Juneau Private 3 Hour Scenic Road Trip

The trip with David made our day! We learned and saw a lot! David was fun, pleasant, accommodating, and professional. What more could you ask for? I highly recommend his tour!

Our Windstar ship docked at Juneau at 5:00 am and we were off by 7:15. Our guide, David, arranged to meet us at the Plaza which was a 5 minute walk from the dock exit. He was right on time with a large Ford Transit van which was perfect for our group of 2 adult couples. Due to a delay in our afternoon departing flight, what we thought would be a 2.5 hour tour of the Juneau area was able to be extended by an hour. David easily accommodated this last second change in plan. David took us to several perfect viewing areas for the Mendenhall Glacier where we had plenty of time for photos and conversation. He was also able to drive us out to the Shrine of St Therese and then back around the area for magnificent views. Given the extra time, David arranged lunch with a local restaurant to experience both King and Dungeness crabs. It’s was a great way to end our Alaska experience. Juneau Private Tours was a perfect way to spend a few hours in and around the city. David was a perfect guide and we enjoyed our time with him.

Booked this private tour so my large family group can easily get around town and at our own pace. I booked it 3 days before we ported! The company reached out several times to confirm booking and provide instructions. Communication overall was always good! Aleta was our tour guide and she was amazing! She was so knowledgeable about the history of Juneau, the glaciers and was able to talk about any topic we asked her about!! She was also very attentive to our family’s needs, we had a few elderly that were a bit slower walkers, so let us take our time, helped us take pictures! The best thing was that even though the glacier was closed the day we went, she went out of her way to find us scenic spots to view the Mendenhall glacier from a far! Would definitely recommend this tour to anyone that was a custom tour of Juneau and to be able to see the town at your own pace!

Fantastic tour. Lots of whales, seals, and eagles.

This was great and very educational with phenomenal views! Aleta was a great guide and taught us a lot about Juneau! Our kids are 10 and 14 and enjoyed it.

Aleta was an excellent guide who showed us many interesting places around Juneau while sharing informative and engaging stories along the way. The tour was enjoyable and interesting for our entire family. We had a great time and would definitely recommend it!

Wonderful tour! David is funny and kind. He took us all over Juneau and we really appreciated the extra time he spent with us. He is knowledgeable about the history and the sites and the wildlife. Highly recommend!!

The entire experience was delightful. Our guide David was knowledgeable and friendly. He pointed out eagles nests and a porcupine we wouldn’t have seen on our own. He took group photos for us and provided binoculars. The van was comfy and clean and we appreciated the water and snack bars provided. I highly recommend this tour.

