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Juneau dining and activities
The itinerary says we will have the afternoon on our own in Juneau. Does anyone have any 'don't miss...' recommendations for our time that day? We could go back to the ship for lunch or dine in Juneau. Again, do you have any 'don't miss...' restaurants you'd recommend? TIA.
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It was raining and very very busy In Juneau when we were there last month. We went back to the ship because the drive through the town on the way to Mendenhall glacier revealed to us that it was a big cruise ship tourist trap with mainly modern buildings and those international jewelry stores and such like. We met some of the people not long after who had been dropped off in town. All the popular restaurants had huge lines so they gave up and came back to the ship. We felt we did not miss a thing.
Skagway was lovely but there was no time to walk through that town at all, such a shame, lots of old buildings and history.
We were in Juneau in 2009. When we travel we do not do any shopping. My husband kids that we will be stopped in customs because no one comes home without any purchases beyond post cards! To see the town, get away from the waterfront with all of the cruise ships.
While Juneau is a small town, it is worth walking around to see how a city primarily accessible by water is built. Juneau is built against a very steep hill. First Street goes up the hill with a long steep staircase. There is a totem pole near a museum close to the waterfront and you can see the governor's mansion. We also went into a Russian Orthodox Church called St. Nicholas. It's very small and totally wooden.
We like to visit state capitals when we travel. So...we visited the state capital in Juneau. At that time they let you go up to the governor's office which had a clock on the outside showing how many days and hours until the governor's term ended. When we were there Sarah Palin was governor. The picture I took shows that she had 528 days, one hour, 34 minutes and 29 seconds remaining in her term! They probably give tours but our timing didn't match up.
We’ve sailed the inland passage several times. Juneau is the state capital so you’d think they’d have great restaurants galore. You’d be wrong. We had a good burger at Salt. But the best food we had was at a Filipino restaurant the name I cannot remember. But, here is how we found it and what we learned: ask your steward and waiter where they eat and drink when they have a free time in port!
I was on the Northbound Silver Shadow ship Aug of 2022. I asked our director about restaurants to get crab ( i didn't take the Dungeness crab tour because I live in CA and we have that same type of crab here). She suggested eating lunch on the ship because of catching Covid. There were a lot of ships in port when we were there and the restaurants were packed. I wasn't impressed with Juneau as a city. I loved the Tauck tour to the salmon hatchery and the glacier was beautiful. I did buy some cute crab earrings at one of the jewelry stores but I was not impressed with the shops. Many jewelry stores that can be found in any city. I love the other cities much better. I stayed an extra day in Anchorage and had a great dinner that Tauck recommended called Club Paris and finally got my crab, 3 big Alaska King legs.
We just returned from the Southbound Inner Passage. The city of Juneau was the only disappointment of the trip. We found it to be a seedy tourist trap. The glacier was gorgeous but that stop needs revised.
Yes, totally agree, we thought the same as you about Juneau, very disappointing, but it is the stop off point for Mendenhall glacier and that should not be missed. I would have liked more time in Skagway, there was no time at all to walk round the town.