We went on the combination tour that did both parks through Sourdough Tours. Since it wasn't booked through the ship, we didn't get to see the dancers, but that wasn't something our family was interested in anyway. You can walk outside the carbing shed in Saxman Village, and see the carvers working through the big glass windows. Our tour guide through Sourdough was excellent. He was a native of Ketchikan, and had lots of interesting information on the city, wildlife, the parks, etc.
The setting for Totem Bight is beautiful. It's right on the water in the rainforest. We've got some great photos of the totem poles with the water in the backgroun. There is a big clan house that you get to go in, and we listened to another tour guide give a talk on what it would have been used for. It's probably 10-15 minutes outside of town.
Saxman Village has the carving shed, and it was interesting to watch the carvers working on the totem poles. I didn't find the setting quite as interesting as Totem Bight, but it was still a good place to visit. The totem poles at both locations are amazing, and there are kind of interesting gift shops at both locations with a fair amount of "made in Alaska" type stuff.
I ended up preferring the Totem Bight location, if I had to pick a favorite. The setting of it was so beautiful. It was also fun, as you sail past, to get a look at the totems from the balcony of the ship. We were on the starboard side, and just stood and watched where we had been.
The tour finished off by dropping us at Dolly's House, and we went through the tour there, looked around Creek Street a little, walked back through town, shopped on the way, and boarded the ship in time for a sail away BBQ at lunch time.