My family went on a 3-hour tour with Ray on June 16th. Overall, we were unhappy with the tour. On a positive note, David (Owner) was very easy to work with, and we very much appreciated them accommodating our ship’s late arrival time. Our guide, Ray, was also very friendly and easy going. We also appreciated that Ray did not rush us at any spot. On a more negative note, we had a few concerns and do not feel that the tour we received lived up to our expectations of what a private tour means, nor matched what we expected based on the website and testimonials. This was an expensive private tour; and truthfully, we do not feel that the offering matched what we paid for or what was advertised. 1. Lack of knowledge – Ultimately our biggest disappointment was how little Ray knew of the area, wildlife, history, culture, etc. We understand that his primary residence is in Florida and he has only been in Alaska for a few seasons, one or two of those being in Juneau, which explains his limited knowledge. However, given that we expected a local and knowledgeable guide, as listed on your website, what we received was far from what was expected. We are a well travelled group who have taken many tours around the world; and truthfully, this tour ranks at the bottom of all our lists. Additionally, we are an inquisitive group and wanted to learn as much as we could about the area’s history and sites around us. Ray did not know the answer to many of the questions that we asked; and it felt as if Ray had no desire to learn and share what the answer was. Although he was very friendly and chatty; due to his limited knowledge, we found ourselves teaching him facts that we had learned from our previous tour in Sitka. Ultimately, Ray felt more like a driver than a tour guide, especially since he left us alone at each of the tour stops (Shrine of St. Therese, Mendenhall Glacier, nature stops) simply telling us to let him know when we were ready to leave. This left us to do our own research about each site. 2. Limited views/stops – First, Ray did not review our itinerary with us before hand or what to expect at each spot. This often left us feeling unsure of where we were going and what was up next. Second, although we appreciated the flexibility, we expected our guide to take us to the best spots to view and visit. Below were our issues with each stop: a. Mendenhall Glacier – In speaking with David before our tour, we had been informed that we would not be going to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Centre, but that we would still see the glacier from a good distance. During the tour we had two stops to view the glacier. The first stop was a glorified pull out/parking lot, which was very far from the glacier. Although the second stop at the campground was better, we could still only see the top half of the glacier due to the mountain blocking the lower half. Before the tour, we had discussed that there would be three stops to view the glacier; however, we only stopped at two. Overall, the glacier stops were extremely underwhelming and not as good as the Visitor Centre, as we found out after some research. b. National Shrine of St. Therese – This was a beautiful stop, and we had a lot of time to walk around and view the shrine. However, we were left to tour on our own and ultimately did not learn more than what we could read on a few of the plaques. c. Wildlife Stops – After our stop at the National Shrine of St. Therese we drove even further away from Juneau to stop at three pullouts/viewpoints: 1) a random pullout down a dirt road overlooking a small lake/inlet, 2) a random campground near a river and trail network, 3) a boat launch. Although these were nice because of the beauty of the Alaskan landscape, they were by no means memorable; and, based on our research, we know these were not Juneau’s best mountain and ocean views. Ultimately, these were unnecessary stops, and we could have used this time to go to the hatchery, whale statue, and potentially the Visitor Centre for better views of the glacier. d. Juneau Whale Statue – We did not stop here even though it is highly recommended and advertised in the tour description. e. Juneau Downtown Totem Poles – We did not stop by these either. f. Governor’s Mansion – We drove by this at 50km/hr and had two seconds to view the mansion. For those of us on the right side of the vehicle, we could barely see it. Additionally, when asked about the home, its history, and the current governor, Ray was largely clueless, indicating that it was simply a private residence not worth stopping at. g. Salmon Hatchery – As we were making our way back to Juneau, we asked when we were going to the Salmon Hatchery. Ray shared that if we really wanted to, we could, but he didn’t think it was worth it because there were no salmon to see in the ladder. This indicated to us that the hatchery was never a part of Ray’s route. However, based on our research, the Visitor Centre operates 7 days a week and is highly recommended on all travel sites. Because of this, the hatchery was one of our most highly anticipated stops. As a result, we ultimately had to request for Ray to stop by the hatchery on our way back into Juneau. When we finally arrived, we noted that it had closed 5 minutes before, and so we could no longer tour the hatchery. The fact that he was never planning on going really disappointed us, especially since it was discussed during booking. 3. Unprofessional Guide – As mentioned above, we did not feel that Ray was a professional guide. We got off to a bad start as Ray indicated that he needed to take another group from AJ dock to a different location. He told me that he tried calling multiple times to let me know that he had this commitment and to not show up early; but, as I had discussed with David beforehand, we are not from the US and did not have cell service. This was clearly not relayed ahead of time, or Ray ignored this fact. Later, we found out that Ray also operates as a taxi driver, courier, and pretty much anything to do with a vehicle and moving people around. At many points during the drive, particularly on the highway to get to/from the National Shrine/nature stops, he drove well under the speed limit, even mentioning that he prefers to drive slowly and often complained about the Juneau drivers. This felt purposeful for the sake of making the trip feel longer to fill the time. When we reviewed the JPT website and the testimonials, we expected a knowledgeable and professional tour guide. It says this in the package details and again in the “about” section of the booking page, where it mentions our guides would be either Dave, Aleta, Ray, or David, all of whom I assume are knowledgeable about the area and passionate about their love of Juneau (verbatim on your website). Again, as mentioned above, Ray did not review the itinerary or make us feel like we were on a private tour. As it seems like Ray has other side-jobs, it honestly felt like he was brought in as a driver to meet capacity demands during a busy summer tourist season. 4. Ford Transit 350 Tour Van – As we were a larger group we could not fit into the luxury SUV’s listed on the website. As discussed in our previous emails, you mentioned that we would be driving in a Ford Transit 350 Tour Van. Although what Ray drove was a transit van, it was more of a taxi van which did not have the standard high ceiling and extra-large windows that you would expect from a tour/passenger van. When researching Ford Transit 350 tour vans online, they all have these luxury features. This again made it feel like Ray was a contracted hire and not a normal/local Juneau Private Tour guide as advertised. Overall, the lack of knowledge of our tour guide and the key spots that were either missed or reduced to an afterthought made for a very poor experience, not worthy of an expensive private tour. Based on other reviews I have read online I believe JPT is likely still a great operator, but your experience greatly depends on the guide.

Dave was a superb guide. He was so knowledgeable, entertaining, and funny. We had the best time and would recommend Dave to anyone!!!!!