davidson glacier

The entire Glacier Point to the canoes to the Glacier experience was top notch. Easily the most diversified excursion we have experienced. The ability to get not only up close but actually walk on the Glacier is great. This is an awesome tour if photography is your thing. The staff was very knowledgeable and had lots of personality.

It was the last Princess cruise heading south & we opted for this excursion rather than the railway one. It was typical weather - raining & fog on & off, so neither were promising. Staff were fantastic all around. Guides were knowledgeable and helpful. Took the boat ride from the ship to the bus, thru the rainforest to the depot where we were totally outfitted with rain gear. It was cold & very wet. After a short hike we were at the waters edge & loaded 8-10 person into canoes. Started off paddling, but after 10 strokes or so, the motor went on. Kinda disappointing & then we just floated around Davidson glacier. We did NOT disembark or get 'up close or personal with this glacier' . We certainly saw it & heard about it, but from the description and write up, I fully expected to hike around a bit. After motoring back to the canoe stop & hiking back to 'camp' we had a light sandwich lunch & re boarded the bus to return to the ship. Saw no exceptional wild life or scenery. Partly this was weather related, but also, a very easy & pampered trip...a typical 'tourist attraction'

What an experience! From beginning to end. We took a boat with a naturalist thru a fjord, a bus thru rain forests to a base camp where we got rubber boots and a life jacket. Then we paddled a canoe up to the Davidson Glacier. The scenery was beautiful!! After returning our canoe equipment we ate a picnic lunch. Back on the boat for the return trip we saw seals and bald eagles. All the guides/naturalists were very knowledgable and loved Alaska!

Seeing this glacier was absolutely amazing. I enjoyed standing there, looking, even though we didn't get to go on. That being said, the guided tour seemed like the experience would be different. It was a foggy day which didn't help, but the fog added an extra curious and mysterious feeling. When I read about the tour online, it sounded like it would be a really great adventure. The hike was short and the canoes had motors, it was still fun and enjoyable, however, I'd had a completely different picture painted in my mind. If I had been told how low-active this would've been, I may have still done it, but I wouldn't have had this false picture in my mind, thinking that it would be a real workout. That being said, the guides were helpful when picking out our rain clothes and extra layers; there was a nice light lunch; and we were allowed to pick rocks while looking at the glacier (my niece absolutely loved them!). There were four outhouses to use and they're very pro-recycle. That being said, they didn't have us put our paper napkins in a separate disposal. I would recommend this trip, and I would also say that it isn't strenuous at all. Again, if it had been clear what would be going on, I wouldn't have had my hopes so high on the activities.

The guides really made this excursion great. The fellow on the high-speed boat was so enthusiastic about everything, one couldn't help get excited. You could tell he truly loves the land and people. He even taught us some Tlingit vocabulary on the trip back. It started with the boat trip through the fjord which took about an hour. The trip was exciting because the boat went so fast and was crashing down over the swells in the surf. We saw eagles and harbor seals on the rocks. The boat was slowed to watch the seals for a while. Once we reached the beach, we were given a lunch of turkey sandwiches, trail mix, apple sauce, and water. It was kind of windy and cold so they suggested we take the food and eat on the bus rather than at the picnic tables. Everyone was fine with that so we boarded a bus and trundled through the forest to the camp to suit-up. The guides on the bus were funny and informative, telling about their life there (completely off the grid from May to September!), local wildlife, etc. When we got to the area to suit up, they gave us each, dry suits, pfds, and boots to put on and then we hiked about 1/4 mile down to the canoes. The hike was pretty easy with a good path though it was a little awkward in the bulky suits. At the canoes, we were given further instructions and boarded. Joe was our guide in the canoe and he was great. We paddled a little bit but then he kicked on the engine so we didn't have to. We went across the lake created by the Davidson glacier and then landed on the sand bar around the glacier and walked up to it. It was beautiful! There was a large ice cave and the colors were unbelievable. We spent a good deal of time walking around and looking at the glacier and tasting the water. Then got back in the canoes and returned to camp then the boat ride back. It was one of our favorite excursions on our cruise (and we did a LOT of excursions). The whole trip was about 6 hours in total.

We went by canoe and walked the base of the Davidson Glacier. After having visited Iceland in the winter and spending hours hiking on glaciers and ice climbing, I must say this glacier was beautiful. Well worth visiting if you get the chance.

Each glacier has it's own beauty & history. So much to see & experience!. We want to go back to Alaska!.

We only had one day in Skagway and Wyatt, Steve, Traffic Jam aka Joe and Casanova aka John from M&M Tours made it a great one!! We got a fantastic close up view of the Davidson Glacier and a lot of information on the local area and wildlife. When we got back to the cruise ship everyone compared notes on their day and ours was definitely at the top of the list.

