Alaska Sightseeing

We're doing the Inside Passage the end of May on the Mercury to Juneau, Ketchikan, and Sitka. What shore excursions do y'all recommend, and did you book them on the ship, or on shore (i.e. save any $$ by booking it yourself?) We're excited about the trip and appreciate your input.

[Karen]

To be more helpful to you, it would be a good idea to read over any shore excursion list- try online. This will narrow your choices. I never book any ship excursions and always book direct. Sometimes significant savings- but always better tours seeing some "real Alaska", which I find going with a group of cruisers on ship excursions severely lacking.

[Tanya]

I've been searching the net for the vistor info sites for all the stops that Mercury makes. (We are cruising July 2002) Alaskan.com ...

http://www.alaskan.com/index.cfm

seems to have a good site that lists many tour operators to book on your own off the ship. I've heard many ppl tell me it's cheaper to plan something yourself than to book off the ship. I'm trying to plan a great kayak adventure .. the one on Mercury sounds to beginner for us. I hope to find a more advance tour on my own. this site also looks good for info on the ports ....

http://www.dced.state.ak.us/tourism/

[Karen]

Better than the above site is to contact each city's visitor center and request their guide. I have all the contacts if needed. Much more specific than a general Alaska reference.