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The scenery is awe-some, truly, and the 75 minutes sped by. Landing on a lake 1800 ft above sea level, surrounded by huge mountains, waterfalls roaring straight down, and all that serenity--it's a great trip. For season 2019, Alaskan Dream Cruises received permission for Misty Fjord to spend two days in Glacier Bay. The 8-day itinerary is themed "Alaska’s Islands, Whales and Glaciers" and is also available for private chartering. The glacier trip was awsome and I'm so glad we upgraded from the Mendenhall landing to the the Pilot's Choice 2-landing.
Misty Fjords Boat Tour: My Explorer Cruise Review
Then Rudyard Bay with 3000 ft granite cliffs down into the water. Misty Fjords was the first excursion I booked for my first Alaska cruise in 2007. Ours was the first flight of the day, and we had to turn back after getting ~ 25% into Misty Fjords due to the low cloud ceiling. I haven't felt inclined to risk booking it again on 3 subsequent cruises. We did the Misty Fjord in Ketchikan with Southeast aviation.
Review of MV Misty Fjord
In mid-May, the higher elevations still had snow. With temperatures beginning to rise, the snow meltwater added to the volume of water in nearby waterfalls. If you visit during a dry spell in the peak of summer, you may not see the cascades we enjoyed.
Misty Fjords Tours
It sounded pretty lame, from the local perspective. It might be interesting and tasty, but not my idea of an Alaskan experience. The guide said they take people to one building and pull up the net showing them the crab they "caught" [but actually just put there that morning]. Then they take the group to the other building and feed them what they supposedly caught. Actually, the "caught" crab are lowered back down for the next group.
Cruise lines offer this port excursion, or you can book independently. Our tour was operated by Allen Marine, who has 45 years of experience, and we cruised on the St. Aquilina ship. Located 40 miles east of the Ketchikan cruise port, most travelers access it on a port day from their cruise ship.
Everyone else has been able offer opinions on the flying, so I'll just offer some food for thought about the crab feed. The two buildings used for it (I'm assuming there's only one crab feed excursion in Ketchikan) are at the southern end of the road. We went with Southeast Seakayaks on a custom trip for the four of us. We went in the same inlet as the crab feed, but on the other side and down a little further. While we paddled, our guide (an 18 year old local who was an absolute delight) told us about the buidlings and the crab feed they do for tourists.
Meals are taken in the salon or small dining area, with fresh breakfasts, lunches and dinners prepared onboard. We were fortunate to have great weather, although bad weather conditions could make for rough seas and poor visibility. Having done the Bering Sea Crab Fishermen’s Tour in Ketchikan (which customers rave about), I tend to compare other excursions to that one. As with the outgoing journey, returning to Ketchikan took another two hours. Later in the day, it got relatively cool, so make sure you’re dressed appropriately. Brian also took the opportunity to purchase a local stout that came from a brewery in Talkeetna, Alaska.
Top Deck Attractions
We also thought the Dog Musher's wheeled dogsledding was pretty lame for $100/pp. We, however, were the 1st group that morning and we were pulled up the hill, turned around and pulled down the hill. As an aside, the rest of our 11-member family (7 of them) rented a van and drove out to Emerald Lake. On the way, they arranged a stop at a dog kennel (not really a kennel, but a place where they kept a lot of sled dogs). They visited all the dogs and just paid the guy there to meet them a pre-arranged reasonable fee - far less than $100/pp. Unfortunately, it looks like the start of the rainy season in Alaska will begin just in time for our cruise.
MV Misty Fjord
What we'll do is see if our helicopter ride to Mendenhall glacier gets cancelled on Sunday at 5pm. If it does, we'll definitely try to do the Misty Fjords flight on Wed. While our Ketchikan Misty Fjords tour was over five hours, some cruise lines sell a shortened one of 4-1/2 hours. Should you sail a shortened itinerary, you’ll only spend 30 minutes in the fjord. However, the shortened itinerary determines how much time you’ll spend exploring the wilderness area.
It takes a two-hour boat tour to reach Misty Fjords, and if I had known that, I’m not honestly sure I would have booked this tour. The fjords are home to harbor seals, black bears, brown bears, bald eagles, and pigeon guillemots. Everywhere you look, the landscape is dotted with mesmerizing waterfalls. Our tour boat had two outside viewing decks, and the upper deck opens to guests once the craft arrives in Misty Fjords. The Misty Fjords & Wilderness Explorer Cruise offers a fantastic way to experience this classic fjord.
We were very happy that Family Air Tours was honest and said that we would not see anything if we flew to Misty Fjords that day, then gave us the choice if we wanted to go anyway. He could have made an additional $220 from us but chose to refund our money. Although above the waterline, none of the five staterooms offers window views, and all are politely described as "snug", with most measuring just 85 square feet. Beds are berth-style, so those wishing to sleep together may find themselves disappointed. Some beds are also a decent height off the ground, making Misty Fjord a poor choice for those with mobility issues.
One of the trip’s highlights was the impressive New Eddystone Rock formation. It juts out of the emerald sea like a sore thumb. Located in the Behm Channel, the 237-foot pillar creates quite a majestic image. We boarded a large catamaran close to our ship, the Quantum of the Seas, and we were thankful we didn’t have a take a bus to reach the touring vessel.
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