Just arrived home this afternoon from an amazing trip to western Canada, Alaska and Yukon. The highlight of the whole trip was our excursion to Davidson Glacier. The guide on the boat ride to get to the glacier was very informative (sorry I forget her name) and we saw several seals along the way. After a pleasant hike we arrived at the lake and Danny our guide at this point was wonderful. After a very pleasant canoe trip which we got to paddle for quite a while before he started the motor, we finish the trip to the base of the glacier. He helped us all make the difficult - but oh so worth it -trek up the glacier to the beautiful ice cave and got us back safely! Thanks Danny and the rest of the crew for a memory that will last a life time!!

We continued our cruise excursions through Alaska with a Wilderness Safari that included an hour long boat right from Skagway out to Glacier Point (~30 miles) where we met our wilderness guides (Danny, Joe AKA Traffic Jam, Sam and one other who's name I forget!).We were greeted with a picnic in the sun, before hopping on a bus for a short ride to the central station where we geared up with extra layers, gumboots and life jackets. We hiked about 1/4 mile to the water, where we hopped in 11-person canoes for a peaceful ride down the river to the Davidson Glacier.We had the opportunity to moor up and walk about the glacier delta, where we were lucky enough to see an ice field, and a newly adjusted/formed ice cave. We had so many photo opportunities, learned about the movement of the glacier and the formations in the area as a result, and also enjoyed some stunning scenery with the coastal mountains behind us.The guides were extremely knowledgeable, entertaining and fun throughout every moment of the excursion, and ensured that all of our questions were answered before we headed back to shore to enjoy our boat ride back to the harbor.We were lucky enough to enjoy some waterfalls and wildlife on the trip back, had great interactions with our naturalist on board, Brie, and Captain Jim.

We took the trip from Haines (booked from Holland America cruise). The boat ride was fast and adventurous but due to the chop we didn't see any wildlife. Crew was very friendly and informative. The guides at glacier point were also super friendly and helpful. We did the tour with my father in law who does not walk well and they were very patient with him allowing him to take LOTS of time on the short hike to the canoe and assisting him in and out of canoe. We did a short paddle but mostly used the motor. Scenery was beautiful.

We booked this excursion last minute on our cruise and boy are we glad we did. On the ferry, Wyatt was incredibly informed, funny, personable and able to communicate everything that we were seeing. They stopped to show us Harbor Seals on the waters edge and explained all the natural history that we were seeing. We then got off the ferry and our adventure began. A bus ride, driven by a very funny Nate, up to an opening that housed Boots, Waders, and Raincoats. We dressed and then followed Constance through the woods to an opening with Canoes. Constance was AMAZING. Her knowledge, love and passion for Alaska was incredibly conveyed. She made, what was already, a great experience, even better.

My daughter and I particpated in this excursion during 2013, we were very impressed. I was able to experience it again with my son and his wife. It was everything I remember and I was very excited that they got to share in the beauty of it all. The staff are wonderful... Emily and Jim on the boat, Nate and the crew on site. They are all knowledgable and helpful and patient. I defer to this trip because it offers a little bit of everything.. Time on the Lynn canal, travel through the Alaskan meadows and woods, canoe and glacier experience. We will be back again in 2016 with more family! Well done and thank you!

Thanks, Sam Edwards! You brought Alaska alive for us!If you get a chance to go out to Glacier Point to experience the Davidson Glacier, don't pass it up! Bree, our naturalist, gave an informative and interesting narrated talk during a one hour ride on a fast, enclosed, boat to Glacier Point. We were met by a group of nine guides who spend five months on Glacier Point. No running water, minimal electricity powered by a generator, individual huts to sleep in...and these kids LOVE it! After a short ride across the point we arrived at the gathering area where we were encouraged to use the outhouses before putting on personal floatation devices (life jackets), extra coats for warmth, and mud-mucker boots. You leave your own shoes behind so take extra socks for warmth and layers as you will be walking through glacial streams! It is at least 10 degrees colder at the glacier and you actually walk ON it. Directions are given for the day, then a ten-minute walk to the lake front where more instructions are given about how NOT to fall out of the canoes. Then, 15 to 16 passengers board the large canoes with a guide to paddle out on to the lake and to the glacier. After about a half hour (don't worry--the guides have small engines on the canoes so you don't have to paddle the entire time!) you disembark at the glacier. It is an amazing experience to walk along the ice melt, examine the blue to black ice...an then...we saw the ice cave! Behind the glacier, carved out by melting water, the bluest, purest cave of ice beneath this massive glaciers was breath-taking! This was the highlight of our week in Alaska...and our guide, Sam Edwards, made every step educational, entertaining, and amazing!

This is a well run tour. The logistics to get to the glacier from Skagway are enormous. The guides are very good and helpful. There are better glacier tours on different glaciers in Alaska but from Skagway this is good.