Just returned from the Infinity Inside Passage cruise and it was beyond wonderful.. I am trying to add my shore excursion review to my previously posted review but no luck yet. I'll see if I can copy it here. By going in August you have a chance of seeing the Northern Lights. You can send a note to the purser (or ask Guest Relations) to notify the Bridge to call you any time of night if they see the Aurora Borealis since it has to be totallly dark. August may still be too early but late in the month definitely gives you a better chance.
SHORE EXCURSIONS
We felt we did very well doing everything on our own though I do wish we could have taken a glacier flight with landing. Instead we took the $5 Mendenhall Glacier Express bus out of Juneau (not actively touted at the dock though that is where you take the shuttle bus to get to it). The shuttle is $1. We hiked along the East Glacier Trail as close as we could get to the face of the Glacier at the point where a mammoth waterfall cascaded into the lake. The lupine, which you usually see in photos of the scene were just starting to bloom in mid June. At the Express bus ticket kiosk we saw a sign offering a heli-tour with glacier landing discounted $100 off the regular price.
The Mt.Roberts tramway was well worthwhile also and not frightening at all compared to one I took in Switzerland . It's only 1800 feet to the top with some great hiking along alpine meadows. There were steep dropoffs along the trail we took which I found a bit disconcerting at first but I got used to the terrain after awhile and the scenery was breathtaking. All morning bears had been sighted along the trail but we didn't see any on our hike. We looked directly down on our ship from Father Roberts Cross.
Our favorite outing was renting a van in Skagway for our party of 5 (months in advance since Avis has only 2 vans) and driving the Klondike Highway parrallel to the White Pass/Yukon railroad as far as Emerald Lake. There are many turnouts for photo taking and picnics. We stopped when we saw a bear by the roadside busy eating only 20 feet away. The panoramic vistas were breathtaking. Alpine flowers by the side of the road added to the beauty. Later I learned in the wonderful magazine/book "Mileposts" which I found in our local library that there is a fabulous loop drive from near Emerald and Spirit Lakes to Tagish and Jakes Corner. The area is called the Yukon Southern Lakes district and they have a website. If you have time locals recommended driving south from Jakes Corner to Atlin which has been described as a Shangri-la. It may be a gravel road to Atlin, though, so you may want to check first.
Got a good tip from a local in Ketchikan and walked about 10 minutes along the water to a floatplane dock where Steve, of SeaWind was about to leave for Misty Fjords National Monument. Landed on a lake and got out onto the pontoons for photo taking. It's good to ask about current weather conditions before arranging for one of these trips as you wouldn't see much if the weather is too bad and the turbulence could make flying in such a small plane an unpleasant experience. Steve told us often the weather in Misty Fjords is better than in Ketchikan and he actually flew us to a sunny spot for our landing so don't be immediately put off if it is raining in Ketchikan.
We had thought about kayaking in Ketchikan but Pennock Island , the shorter of the trips offered, is adjacent to the cruise ship dock and I'd heard you don't generally see any wildlife there. There are supposed to be some great longer trips out of Ketchikan, though. Given how often it rains there I wouldn't want to lock in such a trip in advance unless they have a good cancellation provision based on bad weather but I don't think any of the tour operators offer this.
Hope this helps with your decisions about what to do and where to go on your trip. Have a wonderful time!
