Technically this was the day we were scheduled to dock in Juneau, but I on
ly knew it as helicopter day. I don’t remember the last time I had been this nervous in my whole life. I had been on a large military helicopter, but never in a private sightseeing helicopter. I was so worried that we had anticipated this tour for so long and the weather wouldn’t be great. Fortunately, the sun was shining and I couldn’t have been happier! But first we had some time to kill before our afternoon tour. So we decided to take a cable car up to the top of the small mountain nearby. There was a small gift shop and a large viewing area where we got some awesome panoramic shots of the port. Afterwards, our wheelchair accessible taxi driver took us around Juneau for about a 30 minute windshield tour of the capital city.
Finally it was time for the tour! We decided to go with Era Helicopters, which cost about twice as much as other tours, but this one hailed itself as fully accessible. We weren’t sure what they meant, until it was time to get me in the helicopter. They had modified a stair lift by basically cutting it in half. I transferred from my wheelchair into the stair lift, which raised me
to the exact level of the back of the helicopter where I could just slide over into my seat. It was absolutely amazing! As for the tour itself, the flight was perfectly smooth, and over the course of two hours we saw some of the most amazing scenery I’ve ever laid eyes on in my life. We landed on top of the top of the Taku glacier, and later at the bottom of the Lemon glacier. An absolutely once-in-a-lifetime experience I will never forget!
[…] that most likely you will be stuck on the ship when you are at a tender report. In places like Juneau or Ketchikan, the ship can either dock or anchor, depending on many factors. Some cruise lines have […]