Anyone done the Guided Fishing in the Wilderness in Kethikan? Can you tell me anything about it before I book. Want to Fish but we are not crazy about downrigger fishing,(Boring) Have decided on Tracy Arm and need to find fishing tour, floatplane tour. These can be in any of the ports Trying for one main tour in each port. Any help appreciated. Sandra

Sue,

Read the posts under the MUSH heading. We have a group cruise and we've booked a lot of private things.

The White Pass and Yukon Railroad is Skagway is a nice excursion. RSSC has a private car for those on that trip.

In Juneau, you can walk across the street from the port to take the Mt. Roberts Tramway to the top; Our favorite excursion was the Taku Glacier Lodge by Floatplane in 2001;

We're doing Island Wings (non-RSSC) Bearwatching Expedition booked directly with www.islandwings.com in Ketchikan.

Sandra, I don't think we have discussed the Guided Fishing in the Wilderness tour yet but if you find any info, let me know as Mark does want to fish!

Sandra: Hope someone can answer your question about the guided fishing -

Sandra, you might also want to check the ports of call board on cruisecritic.com to see what people are saying about fishing excursions. Like Karen said, we haven't discussed fishing with anyone who has done it that I remember. I do remember on a previous Alaska cruise sitting in my cabin in the port and seeing a big fish delivered (maybe salmon?)

In 2004, we did a floatplane tour to Misty Fjords from Ketchikan with SE Aviation, which was very nice. Landed at a lake, which I imagine is typical. At the time, there was a 2-for-1 coupon in the Toursaver Coupon book, and SE Aviation had a good reputation. On the cruise, we did a mixture of Radisson and our own independent excursions. Other excursions we enjoyed were: Radisson's Sea Otter quest in Sitka and the White Pass railway in Skagway, as well as a glacier dogsledding excursion with Coastal in Juneau, which I had arranged. Before the cruise we took a plane around McKinley's summit from Talkeetna with Talkeetna Aero Services, which was fantastic.

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Eugene

At this point, this is what we have reserved. Guided Wilderness fishing with shore dining-Ketchican. Tracy Arm Excursion. Taku-Glacier Floatplane-Juneau. Haven't booked for Skagway or Sitka yet. Might want to just explore. Joe (DH) said to set $1500 budget for excursions(LOL) I am now at $1448 with fishing license and 2 ports to go.
I'm also thinking of reserving a room in Anchorage since it will be a looooong day (2days!) after leaving ship. We will take the mariner train transfer from Whittier to Anc.(booked for $65 per person w/ cruise air) Flight from Anc to Denver leaves around Midnight and arrives in Denver around 6:30 in Morning of June 15. Then we can't fly out of Denver to Sioux Falls til about 1pm Thank goodness that flight is only 1 1//2 hrs from home Joe should be very grumpy when he gets home and heads out his offices that day!

Sitka is a good place to wander. The tenders let you off right in the middle of town. The Russian Dancers auditorium is right there and not expensive, but, if I recall, you must get the tickets right away and get off the tender 1st run. We only caught the tail end of the show which was enjoyable. The St Michaels Orthodox church was closed when we were there.

Skagway's walkable too. I'd still vote for the train (White Pass Rail) which would barely take you over your budget and you'd still be able to walk.

There really isn't that much to see in Skagway. The train is really great. Only problem we had was there were fires not too far away, so there was quite a bit of smoke in the air, obscuring some of the spectacular views. However, this is not a common occurrence. I assume Regent still reserves separate train cars, which controls crowding and noise levels when there are other ships in port.

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Eugene