8:15 pm, which means I wouldn't get to do anything else, because the ship casts off at 10:00 pm -- which means the gangplanks and everything have been long since stowed by then. If you don't get back in time they leave without you, and you have to find a way to get to the next stop -- Skagway, in this case -- on your own. So you're supposed to be back on board an hour or two before sailing time.
So if I do the Mendenhall Glacier & Wildlife Quest, I wouldn't have enough time to go up the Mount Roberts Tramway. The view is spectacular (assuming it's not raining or foggy), and they have an interpretive loop trail at 1,800 feet that looks fantastic! I could probably spend half the day there! There are sure to be birds that I won't see anywhere else, and I'd have possibility of seeing "eagles, ravens, hoary marmots, mountain goats, bears, wolves and Sitka Black-tail deer, [which] have all been sighted and photographed near [the] Mountain Complex." There's also a half-hour movie about the Tlingit culture which I'd really like to see.
So I called the Mt. Roberts Tramway today and asked how long it takes to get to the top. The guy I talked to was really friendly and nice! I started by asking him how long it takes to get to the top (4½ minutes) and explained that I was trying to figure out whether I could squeeze in a visit, and we ended up talking for about 10 minutes while I asked all sorts of questions about the tram, the schedule, the mountain, the glacier, the weather, and anything else I could think of. He was very helpful. (He was also probably bored to death because the tourist season hasn't started yet!)
The last tram up leaves at 9:00 pm, and the last tram down is at 9:30, which he said is really cutting it too close for being back aboard the ship. The thing is, I could get up to the top, spend a couple of minutes looking at the view and come right back down again and make it to the ship in time, but I would have paid $22 for very little. I really want to walk that trail! And late afternoon is not a great time to do that because (I think) you're looking west, right into the setting sun. On the other hand, sunset is at 9:18 pm, so if the clouds are right I could maybe get some incredibly spectacular sunset photos.
Another alternative is to skip the glacier and take the Evening Whale Quest. That runs from 6:00 pm to 9:30 pm (if you're on an official NCL tour, it's their responsibility to make sure you get back on the ship, as opposed to when you're out wandering around on your own). That's the same trip as the 3-hour wildlife cruise above, without the glacier. Then I'd have a couple of hours to hang around on Mt. Roberts just when the light would be best, which would also give me two of the three things I want.
The Glacier Walkabout doesn't go till 5:30, so if I did that I'd miss the whales but I'd have the glacier and Mt. Roberts.
So it looks like I can have any two out of the three, but there's no way I can get all three in.
I'm not making much progress. =sigh=