Seeking recommendations on Alaska port adventures About This Page:

[cubfancolleen]

We are now contemplating a cruise to Alaska next summer. As background, we are a family of 4 with (at the time of the cruise) a 16 yo boy and a 13 yo girl. My DH is sometimes wheelchair bound, sometimes not (but when not, still not up to incredibly active things).

My questions to those of you who've done Alaska already are:
1. What excursions do you recommend (or recommend against) in Skagway, Juneau and Ketchican?
2. Where they accessible tours? And do you, or someone in your family, use a wheelchair or other mobility device?
3. Did you use the cruiseline or did you book on your own through local companies?
4. Any other advice?

Thanks in advance! It has been harder than usual to decide our plans for next summer. DS is going to Paris, and then Sweden with his soccer team, and while we'd love to do that as a family trip, I think price will be the issue. We'd talked about Maine, and then up into New Brunswick, but then we were all feeling the need for some Disney magic, so began contemplating Alaska. The accessibility piece is the one thing I'm concerned with, though.

[lauriep]

Colleen, I did the Alaska cruise with my scooter this past summer and was pleasantly surprised at how many accessible excursions were offered. DCL has made improvements, too, to the excursion listings and they clearly list which ones will accept mobility devices. When I did the Panama cruise there were ports that had zero available excursions for me and the excursion I did in Aruba said it was accessible, but the major portion of the tour was up a flight of stairs with no elevator or stair lift. In Skagway I did the White Pass Railroad tour and loved it-- completely accessible and super-easy. The train pulls up right beside the ship! In Juneau we were so fogged-in and rainy that I skipped the excursion, but I was booked for the Mt Roberts Tram ride and a boat excursion. Both fully accessible-- the Tram operators have won awards for accessibility. In Ketchikan I did the Misty Fjords boat tour-- the main deck is accessible. There are stairs to get to the open, upper deck, but on my tour it was so cold hardly anyone braved the weather up there. When I was booking, I was disappointed that none of the flight excursions were an option for me, but I saved a lot of money, and was very pleased with the ones I did. I booked them all through DCL, just so I could be sure that the transportation, if any, to and from the points of departure were accessible as well.

The only slight difficulty is that for boarding at the ports they used very steep and very long ramps to get on and off the ship. I was worried that my scooter wouldn't be able to handle going up, especially stopping and starting behind the other passengers. Crew members helped me, though, and seemed quite used to assisting wheelchairs up and down the ramps.

The difficulties I had getting around the ship with the scooter-- opening heavy doors, mostly-- were because I was alone, so you wouldn't have those problems with your DH. My stateroom was Aft and I was able to use my cane to get to meals in the aft dining rooms. I used the scooter if I was going greater distances on board.

I hope this helps some. I'd recommend this cruise highly for those with accessibility issues.

[chezp]

We did the White Pass Railroad and I'd thoroughly recommend that for Skagway In Juneau, we went whale watching and went to the Mendenhall Glacier and we went flight seeing in Ketchikan. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend all of them, but as for accessibility, I can't help you with that. I looked at booking separately, but ended it up going through Disney. I probably could've got it cheaper, but I felt safer going with Disney.

[PixieMichele]

That's great to hear you had good experiences with the accessibility Laurie! We did a few different excursions in Alaska:
Mendenhall Glacier/Mt. Roberts Tramway a flight over the Misty Fjords in Ketchikan, and the Liarsville Salmon Bake and Gold Panning.

The Glacier excursion through DCL does include admittance to the visitors center and there is a ramp to get inside for that. You may be a bit limited as to where you can go with a wheelchair as far as approaching the glacier but there are running trails, etc through the Glacier area that i believe are paved; the gold nugget trail can be completed (if you are moving at a quick pace) before the bus departs but you have to head straight there and go quickly (that's what the guide told us, we didn't do that, we just explored on our own) it really is a beautiful sight and i'd recommend that excursion to anyone. The views of the glacier are great so even if you choose not to go down by the water you won't be missing anything.

I believe there were ramps for the Tramway as well but the Nature Center was in an area outdoors that wasn't paved and can get muddy. Nothing is very far though so if your son was able to walk he may enjoy seeing Lady Baltimore, the Bald Eagle.

We ended up booking our flight over Misty Fjords on our own since it offered a lot more "in air" time for a more affordable rate. The plane size is based on the number of people booked for your excursion. I was in the back of our little plane and I could see out of both windows. There was room for my legs and stuff (i'm only 5'2") but if you were in need of space or have specific concerns i'd check the DCL excursion guide to see if it's accessible or talk to a company directly about your flight. Ours was amazing and even though it was expensive it was a once in a lifetime experience.

The gold panning was ok, and I didn't care for the Salmon Bake. It was in a muddy outdoor area so I think that would be an excursion you want to skip.

Hope that helps!

[cubfancolleen]

Thanks for the insight, all. We are still up in the air about what we're doing. There aren't cabins at the level we wanted for using our DVC points, and we still wonder if we should wait and hope our current accessibility issues improve at some point. We had imagined our trip to Alaska being a bit more active, so I worry it would end in disappointment for us.
But I am saving all the advice!!

[Teresa]

DDs Samantha and Lauren, along with Samantha's DH and his mom went on the Alaskan cruise (Disney) this past summer. DD and DSiL are both in electric wheelchairs and cannot walk at all (both are quadriplegics). I don't know the particulars of each excursion they did, but I know that they went on a lot of them and had a great time. I would imagine that as in WDW, there are a lot of people in w/cs and scooters. Seems as if Disney knows what to do with those who are disabled.
I hope something comes up for you all! We'll be on the July 8 sailing - let me know if you decide you can go and end up on our sailing!

[cubfancolleen]

Originally Posted by Teresa

DDs Samantha and Lauren, along with Samantha's DH and his mom went on the Alaskan cruise (Disney) this past summer. DD and DSiL are both in electric wheelchairs and cannot walk at all (both are quadriplegics). I don't know the particulars of each excursion they did, but I know that they went on a lot of them and had a great time. I would imagine that as in WDW, there are a lot of people in w/cs and scooters. Seems as if Disney knows what to do with those who are disabled.
I hope something comes up for you all! We'll be on the July 8 sailing - let me know if you decide you can go and end up on our sailing!

We decided to shelve Alaska until DH is hopefully able to do more of the active excursions - something he always imagined on a trip to Alaska. Instead, we've rented a house in Door County for our summer vacation, and then we'll be on the Fantasy a year from now!
I saw your kids gave you an excellent Christmas present! Enjoy Alaska! I'm still taking notes on all the TR's I read, because we WILL get there one day! Maybe for our 25th anniversary in 2015?