We chose NCL's Mendenhall Glacier and whale watching wildlife quest. After we entered port we waited quite some time to get off the ship. But Andy our bus driver was a funny local who talked continuously about Juneau and gave us his opinions on the history and local flavor. We then boarded a catamaran boat on the Lake for a whale watching adventure. It's two floors, with inside and outside portions. We saw 13 humpback whales, including mother and calf. The naturalist was very informative. We also saw stellar sea lion males. It was the best money we spent and best excursion in all of Alaska! They even provide you with free coffee and hot chocolate. We had great weather, and watching those gentle giants up close was fantastic and really magical. Be advised, wear warm clothing, hats, gloves! The entire tour is about 5 and half hours. After wards we were again bused to the Mendenhall Glacier for around 45mins. It's very beautiful and the interpretive center was informative and interesting. We saw pretty much nothing of the town of Juneau due to our time restraints but we weren't disappointed to have missed all the tourist shops we drove by. The humpback whales were well worth it!  

Juneau

We chose to do the train ride in Skagway..the Yukon mountain pass one. It wasn't much cheaper to go independently so we chose to do it through NCL. We picked 12:45pm as we had heard some morning ones had a lot of fog. This was a good time for us, since we weren't the first off the boat in the morning rush. We sat on the left side as advised and chugged along up the mountain. If you're afraid of heights I'm not sure I'd recommend this ride! It's a narrow gauge railroad, goes over some wooden bridges and gets very high up. The history of the gold mining and Klondike gold rush was very fascinating and well narrated with enough talking for us to learn new things, and not so much we couldn't enjoy the scenery.     
The train is 3 and half hours or so up and back. You can choose to do it both ways, take a van one way or various other ideas. We rode up and back. It was a little boring on the way back down to see the same scenery. I actually fell asleep. You do switch sides with the people across the way so everyone can enjoy the view.    
Skayway itself is a small little town. We recommend the shirt co right in downtown for great little trinkets, tees, presents with very reasonable prices. If you go all the way down the street you can get a great photo of the whole town with the Pearl docked at the end in the back round. We ate at the Red Onion Saloon...had an Alaskan ale and nachos. They have a tour of the old brothel upstairs but we didn't do that. It's five dollars if you're interested and the girls wear old fashioned costumes.  

Skagway

In Ketchikan we chose to do a taxi cab independent tour with some other CC members. We had six people in each car. It was through Kat and Dave Freeman. Here's their website. http://www.ketchikantaxicabtours.com/    
I couldn't recommend them more highly. Informative, a local's perspective, they narrate and take you out of the tourist part of town in vans. You can customize the things you want to see by doing your own research first, or they can recommend what they think is best. I was so impressed by them. Please consider them! We went to Potlatch park and saw totem poles, and a lodge, and including one totem pole in the process of being carved by a female native artist who gave a short talk. We went to Totem Bight, and the state park where we saw salmon jumping. We also saw baby eagles and went to a store off the beaten path as well with interesting treasures (as well as free hot chocolate and cookies!). We learned so much history and interesting tidbits. And it was economical too when split between that many people. Actually worked out cheaper for the three personalized hours then the NCL tours and you get to see so much more!    
After our morning tour we had just enough time to shop around creek street. Great bookstore, went into some little shops and then to the Burger Queen for halibut sandwiches and fries as recommended to us by locals. It was great! I'm glad we didn't spend all our time in town however as it's quite touristy. There is a local post office right there to mail postcards if need be. And a chocolate candy company that will give you free samples. yum!  

Ketchikan

We chose not to do a tour in Victoria. One of the problems is NCL gets into port very late in the evening. Usually around 6pm, but weather delayed us until 6:45pm. If you haven't been to Butchart gardens it's worth the visit, even if it quickly gets dark, they have lighted paths and fireworks in summertime on saturdays. The sunken garden is truly amazing.    
The inner harbor of Victoria is very beautiful. We opted to walk from the ship along the waterfront. The lines for the cabs, and shuttle buses were insanely long. But we know Victoria very well having visited and stayed for several weeks at a time previously. It's about a 15-20 min walk at a moderate pace. There is now a night time market with all kinds of things and music it seems. It's nice to walk around if the weather permits, see the Parliment building all lit up with lights, and all the ships and float planes. The Empress hotel is always impressive as well. We went to one of our favorite restaurants Pagliacci's. It's Italian food and very very excellent. Their cheesecake is also great. It's sort of a secret local favorite. There are NO reservations however, and the wait outside can be long because the place is rather small. They will serve you free wine in cups while you wait usually though. And it's well worth the wait! If the line is too long, try II Terrazo the other Italian place. They have a beautiful courtyard patio with fireplaces.    
Victoria is a very quaint town with an English feel. Lots to do from shops, to pubs, to harbor ferry rides, to the gardens, or high tea, or Thunderbird park or the castle. There's horse drawn carriage rides or pedicabs to take you around as well.  

Victoria

We were mid ship on deck nine. It was a tiny closet, but efficient use of space and reminded me of Japan. Everything had a place, and space was well utilized. It was very quiet, and in a good location.

I researched a lot in choosing which cruise line, read all the reviews here and decided on the Pearl because it leaves from Seattle which is a close train ride away for me, and we wouldn't have to hassle with customs in Vancouver BC, also wanted to see Glacier bay and the inside passage, and I liked the idea of "free style" cruising vs the formal dress up sit down dining I disliked on other cruise lines.The entire time was around 15-20 minutes from going through security to getting our on board cards, taking photos and getting on the ship for our free champagne!

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Adventurous Alaska on NCL

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